It's Only A Book!

Ian McEwan

Amusement The Owl and the Pussycat - a Romance set to music

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Paul Whybrow

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Jun 20, 2015
Cornwall, UK
I recently completed editing my fifth Cornish Detective novel, and I'm about to make a monkey of myself by returning to querying and self-promotion. To assist future writing efforts, I've been working my way through published crime authors' series, trying to read them in order, to see how they tackle the story arcs of their characters.

After noticing that some of these series have run to a dozen or more titles, I had the rather chastening thought that I'm constructing a trap for myself. I've written science fiction, historical and ghost stories, as well as poetry, song lyrics and flash fiction, but should I ever achieve success with my crime novels, I'll end up pigeon-holed. Hence, why writers invent pen names.

Some authors achieve success with one particular character, with the rest of their work unheard of. A good example of this is Georges Simenon, famous for 104 Maigret crime novels and short stories, but he wrote a total of almost 500 novels in his lifetime. All in all, he was a very busy boy, as in 1977 he claimed that he'd made love to 10,000 women in the 61 years since his 13th birthday! :eek:

Nathaniel Hawthorne summed up this predicament well:

It is a good lesson—though it may often be a hard one—for a man who has dreamed of literary fame ... to step aside out of the narrow circle in which his claims are recognized, and to find how utterly devoid of all significance, beyond that circle, is all that he achieves, and all he aims at.

It helps to get real...it's easy to become precious about writing. A book is a consumer item. As with any form of art, some titles are revered, becoming that overused cliché Classics. Others are disposable consumer items, as memorable as a microwavable ready meal.

As Mexican novelist Carlos Fuentes observed:

Some writers achieve great popularity and then disappear forever. The bestseller lists of the past fifty years are, with a few lively exceptions, a sombre graveyard of dead books.

I'm an avid reader, visiting my local library once a week, as well as buying paperbacks at the nearby charity shop. I get through three novels a week. Sometimes, I go online to peruse my borrowing history to find who wrote a book I enjoyed, to see if they've written any more since. What shocks me, is how many of them I've forgotten reading, unable to recall much, if anything, of the plot. It makes me realise how ephemeral books are.

So, why I'm writing? The clever (and honest) answer is because I can't not write: the stories are in me, and they've got to come out—like lava from a volcano. o_O

To my great surprise, I've written in what I hope is a commercial way, creating stories that lend themselves to being adapted into a television series. I'm reassured that there's a precedent for my Cornish Detective series, as W. J. Burley wrote twenty-two Inspector Wycliffe stories set in the county and adapted for television in the 1990s...still shown ad nauseam on Freeview. I've rarely been motivated by making money in my careering work life, but I've been rich and I've been poor, and rich is better.

I'm not looking for immortality from my novels, though if they do get turned into a television drama, my Inspector Kettle might be annoying viewers for decades! :p

Why do you write?

Are you doing it to entertain youngsters?

Do you yearn for fame and fortune?

Or longevity?

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I set out to entertain myself at a time I was very ill and had to stop work. I caught myself out in a moment of near despair and catching myself at it decided I would do two things; write a novel to find out if I could, even if was a pile of poo. And I would learn how to work with cards and runes and see where it went. These things have hugely sustained me ever since, even when the pain is really bad and I think I'll never even stand up again. I do not always see cosy reassurances in my own cards.

I do hope the book/s will one day entertain someone else. I aim to finish what I start.
 
Why do you write?
No idea. It just happened. It just happens. Whether I like it or not. It just pours.

These things have hugely sustained me ever since, even when the pain is really bad and I think I'll never even stand up again.
@Katie-Ellen Hazeldine , I really hope these things will continue to sustain you, and that the times of being pain-free outweigh (is that the correct word?) the times of pain. Keep standing up, Lady! My biggest respects to you.
 
