Pet Peeve-Snide comments or Does Length Matter?

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!
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