Shame on All of Us

Can nothing of worth come from someone who is racist, sexist, or homophobic? Should we reject any writer or artist – refuse to read/see/hear/acknowledge his or her works – because he or she holds views we find repellent? Should we have some sort of tolerance threshold, some level of flaws we’ll allow in a creative person before we say, “No more!” and refuse to consume any more of his or her products? And, in the age of social media, should we publicly call out these artists? Should we “shame” people for continuing to enjoy their art?

The question is often phrased this way: Can or should you separate the art from the artist? But I think it’s more complicated than that. There are so many other issues surrounding this central one.

The genesis of this post for me was the recent decision by the board of the World Fantasy Awards to change the look of the award statuette it bestows upon fantasy authors each year. Since its inception, the award has been a bust of the author H.P. Lovecraft. Lovecraft, though revered as a writer (mainly by horror fans, I believe), is what you’d called “problematic.” He held racist and xenophobic views. These were evident in his letters, which may not have been made public during his short lifetime, but were also painfully obvious in a few of his stories and poems. So one author started a petition to have the World Fantasy Award bust changed, possibly to a likeness of author Octavia Butler (Lovecraft is known mainly as a horror writer, Butler as a science fiction author, but that’s neither here nor there, I suppose). The petition was successful, and the bust will no longer be of Lovecraft. You can read more about the story here.

Now I love some of Lovecraft’s stories. I don’t usually write horror, but I would say that, by reading his works, I learned some things about the craft of writing, for which I am eternally grateful to him. I even based a recent short story of mine – “Polarity” – and one of his (“Polaris”). Yes, absolutely, when I read some of his racist words, my gut sank. It was disgusting, frankly. But somehow that didn’t – for me – taint all his writings.

Of course there have been times when a creative person’s public persona has made me feel unable to enjoy his/her output. When Charlton Heston became an enthusiastic booster of the NRA, and made his “cold, dead hands” speech, I’ll admit, my joy at watching “Planet of the Apes” or “Touch of Evil” was diminished. And sometimes it’s easy to “give up” a particular artist: if you’ve never been interested in Orson Scott Card’s books, for example, it’s not that difficult to boycott a big Hollywood production made from one of them (Ender’s Game).

What seems “newish” to me, though, is the many people who take to Facebook, Twitter, and other outlets to “call out” or “shame” anyone who continues to enjoy the work of one of these problematic creators. You need to be “schooled” in why it’s wrong, they say. “Continue to read so-and-so,” they offer, “but at least admit you’re supporting a racist/sexist/homophobe/etc.”

I suppose this sort of thing is a valid tool for change. Of course the shame merchants have the right to say what they do. And peer pressure can make people either change (at least publicly) or expose their darker natures. But some of it has this strange air of “I’m more pure than you.” You must meet the shame merchant’s standard or you are flat out bigoted and worthless.

So what’s “right” here? What is the right thing to do? I still read Lovecraft and admire his writing. What do I do? Do I admit I’m a racist? I don’t think I am. I am guessing most human beings have some racist aspects within their beings, whether they are conscious of them or not. But I don’t believe people are different/inferior/superior because of their skin color. So then am I supporting a racist? Well, I could point out that Lovecraft is long dead, so is getting none of my money. Would I read his works if he were alive and able to profit from them? I don’t know, truthfully. Should I be shamed for liking his writing (to be clear, that which does not contain racist themes)? If so, should I work to shame others for their likes as well? The argument could go round and round – someone criticizes me, I could find out what they like and why they are not as pure as they hold themselves out to be. “How can you slam me for liking Lovecraft, when you like [fill in a name here]?”

I’ll end by linking to some articles about some problematic authors. Are any of your favorites among them? Well, should you stop enjoying their work now, or what? Toss it into the dustbin of history? What would we gain and what would we lose?

Article One.

Article Two.

And this is just Norman Mailer!

To Write to Market or Not To Write to Market ... That is the Question!

Writerly musings: Lately I’ve been dogged a lot by the question of whether to “write to market” – to try and write what will sell – or to “write what I love/feel/know.”

Of course it’s not entirely a choice. Maybe I can’t write a bestseller, even if I want and try to. Maybe I can only write what I love, which, who knows? Could turn out to be a bestseller in the end. Or maybe I’ll never have anything else published, no matter what I try.

