We’ve made up whole encyclopedias of terms for the various things you find in books and the creation thereof: character arcs and archetypes, structure and set pieces, black moments, tent poles, turning points, acts, alpha/beta/gamma heroes, “save the cat,” “gun on the wall,” “MacGuffin,” plotters vs. “pantsters” – look on any writer’s website and you’ll see all kinds of interesting terminology sprinkled in. Even the most “I’m an artiste” of us will talk of “communing with the muse” – or at least “the girls in the basement.”
Occasionally, I wonder if it’s wise. Is jawing about the craft within earshot (or eyeshot) of the reader akin to a magician sitting down with the audience and explaining how the rabbit got into the hat? Whenever I see reader blogs bemoaning (or insisting upon) the inclusion of X element in their books, I wonder if they got the idea it was there organically, or because someone put a name to the element, rendering it vulnerable, like Rumplestiltskin. Time was, inclusion of this element could make your story shine like gold. But once people could see the gears, could point to it and say, “Oh, it’s save the cat time,” is the magic gone?
I want to believe that’s not true. I figure that people who search out this information (raises hand) are people who appreciate the result even more after analyzing it. We like to soak up any extra bit of info. We watch DVD extras and check out “behind-the-scenes” articles and have even read the correspondence between Jane Austen and her sister for extra tidbits on the development of Pride & Prejudice. If such things would lessen your enjoyment of the work, you avoid them, right? You just want to watch the movie, not listen to the second assistant director and the random B-list co-star whining in your ear about it.
But even if you’re a backstage pass lover, like me, there is a limit. If I hear an author talk too much about what a bear a book is, and how horrible and wretched every scene has been to write, my enthusiasm for reading said book once it’s published goes way down. Or maybe your enjoyment of a particular children’s series has been forever colored by the arguments you heard, many years after reading it, that it was in fact a vast allegorical statement, and appreciation on any other level is wrong, wrong, wrong! (Yeah, still smarting over that one.)
I mean, I happened to like hearing that Dumbledore was gay, but it apparently shocked the heck out of most folks.
My third book came out this week, and I’ve been participating in a lively “spoiler thread” discussion on my blog (click at your peril). It’s great fun to talk about my book with people who’ve read it – a bit like an online book club. But I don’t want to step on any reader’s toes. If they choose to interpret characters’ actions differently than I intended, that’s their prerogative. I don’t want to stymie or derail debate by jumping in and giving “the official” version. If the internal arithmetic of the story wound up differently for them, it’s valid as well. Still, if they ask me a direct question, it’s a great chance to actually have a dialogue with a reader. Usually, our relationship is so one-sided.
I’ve decided to answer what I can, as long as it’s spoiler free, and to drop a few hints for people who are interested in finding the answers for themselves in the text. I hope it’s a good balance, and that the glimpse into my thought process only enhances the story for the reader, an intriguing gleam of clockwork parts, rather than an oil-spattered tour through the factory floor. What about you? Do you like to hear more from the author’s mouth, or does it erase some of the magic for you? At what point does the balance shift, and why do you think that is?
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Many readers really enjoy the “behind the scenes” stuff. Can they live without it? Sure, but if Author A is providing that extra something and Author B isn’t, those readers might be a little more enthused about Author A.
Many readers really hate the “behind the scenes” stuff, in which case, it’s easy enough to avoid. (I personally get a little irritated when people complain about the existence of this “stuff” because, uh, nobody’s forcing them to read it.)
The most important thing will always be the book itself. Whether the author offers anything beyond that is a matter of marketing, and a lot of marketing is dictated by comfort level. The readers who are going to be put off by the extras (yet insist on reading them anyway) are going to be outnumbered by readers who gobble that stuff up, so I don’t see sharing “the process” as having vast, far-reaching negative consequences.
I have a ‘behind the scenes’ section on my website, and I get comments from readers who say they enjoy reading them. But I don’t do ’spoiler’ type stuff there.
I didn’t have a clue about the ‘rules’ when I started writing romance; I thought I was writing a mystery. However, I always wondered about any ‘deeper’ meaning. I dreaded those Lit classes where we had to “analyze” books. I enjoy the story. I don’t really care that when the fisherman in The Old Man and the Sea carries his mast up the hill, it’s supposed to represent the cross. Did Hemingway have that in mind?
When we pressed our teacher for ‘how much did the author plan this’, he said it was most likely organic. That a writer’s style (never heard ‘voice’ until I started writing) was the words he chose to put on the page, and that they would feel ‘right’ to the author.
