So many thought-provoking questions addressed, particularly about book reviewing! To a certain extent, it seems a bit perverse to spend so much time, emotion, and psychic energy on producing a product for which there is a huge glut on the market–but not writing is not an option for me.
This is one of the many challenges I experience these days. There are a number of reasons I struggle with writing and one of them is “if nobody is going to read it, why bother?” But I still have stories I want to tell.
Is not the purpose of writing to tell a story?
Yes, I would say that pure reading is in decline. But maybe storytelling is not. Perhaps multi-modal tales are replacing the novel.
Remember Cover to Cover with John Robbins? Talk about engaging.
With devices these days, authors/creators can easily write a chapter, narrate a chapter, illustrate a chapter, animate a chapter or full-on live-action act a chapter. Now imagine all of those strung together…
Rating and reviews. Oy!
Why does anyone rate and/or review a book? To influence others. Plain and simple. You want to spread your opinion into the lives other others who may follow. There is literally no other reason. (At least, not for public-facing collection sites.)
What’s the greatest influence you can induce in a rating system? 5 stars or 1.
Any other choice dilutes your intent to sway others.
Regarding reviews: The only other reasons to review are selfish or selfless. Selfish: detail a story’s triumphs and failures so that one can enlighten one’s own writing. Selfless: To instruct fellow writers as to how to better communicate their stories.
I think the whole rating thing started with the internet and social media. Reviewing used to be the province of the literati, but now that anyone can apply a comment about something on a public website, many do just that. The word “review” now covers a lot of ground. There is an idea that reviews sell books, so some authors and publishers distribute review copies to generate reviews. I’m not sure that premise is correct; I hardly ever decide to read a book after reading reviews. I usually read them after I’m well into a book, to see what others think of it, and I tend to read the reviews attached to 2- or 3-star ratings. So it is a kind of social media thing as well as marketing. Some authors don’t read reviews of their books at all; others scrutinize them looking for deficiencies to work on (I’m not sure about that one either).
That’s true. Amazon makes it too easy to buy stuff, and rating/reviewing is part of that. I just “reviewed” a set of towels I bought via Amazon. I don’t know whether that’s funny or sad.
For me, writing a review enhances my experience of reading a book, just the way writing a critical analysis of a story or poem did in college. And I hope other readers find them helpful.
Literary reviews are certainly a multi-faceted construct.
I don’t write ’em or read ’em beyond the “do you or don’t you recommend this book?” Which is what all of this ultimately boils down to.
It appears, though, that you and Audrey include reviews as part of the reading process. That’s cool. I hated school and would never continue a practice learned there. I do analyze culture and technology but learned how to much later in life.
Ah yes, the dreaded “book report.” I think I was pretty good at writing them, and have probably dredged up whatever it takes and used it for reviewing, which I see as a sort of writing exercises. You, on the other hand, write actual short fiction on your blog, which is admirable.
An interesting discussion. There have always been people who read and those who don’t (and we will never understand each other!). Sometimes we get very busy, raising kids and juggling a career etc. and we don’t read as much. Once I retired, I read to my heart’s content. At last, time to read!! I visit schools and read from my books (BTW in Canada schools have a budget to pay writers for school visits). What I notice is that kids still read and read printed books. I always ask what their favourite books are and they are so excited to tell me all about them and why they love them. During the pandemic, book sales went up—one of the good things about being in lockdown. People still read and as we boomers age, we will read even more.
Writers Supporting Writers 
So many thought-provoking questions addressed, particularly about book reviewing! To a certain extent, it seems a bit perverse to spend so much time, emotion, and psychic energy on producing a product for which there is a huge glut on the market–but not writing is not an option for me.
LikeLiked by 5 people
This is one of the many challenges I experience these days. There are a number of reasons I struggle with writing and one of them is “if nobody is going to read it, why bother?” But I still have stories I want to tell.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I’m glad I’m not alone in that.
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It’s a serious problem for me. Berthold has done a good job of convincing me to write for those who do read my books and be happy with that.
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That’s where I’ve landed, too.
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That’s good to know, Liz. I still have a book or two that need to be written, plus one I completed years ago I should really have another look at.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Is not the purpose of writing to tell a story?
Yes, I would say that pure reading is in decline. But maybe storytelling is not. Perhaps multi-modal tales are replacing the novel.
Remember Cover to Cover with John Robbins? Talk about engaging.
With devices these days, authors/creators can easily write a chapter, narrate a chapter, illustrate a chapter, animate a chapter or full-on live-action act a chapter. Now imagine all of those strung together…
Rating and reviews. Oy!
Why does anyone rate and/or review a book? To influence others. Plain and simple. You want to spread your opinion into the lives other others who may follow. There is literally no other reason. (At least, not for public-facing collection sites.)
What’s the greatest influence you can induce in a rating system?
5 stars or 1.
Any other choice dilutes your intent to sway others.
Regarding reviews: The only other reasons to review are selfish or selfless. Selfish: detail a story’s triumphs and failures so that one can enlighten one’s own writing. Selfless: To instruct fellow writers as to how to better communicate their stories.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think the whole rating thing started with the internet and social media. Reviewing used to be the province of the literati, but now that anyone can apply a comment about something on a public website, many do just that. The word “review” now covers a lot of ground. There is an idea that reviews sell books, so some authors and publishers distribute review copies to generate reviews. I’m not sure that premise is correct; I hardly ever decide to read a book after reading reviews. I usually read them after I’m well into a book, to see what others think of it, and I tend to read the reviews attached to 2- or 3-star ratings. So it is a kind of social media thing as well as marketing. Some authors don’t read reviews of their books at all; others scrutinize them looking for deficiencies to work on (I’m not sure about that one either).
LikeLiked by 2 people
I think the whole rating thing gained traction because of Amazon. Numerical ratings feed their algorithms, which in turn feed sales. More’s the pity.
LikeLiked by 2 people
That’s true. Amazon makes it too easy to buy stuff, and rating/reviewing is part of that. I just “reviewed” a set of towels I bought via Amazon. I don’t know whether that’s funny or sad.
LikeLiked by 1 person
For me, writing a review enhances my experience of reading a book, just the way writing a critical analysis of a story or poem did in college. And I hope other readers find them helpful.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Literary reviews are certainly a multi-faceted construct.
I don’t write ’em or read ’em beyond the “do you or don’t you recommend this book?” Which is what all of this ultimately boils down to.
It appears, though, that you and Audrey include reviews as part of the reading process. That’s cool. I hated school and would never continue a practice learned there. I do analyze culture and technology but learned how to much later in life.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Ah yes, the dreaded “book report.” I think I was pretty good at writing them, and have probably dredged up whatever it takes and used it for reviewing, which I see as a sort of writing exercises. You, on the other hand, write actual short fiction on your blog, which is admirable.
LikeLiked by 2 people
An interesting discussion. There have always been people who read and those who don’t (and we will never understand each other!). Sometimes we get very busy, raising kids and juggling a career etc. and we don’t read as much. Once I retired, I read to my heart’s content. At last, time to read!! I visit schools and read from my books (BTW in Canada schools have a budget to pay writers for school visits). What I notice is that kids still read and read printed books. I always ask what their favourite books are and they are so excited to tell me all about them and why they love them. During the pandemic, book sales went up—one of the good things about being in lockdown. People still read and as we boomers age, we will read even more.
LikeLiked by 1 person