One of the questions I'm often asked about is reviews and how I handle getting bad ones in particular. You can't live in a bubble. You can't please everyone. You have to know what your strengths and your weaknesses are as a writer and compose around them.
Someone pointing out your mistakes in a novel feels like an entire class room pointing at your nose zit. It's okay to feel like that, but you have to shake it off. How? Change how you think about your audience and what it means to please them. Widen what it means to be successful. Remind yourself that not every successful writer is a good writer. Sometimes, one successful element in your book can carry your career. Look at some of the top selling books of our time right now. (You know what book I'm mostly talking about...doncha??)
"But people are mean to me." Yeah, but they can be wonderful too. "People are catty." Yeah... but mostly forgiving. Mostly. :) And those who aren't...well...reviews are an easy outlet for the angry, and for many, it is wielded like a weapon. But bad and even mediocre reviews prove that you've made it! You've reached out with your book and you gave someone feelings. Strong feelings. How cool is that?
Me? I look at those types of reviews and I love them! (Saying this usually gets me more ugly reviews, as if I'm challenging the mob. LOL ) I know that sounds fake, but I am telling you, I do! It's mostly because they drive me to better myself and my writing, but there's another side to it. I love them, because I use them. How many heroines and heroes in a story have an easy time of it? None. That would be boring!! It's the fight that rocks! It's the fact that someone is attacking you, trying to destroy you and all you have built. You are under siege, my friend...how will you react?
Will you curl up into a corner and cry about how no one likes you? Or will you pick up your pen again and say "If you think that was bad...wait until you see this!?" Then you keep writing, and writing for the fans who love you because it's what you were born to do. And the fans who love you, grow. And despite the people who can't wait to knock you down and rip on what you've created...you become successful. Whether it's because your writing improved, or because people are buying your book to see the train-wreck, laugh your ass to the bank.
The negativity failed, and you have won. What better encouragement can you get than one that drives you to fight for success?
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