Tread Softly: Thoughts on Criticism

Criticism: there’s something about that word that makes us cringe, or feel uncomfortable, isn’t there? I think we all imagine it must always mean disapproval. It might evoke memories of childhood misdemeanors – being ‘told off’ – or of arguments, where someone pointed out our faults, and perhaps not in a kind way. But you know, that’s not the only meaning of the word. It can also be related to the word critique, which implies someone, hopefully someone knowledgeable, listing or discussing what they perceive to be the merits, as well as the faults, of something. That’s what a review of an artistic work – including a book – is supposed to be.

Not so very long ago, the only book reviews that the average reader could access were those published in newspapers or magazines. But now, of course, book reviews are out there, freely available to everyone on the internet, often anonymous and usually written by ordinary human beings rather than literary scholars. You obviously don’t need to be a writer to review a book, but I do think you need to be able to express yourself sensibly, and even more importantly, to be fair and logical. I don’t know if literary criticism is still taught in schools – as in, explain what you liked about this book and what you didn’t like – but if not, it’s a pity.

Most of us authors have had to learn to take criticism on the chin, whether we think it’s valid or not. We need to accept criticism from our own editors first and foremost, otherwise a book will never be improved by their skill and wisdom. As far as reader reviews go, fortunately the majority of mine tend to be reasonably good, or at least fair. There's always a minority of ridiculous or unhelpful ones, but I’ve had a long time to get used to that now. Sometimes, though, newer authors do get upset by reviews that are intrinsically unfair. An example of the sort of unfairness I’m talking about is a scathing review, and a low rating, given because the reviewer doesn’t like that type of book. It’s easy enough to tell from the blurb – and usually even the cover and the title – whether a book is in a genre you enjoy, and if you don’t, to my mind you shouldn’t accept a free review copy. If you’ve paid for the book yourself, then it’s even more inexplicable!

Another type of unfairness is when a reviewer rates a book down because something in the story ‘triggered’ them. There’s a lot written and spoken about triggers these days, and personally I’m against trigger warnings in general. It can often be clear before you start reading a book that it’s going to concern a subject you find upsetting for personal reasons. If you still read it and get upset, sorry, that’s not the author’s fault, and doesn’t make it a bad book. And I don't think it’s fair to other readers if trigger warnings give away the twists of the plot ahead of anyone reading the story.

Fair and valid criticism is something to learn from. For instance, I’m grateful if someone mentions that they found the pace of a section of one of my stories too slow or too rushed, because I can try not to make the same mistake in the next book. But if they complain that a character was unlikeable, when he or she was quite clearly supposed to be unlikeable – they were the villain of the story for goodness’ sake! – then I’m obviously going to feel irritated. And a decent reviewer will always balance a criticism with a mention of something they did like – even if they only liked it a little bit and are still going to give the book only two stars!

You might wonder, reading all of this, why I still ask people fervently: Please do leave a review! It’s true, sensitive authors might prefer not to read them. But personally, I think the good reviews – and I don’t mean necessarily those glowing with praise, but those that are fair, balanced, and might include a mention of enjoyment of something: a character, a twist, a theme, the ending, or even just some phrases they liked – are like manna to the soul.

Like most of us, I slog away alone at this job for no other reason than that I love it. I never aimed (fortunately!) to get rich on it. I never expected to win prizes (so those I did win were so much more precious). I never even expected, originally, to be published. But I – and all my author friends – do our best to please our readers. Sometimes we fail, because we’re human. Criticise us honestly, because it can help. But please do it fairly. Don’t just say ‘it’s not for me’, give a low rating and no real reason – that’s not actually a review, let alone a critique, and it’s soul-destroying.

Some of us, like me, are old and thick-skinned, seen it all before, etc; but others are new, or young, and haven’t yet had the sensitivity blasted out of them. They could be next year’s best-seller and then you’ll be proud that you reviewed their first book. Or they could be your son or your daughter. Tread softly, because you tread on their dreams. Thank you.