I've never taken drugs, but I've been a smoker so to some extent I know what addiction is- and that's what I think writing is- an addiction. The only difference perhaps, is that when the writing is done it gives more satisfaction. However, you are not happy doing it, nor happy not doing, and it seems that only when it's done can you reap any reward and sensation of well-being. I'd be a fool to turn my nose up against money or fame, but as far as I'm concerned the only possible reason why anyone would spend so much of their precious lifetime in writing is because, it does precisely that- give you the sense of having a reason for being. And I wouldn't worry so much if I get known as a second Agatha Christie and all my other stories, poems, romance and stuff gets ignored, because if I get known for one aspect of my work only, I know it's just how the market works and not a judgement on my person herself. We are living in a world of marketing, gone are the days of the Brontes, the D.H. Lawrences, the E.M. Forsters... where thought, observance, insight into human nature and feeling was translated into words with meaning, sense and beauty. Now if you can cook up 10, 15 or whatever books where the first line opens with a hook and the first chapter ends with an obstacle to be followed by a second third, up to a climax and then close with a twist, you become a best seller. But that's not "literature", that's journalism or text writing, a saleable product that may be consumed and thrown into the bin a day later. And yet they sell, sell and soon forgotten. And why are they forgotten? Because there is no real substance, no humanity pounding, no heart pulsing through... no feeling, no thought, no reading of the mind; they are simply well crafted specimens of fabricated life in sterilised test tubes. Alas that is today's world, not only in writing, but in painting too- and in music... well, I don't mind that happening there, because I like pop music!
 
During my childhood, my grandmother was always telling me how successful my Great Uncle Sam was as an author. I read many of his novels and the seed of desire to write one of my own was sown. I wrote my first tale during my twenties on a typewriter. I still shudder to think how many times I needed to retype the text. Then PC's were invented and the whole process became so much easier. Unfortunately career demands and bringing up a family left me with too little time and energy to do anything with the story ideas buzzing around inside my head.

But things change and about five years ago I found myself with time on my hands and the mental energy to write a new novel. After six months of intense scribbling I was able pen the words 'The End.' In reality that was only the beginning and I've been editing it ever since. Every now and then, when I think it has improved sufficiently, I send off a few query letters. To date my tally is five requests for a full and one for a partial. Although I have yet to secure a deal I remain optimistic. Right now I'm busy trying to finish my third novel which should be completed early in the new year.

Like Eva I wouldn't turn my nose up if someone offered me a lot of money for the rights. But, that isn't really a motivation anymore. Now it is about leaving behind a legacy, one my children and grandchildren can take pride in and enjoy.
 
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I write because I want to write.
Initially my thoughts were along the lines of "Could I write a novel?", "What would it be about?", "Would anyone bother to read it?" So I decided to give it a try and found out that I could and I really enjoyed it.
Making money from such activities has never really been the goal and probably never will be. If I do happen to write a best seller and get rich then great, but I'm not much bothered if I don't.
 
It is a good lesson—though it may often be a hard one—for a man who has dreamed of literary fame ... to step aside out of the narrow circle in which his claims are recognized, and to find how utterly devoid of all significance, beyond that circle, is all that he achieves, and all he aims at.
It helps to get real...it's easy to become precious about writing.
Yes, but you could say the same about pretty much any endeavour. How many people can name the last Nobel prizewinner in medicine? Few, and yet in that field you won't achieve much more recognition than that. Same goes for many sporting legends, etc etc.
 
@Paul Whybrow said Why do we write? For love, of course....:p

The emoji says you mistrust the answers. Think folk are not being candid, spinning a line, being defensive,wishing to avoid the appearance of sour grapes or something. Love. Pride. Seeking for something. You know yourself, you have worked so hard and long on your own writing, there are quests not easily expressed except through a story in process.

What else but some visceral inner drum could sustain the sheer effort of time and energy required in the face of all the odds against the book being a best seller. Or even getting published at all unless at your own expense. For some, that visceral need is undoubtedly personal ambition for prestige and plaudits and financial validation, and these might be very nice things, and good luck to them.