[...] post is at Romancing the Blog. I’m discussing how comfortable both readers and authors should be with sharing the nuts and [...]
As a reader, I’m not a behind the scenes type of gal. I don’t watch the director’s commentary. I don’t really want to know about the magic, just let me enjoy it.
But as a writer, I DO enjoy hearing about it. I’d rather authors not complain about their own books though.
Great post, Diana! The only time the “behind the scenes” stuff bothers me is when poeple look it up and throw it in my face as a conversation stopper. If a book means something to me that may not be what the author intended, I still think my interpretation is valid because the art exists outside the artist. (I particularly loath when people insist that religious allegory or political allegory is the only “right” way to interpret a particular book.)
Whenever this topic comes up, I think of that scene in the Rodney Dangerfield movie, Back To School. Rodney, a middle-aged businessman accustomed to delegating, goes back to college to get his degree, and “delegates” writing his term papers. Kurt Vonnegut ghostwrites the paper analysing one of Vonnegut’s books, and Rodney gets a “C,” the professor telling him he completely missed the point.
This is an interesting topic. Craft is something we hone and learn and I rather like that people strive to improve. But, I’m a backstage-passer too.
About Dumbledore, I didn’t care that he was gay. It even made sense. I was just annoyed that rather than put it in the book where it belonged, she waited until after the last book was out and announced it to a press conference. What’s the point, other than grabbing more attention? I have little patience for grandstanding. It was only so shocking because they wanted it to be.
Phyllis, I LOVE that part. I would regularly think of it whenever I had to do a paper on Vonnegut or anyone else who was purportedly “deep”, lol.
Dee
Or maybe your enjoyment of a particular children’s series has been forever colored by the arguments you heard, many years after reading it, that it was in fact a vast allegorical statement, and appreciation on any other level is wrong, wrong, wrong!
Hehehehehe, I totally resemble this.
I hate spoiler stuff before reading a book (or watching a movie, etc) but after I’m done with the book/movie I really like, the first thing I do is jump on Google (or imdb) and snarf down more info. (Can you snarf info? Not sure. But you get me.)
I like having the information out there, and I think you’re right on the money with the idea that those who want to know should be free to click away, and those who don’t want to know should be wise enough to stay away from those places where spoilers are given.
And that’s a really interesting point you make about authors whingeing about difficulty writing a book lessening the enthusiasm to read it… Makes total sense.
I’m not a backstage pass type person but consider that readers and writers are not mutually exclusive groups.
In fact, many readers are wannabe writers. And most writers read something sometime.
So of course, the jargon starts to overlap, especially on those reader sites frequented by writer-readers. I find myself trying very hard when I’m doing book reviews to approach it strictly as a reader. I’m not critiquing a writer’s work. I’m telling other potential readers what I liked or disliked, one reader to another.
Therefore terms like “sagging middle”, “hero’s journey”, “archetypes”, “show vs. tell”, etc. have no place in my book reviews.
I have a bachelor’s in Spanish, which I recieved for the great labor of reading books and writing papers about them (in a foreign language, but I could probably have done it in English if I’d cared to). I got the degree for fun, as a diversion to my “real” career path (in computers). Don’t shoot me or roll your eyes for that statement about it being fun. I truly loved every minute of every class leading up to that diploma, even if I’ve never made one single dime of salary out of it.
I love reading. I love enjoying the plots, and the characters, and living the world that the author created. But I also love reflecting on it afterwards. Where did that stuff come from? How does it relate to the “real” world? How does it relate to other books, to me?
I don’t think that hearing the author’s commentary detracts from the work at all. For me, it just adds a new dimension. But, the author’s intentions and background aren’t the whole story of a book. I don’t care if the author thought they were writing a political satire, or a religious allegory. There are other interpretations that are equally valid. And I love hearing them all.
A good book doesn’t stand alone, it is part of something larger. And that’s what I love about it.
Erica, I agree about losing enthusiasm to read a book if the author’s been whining about the process of writing it.
I also hate it when an author makes statements that seem to denegrate their own work, and I never get where they are coming from on that. As if they are somehow ashamed of their own book, so they have to apologize for it. Kind of like when you compliment someone on their shirt, and they respond, oh, this old thing? I got it for a dollar at a garage sale.
Do you like to hear more from the author’s mouth, or does it erase some of the magic for you?