But I guess it centers on what I want to try for. I’ve seen some of the popular works – maybe not the million-sellers, but series with followings, and which seem to have new volumes added just about every six months to a year – and I think, “I could maybe do that, couldn’t I?” And part of me wants to give it a go. Even if I want to keep writing my personal, idiosyncratic work, it might not hurt to learn how to write what sells, right? If I can, I mean?

What do you think, fellow writers and readers? Writers: do you wrestle with this at all? For you, is being a writer and a success synonymous with making sales and being famous? Or would you be happy writing what you love, no matter how weird, even if few people ever read it?

Readers: Do you take chances on obscure work, books and/or movies or TV shows you’ve not heard much about? Would you rather read books in extensive series, in established genres, by authors you’ve heard of, whom you might hear interviewed on NPR or something?

 

Writing news: We went to Rockport, Massachusetts, for the Halloween weekend, and the folks at Toad Hall Bookstore were nice enough to take a chance on a few copies of our books. So, if you happen to be there, or like to order from indie bookstores, AND you’d like to check out our books, consider Toad Hall. They don’t make too many like Toad Hall anymore!

Can You Admit When You Were Wrong?

I was thinking of trying to start a new tradition (if someone hasn't beaten me to this one). I’d call it “Make Amends Day,” or “Admit Your Mistakes Day.” Maybe it could even be observed monthly. The idea being that you would get to unburden yourself (seriously, it’s a good, helpful thing to do for yourself and others) by saying, essentially, “I’m sorry I screwed up.”

Some background: I felt I had to apologize to a fellow writer today for being overly critical of some of his work. I realized I was being harsh because of a personal issue. I don’t like the idea of “writing to market,” i.e. seeing what trends are “hot” and trying to craft a novel or piece of writing that will fit the trend and ride it to success. Think about how many imitators of Harry Potter, the Twilight novels, and Fifty Shades of Grey there were. There are certain “marks” a writer should “hit” to make a work more likely to be published under this philosophy. Whole categories have been created by marketers to excite the public into buying books: “paranormal romance” comes to mind. And the latest one I’ve heard: “new adult fiction.” According to Wikipedia, it’s designed to appeal to 18-30-year-old readers. I’d always thought those were simply “adult readers,” but what do I know? 

But that’s me – I realized that, just because I don’t like things, that doesn’t make them bad or wrong. So I felt I had to apologize to my fellow writer. Some of my criticism was at least tinged with my dislike for what he was doing: writing to market. I realized I should really focus on how he is writing, not what he is writing.

 

 

Beyond that, I am getting excited for the Local Author Fair I’ll be attending (as one of the guests) this Saturday. I don’t really know what to expect. I will have a table with some books to sell, but I hope people will want to chat, too. There’s been conflicting information on whether we (the authors) will be reading from our work, so I will prepare something just in case. And, to add a plea to readers her, I HOPE people will leave reviews of our work somewhere! Sure, authors are their own first audiences, but we do hope others will read and get something out of our works. Short of talking to an author in person, the best way to acknowledge you liked (or disliked, for that matter) their stories is by leaving reviews. Please do so, even if they are short or not grammatically perfect. It really is the thought that counts. 

With that, I’m off, back to revising my novel. If I can, I may read a bit from it at the Fair!

Circling the Task

Hello my writing and reading friends!

So it's Halloween month in Salem, MA, which means crazy times here. We've been through the madness uptown a few times - vendors, people in costumes, eerie music coming from everywhere, and the Terror Fantasies Art Show. Quite fun, and good exercise (getting in my "steps" quite a lot this month).

It also means things like this come back to haunt me - Photoshop projects from when I was in school for Publishing Arts from 2007-2009:

And:

And finally:

These were all the result of collage, made by merging several photos. I could put images up of the individual photos if anyone's interested.

Anyhow, things have been slower on the novel-revising front. I've tackled it and been pushed back a few times. But I know it's just a matter of keeping at it. I even got some advice from my uncle who's a writer, Marshall Cook, that's been helpful.

Meantime, since I've found revising at work next to impossible, I'm working on a new story. No idea if it'll become a novel or what, but it plays with campy superhero tropes a la Batman (1960s TV show). More news as it becomes available.

Finally, getting ready to put up posters for the author event my wife, EC Hanlon, and I will be working at on October 24th. Excited and nervous!

