What a great batch of comments! Thank you all–and thanks to Terri, for kicking it off.
On Monday I’ll wrap up this subject (a perennial one for fiction writers) with quotes from you and reaction from me. Then on Tuesday I’ll post my final two-cents-worth in a video. After that let’s put it away, and move on. As much as we could kick this question around forever (along with politics and religion), getting the work done is what counts most. As Sebastian says, “ass to seat and pen to paper.” In the meantime, click “continue reading” below for a few random thoughts….
• When my girls were little and we read them bedtime stories, they loved The Berenstain Bears. I remember cringing at dialogue tags like this — “I’m off to work!” cried Papa Bear dolefully. Or: “Come home soon, dear,” replied Mama Bear lovingly. — and not just occasionally, either: the pattern was relentless. This hugely popular series of animal stories had many virtues, but writing wasn’t one of them. Yet they were (still are, I guess) massively popular.
• Early works by successful genre authors tend to be written with greater care and dedication than later ones (A Time to Kill, by John Grisham, Presumed Innocent, by Scott Turow). What happens later? Time pressure, for one thing. Presumed Innocent was a leisurely 7 years in the making. I don’t know how many years Grisham gave himself on A Time to Kill, but I’ll bet he hasn’t had that kind of leisure since. Why? Because with success, you become part of the industry in a significant way. Publishers know you will sell a huge number of books and so they give you huge advances. In return, you must produce books according to the schedules specified in your contract. When crunch time comes, if the story still has problems, if the writing is less than stellar…you patch it over and deliver your manuscript anyway, on time.
• An earlier post on this blog, The Trouble with Harry,” brings up the J.K. Rowling question, with links to two considerations of the same matter in The Guardian Blog by British critic Nicholas Lezard (blindly loyal Rowling fans be forewarned).
• Here’s a true story (I overheard it myself years ago, during an orchestra rehearsal break). A much beloved old violinist and renown teacher came out of retirement to celebrate his 80th birthday by playing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Jacksonville (FL) Symphony. Jacksonville was his hometown, so the audience was full of multiple generations of fans and adoring ex-students. His performance was, let’s say, not what it might have been 25 years earlier: it sucked. Yet the heavily partisan crowd rocked the house, calling him back to the stage again and again. In the greenroom after his ninth or tenth curtain call, the old violinist shrugged at the concert master and said with a wink, “Why practice?”
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve come to this discussion a little late, but with what might be a useful perspective:
I’m a new author with a creative writing MFA who took pains to integrate both craft and marketability into my work.
With no connections and not a single publishing credit to my name, I found representation and eventually sold a novel for what I’ll call “serious” money.
My publisher is marketing the book as commercial fiction all the way–but here’s the rub: they’ve positioned it as being at the top of its market. That makes me a total rookie playing pro ball, and I am pretty certain it’s because I’m using all those MFA-bred skills.
Good writing DOES make a difference. All the things that writing teachers stress DO matter–to begin with, they let your writing stand out in what is a ridiculously overpopulated slush pile.
Most literary agents’ rejection rates are in the 97-99% range. Good writing AND a good story gets you out of the slush pile. Then, if and when huge commercial success comes your way, you can decide how to manage it.
Therese,
Congratulations! Wishing you much success on your sales and future creative efforts!
I surfed over to your site and noticed that your book was categorized as “contemporary romance.” I think that’s also an important point for writers visiting this site to consider.
Good point. Know your genre. If it’s horror, if it’s SF, if it’s romance, if it’s a legal thriller, etc. know what the conventions are. A genre puts given demands on the table before you even begin. A murder mystery is not a murder mystery without a body. That’s obvious, but many genre characteristics are not so obvious and should be well understood before anyone ventures into new territory. Again, it’s just part of being properly equipped to do the job of “author.”