I'm sure it happens all the time: you get through an entire story, you start the sequel, you're halfway through...and then you wonder why you wrote it all in the first place. You start to doubt if it's really any good at all, if people actually like it when they post reviews or if they just feel sympathy for an adequate attempt.
Suddenly paranoia sets in. You look back at every chapter you've ever written, scanning it for anything that you deem good writing. You can't find anything. You start to feel like this project you've spend over a year on was all just a waste of time.
And then a reader leaves a review. Everything is better.
Writer's have probably the most stressful job of all: catering their story to thousands of anonymous people who all have specific preferences and tastes and opinions. You try your hardest to please them all, to keep them interested enough to read that next chapter. Obviously you can't please them all, but you certainly wish you could.
For those who don't write but spend their time devouring books and novels and stories: you have perhaps the most responsibility. Your input is what keeps those things you love so much going. Writers crave feedback, we're like bloodhounds for the stuff. Keeping your opinions to yourself is almost a crime. Even if you don't like it, say something! Telling us what exactly is wrong with our writing will make us better writers in the future, and that means better stories for your enjoyment.1003Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdXptjBlli3
On that note, the most disheartening thing a writer can get is that flood of reviews that say little more than 'it's good' or 'interesting.' We aren't looking for whether you like it or not, we're looking for what you like about it and why. Tell us our pacing is good. Tell us we could improve our character interaction. Tell us we need more practice with grammar and spelling. Tell us how we can better ourselves. That's all we ask.
I'm sure I speak for every writer out there when I say that we love readers. You're our editors, our friends, our consumers, our reporters, our fact-checkers. You have so much more power than you think you do when you say what you want to say.
Please, help us realize that we have talent, because are many of us don't really believe it until you say something.
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