Writing Crank
You know, ordinarily I’m quite lovely, but some days, I just get cranky. This morning, I read this article, and I answered with a long rant in the comments. It’s a rant I’ve done before, and a rant I’ll do again. But for those of you who haven’t yet heard this particular gem, here it is, or most of it anyway:
What always bothers me is the knee-jerk self-hatred that comes with writing any women’s fiction that features a female protagonist between the ages of 18-30. The previous commenter’s attitude toward all fiction that may fall into this category is exhibit #1. How often are you told, by people who have never read you and don’t know anything about your work, that what you do is useless and meaningless?
I write humorous women’s fiction and romantic comedy, and I’m shocked by how often I’m expected to apologize for this, as though I’m committing some act of treason against the very institution of literature. Whatever. People who are too ignorant to keep an open mind that good work comes in all genres are really not my concern; they’re not my reader and they never will be. What bothers me is what we think of ourselves. Here you are Sarah, one of our own – “We are not about to turn into Gaskell or Eliot” – taking time out of your article to say you’re not a real writer because you choose to write about a woman who doesn’t throw herself in front of a train at the end.
I spend so much time drilling into my students that if they don’t think they’re great writers, if they’re not willing to say, “I’m a great writer and what I write is important,” then they shouldn’t be wasting their readers’ time. Because if you don’t think what you write is worthy, then why should I? Or anyone else? If we, when discussing what we do, say, “Well, I’m certainly not Dickens or Austen,” then we are letting the ignorant people who dismiss us en masse without reading us tell us what our value is.
We write women’s fiction, stories for women about the things that matter to women. We write about emotion, family, community, growth. Are some of the books silly? Sure. Becky Bloomwood is probably not going to be considered one of the great philosophers of the generation, but is philosophy the only value that matters? Making people laugh when they’re depressed is a value; making them cry when they can’t express that emotion elsewhere is a value; giving hope and happiness is a value. But these things are not valued by the literary elite, and readers apologize for enjoying it, and we writers kick ourselves so they don’t have to waste their valuable, important, philosophizing time doing it for us.
And the truth is, we are Dickens and Austen, more than we may realize; neither one of them was respected in their lifetimes, either.
So continue writing, Sarah, and I wish you the best of luck in everything. But please, stop saying what you’re not, and be damn proud of what you are. If someone wants to take you down, make them break a sweat doing it. There’s no need to swing back, just stand your ground and say, “I’m a great writer, and I don’t give a crap what you think.”
Sarah seems like a nice woman. Her book comes out today. Check it out, and if you like it, please write her and tell her that she needs to write “I’m a great writer,” fifty times on a sheet of paper. And if you’re a writer, you can say it here in the comments, although just once will do, as long as you say it once a day, every day, no matter what you write. Every genre has great writers. Now go out and be the greatest one your genre of choice has ever seen. Huzzah!
thank goddess for romantic comedies and the women who write them. just catching up with your life & new blog. wow. new state. new writing pseudonym. new housemate. best of luck w/it all.
I couldn’t agree more! Women are especially prone to self-doubt, and I love it when one of us says, “You and what you do are important and beautiful.” Thanks for the reminder, Lani. Honestly, after a hard day’s work, I hate a story with a sad or pointless ending. I want a read that’s going to lift my spirits, make me laugh, and bring back good memories of my own life adventures/relationships. Such stories are the best tonics I know. BTW, love your work, Lani! And I’m going to check out Sarah’s as soon as I can get my hands on it. Hugs to you both!
I’ve been trying to run. I think it’s something I might actually like doing if I could just get into a habit of doing it but part of what’s holding me back is a little voice saying “well, I’m not really a runner, but…” It’s those buts that hold us back whether we’re runners or writers or anything else. Keep telling us we can do it. We need to hear it. We need to believe it.
Okay, anyone who agrees with me and has a minute, can you go agree at the original article? This poor woman is getting slammed by a bunch of idiots and someone needs to speak up and say it’s okay to write whatever the hell she wants to write. I don’t know Sarah, but I’m about ready to take some of these idiots OUT. Crank over.
Lani, can you post the link to the article? It may be up there, but I don’t see it.
