Handling Bad Reviews: Lessons from Amy’s Baking Company
On Facebook a few weeks ago, my friend Angela Ackerman dared me to order a pizza from Amy’s Baking Company and send it back (and to record the confrontation). Not one to create drama, I declined. *smile*
But then I had to know what prompted her dare. The details were even worse than I imagined. (I’m ashamed to say I live within 50 miles of these people.)
The season finale of chef Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares TV show featured the local restaurant Amy’s Baking Company. Like most reality shows, the participants knew what they were getting into. Chef Ramsay has a well-known reputation for ripping restaurants to shreds for their food, service, and cleanliness.
Why would anyone sign up? In the case of Amy and Samy, the owners of Amy’s Baking Company, they’d expected Ramsay to praise them to the hills. After all, every negative reviewer on Yelp is just a “hater” and a “bully.”
We’ve seen this reaction from authors on Amazon and Goodreads reviews too. Every bad review is seen as a personal attack. Comments about poor editing? “It’s not my fault I can’t afford an editor.” Writing quality? “Stop implying I’m a talent-less hack.”
The number one advice to authors when it comes to reviews is: Don’t reply back. And that’s at the top of the advice list for a reason.
Sure, when we get negative feedback, whether from a beta reader or a reviewer, it can hurt. We can feel defensive.
But if we reply to a negative review with anything other than a “I’m sorry the story didn’t work for you” type of response (and even that is usually uncalled-for), we’re going to make the reviewer feel defensive too. And two defensive people facing off won’t result in a pretty picture.
Any rebuttal we make says that their experience doesn’t matter. Or that they’re too stupid to know good writing. Or worse, that they don’t even know their own thoughts or opinion.
It’s too bad that Amy and Samy didn’t follow the advice about not replying back. Instead, when they received their first bad review on Yelp years ago, Amy responded negatively. Very negatively. That led to a quicksand situation they couldn’t escape.
Human nature often leads us to delay our reaction at first when we’re confronted with a situation, as we check to see what everyone else thinks. A similar reaction kicks in with reviews. Seeing reviews for a product makes us more likely to leave a review as well.
The likelihood of sharing our opinion increases if we strongly agree or strongly disagree with the other reviews. And if we see an author attack a reviewer for saying a book was poorly written, how are we going to react if we had the same opinion? We’re going to feel attacked too. We’re even more likely to add our review to defend the original reviewer—and ourselves.
In other words, an author replying to a negative review encourages others who had negative experiences to speak up as well. This wave of people sharing their negative reviews makes the author suspect they’re being singled out for a bully attack and the situation escalates.
Or in the case of Amy and Samy, the situation explodes.
Kitchen Nightmares – Amy’s Baking Company (Full Version) on YouTube
The first six-and-a-half minutes show a nightmare of delusional owners and horrible customer service. At the 10:30 mark, Amy explains to Gordon Ramsay how their problems started.
One reviewer gave them a bad review. Amy responded by calling him a loser and a moron. Her defense, when Ramsay points out the insanity of that reaction, is “he insulted me first.” (The reviewer had said their pizza tasted like a frozen pizza—not a personal attack.)
As I pointed out above, her reply encouraged others to speak up. There were no “online bullies” targeting their restaurant, only other customers who got defensive when their similar negative experiences were attacked.
Flame-ups like this are all too common among some authors as well. We talk about our books like they’re our babies sometimes. But just as parents can’t let their egos get too wrapped up in their kids’ lives (witness the parents who feel personally insulted if the soccer coach doesn’t play their kid often enough), we can’t let our egos get wrapped up in our books.
Fine, to that one reviewer, the pizza tasted frozen. To that one reviewer, our character wasn’t likable. People are allowed to have differing opinions.
Even if we know their opinion is factually incorrect (the pizza isn’t really frozen, our book really did have an editor), opinions are about feelings. So no matter how inaccurate the details, those people are still entitled to their opinion.
In the case of Amy’s Baking Company, Amy’s response to one negative reviewer led to more negative reviews. Which then led to her feeling singled out by bullies. Which led to her signing up for Kitchen Nightmares. Which led to a huge audience seeing just how delusional she is. Which led to more negative comments on Facebook. Which led to an epic Facebook meltdown.
(Sample Facebook comment: “I AM NOT STUPID ALL OF YOU ARE. YOU JUST DO NOT KNOW GOOD FOOD.” The rest degenerate into f-bombs. Yes, with all caps and horrible grammar. And no, I don’t believe for a second their claim that their Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, and website were all hacked at the same time. If true, the hacker did a spot-on imitation of their earlier, real comments.)
