A Book Can Be Well Written and Still Not Be for You
Hello, dear readers,
While browsing the internet the other day (instead of writing, as I probably should have been), I started noticing something interesting. Several authors who had recently published their books were becoming increasingly vocal about explaining why their stories didn't contain romance, why there was no spice, or why their books simply weren't suitable for certain readers.
And it got me thinking.
Half the battle of getting your book into readers' hands is finding the right readers for it. After all, not every story is written for every audience, and that's perfectly fine.
But what caught my attention was when these authors started explaining themselves. In several cases, it happened after someone had left a negative review because the book didn't contain enough spice or didn't feature a particular trope they had expected.
And there I was, staring at my screen, wondering: Have we forgotten the difference between a badly written book and a book that simply isn't for us?
For example, I personally don't enjoy books filled with long, elaborate descriptions of the atmosphere and surroundings. I prefer stories that move at a faster pace, where the descriptions are woven naturally into the action rather than taking up several pages at a time. But here's the thing: just because I don't enjoy that particular writing style doesn't mean it's bad. In fact, a beautifully descriptive novel might be exactly what another reader is looking for. Some people want to immerse themselves completely in a fictional world, to experience every detail of its atmosphere, and to spend time absorbing the setting.
And I can appreciate the skill involved in creating that experience, even if it isn't my personal preference.
If I were reviewing such a book, I wouldn't automatically lower its rating simply because it contained more description than I usually enjoy. I might mention that readers who prefer fast-paced stories could find it slow, but I wouldn't treat my personal taste as proof that the book itself was poorly written.
I think it's important to make a distinction here. I'm not saying readers are obligated to enjoy every well-written book or that they shouldn't leave negative reviews. Quite the opposite. If you didn't enjoy a book, you have every right to say so. Reading is a personal experience, and your reaction to a story is valid.
But there's a difference between saying "This book was badly written" and "This book wasn't what I wanted to read."
The first is a judgment about the quality of the writing. The second is a description of your personal experience. And while those two things can overlap, they aren't necessarily the same.
Somewhere along the way, I feel like we've started expecting every book to offer a little bit of everything. We want romance, but not too much romance. We want action, but also plenty of character development. We want morally gray characters, but we become uncomfortable when they actually do something morally questionable. We want dark themes, but we don't necessarily want to feel uncomfortable while reading them.
And when a book doesn't meet one of those expectations, sometimes we're quick to label it as bad rather than simply accepting that we might not be its intended audience.
But imagine what would happen if every author tried to satisfy every reader. How many genuinely different books would we have? How many interesting stories would never be written because someone was afraid that a particular group of readers might dislike them?
Books are allowed to be different. They're allowed to appeal to different people. And they're allowed to make choices that some readers won't enjoy.
I also believe that everyone is entitled to their opinion. Readers have every right to criticize books, discuss what didn't work for them, and share their experiences honestly. Reviews are valuable, both to other readers and to authors.
But I think we also have a responsibility to express those opinions respectfully. There's another human being on the other side of that review. Someone who might have spent years working on the story you're discussing. You don't have to like their book, and you certainly don't have to pretend that you do. But there's no reason to be unnecessarily cruel about it.
I'm not suggesting that authors should be protected from criticism. Constructive criticism is important, and sometimes negative reviews highlight genuine weaknesses in a story. Poor pacing, inconsistent characterization, confusing plots, or misleading marketing are all perfectly reasonable things to discuss.
What I'm questioning is the tendency to treat personal preferences as universal standards.
I decided to write this article because I work with many authors, including people who are only beginning to discover their voices as writers. And if there's one thing I've learned throughout my career, it's that writing is difficult for reasons that go far beyond putting words on a page.
Yes, you need to develop an idea, build a story, create characters, and figure out how to make everything work together. But there's also an enormous psychological element to the process. Fear, embarrassment, self-doubt, imposter syndrome, and the constant worry about how other people will perceive your work.
Sometimes authors ask me questions like, "Can I actually say this?" or "Is this scene too violent?" or "Am I being too harsh?" or even "Is this story too personal?"
And I understand where those questions come from.
When you're creating something that will eventually be seen and judged by strangers, it's incredibly easy to start questioning every decision. You begin imagining how people might react, what they might criticize, or whether someone will misunderstand what you're trying to say.
Before you know it, you're no longer asking yourself what your story needs. You're asking yourself what will make everyone happy.
And I think that's a dangerous place for a writer to end up.
Because the truth I believe in is that a writer's job is to tell the story they want to tell. To share their perspective, explore the questions that matter to them, and express the things they want to express without constantly censoring themselves out of fear.
That doesn't mean ignoring feedback, refusing to improve your craft, or assuming that every creative decision is automatically brilliant. Writing still requires skill, revision, and the willingness to recognize when something isn't working.
But there's a difference between improving your story and changing its identity because you're afraid someone might dislike it.
There will always be negative reviews. There will always be people who disagree with your choices. There will always be readers who wish you'd written a different ending, developed a different relationship, or explored a different theme.
At the end of the day, I think every writer deserves to look at their finished work and feel proud of what they've created. To know that they've told the story they wanted to tell, even if not everyone understands it or connects with it.
You have to write the book for yourself rather than trying to write it for the entire world.
My debut novel, The Puppet King, hasn't been published yet, but I already know it won't be a book for everyone.
Some readers will find its themes too heavy. Others might dislike the decisions my characters make. Some may consider certain scenes too brutal, too bloody, or too morally uncomfortable. And there might even be readers who finish the book and decide they never want to read anything I've written again.
And again, that's perfectly fine.
I don't expect everyone to love my story. I don't even expect everyone to understand it the way I do.
But I didn't want to write a book that tried to please everyone, because somewhere along the way, I might have lost the very reason I started writing it in the first place.
My job was to tell Alistair's story. To create the world I imagined, with all its cruelty, pain, contradictions, and uncomfortable questions. To explore the things I wanted to explore and allow my characters to be who they were, even when their choices weren't easy to defend.
How readers respond to that story is entirely their right.
Some will love it. Some will hate it. Some might find something meaningful in it, while others might simply decide it isn't their kind of book.
But I know I've already told the story I wanted to tell.
A book doesn't have to be for everyone to deserve to exist.
If you’d like to follow the journey of the book I am writing and see how it’s coming together, you can find more here:
But if you want to, you can see more about my work as a ghostwriter here:
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