In Review

All month long, we’ve been talking about ways to get ourselves back in the writing zone, especially when we’ve felt like everything we’ve been writing is the same and we’re trapped in a rut of “why do I even bother”—and each and every thing we’ve talked about is something that’s personally worked for me, so I like to think I’m giving you some good advice. ;-)

Today’s focus is one that I know many authors struggle with, out of crippling fear about the negative side. But I’m not suggesting you should focus on the negative at all.

Get yourself reviewed.

I know, it sounds utterly terrifying, doesn’t it?

Every writer has that innate fear of being reviewed, of finding out what people actually think of our work. I’m not entirely sure why so many of us are so crippled by it, if I’m being totally honest, but I do know that I’m in the same boat.

However, being reviewed is a great way to get yourself out of a rut.

How? In one of two ways.

If it’s a positive review…

Then it shows you that you’re doing something right, and you should stick to your guns and keep doing what you’re doing. Positive reviews remind us that our writing can’t be all that bad, and that there really are people out there who want to read the things we want to write. It’s a confidence boost, something to tell us that we can really do this, that we can really do something with the thing we love to do.

And if it’s a negative review…

Then there’s something we can learn from it. Negative reviews almost always give us notes on things we can work on for the next book—which can be a great way to get out of a rut. Reviewers don’t seem to like how you write your characters? All right, now you have something to work on for your new book, and something that will make this new book far different from what you’ve written so far.

The point, today, is that you get reviewed. Even if it means giving your book out to some people who will read it and review it for you.

Reviews aren’t bad things. They can teach us, enlighten us, and give us a boost.

But don’t let them cripple you. Use them for your good, and only your good, and then look the other way. That’s the best possible advice I can give you, when it comes to reading reviews in general.

[love]

{Rani D.}