And that's the news from sunny, autumn-chilled Salem!

Writing Book Recommendation: Self-Editing for Fiction Writers

As I'm rereading and preparing to edit my current novel-in-progress (and getting towards the end of the reread), I'm thinking about facing the terrors I have over revision and rewriting. It's about making choices - what do I throw away? What do I add? Is the new stuff I'm writing better than the old stuff I'm replacing it with?

It's nearly enough to paralyze me!

A friend came through with a recommendation - a book to read to help me focus while revising on things to look for.

The book is Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King. Sure, some of what they say I've heard before - "show don't tell," "use more active verbs," and so forth. But they give LOTS of examples and they show before-and-after bits, showing selections with "mistakes" and how they'd rewrite them.

I'm sure I won't remember every piece of advice when I get to the "dreaded task," but there are enough nuggets in my brain that I think it will help when I wade into it. It makes me a little more hopeful anyway!

Any fellow writers have advice on how to revise?

Rollercoaster of Life

Back again ... a tad more than a week since last post, but I think I'm keeping up with the new schedule.

This week has been filled with ups and downs on the writing front. To wit:

• Continued rereading my novel, Cosmic Ray, in preparation to do the second draft.
• Submitted a story to my writers' group for critique. The story is one for inclusion in our next ghost story anthology. The critique didn't go so well, I feel.
• Got a poster and press release for a "Local Author Event" I'm part of (will try to attach the image below).

Up, down, up. High, low, high. Unfortunately, they didn't go exactly in that order!

So I'm wondering, if I may ask anyone reading: How do you bounce back from rejection? How do you hack it when things make you question whether you should go on?

I've had times when I've said, "I should just give up trying to be a writer." But I've found I couldn't. Yet I'm getting towards 50 now, and I've put in what I consider my best efforts yet. And still I'm feeling low about some of it. So how to keep getting up off the mat and back in the fight?

I got back to rereading Cosmic Ray today, and it helped a little. I think I'm going to have to do some pretty massive rewriting of the first five chapters, but it gets better around Chapters 7 and 8. So that gives me some hope.

What gives you hope?

Back to the Battle!

Been away from this blog for some time, but am hoping to get it going on a regular basis - at least once per week - again.

The good news is, I've been busy! A lot of it has been writing. I finished my novel, "Cosmic Ray." Well, I finished it as in "I got to the end of the story." It now needs a re-read and a lot of revision, but I've begun that process. Finding it daunting, though. I've done a lot of writing recently, but revision? Not so much. So shifting gears has proved a little tough. More on that in a moment ...

Also wrote two short stories for consideration in an anthology put out by the North Shore Writers' Group here in Salem, MA. I'm a member of the group, and my story, "An Ill Wind," about a (maybe) superhero whose alter-ego died, is in the first book, Ghost Writers. Now, I've picked one of the new stories to ... revise!

So, yes ... having some problems with revision. One issue is that I seem to need few distractions around me when I revise. When writing, I seem able to tune out the chatter of others around me, but not when revising. I have less time home alone (I used to stay up quite late, and did some work after everyone else went to bed, but not anymore), so it's been hard to get to. I've bought a book on how to "self-edit" for writers. I am going to get it done ... it's just NEVER as fast as I'd like it to be.

On the non-writing front, I finally got a full-time permanent job, so I am less stressed about that. I even have some time to write while at work. Plus!

Been reading some good sci-fi and other books. A friend turned me on to Ray Bradbury. My writing often has a certain "flowery/florid" quality, and my friend said Ray was expert at this. Boy was she right! I read Something Wicked This Way Comes, and was blown away by how he found new, poetic ways to say things. That's something I love doing.

Also finally reading early Flash Gordon strips in prep for my revising of "Cosmic Ray." It's a tribute to Flash Gordon-y stuff, so I want to steep myself in Flash and other Flash-like things as I approach the rewriting and finalizing.

Also checking out some "Legion of Super-Heroes" comics in prep for my next novel project, about which I'll say very little at this point.

I like to end with a (series of) question(s) ... this one's for the fellow writers out there: How do you manage your revisions? How do you manage to "kill your darlings" (i.e. get rid of some of the words you've so lovingly written)? And what do you do when you're not sure whether the "new stuff" is better or worse than the "old stuff" (that which you're removing/replacing)?