To say that one writes for the sake of the thing itself doesn't mean the writer is bullshitting, isn't serious about their writing. It is so exhausting, to chain oneself to a chariot wheel. It is liberating to free oneself to do things one's own way and decide that for the rest, let the die fall as they may.

I know a few greying, grizzled artists. Painters. They do not give a damn about other painters. They do not share. They are delightful, but not clubbable, secretive about their work in progress, they barely even look in the direction of the others to see what they are doing and how they are doing. What has any of it got to do with THEM?

Keats died so angry. 'Words writ on water 'and nothing for him to show for it, only that it was birthed and came through him.

All those folk on Quora asking how do you write a best seller, when they also make it perfectly clear they don't read, haven't written nowt, and some can't even write a simple sentence. But they want that best seller. It is a THING and they want it. And maybe they'll even do the work to get it. Many people are indeed very competitive and status driven, even while denying it. This is perfectly true. The whole of life is a pissing contest for some folk. They run on that adrenaline and maybe they thrive too, but it doesn't make Aesop's foxes of the rest, any more than the highest learning is only found in universities.
 
@Paul Whybrow said Why do we write? For love, of course....:p

The emoji says you mistrust the answers. Think folk are not being candid, spinning a line, being defensive,wishing to avoid the appearance of sour grapes or something. Love. Pride. Seeking for something. You know yourself, you have worked so hard and long on your own writing, there are quests not easily expressed except through a story in process.

What else but some visceral inner drum could sustain the sheer effort of time and energy required in the face of all the odds against the book being a best seller. Or even getting published at all unless at your own expense. For some, that visceral need is undoubtedly personal ambition for prestige and plaudits and financial validation, and these might be very nice things, and good luck to them.

To say that one writes for the sake of the thing itself doesn't mean the writer is bullshitting, isn't serious about their writing. It is so exhausting, to chain oneself to a chariot wheel. It is liberating to free oneself to do things one's own way and decide that for the rest, let the die fall as they may.

I know a few greying, grizzled artists. Painters. They do not give a damn about other painters. They do not share. They are delightful, but not clubbable, secretive about their work in progress, they barely even look in the direction of the others to see what they are doing and how they are doing. What has any of it got to do with THEM?

Keats died so angry. 'Words writ on water 'and nothing for him to show for it, only that it was birthed and came through him.

All those folk on Quora asking how do you write a best seller, when they also make it perfectly clear they don't read, haven't written nowt, and some can't even write a simple sentence. But they want that best seller. It is a THING and they want it. And maybe they'll even do the work to get it. Many people are indeed very competitive and status driven, even while denying it. This is perfectly true. The whole of life is a pissing contest for some folk. They run on that adrenaline and maybe they thrive too, but it doesn't make Aesop's foxes of the rest, any more than the highest learning is only found in universities.

I find what you say about some painters, writers not caring a hoot about what other writers do is painfully true. I have to smile when some authors on twitter say, they are breathless, over the moon, is in a state of incredibility and such kinds of hyperboles because they have been accepted by an agent which is religiously followed by an onslaught of well-wishers from other authors- surely this is sheer display of egoism or some kind of adherence to an illusion created by the "status quo" to enhance the role of the agent- After all it doesn't mean the agent guarantees they will sell your book, they have just as hard a time finding a publisher as writers have in finding an agent.

I think you are quite right Katie, there seems to be a lot of adrenaline flowing around the publishing business and which it thrives upon- just like a game of cards, we just can't wait for that trump card to turn up when the winner takes it all.

However, some writers do in effect care for one another, many you find in communities... like this one.
 
I write because I've always written. I can't not do it.

As a full-time professional (staff) journalist, over the years I must have written reams and reams on all sorts of things. Interviewed lots of people, been to lots of places, cranked out the words about it. Most of it unglamorous, before you ask. (Horoscopes, anyone?)

When I got my first job as a journalist, I remember being asked by two chaps in hairy tweed jackets with woolly pullovers underneath (this was winter in Dundee, after all): "Why do you want to be a journalist?"

