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| Writery Things [message #49771] |
Mon, 14 May 2012 21:20  |
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Writery Things
Smooshes!
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| Re: Writery Things [message #49772 is a reply to message #49771 ] |
Mon, 14 May 2012 21:32  |
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Oh man. The part about Doctorow's note . . .
Heh.
*whimper*
Yeah.
(Guess how many times I started and tried again on this comment.)
(Only three four.)
Smooshes!
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| Re: Writery Things [message #49773 is a reply to message #49771 ] |
Mon, 14 May 2012 22:25 |
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 anne_d
Messages: 208
Registered: October 2008
Location: Orange County, California |
Senior Member |
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With all due respect to writers who can produce a good book or two every year - I can't think of anything to say about that NYT article that doesn't involve violence, strong language, adult content... and a hefty dose of smiteage.
Yes, I'll buy anything my favorite authors write, but I don't expect cranked out mass-production, that's for kleenex. Besides, if I really liked the book in the first place, odds are it's worth reading again. And again, and again, and again... Hence the headboard bookcase full of my comfort books, and the bookcases lining all available wall space in our house (including closets), and the boxes of books, and the stacks of books, and the books piled everywhere else there's a place for them.
Anyway, yeah, you write at the pace that works for you, and I'll buy it when it's ready.
For what that's worth. 
"The creative urge can come out in any form: in embroidery, in... cooking, in painting, drawing and sculpture, in composing music, as well as in writing books and stories... the artist's inner satisfaction was probably much the same." ~ Agatha Christie
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| Re: Writery Things [message #49775 is a reply to message #49771 ] |
Tue, 15 May 2012 01:18 |
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Diane in MN
Messages: 2730
Registered: October 2008
Location: Twin Cities, MN, USA |
Senior Member |
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Hee hee hee indeed--love that cartoon!
I've always thought that publishers were pushing things by asking writers to do the job their publicity departments should do (or perhaps would do if they still existed). Expecting multiple books a year, or perfunctory short stories to fill in the gap between books, just to "keep the author out in the media consciousness"* argues a contempt for both their authors and their readers that probably is not entirely due to the invention of the e-reader.
I can't imagine cranking out 2000 GOOD words on a daily basis. Even Anthony Trollope, a very good, disciplined, and productive writer who did not waste time and effort Wrestling with His Muse, didn't run to that kind of output. The bottom line (snork) is that good books are worth waiting for, whether you get them by walking into a shop or pushing a button.
And I did laugh at the Doctorow anecdote, even though it is of course true that writing quick little notes is HARD.
* I will refrain from stating my opinion of anyone who could, in all seriousness, produce this phrase. (But-- ::shudders::)
"The point of books is to have way too many but to always feel you never have enough . . . " Louise Erdrich
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| Re: Writery Things [message #49776 is a reply to message #49771 ] |
Tue, 15 May 2012 01:37 |
EMoon
Messages: 664
Registered: March 2009 |
Senior Member |
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I think the third example is so clearly written by a man...the women writers I know would never be described as "doing nothing" by a small child in the household.
But anyway. I think each writer has a natural writing speed (just like most of us have a natural walking speed) and trying to write faster or slower feels awkward and leads to stumbling. My natural speed is faster than Robin's. It's slower than another friend of mine. I don't think that makes any difference: I think what's natural for me, is what's natural for me, and tinkering with that would be....um...counterproductive. I don't think I'm good enough to improve a lot by going slower.
I've done the book a year thing because I can (and we needed the money!!)...and the books might be marginally better if I had had 18 months or two years for them...but I'm not sure of that. A book's worth of ideas, characters, stuff happening comes pouring out for some months, and then it stops. I do know that one a year is IT. All of it.
I think, now that I'm over 65, I'd like to slow down. A book every year and a half sounds about right, a real break between books. I would like more time in the garden, more time with the camera, more time to knit, more time with friends, more time for music. I used to be able to write a book (shorter than these) and a few short things in a year and now I mostly can't. But the brutal fact is that I have a family to support, and an adult disabled kid to provide for after we die, and that means I'm on this treadmill until I fall off with my toes pointed at the sky and little Xs painted on my eyes, like a cartoon character.
I really do get annoyed at the people who think writers should be grateful that anyone reads their stuff and should be flattered if someone rips it off. (Fine, I'll walk into your bank account and rip that off and see how you like it!)
