I had a handful of reviews come in a couple weeks ago and every single reviewer did not like my books. Ouch! Some stated why, others were left blank with less than stellar stars. What is a writer to do with reviews like these?
For a while, I walked around the house with their words bouncing around in my head. Should I have…? What if I had…? Or maybe I’m really that bad.
Then I looked up and realized something: I’m not going to please everyone. The moment I admitted that to myself, a huge load was lifted from my shoulders. Let’s face it, that is the truth. No one can please everyone. There are going to be people who don’t resonate with my story, or don’t like my writing voice, or my characters, or my descriptions, or fill-in-the-blank. That’s just life.
So what do I do? I keep writing. I have a unique voice that I’ve tried to change in the past and it didn’t work (check out my blog post Surprised By My Own Voice). I like my voice, it is who I am. It just might not resonate with others.
I will continue to write stories that I love. If I don’t love the story, it will be hard to come to my computer and write it each day for the next year.
I have been blessed to work with editors I respect and agree with. There are many editors out there with different ideas on how a story should be written. Because of that, what I write and how it is edited will not be as appealing to those who come from other schools of thought. And that’s okay.
Writing is one way I worship God. I wrestle with themes, questions, and ideas and ultimately create a story that I give back to God. Through every story I write, I am reminded of who God is, how much He loves me, and there is a reason I am here on this earth. Even if no one else picked up my book and read it, I would have joy in simply giving my story to God much in the same way a child draws a picture and gives it to her papa.
I’m not going to please everyone. I need to remember that. But that’s not my job anyway. My job is to write the best story I can and pour my soul into it. That is what I can control and will continue to do.
How about you? Do you sometimes get caught up in wanting to please everyone and feel depressed if you don’t? How do you overcome that?
Morgan L. Busse 
Hi Morgan,
laying yourself open for others to judge is always hard, and as writers this is part of the package.
Not only will you be unable to please everyone, but not everyone will ‘get’ the Voice behind your voice. Subconsciously they are aware there is something missing, what they don’t realise is that what is missing is their ability to ‘hear’, not your ability to write.
I love your stories, my children love your stories, keep writing.
blessings
Kate Austin
Sent from Windows Mail
Morgan, I too love your writing and your “voice” I can hardly put your books down to do the necessities of life. I get that caught up in them. Please, please, listen to your heart and continue to write from your heart.
Morgan, I may never publish a book, but there are certainly other areas in my life that are open to critique and public scrutiny. Thank you for the reminder that the Father’s opinion is the one that matters in the end. I wish more people would have the same conviction!
Unfortunately in your position, you don’t have the luxury of knowing the circumstances of the people leaving the poor reviews. When they wrote the review, they may have just received bad news or are in a bad place in life right now. These are things you can’t know or do anything about. I’ve been in your position (not as an author, but in other venues) and have found that you can’t please even half of the people sometimes. What you must know, and I think you do, is that what you do is pleasing to God. He is happiest when we use our gifts to give Him glory. You are doing that.
Thank you so much, ladies, for your encouragement 🙂
I feel that way ALL the time, even just blogging. I haven’t published anything yet, but I dread the day of getting bad reviews, LOL! I just checked your book on Goodreads, and you have such great reviews overall – that’s what matters =)