“I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.”—Bill Cosby
Most of us like to make people happy. We want to be liked
and accepted and when it comes to our writing, we want people to enjoy it. As
many people as possible—ideally, everyone.
I mean really, how great would it be if everyone loved your writing?
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| Photo credit: kate.gardiner on Flickr |
Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen. Truth be told,
there’s always going to be someone who doesn’t like your style, or your
characters, or your pacing or sentence structure or the way you throw virtual
confetti around like it’s nobody’s business.
You can’t please everyone—there will always be bad reviews
or people who unsubscribe to your blog or a stack of rejection letters. That’s just the way the world works and it’s
not a bad thing. Let’s face it—the world would be a boring place if everyone
liked the same thing.
So what’s my point?
If you try to please
everyone, you will fail. I usually say there are exceptions, but there
really aren’t any here. You can’t please everyone, period.
It doesn’t matter if everyone else likes your work, what
matters is that you are happy with
it. Are you proud of your writing? Do you love your characters, your story? If
the answer is no, then it probably needs more work.
If the answer is yes, then don’t worry about everyone else. Write
until you know you’ve done your best and you smile when you read the words you
put on the page. That’s when you know you’ve succeeded.
And chances are someone else will like it too.
Have you ever fallen victim to trying to please everyone?
23 comments:
Not in writing - but in my life - yes. It is exhausting and futile. I am trying really hard not to fall victim to that in my writing. I just keep telling myself - it is my story :)
I'm just learning this! With my last WIP I was trying to take everyone's advice becasue I thought EVERYONE knew more than me, but it ruined the book. I made it so neutral that it was no longer fun.
There is occasionally a downside to getting critiques, namely what you just mentioned there. Everyone will have a different opinion and it's impossible to please every person that reads your work!
Having had LOTs of critiques (as well as given lots) I know it's impossible and I don't try. Now I try to find the people who will like my work...and then show me how to make it better. :)
That seems like a pretty good strategy. :)
Awesome! This is exactly what I have been looking for the weekend. I have tons of editing to do based on feedbacks and I was scared that I would not lose my story in all the changes. I will keep this in mind before changing it for others! Thanks!
Critiques are fantastic, but it's important to make sure you keep the integrity of your story. In the end it's your story and you want to make sure you're happy with it.
A good reminder for all of us! Thanks.
Yes! I have to remind myself all the time that I have a distinct kind of story that I end up writing and not everyone will like it or get it. Though I do try and take that feedback and see if I can tone down some elements.
You're very welcome! :)
Feedback is absolutely a great thing--as are beta readers and critique partners. It's just good to remember that no matter how hard we try, not everyone is going to love our writing 100% of the time.
A good friend fell into this trap. Luckily it was just a query letter, but she kept changing it based on feedback, until she realized how impossible it was to implement several conflicting bits of advice. She ended up tossing the whole thing and starting over, and writing a kick-ass query.
Multiple feedback ideas can help especially when certain problems are pointed out repeatedly, but sometimes advice does conflict, and that's when you start to realize how subjective everything is.
It wasn't until after I was published that I realised how silly this is... I get reviews sometimes where one person loves the male lead in my paranormal romance Ordinary Angels, but another person finds him too wishy-washy... another thinks he's sexy, another says he reminds her of her brother, another thinks he seems like the perfect man. The one constant is that no one said he was bady written or difficult to get a grasp on, so I suppose that's something at least!
Great post! :)
I think we could go even further and say that even if it were possible to please everyone with our writing, it wouldn't be a good thing. There are certain kinds of people that I wouldn't actually want to please, at least not fully because of the topics I bring up in my writing.
Well, that's certainly a great constant. Every reader will respond differently to your writing (and your characters), but it's encouraging to see your reviewers all seem to understand your plot and enjoy your writing! ^_^
Now that's an interesting thought. What sort of topics do you bring up in your writing?
Only to the multiple voices inside my head. No other opinions count, do they?
I love this advice, because everyone says that you can't please everyone, but in today's society, it's somewhat pc to leave anyone out. So we all still try, but it's SO IMPOSSIBLE. So thanks for the reminder!
Becca @ The Bookshelf Muse
Er...it's somewhat UN-pc.
Need more sleep.
They count to a point, but not to the extent that you're killing your WIP trying to satisfy every single one of them.
You're welcome! It's easy to forget, especially in today's world.
Ha ha, I got it. ^_^
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