This morning I write to you replete with a breakfast of Steve’s wonderful French toast dressed with dark maple syrup, a side of bacon, and several cups of coffee. On the schedule today is finishing the laundry, changing the bedclothes, and, of course, working on The Gathering Edge. Steve and I were brainstorming some ideas last night, and over breakfast, and we’ve got direction and energy. I have a couple of scenes to write and braid in early on the backbone, so that’s what I’ll be concentrating on today. Steve, who was lead writer on the story we handed in last week, is now coming back to the book and will be building us some more backbone.
Sounds like we know what we’re doing, doesn’t it?
Honestly, in broad measure, we do know what we’re doing, having done it so often. On the other hand, there is the truism — every book is different. Every book is different, even books written in a long series, or set within a created universe, or books with continuing characters. After all, if the author’s doing it right, the characters will be growing, the universe will be evolving, and the author will be bringing their own new experiences, growth, and insights to the work.
Which brings me to yesterday’s tweet from James S.A. Corey: Series writers: Be aware that some people will be angry you aren’t writing the same book over and over again. Ignore them.
. . .which both reflects my experience and is sound advice. I’ll add that series writers also need to learn to ignore the people who perhaps have not read their work, but see many novels written in the same universe, and therefore know that the author is simply writing the same book over and over and over again, and are therefore dismissible as artists and, occasionally, as human beings.
Which brings me to my next link in this Sunday Salad: an article in the New York Review of Books by Tim Parks, in which he makes the argument that the only writers who can afford to experiment with, or grow, their art are those who are already known to be important/bestsellers (there’s a reason for that slash, there — read the article). Midlist folks, argues Parks, are required by the field to play it safe, and produce the same old, same old, because one mistake — one “failed” book — can mean the end of a career, whereas the guys at the top get unlimited Get Out of Jail Free cards. Here’s your link.
To an extent, I disagree with Parks’ argument; I think that the act of writing is a risk of itself. However, I do realize that, for career novelists, putting food on the table means that the book has got to earn out, and that the next one is under contract — which produces some constraints.
OTOH, we’ve been writing in a universe of our own devising for darn near 30 years, and taken what risks we wished. We’re certainly not at the top of the Literary Ladder, but it may be that our continued ability to write what we want stems from the fact that we found our audience, that it is sufficiently large to give us a buffer against the necessity to always write it safe. Or, yanno, our imaginations could be so limited that even our daring stuff is considered the same old, same old.
Lastly — a local film critic and commentator has recently published his first book, and he describes his experience here.
. . .and that’s what I’ve got today, if I’m going to do the laundry, and write those pages.
Somebody please remind me that I need to do a post about my advice for growing one’s audience in This Digital Age, if I don’t get to it in the next day or two.
I hope everybody has a pleasant and relaxing Sunday.
I think Sprite’s outgrowing her basket:
I’d say her tail has definitely outgrown the basket. That is a great tail.
“Somebody please remind me that I need to do a post about my advice for growing one’s audience in This Digital Age, if I don’t get to it in the next day or two.”
Definitely looking forward to this.
“Which brings me to my next link in this Sunday Salad: an article in the New York Review of Books by Tim Parks, in which he makes the argument that the only writers who can afford to experiment with, or grow, their art are those who are already known to be important/bestsellers (there’s a reason for that slash, there — read the article).”
I’ve heard the opposite–these are the folks who cannot afford to put a foot wrong because so much is riding on their next release.
Granted, this may apply more to the bestsellers than the “important” writers, who may be allowed a little more leeway to experiment. As long as it’s an experiment of which the critical community approves.
I think that the audience you have found is happy to read almost everything you write from Space Opera to Magical Carousel Animals. It is all good!
Sprite isn’t just occupying the inbox: she has selected the desktop as the proper display space for that incredibly beautiful tail!
Thinking of Patterson and Roberts/Robb – I can see their readers getting bent out of shape if a book is different – but I *adored* Grisham’s PLAYING FOR PIZZA, which was waaaay different from his legal thrilers(which I thought were meh) and that book has made me look for Grisham now. [I recommend it, BTW. Great fish-out-of-water story with a huge character development on the protagonist’s part.]
Your breakfast was much better than mine – I hope the rest of the day was similarly fine.
Devine’s article is so accurate it’s kinda scary. I’m a freelance writer myself. Most of my work has been for in-house publications in various industries. The rest has been personal essays and media reviews for the LGBT community and some of those have been anthologized. But a now deceased friend of mine had the exact experience Devine discussed in her home state of Michigan. She published a book of LGBTQ people of color quotes and asked me to write the starred review for the back cover. After publication by her tiny publisher she had to purchase an old car so that she could drive cross-country to promote her book. She did a good enough job of it that the book caught the attention of a couple of major papers here in the Midwest. But I lived her experience with her through every grueling mile, seedy motel room and the harsh experience of trying to write piece of work on the road. My conclusion: being an independent writer ain’t for the faint of heart!
Meant to type: …THE NEXT piece of writing on the road.
I think it depends. My favorite Piers Anthony book was a horror novel, completely different than his other work. But at the same time, I have never liked EVERYTHING by ANY author. There is always going to be something that just isn’t your cup of tea. Doesn’t mean they are through as an author. Heck, it doesn’t mean it was a bad book. Just not your kind of story.
Occasionally I have had authors I read for years who style completely change, and it doesn’t match my taste. Stephen King is an example of this. I know people who think his recent work is some of his best, but for me it just isn’t to my taste. Oh well, enough rambling.