Over the course of writing and maintaining this blog, I’ve found that there is one sure-fire way a commenter can set my teeth on edge and make me bring out the snide comment gun. (Well, I suppose it would work for someone to write an ode to queries beginning with rhetorical questions, but so far I have been spared that unfortunate spectacle.)
Nope. The thing that makes me craziest is when people dismiss any book, especially bestsellers, using the words “trash,” “terrible,” or “suck” and its variants without further comment, or worse, when people say something along the lines of “well most published books suck anyway.” My teeth are chattering at the thought. CH-CH-CH-CHAATTEERRIINNGGG…
Firstly, these books plainly don’t suck if they are attracting readers in large numbers. You just don’t happen to like them.
Secondly, call me an old fuddy duddy OMG I sound like my parents, but we have brains and we can use words, and in a perfect world those two abilities would combine to form a thought more insightful than “X sucks.”
Thirdly, if this is all an aspiring writer is taking from a book, they missed the main point of reading it. All they figured out is whether they liked the book or not.
And quod erat demonstrandum pro quo tempura I don’t actually know Latin, the one question that aspiring writers should never ask themselves when reading a book is, “Do I like this?”
Here’s the thing about the question “Do I like this?” Who is that question about? Well, it’s about you. It’s about your taste, and whether the book fit in with your likes and dislikes. It’s not about the book. It’s about you and whether the book spoke to you.
In other words, all you’re learning about when you ask “Do I like this?” as you read a book is yourself.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Knowing what you like is important. But by the time we’re an adult we pretty much know our likes and dislikes. Sure, some things can take us by surprise (like my inexplicable and deep-seated love of The Bachelor), but plumbing the depths of our likes and dislikes is about entertainment, it’s not knowledge that is overly helpful as a writer. Knowing your likes and dislikes will help you imitate, but it won’t help you learn tools you can really use.
The real question aspiring writers should ask is not whether they liked a book, but whether they think the author accomplished what they set out to accomplish. How good is the book at what it is trying to do? Dan Brown did not set out to be Marilynne Robinson, and Marilynne Robinson does not set out to be Dan Brown. So why judge Dan Brown’s prose against Marilynne Robinson’s or Marilynne Robinson’s chase sequences against Dan Brown’s?
If the author set out to write a cracking thriller did they write a cracking thriller? If they wanted to create beautiful prose and make us think deeper about ourselves, how well did they do that?
Once you start looking at an author’s intent, you’ll start to see where they succeeded and didn’t succeed at what they were trying to accomplish. And you’ll also start seeing that what most megabestsellers have in common is that the authors were phenomenal at delivering the thing(s) they set out to accomplish and at giving readers the experiences they wanted to give them. You’ll start absorbing the positive attributes of books you might not even like all that much.
Asking this question and really thinking about it is the place where nuanced reading starts, and where writers will start noticing craft, technique, and things they can actually use when they write.
So if you want to be a writer, please please please don’t reduce books to pithy generalities like “suck” and “terrible,” and think and speak about books with more nuance. My chattering teeth will thank you.
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This is why I cringe when people tell me my book will be "the next Twilight." It's not because I hate Twilight–it's because those books already did what they needed to do, and did it perfectly. I'd hope Paranormalcy does something different.
Also, Marilynne Robinson? Swoon, swoon, swoon. I want to be her when I grow up. It's not likely to happen, but still.
Someone called one of my books stupid one time in a review, and it really, really bothered me. Fine, you didn't like it. But stupid? Really? That's the best word you could come up with to describe my book?
"what most megabestsellers have in common is that they were phenomenal at the thing(s) they set out to accomplish and at giving readers the experiences they wanted to give them."
^^^ um, this is kind of a big point. maybe I'm dumb, or it's still before noon, but I want to know more what you meant by this esp. the 'phenemenal at the thing(s0 they out to accomplish' part
re: sucks, does "that's gay" elicit the snide lock 'n load, too?
While I would never say "everything published today is trash" and make a concerted effort to avoid the "x book sucks" comments, I dispute the "if it's popular, it's good" argument. There is more to assessing a work than personal taste. There is an element of craft to what we do and a book can be poorly written and still be popular.
I wholeheartedly agree. All our likes and dislikes vary and we cannot help that.
When people bash other books, they're just TO'ed that they're not the ones published. ;]
So true; you can learn the most as a writer from simply reading.
The only bummer is that I can't read a book or watch a movie anymore without picking it apart. My comments on character development, set up and payoff etc. drive my husband nuts…
That's why I read across genres, time periods, and cultures. Mass exposure helps me to learn a greater appreciation for the eclectic nature of literature. It's also taught me that, no matter what genre, era, or culture, the real question isn't whether something is quality. That's already been answered by the throngs of editors who have perused the manuscript to death. The real question is, is it marketable quality? And I think that is where so many amateur/pre-published writers fail for lack of experience.
Excellent. The question I become vastly interested in is, "What do people find so appealing about this book?" So it becomes a psychological and social challenge as much as a literary challenge, helping me understand my fellow humans.
Scott Nicholson
http://www.hauntedcomputer.com
I completely agree. For me, even if I don't like the book, I always plow on, reading it out of respect for what the author has tried to accomplish.
In the last ten years I can count on one hand how many books I set down because I couldn't connect with what the message was.
There are a large number of people involved in publishing a book. They can't all be wrong.
That's always bugged me with the extreme negative reactions to Dan Brown and Stephenie Meyer. While huge sales don't necessarily mean a book is "good" (whatever that means), huge sales definitely means that the author did something right.
I've been guilty of this. I guess the positive here is that I recognize it. Personally, I've always felt that there are writers who push the envelope or make new routes to old stories. I guess it is more disappointment than dislike when people seem to settle artistically.
I think it's okay to ask it sometimes if you are trying to write a book that you yourself will like. I think every writer wants to write a book that they can be proud of, a book that they will indeed *like*, otherwise, what's the point if you don't like your own story? Reading can help you figure out what works for you and what doesn't. If I don't like a certain type of heroine, I will try not to make my own MC that way. I think the important question is "WHY did I like or dislike this book?" In some cases, it can help you craft a book that might not be better than the ones you've read necessarily, but that at least you will enjoy and you can be proud of whether or not it is published.
Of course, I agree that no one should ever call a book "stupid" or say that it "sucks." Words like that don't help anyone.
I want to give this post a hug, and maybe buy it dinner.
Excellent post, Nathan. For a writer to slam another writer's work only shows you what type of person they are.