As a note: As I get a good grasp of the requirements, this blog post may change a bit.
Burn!
[Reviews]
Generally a one star means, I’m going to do anti-marketing. I’ll tell people NOT to get it. Don’t waste your money. It’s not worth it.
The good, the bad, and the ugly. Four stars are the good. Two stars are the bad. The ugly are the ones.
I named one star Burn. Because honestly, one stars are not ready. They may be a decent first draft, or even a second. There may be something you could take out of it and use. But generally, it hurts to read.
The language skill when writing failed.
The plot has holes so big, you could fall through them.
The characters are completely unrelateable. The reader feels closer to an ant than this character.
Excessive or too limited use of descriptive and/or capturing words.
Constant use of the same words without purpose (Purpose would be when you want people to realize you agree by constantly repeating ‘I’, ‘me’, and ‘mine’.)
Spelling, grammar, punctuation errors that would leave red pen marks on every page in multiple places.
The reader regrets spending the time to read the book.
A one star is probably best considered a first draft. Books are made by people. A person who offers up a book that hasn’t gone through editing and who writes with weaknesses within their writing craft will create a one star.
Do I mind one stars that much? I don’t know. Do I want to be marked one star? No. I shouldn’t be. My first drafts already have enough to be a two. I have enough skill from my two decades experience that I shouldn’t get ones.
One stars are serious, just as much as five stars are. The writer has to fail so much there is no connection. It probably would be better if the reader stared at paint dry than read this book.
Have I read a published one star? No. Not at all. The closest ones would be a few picture books that I didn’t see purpose to. In any sense. But I didn’t regret reading them. I didn’t want to burn them. I’d call them bad; I wouldn’t care what happened to them. But I personally wouldn’t do anything to said book.
Now I said published one star versus one star on its own. There is a reason for that. First drafts that sound like one stars are normal. If you are changing genres or new to the craft in any sense, you will write a one star. It’s expected. I re-read my old works and just cringe. Cringe the entire way through the draft. I may have even cried from the quality. It’s okay. Seriously. Just don’t publish that nonsense.
[Reviews]
Cat Hartliebe 