I'm as prepped for NaNoWriMo as I'm going to be. I have Halloween candy (alas, no decorations up) at the ready for the little kittles. I finished reading Jane Eyre for the first time in my life this month, then made my way through some Oscar Wilde and H.P. Lovecraft. I read a modern 'horror' novel with a good premise and middling execution - not so horrible I couldn't finish but bad enough I wanted to slap the shit out of the writer (for being lazy) and the main character (for being too stupid to live).
When I read books that don't necessarily do it for me, I have a hard time rating a book. If I can make it to the end without a lot of skimming, I consider it average. So a 3 star out of 5. A solid C. And in the modern world where reviews are bought ("I received this product for free for my honest review."), begged for and needed to sell practically anything, 3 stars can torpedo a product or a writing career. Who knew getting a passing grade could be so dire? (You know, aside from teachers and students.)
Not that you can trust 1 or 5 stars anymore. Friends, fans, free stuff seekers, sites are flooded with folks putting in their reviews to support. Trolls, competitors, lonely wackjobs love to leave reviews, too. So much so, some online book retailers (like, the big boy of them all at the moment) are looking into how to screen book/item reviews to try to toss out ones that aren't legitimate. Last time I checked though, there's plenty of stinky bullpucky afoot.
I'm always startled by reviews about books, maybe even books I didn't care for, where the reviewer is seemingly compelled to detail every word that offended them, every idea that was subpar. A simple "I didn't like it." just doesn't seem to cut it. It's like that writer needs to bleed for the afront the reviewers apparently felt. What is their homelife like, I wonder, that this depth of aggression is warranted?
So I generally err on the side of 3 or higher. For me, 2's are for books I just couldn't finish. It's not for me. 1's are disasters that never should have been written. *cough* I have my limits, but I don't use that often. High praise? A 4 comes to any book I was swept away with. Something that really drew me in and I may or may not consider reading again in the future. 5's are the rare creatures that I will revisit and usually must have the digital, paper and audio edition to enjoy at will.
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I'm right there with you on the ratings. It has to be really bad for me to give below a 3. The fact that somebody spent time writing it makes me want to give them at least a 3 for effort. And if it's really bad, I just don't review it.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you're ahead of me on the NaNo prep! I'm about a third through my outline but I'll get there. I'm doing WAY more prep than I ever have in the past though! I wish I could make it to the meetings so I could hear what people were doing. I hope I get to catch up with you soon and hear about your NaNo project! I'll probably be at SB Target as much as possible through the month...my favorite month of the year =)
My NaNo prep consisted of writing about 5 pages of notes last Saturday in a loose outline, don't stress. I'm not sure how many meetings I'll make this year, so we'll see how far I actually get to 50,000 words.
DeleteMine this year is the next 'chapter' of last year's endeavor, so we'll see if knowing anything about the main characters helps this go any smoother. You're doing the next book in your series, right?
Yes Ma'am. The next in the series. I hadn't thought about it that way. Maybe it will go smoother with characters I know! Then again, each book is told from a different characters perspective so...who knows.
DeleteI figure if I have the first few chapters set up that's good. It usually takes off on its own after that.
Hopefully I'll see you at the write-ins though? I might try and get to one at the Astor Library if I can.
All hail 2016, the year of the sequel!
I'm planning on the write-ins, but I won't know until closer to time. It's been a weird fall. The Astor meetings are definitely out for me. It's too far and with the meetings always being at dinnertime, it just doesn't work. Have fun if you go.
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