I’m at work, so any answer would have to wait for later. But you’re absolutely right – and one of my pet peeves is the idea that if I just criticise myself first, then noone else will be able to hurt me with criticism. Bacause that works *eye roll*.
If you click on the word “this” as in “this article” , it will take you to the link.
In the last paragraph, clicking on “check it out” will lead you to Sarah’s book on Amazon.
Thanks Michele! For some reason, the links are almost the same color as the rest of the words on my screen and I didn’t see them. I ran my mouse around, but apparently not in the right places.
I have long agreed with you, and I’m headed over to the article now.
But I’m only just beginning to own this publicly. To attempt to proclaim I love to read romances (when asked) without lowering my eyes or blushing. I can justify it, but I hate the judging and react. Trying to get over that (and succeeding, in small steps).
And Michelle’s correct – link coloring doesn’t stand out relative to the text. If you need a hand fixing that (not sure of your CSS comfort), email me.
Hey, all! Sorry about the link – you’re right, it doesn’t stand out correctly. I think I can handle the css, but I’ll e-mail you if it gives me any lip, Jenifer! Thanks!
And who here is owning that they’re a great writer? Yeesh! I give you guys ONE instruction. Look, I can do it:
I’m a great writer.
Now come on. Who’s next?
Okay, I think I fixed the link problem.
So, I read Sarah’s article and your comments – spot on, btw, except I didn’t see the evil comments you referenced. I was also going to leave a comment there, but it required registration and I’m too lazy/tired. Sorry. I do wish romance, chick lit, fantasy, etc. would get a better reputation. I think the lurid covers didn’t help and while the shoes are better, they may not help. It really goes back to a lack of value for women.
WLS.
I am a Great Writer.
And so is Sarah, Damnit.
Yes! Chelle’s got it!
Kelly, I understand about registration. I almost didn’t do it, but I hated the way that poor girl was getting bludgeoned there. The comments I was reacting to were there – one said she shouldn’t bother rewriting it because it was going to suck anyway (paraphrase) and another said she’s wasting her time and all chick lit should die, just really hateful stuff. I don’t know Sarah, I’ve never read her, nor heard of her, but that kind of brutality is just not good. And I’m a little disappointed that Slate’s not moderating comments. Not to say they should be deleted, but someone there should be encouraging intelligent discussion and not allowing their authors to get bludgeoned like that. My feeling is that if you’re not going to channel the discourse into a positive direction, then don’t allow comments. So, I hopped in, but there still wasn’t much going on there.
Lani, because I love your work, respect (and agree with) your opinion, I went through the irritation of registering and posting a rebuttal to the article’s comments.
I got kind of windy so I debated on pasting the whole schmeal here, but then I figured to myself, “Self! It’s the internet, plenty of space!”
So here’s my rant:
Go, Bonnie! But you forgot to say you’re a great writer. Yeesh, you people. It’s like I didn’t raise you right.
You know, one thing that never seems to be taken into account it that museums and roller coasters are both fun and both have their place. Enjoying one doesn’t mean that you can’t/shouldn’t enjoy the other. Or, even that one has more or less value than the other. Both are experiences that are worthwhile in their own right. Enjoying roller coasters doesn’t mean you must not have the intellect to enjoy a Picasso.
I read literature, I read chick lit, I read romance, I read non-fiction. Why can’t all be seen as worthwhile in their own right? Why do we have to pick?
Life is a banquet we should enjoy. Have dessert first! Whatever dessert you may choose on that particular day.
Crap, sorry ma!
I love the rollcoaster/museum comparison – spot on. I actually had a similar thought with twinkies and broccoli *after* I posted the above all over the internets… ah well. I’m sure I’ll have ample opportunity to dust this one off and rework in the future ((grumble)).
And I am a FANTASTIC writer. Even if only my writing partner knows that for sure right now.
I’m in one of those moods so I’ll head over and say my peace once I read over the comments. I think the problem with her article is that she re-wrote the story based on how “fluffy” it would be now and days. I remember when the economy started taking a downturn, a stockmarket wife was doing an interview. She was complaining that they had into a condo or something else, not monstrosity they wanted to move into.
