I went to the library the other day, as I am wont to do. And so should you: you need to read to get published, and the library is the most cost effective way to do this. If your librarian doesn’t know your name, you need to be asking yourself some serious questions.
Anyway, as I was getting my books checked out, I noticed a bookshelf behind the counter. Each book had a small piece of paper sticky-taped to it. Aha, I realised, these are the books that have been reserved. The library may be a cheap place to get your books, but if you want to read something that's popular –really popular – you need to write your name down on a list, or you won't read it this decade. I had a mini-epiphany, standing there, staring at the reservation bookshelf, while the librarian asked if I was alright. Before lay the most wanted, most popular books in town. This, I realised, is where I want to be as a writer. Not just "published", not just with my books in every library; no: I want men, women, boys and girls to have to write their names down on a list to get their hands on my books.
So, I hurriedly looked through the authors and titles, aware that the librarian was now getting quite worried. There was Clive Cussler, Nora Roberts and John Grisham. As I was reading through all these names, the big picture hit me: these lesser mortals merely broke up the wall of black spines of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Series. There are only four books in this series - I looked it up – but there were twenty or thirty Twilight books on that shelf. People have to reserve copies of the Twilight novels, despite there being multiple copies. I turned to the librarian and said, "Stephenie Meyer's pretty popular, then?". Her eyes rolled. "You don't know the half of it," she said, and walked away, presumably to process more Twilight requests.
Later, as I pondered this experience, I found myself in a quandary. I'd decided I wanted to be like the authors on the reservations shelf; a lofty goal, to be sure. To be most like those authors, I would need to be most like Stephenie Meyer. The problem is: writer's love to hate her. Really, it's hard to find a positive word about Stephenie Meyer's writing within the online writing community. Is she really as bad a writer as everyone says, including Stephen King, or is this just a lot of literary snobbery?
I refuse to believe that Stephenie Meyer's success is just about marketing, or film rights. Those things may sell a few books, but they're not going to stop someone reading the book and saying, "That's terrible," and then telling their friends. Instead, people rave about her, and word-of-mouth sells books. Her writing has something that people want, even though her writing isn't what many consider to be "good". I want - no, need - to find out what that something is. Yes, I'm going to read Twilight.
If you have trouble getting to the top of the library list I have a copy you can borrow.
ReplyDeleteHello Bernard, I followed your link over fro EDF. This is a great post. I assume you are of course joking. Popularity is not a standard you want to pursue in art, really, is it?
ReplyDeleteThomas Kinkade paintings, anyone?
Quick story: One summer, I did a workshop with an author who specialized in commercial, pop fiction, said he had no interest whatsoever in literary. I spent that whole summer writing and re-writing and re-writing the prologue to a novel I had in mind; I wanted to write a romantic political thriller that was character-driven rather than plot-driven; a literate thriller, in other words.
Every week I read the ten pages we were required to write, and every week that author kept telling me, Nope, nope, nope, too much back story, too much motivation, too much internal dialogue, etc. He didn't care how pretty the writing was, he wanted the story to engage the audience right out of the gate, and he wanted the story to move from Point A to Point B to Point C, and he wanted a satisfactory ending. It was brutal work, but so worth it at the last session when I read my ten pages out loud and he stood up and gave me a standing ovation, the only one in the workshop that merited that response. What made it better was that I had not compromised, I had written the piece to my standards.
What I got from all that is that all of us as writers, no matter what genre or subgenre we are writing in, have to remember the basics of a good story. Learn your craft, write your stories, workshop them, be open to critique, willing to draft and draft and draft again. We are not writing, ultimately, for an audience of one. The better the story works, the larger the audience.
@fishlovesCA,
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping buy. I'm glad you enjoyed the post. I'm not joking, but I don't want you to read anything into the post that I didn't mean to say.
I certainly don't want to, and wouldn't, compromise on my own standards. What I hope to do is very similar to what you described in your story about the summer workshop. Despite Stephenie Meyer's "bad" writing, there is something in the story that is so utterly compelling that millions want to read it. I want to find what that something is, and add a little of that. I believe that "something" can exist, or not exist, independent of "good" or "bad" writing. In your story you showed that you can engage the audience, move the story, and have a satisfactory ending without compromising your own standards. I'd like to find what the "Meyer" qualities are and season my own writing with those.
Hmm... Maybe I'll read Twilight now, but honestly probably not.
ReplyDelete~John
P.S. Found you from your posts on Quick Fiction.
P.P.S. I think you mean "as I am wOnt to do". ;)
@John. Thanks for your comment. Thanks also for pointing out my "want" vs "wont" error. This is now fixed in the post.
ReplyDelete"THOU SHALT NOT BE BORING"
ReplyDeleteThat's the only RULE you need to apply to writing fiction (or at least it's the GOLDEN RULE), and strangely literary writers keep on breaking it! Don't listen to FISHlovesLA because his own teacher had to force this dude to write something interesting. They gave him a standing ovation because his 'work' was less boring than before, not because it was interesting. Know the difference, amigo. And if you EVER want a fanbase like Meyer has RUN from literary "anything". People are not interested in fine literature and heavy prose, and FishLovesCA seemed stunned by that.The publishing industry DOES NOT exist to promote art and fine literature (just like Hollywood doesn't exist to pump out art-house films), it's a BUSINESS into making money. That's it. They trip over themselves to publish books that'll SELL, especially to the teen (young adult) demo, and urban fantasy genre. I don't know where this fish guy thinks he's getting at with some boring drivel (I wouldn't buy it 'cause it doesn't sound interesting).