Not too strangely, if you think about it, they found my answer entirely satisfactory. "I've never wanted to be anything else." (Since I stopped wanting to be a ballet dancer, aged 6.) Probably they would each have said the same.

BUT now I'm working freelance & part-time as an editor and writing novels the rest of the time, I'm taking it hard that I can't any longer just finish the words, go "Done!" and hand it to someone else who'll happily take it and publish it. Bar the odd tweak, the odd cut, the very occasional request for a re-focus/re-balance... (Do that too often now and I'll work for someone else, especially if you've just changed your mind.)

I would absolutely LOVE someone to give me a commission for a novel, about almost anything, with an outline and a deadline. Even if they paid in buttons...
 
Why do I write?

I should say something profound. Give me a second. It'll come to me.

When I was a teenager I read a sort of quote at the end of a Stephen R. Donaldson novel. I can't promise this is verbatim but it basically said, "I wrote them because I loved them."

That'll work.

No. Not fame, fortune, or entertainment. Not longevity.

I've never not been a writer. If I thought people who wrote were honest about why they write, I suppose I'd think the answers to this question would be more worth paying attention to. It's not that I think everyone is lying. But I don't think we know why we write exactly.
 
I suppose the answer has changed through the years. There was a time when I wrote because I just had to--back when I was an avid reader and spent most of my free time in libraries. Writing just seemed the next logical step. Then it was all about ego and trying to find out how good I could be with the pen. I was trying to prove that I could write just as well as the books I enjoyed reading.
Then came the time when I wrote because I needed an outlet for all the crap that was going on in my life. In those days I used my writing as a form of therapy. Today I write because--well. i´ve been doing it for so damn long that I should at least try making some money off of it. Yeah, today I write for money, and all of the above.
 
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Let us all pause for thought, in contemplating how we'd cope with this level of earnings:

You vs the World’s Highest Paid Authors

Contrast this with the average level of earnings of most authors:

Publishers are paying writers a pittance, say bestselling authors

Why do we write? For love, of course....:p


Looking at this list I have to say that 4 out of 5 of these don´t bother me. They´ve earned their pay, I suppose ( yes, even gag me--Dan Brown). I´m sure they´ve put in their fair share of hours writing, editing and researching and planning and everything that goes with being a writer. BUT, i have to say Jeff Kinney really irks me. It´s not that I think he´s a bad person or anything but have you seen his books??? Pages upon pages of stick figure drawings and there must be about 50 to 100 ( max) words to a page. Yes, I know, he has been on the children´s best seller list for ages and has a large number of books-- all around the same stick figure character!!!! And he´s made millions!!!
Arg!!! Again, i fear i´m trying too hard!
 
I write because I have a story to tell, prompted by thinking "What would happen if?" Any writer needs the self-belief that their voice matters, that their approach to entertaining readers might cause a reaction, including making them think differently about a situation.

Whether one is successful depends partly on skill, but also a lot of luck. We can only do the best we can. I like what two eminent scribes have to say about the writing process:

"Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It's the only thing you have to offer."

Barbara Kingsolver

"The most helpful quality a writer can cultivate is self-confidence—arrogance, if you can manage it. You write to impose yourself on the world, and you have to believe in your own ability when the world shows no sign of agreeing with you."

Hilary Mantel
 
I write because I have a story to tell, prompted by thinking "What would happen if?" Any writer needs the self-belief that their voice matters, that their approach to entertaining readers might cause a reaction, including making them think differently about a situation.

Whether one is successful depends partly on skill, but also a lot of luck. We can only do the best we can. I like what two eminent scribes have to say about the writing process:

"Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It's the only thing you have to offer."

Barbara Kingsolver

"The most helpful quality a writer can cultivate is self-confidence—arrogance, if you can manage it. You write to impose yourself on the world, and you have to believe in your own ability when the world shows no sign of agreeing with you."

Hilary Mantel
All very well for her to say that!
 
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Ian McEwan

Amusement The Owl and the Pussycat - a Romance set to music

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