Email from Readers: Frightful or Delightful?

Science fiction writer Robert Heinlein received so many letters from readers that his wife created a form reply (this was before email). She’d check off the applicable responses and stick the reply in the mail. Reading the responses is like playing Jeopardy; it’s fun to guess at what a letter would have to say to receive the, “Please do not write to me again,” response. You can see Heinlein’s form reply here.

I’ll never receive the amount of mail Heinlein received, but readers do write to me. The majority of emails are thoughtful, polite, and constructive, but there are those that make me wonder, and I could see myself checking off a response on Heinlein’s form letter.

I am not my characters

Heinlein form response: A novelist writes from many viewpoints; opinions expressed even by a first-person character are not necessarily those of the author.

I’m sure you already know what Heinlein stated, but I can attest to the fact that some readers draw conclusions about who an author is and what she believes based on the stories and characters she’s written. I’ve had people make assumptions about my age, my personality, and my viewpoints.

One person told me I must be a “wonderful partner.” I’m not sure who was more amused by that—me or my partner! Another one went on and on about how much I pour myself into my stories, like all artists do. I don’t pour myself into my stories, and I don’t see myself as an artist. Someone else insisted that I must be lying when I said that I wasn’t in my twenties.

I’m a fiction writer. I make stuff up, including people, places, worlds, worldviews, everything. I can’t think of a single character I’ve written who reflects me 100% of the time.

Take The Atheist. Jillian (the main character) doesn’t believe in God. On the other hand, Sam (a strong secondary character who transitions to a main character in Deiform Two) does believe in God. They can’t both reflect my position on the God question.

On a less personal issue, for which I don’t mind saying where I actually stand: every single character in the Rymellan Series supports capital punishment. I don’t, which puts me at odds with every one of them. Whenever a Rymellan says anything positive about executing someone (which isn’t unusual in the Rymellan Series! ), they’re saying something I would never say. Anyone who reads the Rymellan Series and figures I must be rah-rah capital punishment couldn’t be more wrong.

About the only genre that might convey a good sense of the author is memoir/autobiography. Even then, I’d bet there’s usually fiction mixed with fact.

I enjoy hearing from readers

Heinlein form response: Thanks for your kind words. You have made my day brighter.

I’ve sent many replies that express the same sentiment (sometimes using almost the same words). I honestly don’t mind constructive criticism, either, as long as it is polite and constructive.

Thanks for your feedback

One response that would be on my form letter but isn’t on Heinlein’s: Thanks for your feedback.

An example of when I would tick this one: The Rymellan story Shattered Lives provoked more emails than usual when it was released. For those familiar with the series, that was the story in which Lesley and Mo have their notification meetings. The plot twist upset some readers.

Everyone who wrote to me about the plot twist was polite, but several emails were passive-aggressive and boiled down to the following: “If you don’t get rid of [the plot twist], I’ll stop reading your stories.” I replied with a polite, “Thanks for your feedback.”

I’ve read thousands of books. I didn’t like or finish all of them. I’ve run into the situation where I’ve stopped reading a series partway through because I grew disappointed with the story or characters. I once put down a book by one of my favourite authors because it contained a passage about animal cruelty, and I have no interest in reading about the torture of an animal, even when it’s not actually happening (fiction). I just couldn’t keep reading the book after that. For one reason or another, I’ve stopped reading stories many, many times.

When I’ve put down a book in disgust, not once has it ever crossed my mind to write to the author and say, “You must change what you’re writing to suit me, or I won’t read your stories.” Why would the author care? What type of response would I expect to receive? “Dear reader: Oh my gosh, thank you for letting me know. I’ll change what I intended to write so it suits your taste. Cheers.” Seriously. Authors can’t please everyone, and it would be folly to try.

I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody. Bill Cosby

For every person who likes something, there will be someone else who doesn’t like it. It’s not unusual for me to receive an email that says, “I liked how X happened/reacted,” and another email that says, “I didn’t like how X happened/reacted,” when X refers to the same event or character. All I can do is write the story I want to write. Some readers will like the story, and some won’t.

When I’m reading and come across something that turns me off the story, I do what most readers do: I stop reading the book and move on to something else. I might read more by that author, or I might not. In the animal cruelty case, I was first in line to buy her next book.

As an aside, in the Rymellan plot twist case, I’m not sure what the disgruntled readers expected me to do, since the only way of getting rid of you-know-what and remaining true to Rymellan society would have been to kill off a main character. I suspect that would have pissed off many more readers than the plot twist did.

Overall

I’m fortunate. By far, most emails I receive are intelligent, polite, and interesting. Occasionally one makes me shake my head and wonder about the sender, but receiving an email from a reader is usually a pleasure. Maybe I’ll hear from you someday (if I haven’t already).

Have a great weekend!

Email from Readers: Frightful or Delightful? is a post from: Sarah Ettritch