Would you tell a friend their book is awful?

[Anonymous]

They are asking our friend group what we thought of it. Of those who've read it, it's pretty unanimously bad, but I'm not ok even hinting about this to them. Wondering if I'm in the minority.

[Anonymous]

I think this is an Ask Amy question from earlier this week

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think this is an Ask Amy question from earlier this week

Really?! Link?

[Anonymous]

Yikes‼️
This one is a toughie.

I would simply tell them that the genre that they have written in is not one that I particularly read.

And leave my response at that.

[Anonymous]

No, don't say anything negative. Focus on something nice that you can say and leave it at that. What a fun topic! Congratulations on getting published! How exciting to be a writer!

[Anonymous]

Is it published yet? Then tell them something you liked.

Unpublished? Offer constructive feedback

[Anonymous]

My sister made some song recordings that made me physically uncomfortable to listen to. Her singing isn't very good and I find the lyrics trite and vapid even though she clearly intends them to be meaningful. I hate that I feel this way because she's doing something that brings her joy, and I think it's good for people to do art - even if ends up being bad art. Still, I involuntarily feel how I feel.

Obviously I would never say any of this to my sister. So, when she asked me about the album, I steered the conversation to the process of production (which I did find interesting.)

[Anonymous]

I learned from art school critiques that there's always something positive that you can say.

"Interesting character development," "unexpected plot twist," "it takes a lot of discipline and commitment to finish a book" are all neutral comments.

We used to follow the neutral comments with actual usable criticism but you don't have to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it published yet? Then tell them something you liked.

Unpublished? Offer constructive feedback

This. I’ve read various friends’ manuscripts. Before accepting, you must know their intentions- are they looking for constructive criticism, or a pat on the back? My friends have specifically wanted criticism/feedback. I tried to balance it with compliments, but most people do not write well and don’t have a cohesive readable story. It takes drafts and drafts to get something polished. You could say “I love where you’re going with this, what an unusual/fascinating/hilarious/devious/thrilling story. I’m so impressed. Are you looking for feedback, I can share mine, if so!”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think this is an Ask Amy question from earlier this week

She didn't bother replying to a bunch of questions.

[Anonymous]

Like movies I find books to be very subjective. There are books (and movies) that I really hated, but many others liked and vice versa.

So you saying her book is awful - which is an objective statement- isn't fair.

[Anonymous]

you have to say something

[Anonymous]

I would say it’s not my type of thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Like movies I find books to be very subjective. There are books (and movies) that I really hated, but many others liked and vice versa.

So you saying her book is awful - which is an objective statement- isn't fair.

It's poorly edited, lots of typos, a few glaring plot holes, some consistency issues. Yes, it's published by one of the Big 5 (or 4 or 3 or whatever they're done to now). I was honestly surprised at the quality.

[Anonymous]

No. I'd only criticize it if I was genuinely asked for constructive feedback, and prepared to give it.

My friend wrote two books, one of them I disliked and one of them I didn't read because I know I won't like it. If she asked me point-blank what I thought about it, I would lie. She is smart enough to not do that, though. As an author you have to understand that not everybody is going to like your work. If you seek feedback it needs to be from people who are going to have constructive, helpful criticism, rather than expecting praise from everybody.