Their new notoriety exposed Amy’s previous prison time and Samy’s possible deportation for immigration fraud. People discovered their website used stolen pictures to misrepresent their food. Katy and Miranda, the now-former employees shown in the episode, have come forward to confirm that nothing in the episode was staged. Just a few days ago, Samy kicked a customer out of the restaurant after she found fruit flies in her drink.
And I could link to a dozen more crazy-filled articles (hover over that link to read the headline), but I think the point is clear. Responding to that first negative review has brought them nothing but trouble.
Reviews start as just one person’s opinion. But if we respond to a bad review, we turn reviewing into a spectator sport, where hundreds or thousands of people are watching to see how we handle the situation. And crowds at spectator sports can be bloodthirsty for entertainment, all at our expense.
Don’t be like Crazy Amy. Don’t engage, and don’t reply. *smile*
What was your impression of this episode of Kitchen Nightmares? Have you ever left a review after feeling strongly about the other reviews? Is there any good way to respond to negative reviews? What problems have you seen result from review situations escalating and/or getting personal? Do you have tips on how to not take negative reviews personally?
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It was entertaining for sure! I own my own business as well as being an author and yes, there have been days I would have loved to have thrown someone out the door obviously you never do. You have a very good point here though comparing their situation to the author one. We do get defensive of our product and so did Amy and Sammy, and we clearly know that they are wrong. I suppose we could be wrong sometimes too. Maybe our edits do need to be better. Or our plots clearer.
Hi Angel,
LOL! Oh, absolutely! But wanting to throw a temper tantrum is different from actually throwing it. 🙂
Yes, I thought seeing some of the same words I’ve heard come from authors’ mouths come from Amy’s mouth might help us understand why that’s the wrong attitude. 😉
I know plenty of people did like her food. (There’s a local PBS show here where normal people get to review restaurants, and they all gushed about the food.) But just because many people liked it didn’t mean everyone would–and berating those who subjectively don’t care for it only makes her look bad.
The same applies to our stories. Whether or not we like books is subjective, and having differing opinions doesn’t make anyone wrong. We have to accept that not everyone will like our books and move on. The bloodthirsty audience only comes out when we create the public spectacle. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
Ha, I still say if I come to visit, you, Jay and myself have to stop in to check it out…provided it’s still in business (which I highly doubt!)
Hi Angela,
In addition to my TechGuy Jay, several other local people read my blog too. If you came for a visit, maybe we’d go with the whole gang. Safety in numbers, you know. 😉 Thanks for the comment! (But I’m not sure I wanted to know about that craziness so close to me. LOL!)
I had a recent success with a free run on a short story under another penname—a story that, through a series of odd events, kept getting contracts that, for one reason or another, all fell through. So I self-published it. Last I checked, I had two reviews, both negative. (I’m honestly shocked the reviewers gave me as many stars as they did, considering how much they disliked the story.) Honestly? I was expecting that result, because I can’t figure out the best genre to put it in for the life of me, and the cover reflects that. It’s a nice enough cover to attract attention, but the folks whose attention it’s attracting ≠ the same audience that downright loves the story. I suspected that was the case, but now it’s getting confirmed. 🙂 So revisiting the cover design is on my to-do list. I already have a basic idea that might work to add to the existing cover to make clear that there’s a sci-fi aspect. But I can figure all that out because I’m looking at the review and thinking, Okay, what produced this? In this case, it’s obviously reader expectations not matching the content, which suggests I screwed up the branding. (Again. But I did it wittingly, this time. At least my blurb’s the right genre…I think. And the story’s still selling some despite the reviews, so I’m doing something right.) It’s a matter of looking at negative reviews the right way. Was there something I could’ve done… — Read More »
Hi Carradee,
Great example! I love your attitude about how you can take those reviews and see what you could make better or clearer. Good luck figuring this out and thanks for the great comment! 🙂
I thought that Kitchen Nightmares episode and the subsequent Facebook meltdown were the most entertaining things I saw or read in weeks! I enjoyed it. 🙂
I read about an online fight among a historical fiction writer and an historian. It all started because the historian pointed out in a review that the writer got some of her facts wrong. The writer wrote back (and was not nice) and then other writers and historians got engaged. It became personal, and the posts got nasty! Of course, being writers and historians, no one devolved into the all caps cursing like Amy and Samy. But it was just as crazy.
Good reminders to not take reviews personally. We also need to remember to take reviews into consideration. Take a step back and evaluate what was said.
