Begin as you intend to go on...
October 7, 2011
So, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about the more public aspects of my writing career—the social networking sites - Facebook and Twitter, the design of my website, my blog—all the things that will connect me to my readers on a day-to-day basis. And I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s best to begin as I intend to go on. This means that even though my number of followers and friends is still relatively low, and largely comprised of actual friends and family, that I still must watch my comments. I don’t want to reveal personal information I would rather the entire world not someday know, but at the same time I do want to be myself. I don’t want to seem negative or snarky, but I do want to always be honest. Sometimes it’s a fine line to walk between being wooden and a TMI offender, between being sincere and unkind. As such, I’ve had to set a few guidelines for myself, most of which you do not need, nor really care, to know. But I do find it necessary to share just one.
I’ve been asked why all of my book reviews (listed under the blog titles beginning with “What I’m Reading Now”) are positive. The answer to that is simple. It’s because I will only publicly review books that I liked and would recommend to others. I am an author, not a critic, and every recommendation I make is based solely on my humble opinion. And while a positive review is harmless and often bolstering, a negative one can be hurtful and have unforeseen consequences, for me as well as the writer I reviewed. But, most importantly, I do not see the point in publicly bashing other people and their writing. We should uplift other people, not bring them down. So, when I read a book that I did not particularly love, that I would not recommend to one of my closest friends, I simply do not mention it. I choose to be encouraging, but I also choose to be honest. I also keep in mind that opinions are relative. A novel that scores a C or a D from me might be someone else’s A+.
I believe I need to also add a disclaimer here. Just because a book has not been reviewed here on my blog does not mean that I did not read it and/or enjoy it. I only have a limited amount of time for blogging, and as such, every book I have recently read or re-read and liked well enough to recommend will not be posted here. I must pick and choose. So please do not assume that if a new release I mentioned in a tweet or FB post is not reviewed here, I did not like it. I may very well have, and just not had the time to review it. |
