10 May The Process of Writing and the Thing About Rotten Reviews
At the Deep End: Deeper, the sequel to my debut novella is out and though part 1 didn’t necessarily make big waves on account that I literally just threw it out there to see if anyone would care, the feedback I got early on did give me the motivation to keep writing. It had decent reviews…up until I got a doozy (which was to be expected) of a review just a couple of weeks before releasing part 2.
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Talk about inconvenient!
I understand that I should take reviews with a grain of salt, but they be really, really salty. And maybe writing about it is in bad form, but I mention it for the sole purpose of how it affected my writing process. And the fact that I needed something to blog about. 🤓 So here we go!
She hated the inclusion of the exes, but I stand by it.
The MC Bri literally just came out of a broken engagement when she decided to join her girls on that Miami girls trip, one her ex didn’t think she would actually follow through with. Her love interest DeeDee, was also in the middle of unraveling herself from her own messy on and off-again relationship. Yes, I could’ve written an unproblematic, completely conflict-free story, but that’s not the kind of author I am.
The reviewer is an avid reader and she is very harsh if not repetitive about her criticisms. Yes, I did a little digging. Why? Because truth is I have a bit of Bri in me and I obsess over certain things. I’m not thin-skinned. I’m just a people-pleasing, empathic, glutton for punishment.
I’ve learned though, that readers typically have a pattern so it helps to temper my feelings about them. Half the time it really isn’t personal and there is nothing you could’ve done to please that reader.
It did give me pause though, while writing book two. I have to take the good with the bad, but when do you know if you should take a critique to heart? I had to ask myself, was it really too much that both their exes showed up? Was the whole thing too convenient, over the top or unrealistic? The following reviewer copycatted her sentiments about the exes not needing to be included and that’s just what happens right? Someone brings something up and suddenly it’s all people can focus on.
But then I looked at reality, and how the universe saw it fit to send Ms. ‘Missed Opportunity’ my way and test my own decisions about this book. Life is nothing but inconvenient, especially when working at the things you want. As soon as you declare, this is what I desire, here comes the Universe with the barricades, pit holes and barb wire. That’s life.
If you understand Bri, you know she is a smart, capable woman, but she tends to overthink things…like me. Although she met and fell for DeeDee, it doesn’t mean her feelings were suddenly done for her ex. I did explore that in book two because that’s where it led me. I worried I was writing something that would strip the magic of the world I had built and leave my readers giving me the side-eye.
In my follow-up story, To Be Loved By Mia, I wavered with the ending of that book. I followed my gut and got smacked for not meeting a very standard reader expectation for Romance. In that case, my mistake wasn’t the ending, but the categorization of the story. Lessons were learned.
I have been doing my best to “ignore” reviews, but that’s not how I’m built. If anything, they’ve helped me craft better stories, at least stories that entertain my little legion of followers. I’m simply going to pay attention to the patterns that emerge. For example, in book 1, the biggest critique was that I didn’t have enough sex scenes. So guess what, I brought the heat in Book 2. Had my own self blushing! The first review I got mentioned how much she loved it. Interestingly, the reviewer who gave me my first ding, has been my biggest fan since.
At the end of the day, I stayed true to my characters. I made some choices and my characters made some of those choices for me. I can’t make everyone happy, but as long as I’ve written a story I would like to read, I know others will like it too. With that, I hope you enjoy part 2, At the Deep End: Deeper.
I’m already working on Part 3 and it might be my favorite of the series.
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