Something I see frequently in the world of book bloggers and media bloggers is the use of a rating system, ranging from stars, teacups and even dragons. When starting off this blog last year I thought it was such a great idea! It was a concise form of giving people a snapshot of how you felt about the work in question (which in our case could be book, film, TV show, or album). However, while this remains true, in recent months I have felt a resistance to rating my books.
One reason for which is simply because I do not find it an easy task. I sit for at least 30 minutes to an hour just thinking back through all the reasons why they deserve or do not deserve the rating. In some cases, it’s just too much additional work. But another reason that I tend to avoid it is that I always feel a sense of guilt.
Part of why Z and I started this blog was that we always had so much to say about the stories and art that we were consuming. We could be embroiled in a conversation spanning hours about a single piece of work, discussing each and every theme we liked, or did not like. Regardless of our it being negative or positive, we always had lots to say about it. Translating that into the blog world has been a challenge to say the least, and something that we are still learning and adapting to.
However, one thing that we never did when having those conversations was attribute ratings to things. And the reason for that is because we did not find them useful in the least as so much was left unsaid.
Bear with me as I go off on this slight tangent to explain how the inspiration for this post came. As I mentioned in one of our latest posts, Reading When Feeling Low, I’ve been struggling in recent months to feel motivated and get focused on the things that I love. Part of that, I believe, also has to do with the pressures of social media (as everything always does). This has been a topic of conversation that has come up often in the last months. In a recent Twitter exchange, I mentioned how social media has not been the escape from reality that it used to be for me. Instead, I feel some anxiety even opening up the apps.
I think some of the reasoning behind that has to do with the fact that I find myself comparing my content to others on platforms like Instagram. While beautiful work, the act of creation becomes less about the enjoyment and more about measuring up. What ends up getting lost in that is the focus on the blog content, which for me is the most important thing. Both Z and I are extremely passionate about what we put up on the blog, but at times it becomes overshadowed by the other elements of social media exposure.
Getting back to the point of this post, it made me realise how this must mirror the work of writers, performers and artists in general. The time and energy they put into their work is immense. Anyone who writes or has ever tried writing can appreciate just how difficult the entire process is. If it were easy, everyone would be a writer, or a creator.
It can be so easy to be on the other side of that production and dismiss the work in favour of a simplified rating system. I will note that I mean this as no attack to anyone who does use a rating system, and in a slightly hypocritical move, I do find that they can be quite helpful when reading other’s reviews or even on platforms like Goodreads, where I continue to add ratings. However, understanding the time and effort someone has put into their work, I feel that I cannot in good conscience continue to rate books on the blog.
As mentioned before, this corner of the internet was created by Z and I because we felt we had so much to say. In a conversation I had with my brother a couple months back we talked about how difficult it can be to get into new styles of writing or storytelling. To that, I had this to say:
I tend to have to remind myself that every author has a voice of their own that comes out in their writing style, and the way they’ve conceptualised the story. I keep that in mind that it’s not only me who is trying to get through the story but someone else who has worked countless hours to perfect it in their specific voice and style. It makes me appreciate the effort and the potential deviations from what I’m used to a lot more. Additionally, I can also sympathise with wanting to write something but struggling to tell it right and understanding the difficulty of writing makes it easier to appreciate.
Having this platform means that now I can dedicate the fair time to appreciate what the author is trying to do, even if it did not work for me, and even when I abandon a half-finished book, like I did with Anna Burn’s Milkman, which I also wrote a post about.
Z and I pride ourselves with making AvidBards a place of positivity and discussion, so it is for this reason that I shall no longer be using a rating system for books, films, TV shows or music. Instead, I will strive to be conscious of what the creators have attempted to achieve and appreciate their effort by giving them the time to write how I feel instead.
~S~