Hi Kim,
Ooo, yes, historical fiction can be a tricky beast. I’ve heard from several authors that readers assume the facts are wrong because they don’t match their assumptions about the time period, but that the authors were actually right.
In cases like that, I wonder if a reply like, “Thank you for letting me know. Would you mind sharing your sources so I could learn more for next time? My writing was based off these facts from these sources, and I’d love to understand the discrepancy” would work? That way the author could legitimately share why they used the facts they did while leaving the door open to being corrected and learning more. 🙂
It’s good to remember that things we “know” might not always be the full story. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
Jami, I really get what you’re saying, and my personal issues with Ramsey aside (I don’t watch his shows for my sanity as a foodie and maybe someday chef), I just find your rationale too stark and not reflective of the opposite side of this issue. Now I’m so not saying it’s okay to be jerky as you’ve described, whether public or private, that certainly doesn’t help, as you’ve made ever so CLEAR, and I promise, that’s the only time I’ll use all caps in this comment. But there’s still a difference between in my mind to being bluntly honest with someone, and using that honesty (However subjective) as a weapon, and I can’t help seeing it that way. As I’ve said before, I’m not an avid paranormal fan, I just got burnt out of it (Before I even knew Twilight and others like it, or not…), but I don’t shame you or any of my writer friends who love paranormal, read it and write it themselves, certainly not everyone loves animal fantasy as I do, but you don’t have to be a sleazebag to those who do, either. For me, this general point being brought up here just wasn’t about personal preference alone, or I’d say nothing on the subject, it’s just that people really confuse respect with weakness, and I don’t say that lightly or out of spite, I’ve lived that truth, and seen in play out with those I know offline. “Not everyone will like what we… — Read More »
Not Jami, but another commenter chiming in… Ramsay’s harsh on purpose, because if those folks can’t handle his being harsh in those shows you mentioned, they won’t be able to handle harsh customers. Is the harshness being used as a weapon? Yes. But it’s a weapon with a broader purpose than a desire to tear others down for self-aggrandizement. Are you free to avoid exposing yourself to it? Certainly. Are others free to subject themselves to it? Yes, particularly when they know what they’re getting into. And that’s the crux of it: While you shouldn’t use critique as a weapon, some people do. So if you put yourself in a position to be critiqued, you need to be prepared for the folks who use it as a weapon. Otherwise, they can destroy you. I don’t know if you read my above comment about the reviews on my short story, but it’s worth mentioning that I’ve only read one of the two, so far. I’ve noticed the second one, but I’m too busy at the moment to address any issues the reviews bring to my attention. So I’m not reading it, because it will hurt, emotionally. Upon reading it, I will likely cringe, call my cat to come cuddle with me, and force myself to jump into fixing what’s in my control rather than discussing it with one of my friends, because— Let’s just say I’ve learned the hard way that my friends take things a bit more personally than I… — Read More »
Hi Carradee,
Once again, I’ll say that you have a wonderfully healthy attitude here. My family keeps threatening that they won’t even let me look at reviews. LOL! Thanks for the comment!
Hi Taurean, Those are good questions. I don’t agree with most of what Ramsay says in this episode, to be honest. Whether he thinks such-and-such flavors can’t go together is subjective. And others (like in the local PBS show I mentioned in another comment) think their food is good. The problem–and the reason I’m using this example to illustrate how I’ve seen some authors behave–is how Amy reacts. From the very first Yelp review years ago, she reacted along the lines of “EVERYBODY loves my food and you’re a loser if you think otherwise.” Her defensive reaction to Ramsay’s criticism in the episode has nothing to do with Ramsay and everything to do with her. Near the top of the post I shared this link to that original Yelp review and Amy’s reply, dated 2010. The closest that original reviewer got to saying anything personal was “Perhaps the sign on the door should also say, “Wanted: New owner”.” That was still not personal because it wasn’t in reference to anything specific about Samy or Amy, but a comment on how the reviewer didn’t enjoy the food or the service. In response, Amy got personal, calling him a moron, loser, implied he couldn’t get a date, etc., etc. I’ve seen way too many authors take feedback that isn’t meant to be personal and react like Amy, saying, “Oh yes, it is personal because it insulted me.” The criticism might very well insult our abilities by commenting on the fruits of our… — Read More »
Thanks for replying, Jami, and I do agree responding to the reviewer is not a good idea, as you said. I just wanted those who comment here (read the post but didn’t comment) who DO CARE about respecting others, despite mistakes they might’ve made, but like me didn’t take their mistakes to that extreme, to not feel like they were cruel just for feeling it (not going to that extreme publically you warn against). I didn’t want them to not overly beat themselves up, as I often did, and still struggle not to relapse from a particularly bad episode I had two years ago. Again, not to Amy’s extent, but I do get frustrated like everyone else, as hard as I try to be positive both personally and in private. I was speaking more to them, since those who act like you cite above likely wouldn’t have the mindset, patience or spirit at the time, to acknowledge that. You have the right to feel what you do. Just find appropriate ways to vent in private, something I learned to do in the last three years, and I still mess up sometimes, but as long as you avoid those dangerous extremes, try to give yourself a break. It can be easy to see your valid points and get overly paranoid, and trust me, Jami, fear also makes people do less than helpful things to themselves and toward others. That’s certainly not because they’re egomaniacs, right? I know there are people who… — Read More »
An aside, I guess I’m just lucky that most of the writers I know are not like the jerks who go overboard as you described, Jami. Not to take away from what you said in your post, but that is something I’m grateful for in my life.
