![]() Which is why, perhaps, the author Kathleen Hale has become a representative for a worst-case scenario of what can happen when someone writes something that has been deemed “wrong.” But Hale’s story is not just about a singular personal disaster - it also speaks to the nature of criticism today, so-called cancel culture, and the growing power of Goodreads, especially for emerging genre writers. ![]() We’re all waiting for someone to tell us we’ve written something that failed - and we’re all anxious about how devastating the consequences might be. Plus, no one likes being the center of a Twitter pile-on, even when it might be ultimately deserved. While literary backchannels have always shared negative book reviews, dreaded one-star Goodreads reviews now keep authors up at night, adding to that feeling that everyone can witness (and contribute to) your public failure. This fear has only become exacerbated by constant online feedback. Write the wrong thing - and here, wrong can mean anything from merely obnoxious to cruel or racist or wildly incorrect or otherwise offensive - and it’s easy to be misunderstood, or eviscerated online, or fully canceled, whether for good reason or not. ![]() ![]() Dangerous to your sense of safety, dangerous to your sense of self, to your relationships, and perhaps even to any potential future career. When you start writing professionally, namely about yourself, people don’t really tell you that putting that kind of work out into the world can feel dangerous. ![]()
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