On Monday morning, I poured myself a cup of coffee and sat down to outline my next thriller.
I was ready to plan another adventure for my new hero, Blake Jordan, so I could get started writing the next novel in the series. But first, I decided to check my Amazon reviews for the first book.
Why? Because I want what all writers want. To know if I’m any good.
That was a BIG MISTAKE.
While I had over thirty 5-star reviews, one 1-star reviewer told me that I was a hack. I had zero character development. And the book was a waste of time, “unless you’re stranded at an airport.”
That’ll wake you up faster than a steaming cup of coffee.
And nothing will throw you off your game more than someone being overly critical of something that you’ve spent time pouring your heart and soul into. But you already knew that, didn’t you?
That’s because we all have our own “1-star reviewers” in our lives. They take many forms, but they’re everywhere. They criticize us every chance they get. We’re just not good enough to them.
I tried to shrug it off and went back to continue outlining the follow-up book. But twenty minutes later, instead of making progress on the next book, I was back reading that 1-star review again.
What’s interesting to me is how although this morning the book has over forty 5-star reviews from fans who absolutely loved the book, couldn’t put it down, stayed up all night reading and want more Blake Jordan (and want it now!) it’s the 1-star review that’s hard to stop thinking about.
Life is like that, too.
We wonder what we can do to change. We think about how we can make the many 1-star reviewers in our lives, the people who love to be critical of us, like us and what we create.
The answer is simple.
We can’t.
What we have to remember is that our critics are loud. On Amazon, they rate every other book they read 1-star, too. In real life, they condemn, criticize, and complain about almost everything.
And people listen to them. Not because their critiques are valuable or helpful to us in any way. They listen because they can’t get away from them and don’t want to be criticized themselves.
How do you know if someone in your life is a 1-star reviewer or genuinely wants to help you improve? You’ll know based on the feedback that they give you. Because when I started reading the many positive reviews, I found nuggets of wisdom from my readers that was very helpful:
- I need to brush up on my firearms knowledge and be more descriptive in my scenes.
- The changing point of view was challenging for the reader and I need to be more careful.
- Who was speaking at times was not always clear making it difficult for the reader to follow.
- I need to work on my sentence construction, dialogue grammar, and more carefully edit.
This is feedback that can help me improve, feedback that can enhance the reader experience for my next book. But the 1-star reviewers in our lives don’t usually give us feedback that is helpful.
So my advice (which I’m telling myself as well) is simple. Stop wasting your time trying to win over your critics. You never will. They don’t get you and they don’t value your work. And that’s okay.
Instead, focus on those who like you and love what you do. Be open to feedback and use it to improve your work. But don’t let the 1-star reviewers in your life throw you off your game.
And know that there’s only one way to avoid criticism. Do nothing. Say nothing. Be nothing.