That doesn’t I’m blind to those who are like that. I just don’t like to obsess over it, you know? Not that I think you’re obsessing, you don’t do posts like this often, I’m just impressed that you had the courage to write about this particular topic, this is an area where you are so braver than me.
I speak more to the writers below the “Egomaniac” level, some of the writers I know struggle more with healthy assertive action and self-esteem than ego, at least in the context of this particular topic. I still think people in positions of power need to show the respect to those they demand it of.
Hi Taurean,
Understood and no worries. 🙂
I believe the vast majority of writers would never react so extremely. However, I see some type of inappropriate reaction to reviews every other month or so, and I worry about unintended escalation.
Unfortunately, I think it’s getting harder to recover from even a borderline inappropriate reaction because some people now watch for “bad author behavior” to share with others. As I said, public spectacles of all kinds become a spectator sport attracting the bloodthirsty.
So it’s more important than ever to not react even slightly down this road because some people are searching for those reactions. And some of those people might be willing to taunt the borderline with replies to their replies, hoping they’ll cross into the extreme for entertainment’s sake.
In other words, hurt could make us do something we usually wouldn’t, and that’s why I think a strong self-guideline of “never respond” is safer than trusting ourselves to make that judgement call in the heat of the moment. The potential of destructive escalation is obviously something we want to avoid, and the best way to do that is not to attract attention for our reaction to begin with. 🙂 I hope that makes sense. Thanks for the comment!
Hi Taurean,
Very true. And yes, I absolutely agree that it’s okay and normal to feel hurt by feedback. As you said, we just have to find appropriate ways to vent in private because doing it publicly–as Amy and Samy and some authors have done–just makes things worse.
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to reiterate that feeling hurt doesn’t make us weaker–just human. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
I have a feeling I’d be one of those authors who, upon receiving a bad review, would hide under my fleece blanket and cry.
I’m not big on confrontations, but words do affect me.
It’s unlikely that I would ever engage in any kind of back and forth. And if I ever finish my WIP and manage to get it to the publication stage? Well, I’ll be proud to say that at least I finished it. I’ll be a published author. Not all of those negative Nellies can say that.
Hi Renee,
Yes, criticism–no matter how it’s worded or what it’s directed toward–can hurt. 🙁 But as you said, we can feel good about accomplishing something at least, and we can take pride that we put it out there where it could be ripped by others. That’s a brave thing. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
Oh my, I caught an article or two on those folks.
Wow.
Some folks just can’t or won’t get it.
Hi Joanna,
Yes, since they’re local to me, the newspaper has had almost daily articles. In one of them, Samy claimed that they never took the servers tips! Um, dude, we all saw you, you admitted it on national TV, and all the employees say you did, so it’s time to give up that delusion. LOL! Thanks for the comment!
I too was shocked and amazed by Amy and Samy on this episode of Kitchen Nightmares. That anyone could be so arrogant in their denial was fascinating. Such a good reminder that you must not, must NOT, ever engage inappropriately with people who have a differing point of view. The poor attitude of these owners is sinking them– and as you pointed out, they can make all the excuses they want but the facts are they brought it all on themselves with their bad behavior.
Great post.
Hi Sierra,
Exactly. This goes far beyond the Kitchen Nightmares episode. I included that YouTube just for a direct look at their behavior. This is about their behavior to the first negative reviewer, at the first night of taping, on their Facebook page, etc.
