I read a sample of a fantasy book which was so badly written (odd and confusing sentence structure, unfinished sentences, repeat of unnecessary words, even an error on the book title, etc.) that I started correcting it as I read. Then I went to check on the reviews and there were 300+ good reviews and only 14+ people said the book needed editing. Is this the norm now?
How could there be 300+ good reviews for a book this badly written? It was a 600+ page book which means there would be a lot of grammar errors that cannot be easily ignored. So I like to know: how much bad writing can a reader tolerate or how much bad writing can a reader tolerate before they give up on a book?
For me, if I am correcting the writing that means I'm not focusing on the story so I would give up on that book after a few chapters or when I had enough. I would tolerate a badly-written book if I can enjoy the story but it is distracting when the writing needs to be re-read a few times to correctly understand what was written. Bad writing is bad writing, you can't hide that.
As a reader, how much bad writing can you tolerate? Or how much bad writing can you tolerate before you give up on a book?
Very surprising it got reviews
ReplyDeleteChristine: It's not so suprising now as I have seen many of these type of books.
DeleteThank you for coming by. Have a lovely day.
Well, badly written and badly edited are two separate things. A badly written book or story -- that will cause me to lose interest pretty quickly. A badly edited book or story -- I find that distracting and annoying, like you do, but if it is nevertheless a well written book or story, I'll persevere. At least for awhile!
ReplyDeleteDebra: Here I am only talking about bad writing but editing is part of writing. Now if this book was properly edited, it might still be bad but it's up to the reader to decide.
DeleteThank you for coming by. Have a lovely day.
Woeful editing irritates me, and it is becoming more common with self published books.
ReplyDeleteElephant's Child: I don't know if just self published books that had woeful editing but it seems so. But those big house publishing companies do allow some authors to publish books that needed serious editing, just the length of certain books will tell you it's true.
DeleteThank you for coming by. Have a lovely day.
Wowww that is bad. I can't do it either, I am right there with you, if I am focused on the errors, it's game over for me and that book. I don't get it either! Like- I understand that mistakes DO happen, but isn't that the point of editors and proofreaders and such? Especially because if you, the reader who read it ONE time noticed all these errors, how can it have been read by multiple professionals with that many errors?! This is such a good topic because it happens a LOT I feel like!
ReplyDeleteShannon: No book is perfect but at least, there was no typos. Perhaps this author didn't have someone read their book before they published it? But I guess I was just confused by the large amount of good reviews.
DeleteThank you for coming by. Have a lovely day.
"Especially because if you, the reader who read it ONE time noticed all these errors, how can it have been read by multiple professionals with that many errors?!"
ReplyDeleteExactly! And I totally agree with Shannon...it does happen more and more lately, and in traditionally published books too, not just indies.
I get a little annoyed by editing problems, but to this day, I've yet to read a book so chock-full of them to drive me away. And I agree with Debra above that bad writing is a different thing altogether. Sometimes I question certain authorial choices (like repetitions and unnecessary recapitulations), but I think I've only read a couple of books where the writing was genuinely poor, and one was so short that I finished it anyway, while with the other, I just couldn't...and with poor writing, I mean poor plotting as well.
Roberta R.: It's true not just indies and self published books that had errors. Big publishers also put out books that probably could use some more editing. Certainly some popular books are way too long as if there were no editing done at all.
DeleteYou're lucky. I have read a lot of books where the writing is so poor that I had to stop reading. As to authors decision to include certain things, well, you're right, the author added elements/characters/storyline that are questionable. Just because an author spent years on a book didn't mean all the decision that were made are good ones. But then again, it's a matter of opinions.
Thank you for coming by. Have a lovely day.
If a book is full of typos, missing words etc. I can get reaaly annoyed - I usually start correcting the eroors in red ink if it's bad enough. But if the story is good, and coherent and well written I can stand it. I probably won't read the sequel, but I have only once quit a book solely for bad editing /spelling/wording - and then I wrote the publishers and complained.
ReplyDeleteA bad story on the other hand, even with excellent language and proofreading, but with dangling threads and Deus ex machina saving the day several times can make me condemn the book to the circular files.
An extra: Blog posts with so many errors mostly mean that I stop following that blog.
And pressing "enter" I now see all the 'eroors' of my comment - I'll leave it for the laughs :)
DeleteCharlotte: Typos I can overlook sometimes but if there are too many of them, then I have to wonder.
DeleteYou're right, a well written book don't always mean a good book. I have read those type of books and they bored me. The deus ex machina, I don't think I've read too many of those but yes, sudden miracle or sudden something to solve a problem does get a bit annoying.
I see your error/eroors and I don't mind it. I don't think I come across too many blogs with writing errors.
Thank you for coming by. Have a lovely day.
I hate mistakes in a book, whether it's a spelling mistake, a grammar error, or when the timeline doesn't work, for example. And I will always mention it in my review. I doubt many will care about it but I do and I feel that every book should be perfect for the reader to learn their language correctly which - unfortunately - is more and more often not the case.
ReplyDeleteMarianne: I agreed that it would be nice that every book is perfect but at the same time, I don't really need books to perfect, just good enough to understand the story without any writing distractions as errors and typos. It's kind of maddening to have books that are out there that aren't quite ready for publishing.
DeleteThank you for coming by. Have a lovely day.
I think, if I pay money for a book I can expect it to be without spelling or grammar mistakes. At leat part of the population would learn how to spell correctly, then. Hopefully.
DeleteIf I paid for a book, I would definitely mention it in my review. For ARCs, I rarely mention issues, unless it's something that really bugs me and then I'll say something like, the author will probably fix this flaw before publication. If it interrupts the flow of reading to much, my rating goes lower and lower. After all, if a book can't keep me engaged...? Except for my need to finish what I start.
ReplyDeletesherry @ fundinmental
Sherry@fundinmental: I agreed with you, if a book is bit too hard to keep reding, it would get low rating from me too. Unlike you, I never quite need to finish any book I started. I guess I'm too moody a reader.
DeleteThank you for coming by. Have a lovely day.