On a brighter note: a swathe of golden clasp-leaf coneflowers swerving across the near meadow:
E
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| Re: Writery Things [message #49777 is a reply to message #49775 ] |
Tue, 15 May 2012 02:31 |
zerlina
Messages: 98
Registered: May 2009
Location: Invercargill, New Zealand |
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| Diane in MN wrote on Tue, 15 May 2012 17:18 |
Hee hee hee indeed--love that cartoon!
I've always thought that publishers were pushing things by asking writers to do the job their publicity departments should do (or perhaps would do if they still existed). Expecting multiple books a year, or perfunctory short stories to fill in the gap between books, just to "keep the author out in the media consciousness"* argues a contempt for both their authors and their readers that probably is not entirely due to the invention of the e-reader.
I can't imagine cranking out 2000 GOOD words on a daily basis. Even Anthony Trollope, a very good, disciplined, and productive writer who did not waste time and effort Wrestling with His Muse, didn't run to that kind of output. The bottom line (snork) is that good books are worth waiting for, whether you get them by walking into a shop or pushing a button.
And I did laugh at the Doctorow anecdote, even though it is of course true that writing quick little notes is HARD.
* I will refrain from stating my opinion of anyone who could, in all seriousness, produce this phrase. (But-- ::shudders::)
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What she said.
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| Re: Writery Things [message #49778 is a reply to message #49773 ] |
Tue, 15 May 2012 03:14 |
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equus_peduus
Messages: 437
Registered: September 2009
Location: France |
Senior Member |
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| anne_d wrote on Mon, 14 May 2012 19:25 |
Yes, I'll buy anything my favorite authors write, but I don't expect cranked out mass-production, that's for kleenex. Besides, if I really liked the book in the first place, odds are it's worth reading again. And again, and again, and again...
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That works for people like you and me. My boyfriend - not so much. He hates re-reading books. He owns quite a number *looks at the bookshelves to which she has contributed very little, given airline suitcase weight regulations* but he has reread almost none of them. Movies on the other hand... he rewatches movies a lot, while I have few that I would rewatch... so there you have it.
Though he doesn't read as much as he once did, and he's a very patient person, so for him the fact that a favourite author doesn't produce a book a year (or even a book every two or three years) isn't a huge deal.
I am of mixed feelings on the short-story-between-books thing. When I first started seeing them, I thought that they couldn't possibly be actual products of the actual author because they weren't actual *books*, or short stories contained in books. I have bought rather few of these little things - I'd rather put down $6-15 for an actual book that I'll spend a few hours with than a buck for a short story (it may or may not be relevant that in general, I prefer the novel-length story to the short story just generally; I tend to skip short story compilations). I can see how the short stories may help publicity... but when I look at the authors that I read frequently who have them - most of them are already pretty productive writers. I am much more likely to buy a bunch of e-books if the first book of a series is free (they do show up on Amazon from time to time) and I really enjoy it. I've bought multiple Kindle books that way. It's a marketing ploy that works on me (so does sitting in a bookstore with a book until the store closes and then I have to buy the book to finish it, and then I have to buy the next book on Kindle in the wee hours of the morning because I finished the first one and the bookstore won't be open for a few hours and I'll have to go to work anyway... not like I've done that... >.> )
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| Re: Writery Things [message #49780 is a reply to message #49771 ] |
Tue, 15 May 2012 09:50 |
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While speed can be an indication of a writer's ability to write a great novel, that's really not all there is to it. As EMoon said, writers have natural writing speeds -- like walking speeds -- and a novel a year might be perfectly doable for one writer, while another needs eighteen months between to put out something worth reading. Trying to slow down or speed up will only cause awkwardness. Neither speed produces better novels. The writers don't write the same way. They don't share a brain. It'd be weird if they did.
I know everyone here is very supportive of Robin's writing process and we love her books, but let's not forget that there are other writers hanging out here -- some published, some not yet -- who work at different speeds. While we're supporting Robin, let's remember not to put down others.
[Updated on: Tue, 15 May 2012 09:58]
Smooshes!
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| Re: Writery Things [message #49789 is a reply to message #49771 ] |
Tue, 15 May 2012 20:16 |
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Melissa Mead
Messages: 990
Registered: October 2008
Location: Albany, NY, USA |
Senior Member |
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Producing one book a year sounds like enough of a challenge to me! Now that I've done it a few times I can say wholeheartedly that writing books is HARD. People who can do it well are amazing.
Member of Carpe Libris: http://carpelibris.wordpress.com/
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