The funny thing is that I think people can make a single mistake and apologize and usually move on to some extent. So their problem wasn’t a singular episode, but the ongoing attitude of being a victim and that everyone else is out to get them. Sad, really. Thanks for the comment!
Definitely the wrong way to respond, but you just know the reason the TV show picked them in the first place was because of their tendency to over react. That’s what the producers want.
Hi ChemistKen,
I think the show got more than they bargained for, to be honest. It’s not very clear in the video, but the producers had to step between Samy and that one customer (the one they kicked out in the beginning of the show) to prevent a fistfight, because Samy shoved the guy. The police came just a minute later (which they didn’t show in the video at all), and Samy started throwing a fit because the cops emptied the place. Samy wouldn’t calm down until the producers said they’d pay for the entire crowds’ meals. (This is all per local news reports, and confirmed by Katy and Miranda, the employees seen in the episode.)
In other words, the producers made things look less bad than they actually were. LOL! According to Katy and Miranda, the producers were shocked, a little scared, and had never seen anything like it.
So I agree that the producers picked them because they knew there would be drama, but I think it was a bit more “real” than they planned. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
Wow…just…wow! My sister had told me about this episode but I’d not seen it and since I get easily stressed with confrontations, even if they’re not my own, I wasn’t going to watch it. But, you gave a great summary of the issue, so now I really don’t have to watch it. LOL!
Great advice about not feeling and acting defensive, Jami! I know it is much easier to say than do, but do we must. As you said, it does the critiquer and critiquee no good to engage in that kind of antagonistic behavior.
I’ve missed you and your blog, BTW! I’ve been so busy that I’ve let blog reading slide. I was thrilled to see the subscribe button so now I hope to never miss another post of yours. 🙂
Hi Teresa,
Good to see you again! I understand–I’m so far behind in my blog reading it’s scary. 🙂
Yes, and when we’re understandably defensive, comments can feel antagonistic even when they’re not. Leaving things alone is definitely safer. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
[…] Handling Bad Reviews: Lessons from Amy’s Baking Company […]
This was hysterical thank you for sharing it, Jami. When I finally publish and get my first bad review I will remember this!
Hi Cindy,
I’ve seen some authors take the attitude, “Hey, I got my first bad review. I’m a real author now. Yay!” That’s a healthy way to look at it. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
Wow…their restaurant sounds very shocking… Oh, haha, I guess I didn’t do the “don’t reply to negative reviews” part very well! But at least it was a good friend. I was not at all offended by her negative comment though, because I thought it was her own opinion. Yet I did reply saying “Oh, actually I think this.” One example was where she thought my protagonist was really vain. I said, oh actually, he wasn’t vain, he was actually simply being a coward and running away from his problems. So, my reply was more like a: Actually, his motivations/ thoughts/ attitudes was like this, not like that. (Maybe it helped that my “correction” was STILL negative, lol. She said he was vain. I said, not really, he’s actually being cowardly and unproductively evasive 😉 So perhaps my “still negative” opinion makes her opinion sound less devalued? Lol, I dunno.) Yet, I really wasn’t offended because I can’t expect everyone to love my characters as much as I do, lol. It’s actually quite good to have different feelings from different people about the same character. Often, they like or are more interested in, a character of mine that I dislike or am not interested in, lol. Another example was one I already told you about. She saw my love story as something like Twilight, about a girl totally relying on a boy for her self esteem. But I told her (but good-humoredly, because I was too happy that she took the… — Read More »
Hi Serena, Yes, it can be different with a good friend. 🙂 With my closest beta readers, when they come back with an impression I didn’t intend, I’ll often discuss the difference between what I saw and what I was intending to see if I need to change something. “I explained my character’s “true motives” was a little bit like that…because I felt that I was the writer, so I should know what my character was really thinking (I have the insider’s view), haha.” The thing to watch out for with this situation is realizing that what we think is on the page isn’t necessarily what’s actually on the page. So yes, as the author, we might have the insider’s view, but it’s our responsibility to show that insider’s view on the page. If someone comes back with a different impression, that’s usually a clue we’re not there yet. 🙂 For example, if they came back with different motivations for a character, I might say “Well, I was trying to show this. Could you see that possibility as well from the writing, or do I need to tweak it more?” That’s not arguing that the writing is perfect as it is, but more that we’re seeing if they’re getting the wrong impression from the writing and something needs to change, or if they’re getting a different impression that works too. That feedback is a good portion of what beta readers are for! So it would be counterproductive to say that… — Read More »
