Notes
Goodreads is in the headlines at the moment, and for all the wrong reasons, you could say. What really struck me about this Guardian piece was this:
“I know many people who do have six months of horrible anxiety or depression or spinning out of control, just trying to be frantic getting every single thing right.”
because as a new author - or any author - you can’t get every single thing “right”, any more than you can in the rest of life. You, as a particular human being, can’t do all the things that are humanly possible in any given field: no one can. You always have to figure out the Venn diagram: the circles which represent a) what you can do, b) what will be most time-effort-and-cost effective, and c) what you actually want to do (because that’s what you’ll have most energy and instinct for). Then you concentrate on the central section where the cirlces overlap, and make your peace with what you won’t (you fear) achieve because you’re not doing those things.
I suspect that writers are somewhat pre-selected (both by the writing process, and by the getting-published process) for being endlessly determined, a bit perfectionist, a tad driven, and slightly micro-managey. Creative work benefits from those qualities. But when it comes to supporting your work out there, those same qualities can create real bear-traps for your psyche.
Full disclosure: I have only looked at Goodreads about twice in my life, and never for my own books. I also quickly gave up reading my Amazon reviews. I don’t disapprove of those who do, I just don’t find it helpful to my own writing and teaching, which is always my first priority. If there are downsides to that, in terms of sales, contracts, etc., then so be it: I try to take a holistic view of my whole life as a human who writes, and I’ve (mostly) made my peace with the results. theguardian.com/books/2023/dec/18/goodr…
