Sometimes It Is the Reader That Sucks and Not the Book!!!
I came across this quote one day and post — that I slept each day peacefully.
“SOMETIMES IT IS THE READER THAT SUCKS AND NOT THE BOOK!”
I am a content writer and the author of 3 books — Myra, 12 Tales of Bleeding Blue, and Her Vs. Her and maybe that is why I could resonate with this quote. Only a few readers are meant to acknowledge and appreciate what is in front of them. I am alright with people not liking my books or articles, but some don’t like them because I have written them. They do not criticize the piece constructively; instead, they directly insult that without reading it.
Each writer has at least a few people who do not like what they have written just because they have written it. If someone else had written the same book, they would have loved it, or would have hated it passionately; but would have at least picked it up and skimmed through it.
Again, “Who am I to comment?” is what I thought up until now. An artist should always be open to people’s opinions about their art/creation, but only some people who criticize you are in fact criticizing you. Rest of them are not even paying enough attention to your creation to comment on it and yet hate it with so much passion. Hence, I believe that “Sometimes it is the reader that sucks and not the book.”
Like with friendships, only some people you think are your friends, are your friends. Rest of them (most of them) are snakes who bite you and fill you with poison right when you are at your lowest. They are only present for you because and when it is convenient for them. That applies to us as well. Even if we are that toxic to a handful few, but if we are acknowledging that we are toxic to someone and we try to change that about us, we are halfway to becoming better humans.
When it comes to reading, a lot also depends on how a person reads the books and what they pick up! Sometimes, a person continuously picks up books that suck, one after the other, which makes him hate a good book too. But how can one differentiate between a good book and a bad book?
There is no such thing as a good book or a bad book, maybe because I have written three and know what kind of effort goes into writing even one. For me, a book is either readable or non–readable. If I do not find it in me to finish the book then, I’ll put it away for a while and continue when I think I am in the phase or mood to finish it. Tons of external factors affect a person when he/she is reading a book and so does internal factors too.
It might not be the same for everyone, and that is okay. Life is too short to read something you do not enjoy, but being prejudiced against someone else who likes what you don’t, is unfair. It has been a week since I started working out. I thought the trainers first ease a person into a mild workout before pushing them into heavy ones, but I was wrong. I was being pushed out of my comfort zone from day 1.
Similar is the reading exercise. If you ease yourself into reading the books that comfort you, you’ll miss out on some fantastic stuff. Only some people who read want to become a writer, and some do it simply because they enjoy it. But not opening yourself to varied genres is like being the toad who has spent his whole life in the well and have not seen anything beyond that. It will surely him think of himself as the world’s largest amphibian.
And this is the perfect example of the reader that sucks. You must read or skim through it to hate, criticize, or dislike a book. Otherwise, you are one of the readers who suck, and writers do not need that kind of shit. The biggest enemies of the writers are not the ones who hate their books but those who are ignorant of the books.
Some people think too highly of themselves that they judge a book and protest about it without reading. Now, these are the kinds of readers who suck, not the writers they are reading. Before making an opinion or judgment about the book, at least give that book a chance, and don’t be the reader that sucks.
And to the writers who often struggle with honest opinions, here are my two cents for you:
“YOU ARE WRITING: THAT IS MORE THAN ENOUGH.”
People always turn to the arts when they think about spending their leisure time — watching a movie, reading a book, listening to music, painting, dancing, etc. And you are giving them something to spend their leisure time with. You are giving them something to think about. You are giving them something that touches their hearts, minds, and souls.
So, it is not your fault for trying to serve them with your creation. It would be best to remember that you are trying to express yourself, and no one can stop you from doing so. Your craft is your medium to share what you feel with a bunch of people interested in knowing what you have to say. It doesn’t matter if people do not value you just because it is you and is discriminatory towards your work because you create it.
I used to think that every reader and their opinion matter, but that is different. Not every reader is the reader whose voice matters; some are noise that you should block out. Those are the readers, viewers, and listeners who suck, not the writers, filmmakers, actors, dancers, singers, painters, poets, or musicians, because a genuine feedback provider will invest their time in your book/works and then make an opinion.