“For example, if they came back with different motivations for a character, I might say “Well, I was trying to show this. Could you see that possibility as well from the writing, or do I need to tweak it more?” That’s not arguing that the writing is perfect as it is, but more that we’re seeing if they’re getting the wrong impression from the writing and something needs to change, or if they’re getting a different impression that works too. ” Thanks for this good point! That reminds me of another comment where most of my friends thought this male character was boring because he was so perfect and “flat”. At first, I was a bit upset and surprised, though more surprised than upset, lol, but later, I realized that readers probably didn’t notice the little things that made the character not 2D. So, instead of just showing a different personality side of him in a few sentences embedded into a paragraph, I could make that longer so it sticks into the reader’s mind more. But of course, though I can make things as obvious as possible, there will always be some readers who are more sensitive than others, or some readers who demand more before they call a character “not flat”. Lol. I think I’m one of the more “sensitive” and “not so demanding” readers, so I need to remember that some other people need to see something big before they count it as something. So yeah, make those… — Read More »
Hi Serena,
Exactly! Sometimes we have to–I’ve seen the term for it as–“explode” the information, make it bigger, more noticeable, more impactful. Sometimes just mentioning something isn’t enough, and it will fall flat. Instead, we have to explode that idea into a whole paragraph. 🙂
In general, we can try to match the number of words we use on an idea with how big of an impression we want it to make on the reader. If we use too many words on unimportant details, it will feel distracting or like a tangent. If we don’t use enough words on an important concept, it will fall flat and not make an impression.
That said, yes, you’re absolutely right that some people just won’t like our work no matter what we do. *shrug* That’s the case with anything–food, what sports we enjoy, movies, books, etc. We’re not writing for them. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
Oh I like that term. “Exploding”. Speaking of picking focuses, sometimes I can’t decide what to focus on! For this story I have, it started off as a simple character arc for the heroine–along with her romance with the hero. Then since readers said the hero was too flat, I wanted to do a character arc for him as well, to develop him. But now I realize that it’s not that simple, because if I develop him, readers will lose sight of the themes and premises that the heroine’s arc talks about—and I really want readers to remember those themes, lol. Since the hero’s arc would have nothing to do with those specific themes, spending time on him would just…”dilute” the story, you could say. So it’s a choice between a more developed and 3D, complex hero but a more buried theme, or a flatter hero but a more focused and clear theme. Argh. 🙁 Have you ever encountered anything similar before? Do you have any advice for this dilemma?
Hi Serena,
Yes, I love that “exploding” technique. (Note to self: I should probably do a blog post about that. 🙂 )
Great question about dealing with secondary characters! We have to remember that every character is the hero of their own life–whether their life is shown in the story or not. 🙂 So they should have their own goals, motivations, and conflicts in any scene they’re in, and that means any character who appears in a high number of scenes should have an arc.
Those arcs don’t have to be as big or powerful as the protagonist’s arc, but if those characters are a part of the main storyline, the story’s events should affect them in some way as well. An arc just means that there is change.
Their arc can be alluded to in subtext or just seen in their actions/behaviors, so it doesn’t mean spending a lot of words on them either. Their arc also doesn’t have to distract from the protagonist’s arc if it’s written in such a way to complement and reinforce the themes. For example, if the story explores the nature of trust, the protagonist’s arc could focus on one element of trust and other main characters’s arcs could focus on other elements of trust (even if it just means them struggling to get the protagonist trust them to help).
Ask yourself how the other main characters change over the course of the story, and there’s your arc. 🙂 I hope that helps! Thanks for the comment!
Thanks for the suggestions! They definitely helped. 🙂
I’m a book blogger, and occasionally I’ll read a book for that I don’t like. It is always awkward for me since I started reviewing to help promote authors, and I don’t like hurting people’s feelings however unintentionally. My two cents though, is if an author replies with a “sorry you didn’t like my book” attitude, it just makes things more awkward for both of us. If everyone liked the exact same things the world would be an unbearably dull place, and maybe I disliked your book, but that doesn’t mean my opinion is the majority or that it won’t be some else’s very favorite book that they lend out to all their friends. Own what you write. I know that no one would publish something they didn’t think the world was ready to see!
Hi Larissa,
Fantastic point! Yes, as I mentioned in the post, even that type of reply is usually uncalled for–for exactly the reason you mentioned.
If a comment or review is posted in a place that it’s meant to communicate with the author, maybe. But if it’s made in a place that’s strictly for readers, then it can feel intrusive. Thanks for sharing your perspective and for the comment!