Review ramblings
Jun. 26th, 2006 10:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ksmithSo there are review kerfuffles in various places. It all seems very Six Degrees of Separation, with the maximum separation being about 2. If you don't know the people involved, you know friends of theirs.
As a writer, I am told repeatedly that I am supposed to Take The High Road and not respond to reviews. I understand this. I don't believe I've ever responded directly to a review, though I have discussed them/muttered darkly to friends. For the most part I didn't know the reviewers, and never encountered them online. That allowed for a distance that made the whole thing easier to take.
It becomes more difficult when friends and writers and reviewers and the magazines carrying the reviews are all a mouse click away, with the discussions starting almost immediately the things are posted, if not before, with folks weighing in from every corner. We spend so much of our time--too much, probably--sitting together in this great virtual con bar buying one another drinks and shouting jokes across the room that when something profession-oriented like a review crops up in the midst of it all, it can bring you up short. Hey I thought we were all having fun--well, yes, but some of us have jobs to do, too.
And someone like me is advised to Take The High Road.
I'm all for the High Road in theory, although I confess that there have been times when I wanted to hide in the ditch along the side of the High Road and sneak up behind the reviewer as they walked past and bury an axe in their head. No point in that. I know that--not an idiot, thanks, at least not about that. If I want a lecture, I'll pay tuition and choose the class myself, so don't bother.
The return of some distance. I think that would be a good thing.
As a writer, I am told repeatedly that I am supposed to Take The High Road and not respond to reviews. I understand this. I don't believe I've ever responded directly to a review, though I have discussed them/muttered darkly to friends. For the most part I didn't know the reviewers, and never encountered them online. That allowed for a distance that made the whole thing easier to take.
It becomes more difficult when friends and writers and reviewers and the magazines carrying the reviews are all a mouse click away, with the discussions starting almost immediately the things are posted, if not before, with folks weighing in from every corner. We spend so much of our time--too much, probably--sitting together in this great virtual con bar buying one another drinks and shouting jokes across the room that when something profession-oriented like a review crops up in the midst of it all, it can bring you up short. Hey I thought we were all having fun--well, yes, but some of us have jobs to do, too.
And someone like me is advised to Take The High Road.
I'm all for the High Road in theory, although I confess that there have been times when I wanted to hide in the ditch along the side of the High Road and sneak up behind the reviewer as they walked past and bury an axe in their head. No point in that. I know that--not an idiot, thanks, at least not about that. If I want a lecture, I'll pay tuition and choose the class myself, so don't bother.
The return of some distance. I think that would be a good thing.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-06-27 02:57 pm (UTC)1. Thank you for taking the time to review my work. (only if they personally send the review to my attention)
2. Thank you for taking the time to review my work. I appreciate your efforts, but wanted to point out that is a spoiler, and may ruin some of the enjoyment of the book for readers. Would it be possible for you to remove or reword that? Thanks again.
I used to do reviews for SF Romance, and as a reviewer, I was happier believing the authors never saw the reviews. :-) In my mind, I was talking to the readers. If I thought about the authors, I had to worry about their feelings. I tried to never say anything bad (anything mean or cruel -- saying something didn't work for me isn't BAD, and if I can support it, it's helpful for readers to know). But I was always conscious that I might be telling a proud parent they had an ugly baby. Even if it's true, no one wants to hear it.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-27 02:59 pm (UTC)that should read:
I appreciate your efforts, but wanted to point out that {{whatever}} is a spoiler...