In this article I’m going to break a golden rule and talk about a negative review I received. Normally talking about reviews of your own books is not a good idea. However, I do think it’s important that we talk about how useful and positive a negative review can be.
I want to talk about this review because I think it’s great example of how a review from someone who didn’t like the book but wrote something useful and positive thing for both authors and readers. I have nothing but appreciation for the reviewer, who took the time both the read my book and write about it, and I hope that the readers of my blog will show this reviewer the same respect.
This particular review will form a kernel around which I talk about the relationship between authors and reviewers, and how to deal with other sorts of negative reviews. Once again, please let me emphasise that this is not an attack on the reviewer, who I believe wrote and an excellent and accurate description of why they didn’t enjoy the book as much as others might. The main objective is to show why their critique is so well written, how to see the positives in someone not liking what you wrote (and potential lessons to learn), and then look more broadly at negative reviews.
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Maristed K, Broken Ground, Literary Fiction (Shoemaker & Horn 2003)
Out of print
I would really appreciate your help with this book. Read on to find out why.
Kaethe, half German and half American, returns to modern Berlin to find her estranged adult daughter. She has no clues, no friends, no means to be certain her daughter wants to be found. As her quest flounders and her money runs out, she finds herself lost in memories of divided Germany and a betrayed marriage
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SKY P.J., A Girl Called Ari, Science Fiction (Indie:2020)
Link :Amazon, Price at time of Review: £6.99
Starla lives a privileged life as the mayor’s daughter in the city, an enormous walled community protected from the wasteland and pestilence outside – and from which, once exiled, you may never return. A botched kidnapping attempt leaves her lost in the desert, where she is reluctantly rescued by Ari, a tough young woman who has been surviving alone since childhood. They agree that Ari will guide Starla back to the city if Starla guarantees Ari will be allowed entry. But the journey is long, hard, fraught with danger, and neither can predict how it will change them.
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In this article I am going to give a brief outline of some the conclusions of Peter Stockwell’s work in his book Texture: A Cognitive Aesthetics of Reading, Edinburgh University Press (Edinburgh:2009) pp134-144. Please do not be afraid. We will be comfortably in layman’s terms.
Specifically, we will talk about how we use “mind-modelling” to create an idea of how other people exist as independent to ourselves – a process as true in real life as in literature. Then we will explore two approaches, a “universal” approach that focuses on archetypes and a “cognitive” approach that focus on objectives and strategies.
I will argue that taking a cognitive approach to creating characters will result in greater empathy and a more enjoyable reading experience. Essentially, if you focus on the what, why and how of a character rather than an arbitrary “who”, you will write better books. This article, with a lot of help from Peter Stockwell’s research, explains why.
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Solaris, Lem S, Science Fiction (Faber & Faber 1961)
Link: Amazon, Goodreads. £6.99 at time of review
Psychologist Kelvin is sent to the Research Station orbiting one of the greatest mysteries encountered by mankind: an oceanic planet that appears to exhibit signs of intelligence. His mission is to evaluate whether the research is a failure. What he finds is utter chaos, scientists driven past the edge of sanity by a force that may be the ocean – and that Kelvin may not be able to escape.
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