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Reader opinions
Jan. 24th, 2009 08:46 amAs writers, we all want everyone to love our stories just as much as we do. We want them to "get them" and to understand our characters and love them and want to read more about them, to care about the plot and to find it interesting. As beginning writers, a reader's opinion is how we validate our writing. If everyone who reads it loves it, then the story is good. Eventually I think we have to come to realize that this isn't a viable way to validate our writing. Not everyone who reads a story will love it. Even if its the "best story in the world." It will not resonate for every reader. We can't control what readers think of our stories, because each reader brings their own set of experiences and circumstances into their reading, and that changes how they view the story. What I see as uplifting and realistic, someone else may see as depressing.
What brings me to musing about this is that I've read two critically acclaimed books this year that did not appeal to me. I'm not casting stones when I say I don't like them, because obviously everyone else did, so the stories are definitely good ones. They just didn't appeal to me. And that doesn't make me stupid or illiterate or having poor reading taste, or in need of "enlightening" as to why I'm wrong. (I'm not ranting here, just trying to work this out in my own mind, trying to make myself understand that I shouldn't get my feelings hurt when readers don't care for my stories.) The two books I didn't like? "The Name of the Wind" was one. I finished it. I wanted to like it. It was a debut novel, so I was rooting for it. Critics everywhere are lauding it. Why didn't I like it? I dunno. It just left me with a flat feeling. The other was "The Yiddish Policeman's Union". It was a Pullitzer winner for gods sake. So it must be good. I just couldn't get into it. It's lying on a table half-read.
So there ya go. Definitely me, in both cases. And I'm allowed to not fall in love with every book I read. And so is everyone else. I'm just sayin'.
What brings me to musing about this is that I've read two critically acclaimed books this year that did not appeal to me. I'm not casting stones when I say I don't like them, because obviously everyone else did, so the stories are definitely good ones. They just didn't appeal to me. And that doesn't make me stupid or illiterate or having poor reading taste, or in need of "enlightening" as to why I'm wrong. (I'm not ranting here, just trying to work this out in my own mind, trying to make myself understand that I shouldn't get my feelings hurt when readers don't care for my stories.) The two books I didn't like? "The Name of the Wind" was one. I finished it. I wanted to like it. It was a debut novel, so I was rooting for it. Critics everywhere are lauding it. Why didn't I like it? I dunno. It just left me with a flat feeling. The other was "The Yiddish Policeman's Union". It was a Pullitzer winner for gods sake. So it must be good. I just couldn't get into it. It's lying on a table half-read.
So there ya go. Definitely me, in both cases. And I'm allowed to not fall in love with every book I read. And so is everyone else. I'm just sayin'.
