Some Guiding Principles
In the coming weeks, I’ll be releasing a new project that I started working on about a year ago. It will be a place for me to keep all of my book reviews and share all of the things I learn over time. I could publish them all here, but I feel like they need a space of their own. That may change in the future.
As I was writing my first review yesterday, I realised that I felt the need to preface my critique with a thorough explanation of my intentions so that it was consumed/received in a constructive manner, and not in a destructive one.
So here are some thoughts and the guiding principles of my soon-to-be-released project:
Critiquing other people’s work seems to be this generation’s hobby du jour. YouTube is filled with thousands of reaction/response/review/commentary/roast videos that attract millions of views everyday, and we love it.
Why? Because it’s easy. Especially if there is no careful consideration involved and you’re just vomiting up instant reactions for L0lz and views.
There is an endless supply of new content being produced every day, and the easiest thing in the world to do is shit on other people and their work.
As Seth Godin writes:
“We’re a community of critics and tweakers and tinkerers. The reason is simple: It’s safer. People rarely criticize the critic. And beyond that, it’s not that hard to use sandpaper. It’s a lot more difficult to use a bandsaw, or even to use a pencil to draw the plans in the first place.”
That is not what I want to do, or become.
So here are some of the guiding principles of this new project:
The reviews I post are written in the spirit of learning and growth. That means that I will naturally be overindexing on all the ways that the ideas and writing could have been improved. I’m not nit picking because I want to be a judgemental a-hole. I’m looking for opportunities for us all to get better (including and especially me).
Reviewing and critiquing the work of others helps me to understand the content, and deepen/refine my own thinking. These reviews are as much for my own learning as they are for others looking for another perspective.
I will never review anything that I think is truly terrible, unless there is an opportunity for myself and others to learn from it.
Even if I don’t like a book, or thought it was absolute garbage, that doesn’t mean that I have no respect for the person writing it, or that I hope they stop writing books all together. My intention is not to discourage anyone from writing or sharing their ideas.
I will endeavour to critique the books only, and not the people writing them.
I understand that writing a book takes a lot of work and effort, and I respect anyone that has managed to do so.
That said, I will always be honest in my reviews.
- Linda ✌🏻