I think in some cases, it’s better to hear it from the author’s mouth – even if it’s just a hint or two as you’ve been doing. An example I can think of is when in HP, Harry ended up with Ginny. There was a whole section of the fandom who thought he was destined to be with Hermione, and boycotted the rest of the series as a result. But Rowling was the author, she wrote the cannon. It’s her call in the end, and it was her world to do with what she sees fit.
Not that hints and cannon are going to stop the fan-fic writers. I mean as much as you tell us that your current romantic lead is “straight as a rod” you know that there are those that have their own fantasies otherwise. But I do enjoy hearing it from the author first hand – the behind the scenes sort of cushions the blow – there’s a time period to prepare and do detective work while waiting for the series to progress.
So I like the backstage way off life… the thing with me is that I read it first… well i devour it first then after if i really like it i want to know EVERYTHING!!!! even if its different then what i thought, well, so what?? i believe that you can only get out of books whats already in you… so yeah, bring on all the trials and joys of that one scene that caused you no end of grief… it’ll make the book and the characters more real to me…
The “backstage” part varies for me and it’s entirely dependent upon what’s revealed and whether I like it. (How’s that for blunt honesty?)
If a book interested me in a specific way–what this means is hard to articulate, the best I can do is say if it captures my imagination in a way that leads me to want to know more–then I’ll seek out the author’s site, a fan conversation, maybe attend a book event, or other information. Whether or not that will prove satisfying depends on what information is shared and how I feel about it. If the author says they hate a character I loved, that would be troubling to me, as a reader. But if an author says the toughest book you ever wrote was the one I loved best, it sort of makes the book feel special, like it was a struggle, but this reader loved it and that makes it all the sweeter.
As far as techincal stuff goes–discussing issues with plotting, pacing, and other mechanics. As a reader, I’m not interested. As a writer, I’m very interested.
I am behind the scenes type person. I do listen to director’s comments on DVDs. Love the extras on DVDs, too.
I love when an author has the time to give tidbits of behind the scenes. I may not understand all the ins and outs but still enjoy listening to the process.
An author complaining about her work-in-progress is a lot like an ungracious hostess. “Dinner isn’t going to be very good and I resented every moment I spent cooking. Everything went wrong and I’m not even sure it’s fit for human consumption. Want to come over?”
Phyllis is so right on when she says “I still think my interpretation is valid because the art exists outside the artist.” It’s called the intentional fallacy, and as a lit major, I’m quite fond of it. It’s also the reason I find it so ironic when theorists—this includes most readers; we all have our theories—get so stuck in one method of interpretation, they ignore and deny the possibility of others. Why diminish the meaning of someone’s book like that? Especially if it’s your own!
That said, I can’t say I always put much stock in what an author has to say (or hint) about the books meaning(s). For me, the beauty is coming to my own interpretation. Of course, I wouldn’t throw out author commentary all together. It sounds like you’re shooting for a good balance, Diana, something every reader appreciates. And knowing a little bit about what the author intended can be fascinating.
It’s also interesting if, as a writer, you happen to be workshopping something and you can the chance to realize how diverse the interpretations and reactions to your work can be. That’s why it’s always nice to get at least one other set of eyes to look it over; they can tell you how far away you are from your own intended meaning so then you can work on getting it a bit closer if you feel the critique is valid.
Finally, I have to agree with everyone else. . . writers should be careful talking about what a bear there book was to tackle. Making it sound like a labor of love is great, but if it sounds like you’re sick of the thing, why should it interest me?
If I really love a book, I want more, more, more. I’m terribly greedy. I want to know what the characters eat for breakfast. I want to know all the boring backstory that didn’t make it into the book. I want to know where they’ll be in 20 years. Not so much all the details about the writing, but some of the creative process, like the germs that sprouted certain ideas.
As a writer, I try to keep it vague which projects I’m working on when I blog about the process. I give projects names like The Current Project rather than using their titles, and I don’t give identifying details. That way, you never really know which finished book is the one I’ve been talking about, especially since there’s usually at least a year’s gap between the time I might be talking about the process of writing it and the time it hits bookstore shelves.
I like seeing authors talk about craft because it means they were thinking about craft when writing their book. It bothers me more when an author says something like, ‘well, I didn’t even think about x, y, and z, because I was just trying to tell a good story.’ Rarely does craft talk affect my experience of a book as a reader, but it can affect my decision to try a particular author who comes across as thoughtful and consciously concerned with some of those crafty elements.