Okay, I have to admit that I'm usually one to make snide comments. And I'll also confess that I usually don't do it to your face. Most of the time they stay in my head.
I said, most of the time, but every now and again something slips out and gets taken wrong way. As writers, our job is the written word, but that doesn't mean we are infallible--why do you think we write so many drafts?
Well, this time I DIDN'T make the snide comment. I was the recipient. And to be truthful, I doubt if this person realized she made an untoward remark as it was written in a blithe hand as a FB comment. And remember, the written word is just as powerful as the spoken one, which means we don't always think before we write or read our comments before we click send.
Here's the sitch:
A writerly friend who writes inspirational romance announced a book release. It wasn't her first, but I think it is somewhere around the tenth, and I congratulated her on her new release. It had been awhile since we touched base and she inquired about my writing. I told her that I switched from writing romance to writing middle grade, and that I thought I'd found my niche.
Her comment (yes, I searched FB archives to find the quote): ..."Great. And to (the) books are shorter."
My mental response: HUH?? (Uh, I didn't respond. YAY, me!) Trust me, I have no problem writing a 100,000 word book--ask anyone from my old romance crit group. Okay, much of it was dreck, but still . . .
1) MG books are NOT necessarily shorter. There are bunches of MG novels that are 60,000 words and above. And anyone who has read any of the Harry Potter books knows those suckers are LONG.
2) quality of the story does NOT depend on length--Many of Harlequin romance category lines have been shortened dramatically, to 50-60 K words--does this mean that they aren't as good? How about Dr. Seuss? Or any number of stories written for young people. There are quality books out there varying in length from 100 words to 100,000 words.
3) Shorter books have to work harder to show character arc, plot, dialogue, etc. with a finite amount of verbage--just ask anyone who has been writing 75K word category novels only to have to cut 20K from them due to the changes in the line.
--Marilyn, feel free to add your two cents to this. I know you had to do a lot of cutting and condensing to fit HQ's new criteria.
Yes, I will admit I was offended. She judged me and my genre choice with those poorly chosen words. And I will also admit that I don't think as highly of her as I had in the past. All because of a few mis-written words.
So think before you write. And don't criticize or denigrate someone else's choice of genre until you try to write it yourself.
I think I learned my lesson.
Until next Monday . . .
Write on!
3)
Gosh, I wouldn't have taken offense at that remark. Maybe that's a reflection of her mindset. She might have struggled to meet her word goal.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, good luck on your next Nana. (Yes, I know it's not called Nana, but it's similar.)
For some reason, her comment bothered me, and suddenly I had insight to how erotica authors felt a couple of years ago, and even now they are still fighting the 'stigma'.
ReplyDeleteI think I'm going to enjoy this challenge of NaMa? :-) I'm still fresh from this last story, I know I can write 3 K a day if motivated and I think I have something good with this log line.
Writing short is definitely tough! When I started with Silhouette Intimate Moments,the word count was 80-85K. I usually came in around 82-83 on mine. Then they dropped it to 75. Then 65. Now it's at 60K, I think, and the attitude is shorter is even better.
ReplyDeleteIt takes a lot of talent to do justice to all the various elements of a story in the shorter formats, and doing it well is even harder. I'm gradually finding my stride with the current SRS length, but it's been a long bumpy road.
Besides not realizing that MG has as wide a variety as romance, I'm guessing this author hasn't written short and was thinking purely in terms of shorter book = less time = bigger output = more money. I've had some single-title authors comment that if they wrote for SRS like me, they could double their output without any more work because they were already writing 120K books. They're not aware that writing short means writing tighter, plotting tighter, etc.
So this person might have been speaking from ignorance rather getting a subtle dig in.
Or she could have meant it exactly the way you took it.
LOL! I KNEW I could count on you, Marilyn! :-) Love,love your last line. I have to say it made my day. As I commented on Edie's blog last week, Make them care, http://magicalmusings.com/?p=9038
ReplyDeleteIt's all about word choice, and I think the shorter you write, the more important each word has to be, since you have to covey a picture with the minimum of waste. Thanks for your input!
hm. i'm usually one for giving people the benefit of the doubt, but i can see how a remark like that could sting. i write YA, and i know how quick people are to judge that just because you're writing for a younger crowd, your job is much easier.
ReplyDeletei, however, find this to be far from the truth.
it's much more difficult to write for a younger audience who doesn't speak your language. and it's FAR more difficult to write concisely and powerfully at the same time.
don't worry, friend. let's how she didn't understand what she was saying.
but her comment has no merit in either case.
best of luck to you in all your endeavors!
Thanks for stopping by, Tahereh. I've gotten good at blowing off comments, but this one caught me by surprise.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your writing journey!
Okay, here's another option.
ReplyDeleteInstead of spending the time asking everybody else what THEY think she meant (how would they know?) and creating drama where there may be none, why don't you just ASK her how she meant it?
Seriously. She's the only one who can give you the answer.
Just call her out on it. If nothing else, it'll be fun to watch her try to backpedal.
Actually, this was my usual roundabout way of reminding myself that even the smallest little comment can cause unintentional hurt to the other person . . . plus I needed a blog topic. :-) I really DON'T care what she meant by it, but it's how I took it that I need to gain control over.
ReplyDeleteIt seems no matter what you write there's someone out there who will judge it. It's hard to shrug it off, I know. I love to read and write genre fiction, and it was amazing how many of my classmates looked down their noses at that when I was majoring in English. I bet most of them had closet genre fiction habits, too! They just didn't want to admit that they liked a good romance/mystery/fantasy novel right before bed.
ReplyDeleteI'm a big fan of escapism, Caryn. I want to be pulled into a different place and a different time. In fact, that's the same way I look at movies. I deal with enough 'reality' on a daily basis, I want to escape that reality for a little bit, whether in a book or a movie.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct. We can't control what other people do or say, but we can control how we choose to react to them.
ReplyDeleteI'm likely to fire right back. But, that's just me, and that's why most scorpios are murdered.
Oi! And my kid is a Scorpio!!
ReplyDeleteWrite on, Margaret!
ReplyDelete