I wholeheartedly admit I’m judgmental. This woman was complainging about not moving into a manson, but a large condo because of hard times. Not that she couldn’t feed her kids. Or that she didn’t know where the next paycheck was coming from. Or that she couldn’t afford to take her kids to the doctor, because of lack of insurance. But she had to move into what she considers a small condo instead of a monstrosity of a home.
I wish those were my problems. On some level I think the author should have let her story be, if that’s the story that needed to be told. If that’s what the characters problems truly were.
On the other hand, yeah, I probably couldn’t relate with those elements.
But the bottom line is Women’s Fiction, commerical fiction in general isn’t about “realistic” that’s why I read it. I have more than enough real life to deal with. And, if the author is really good, then it doesn’t matter how realistic the story is. I’m still going to get something from that novel. I think too many people think romance or women’s fiction doesn’t have depth.
I think that’s my 50 cents worth.
Also, I’m a freaking great writer.
Typos. Oh, the typos.
I can understand her wanting to update due to changing times. The mss I’m about to revise is based on a woman flipping a house for profit and I’m a-thinkin it might look a tad too easy in my piece. BUT the problem as I see it is her being so damn down on her own writing. What the heck? If she isn’t writing something she thinks is great, why should I shell out to read it? And no wonder she’s getting dumped on in that way. Though the people dumping on her are, obviously, nits.
I mean, I was once a sniveling, snotty English major who saw no value in (eek) commercial fiction. Then I turned twenty. Seriously, we do indeed need to quit bashing our own genre, not to mention our own gender, when what comes of it is not what we might do ourselves. If you can write better, do it. But don’t expect others to write and value the same stuff you do. Duh.
And I am a GREAT writer.
Crap! I am a great writer! (Sorry, Lani)
But as much as I love the roller-coaster vs. Picasso comparison, I can’t help feel that it calls women’s fiction and romance “just a roller-coaster”. And it’s not. It’s not just fun, let’s go along for the ride, whee! thrills. There’s more to it than that. When you look at relationships and happiness in a novel’s storyline, you look at the core of people, and that’s always big! No one has to die or be really, really sad for us to learn something useful about real people in the real world. I do completely understand the value of entertainment for entertainment’s sake, but I also like to think there’s entertainment within things that mean more than a mere roller-coaster ride, and that we can find that in women’s fiction, romance, chick-lit, you name it. I also find it in romantic-suspense, thrillers, horror, etc. It spans genre.
And I’m sorry I didn’t comment on the original article. I went there, and it was very, very long and I was very, very tired and planning for a trip out of town. Next time . . .
I think it depends on the extent to which something is real “chick lit” versus a “shopping & f*cking” novel. The former is about a woman’s self-realization and resolution of herself: this is what I want, this is what’s important to me, I am going to be brave enough to go get it. The latter is somewhat about those things, but it can be hard to discern through the layers of description about what people are wearing and buying. I was recently re-reading Judith Krantz, and while she has some good stuff in her novels, they would be about 30% shorter if she’d spend less time describing how people look and what they own.
Something else to note is that Dickens and Austen weren’t “Dickens and Austen” when they wrote their books. I’m sure they no more planned on becoming the literary icons they ended up being than any current writer does
I’m generally not a reader of women’s literature or romantic comedy. Not that I dislike it, just that I have hundreds of other books I’d rather read.
I have a certain amount of empathy for this blog, however, and the plight of this genre of writing. I am a fantasy writer, myself, and the same critical abuse clouds my genre’s authors’ skies as well.
A book, a novel, a story, stands on its own merit. Genre classifications are overrated, and people who think certain genres are 100% crappy literature are ignorant and negligent of the truth. Luckily for fantasy, the emergence of George R.R. Martin and Patrick Rothfuss, along with many other respectable, intelligent, original authors, are bringing fantasy fiction literature some critical success. I hope that one day my own work can continue to bring fantasy from the depths of mindless fodder to the light of respectability.
But at the end of the day, what the critics think isn’t important. What matters is that someone enjoyed my story, or your story, Lani, and damned be anyone who says otherwise.
OH! And I’m not a great writer, not yet. I still have years of practice ahead of me. But damn it, I will be a great writer! The gods will read my prose and weep for joy. Okay maybe not the gods, but someone will!!