Peg Herring's Blog - Posts Tagged "experts"
Topic: Mystery
I spoke last evening to a group of mystery lovers, some of whom might have exchanged places with me and done a fine job. It's scary to face an audience of experts, and the depth of knowledge some readers have in specific sub-genres or about specific authors often amazes me.
For most of my life I was a grazer of mysteries, reading whatever was available and paying little attention to who wrote what. I knew I liked certain authors, of course, but didn't give much thought to why. When I became a writer, I started actually meeting some of the people whose work I admire, along with a host of writers I'd never heard of. Or had I? Often I found that once an author spoke a bit about his/her protagonist, I'd think, "Oh, right. I read a few of those books." I just hadn't bothered to commit anything to memory. Reading is entertainment, and there are no quizzes later.
I pay much better attention now, but all those past books huddle dimly in my memory. I may recognize the sleuth, I may hear a title and know I read that book once upon a time. But I was a bit of a glutton, feeding on a book and then moving on, often retaining little of it. Now I make an effort to categorize and examine, comparing each book to others in the genre, and of course, to my own.
When the topic is mystery, I can hold my own in most discussions, but I still consider reading to be entertainment. I'm aware that there are many who are better than I am at recalling all the details, to whom mystery is a Serious Thing. When they show up in my audiences, I'm always glad to let them educate me.
For most of my life I was a grazer of mysteries, reading whatever was available and paying little attention to who wrote what. I knew I liked certain authors, of course, but didn't give much thought to why. When I became a writer, I started actually meeting some of the people whose work I admire, along with a host of writers I'd never heard of. Or had I? Often I found that once an author spoke a bit about his/her protagonist, I'd think, "Oh, right. I read a few of those books." I just hadn't bothered to commit anything to memory. Reading is entertainment, and there are no quizzes later.
I pay much better attention now, but all those past books huddle dimly in my memory. I may recognize the sleuth, I may hear a title and know I read that book once upon a time. But I was a bit of a glutton, feeding on a book and then moving on, often retaining little of it. Now I make an effort to categorize and examine, comparing each book to others in the genre, and of course, to my own.
When the topic is mystery, I can hold my own in most discussions, but I still consider reading to be entertainment. I'm aware that there are many who are better than I am at recalling all the details, to whom mystery is a Serious Thing. When they show up in my audiences, I'm always glad to let them educate me.
Expert-ism
This morning at breakfast, my husband and I were discussing experts. The news is full of stories about what one expert or another says should be done about taxes, education, crime, oil spills, you-name-it. While I am willing to listen, not considering myself to be an expert on any of those topics, I respect most of all the person who thinks for himself. I strive to be one of those people.
History is a great teacher, neglected by many. The advice of experts of other times now seems downright awful. The idea of putting powdered dog feces in the eyes of a person with vision problems is an example that springs to mind. We might think, "But we're more scientific now." I'm sure every generation has thought of itself as more enlightened than earlier ones, but consider how many mistakes medical experts have made just in our lifetimes. (Don't bother trying to count the mistakes of policitians!)
Experts are often people steeped in the dogma of the time, perhaps so much so that they cannot think outside conventional thought. As an expert spends years getting educated to the point of being recognized as an expert, he is immersed in accepted practice for so long that it must be hard to think independently, not to mention to step away from what one's colleagues believe and practice. Experts are also people, meaning that they have innate prejudices and collected experiences that make them see things in a particular way. My years as a teacher, for example, make it hard for me to accept concepts like No Child Left Behind, a nice idea created by experts who do not deal with day-to-day classroom situations.
The world of books and publishing is by no means lacking experts. Experts advise us on how to write, how to query, how to promote, and how to brand. But the experts are often no better than the rest of us at predicting who will succeed and who will fail.
I'm no expert, but I do as my grandmother used to advise me, "Listen to what they say, and then think whatever you like."
History is a great teacher, neglected by many. The advice of experts of other times now seems downright awful. The idea of putting powdered dog feces in the eyes of a person with vision problems is an example that springs to mind. We might think, "But we're more scientific now." I'm sure every generation has thought of itself as more enlightened than earlier ones, but consider how many mistakes medical experts have made just in our lifetimes. (Don't bother trying to count the mistakes of policitians!)
Experts are often people steeped in the dogma of the time, perhaps so much so that they cannot think outside conventional thought. As an expert spends years getting educated to the point of being recognized as an expert, he is immersed in accepted practice for so long that it must be hard to think independently, not to mention to step away from what one's colleagues believe and practice. Experts are also people, meaning that they have innate prejudices and collected experiences that make them see things in a particular way. My years as a teacher, for example, make it hard for me to accept concepts like No Child Left Behind, a nice idea created by experts who do not deal with day-to-day classroom situations.
The world of books and publishing is by no means lacking experts. Experts advise us on how to write, how to query, how to promote, and how to brand. But the experts are often no better than the rest of us at predicting who will succeed and who will fail.
I'm no expert, but I do as my grandmother used to advise me, "Listen to what they say, and then think whatever you like."
