An author I admire recently listed 5 things that a kind author would never do. She is the queen of mean and I imagian that is why she is such a good author.
1. Keep the hero too busy to have fun
2. Make him/her socially awkward or shy
3. Make him/her young than the age of consent
4. Make him/her and addict
5. Give the hero a destiny that includes being dead.
Sage advise for every good writer.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Audience
A number of writers blogs that I follow have touched on "appropriate for audience" issues. I thought I might share a couple of insights and my 2 cents.
There is an amazing post about teen fiction over at Cassandra Parkin's blog. She found a sign in a book store basically telling people that the best reading for teens was vampire fiction...*sigh*
“The best reading for teens is a genre that posits sexual relationships as a physically dangerous transaction between impossibly powerful male predators and passive, helpless female prey. In this genre, sexual fulfilment is entirely within the gift of the male, to be awarded or withheld entirely as he sees fit; and the great physical beauty of the protagonists is the sole, entire basis for any romantic relationship."
Yaaaaaa.
Then I read a post that was supposedly about writing children's literature. The author started out the post by name dropping...and who was on that list, but Stephenie Meyer. *blink* Basically he was claiming to have taught Mrs. Meyer, and a number of other adult authors, everything they know about writing for "kids". *BLINK*
NOT a good sign.
Kiddy lit... I didn't think Teen lit was consider children's literature, but what do I know I only took a number of classes on cataloging and age/genera literature. *shrug*
I totally disagree with everything he had to say - that if you want to write for girls you need to make your main character a girl that is roughly the same age as your intended audience. *EYE*
From my own reading experience, my 3 year old's reading experience, many MANY of my friends reading experiences, heck from YEARS of being a librarian and seeing who read what, I utterly and fanatically disagree. In a later post he himself even talked all about how his wife and daughter loved Harry Potter; a book with a young male protagonist.
Yep!
In the end the truth of writing is two fold.
A - Write a good story, peopled with realistic and likable (or despicable) characters, and hope that you do okay. You may not even "make it" as a writer, but you'll love what you do.
B - Sell out to the trend with a mediocre story just to make a buck and have no guilt that it's mediocrity.
There is an amazing post about teen fiction over at Cassandra Parkin's blog. She found a sign in a book store basically telling people that the best reading for teens was vampire fiction...*sigh*
“The best reading for teens is a genre that posits sexual relationships as a physically dangerous transaction between impossibly powerful male predators and passive, helpless female prey. In this genre, sexual fulfilment is entirely within the gift of the male, to be awarded or withheld entirely as he sees fit; and the great physical beauty of the protagonists is the sole, entire basis for any romantic relationship."
Yaaaaaa.
Then I read a post that was supposedly about writing children's literature. The author started out the post by name dropping...and who was on that list, but Stephenie Meyer. *blink* Basically he was claiming to have taught Mrs. Meyer, and a number of other adult authors, everything they know about writing for "kids". *BLINK*
NOT a good sign.
Kiddy lit... I didn't think Teen lit was consider children's literature, but what do I know I only took a number of classes on cataloging and age/genera literature. *shrug*
I totally disagree with everything he had to say - that if you want to write for girls you need to make your main character a girl that is roughly the same age as your intended audience. *EYE*
From my own reading experience, my 3 year old's reading experience, many MANY of my friends reading experiences, heck from YEARS of being a librarian and seeing who read what, I utterly and fanatically disagree. In a later post he himself even talked all about how his wife and daughter loved Harry Potter; a book with a young male protagonist.
Yep!
In the end the truth of writing is two fold.
A - Write a good story, peopled with realistic and likable (or despicable) characters, and hope that you do okay. You may not even "make it" as a writer, but you'll love what you do.
B - Sell out to the trend with a mediocre story just to make a buck and have no guilt that it's mediocrity.
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