Readers who write, writers who read
A criticism of self-publishing is that it pulls in thousands of amateur writers and encourages them to think of themselves as bestselling professionals. But odds are, most independently published work will never be widely read, particularly if we stick to an often held idea of writers and readers being two completely separate groups that happen to depend upon each other.
Perhaps that idea is looking at writing too narrowly. It’s a holdover perspective from the traditional publishing model where logistics decreed that only a narrow range of those writing and telling stories were worth financial investment. It assumes that one is either a writer or a reader. It also assumes that one must be a professional to tell a story that another person would be willing to hear. I don’t think that’s true. A family member could be a beautiful singer and we could love to hear her voice, even if we didn’t expect her to have gold records anywhere. Not everything has to be bought and sold.
People who like to write are probably also people who like to read. A few are destined to be best-selling authors, but I suspect most are people who had a story inside that they really wanted to tell. For many, telling the story was a compulsion as strong as any other human compulsion and dominated their thoughts and energy for a long time. And then what?
I have nothing against those who choose writing as a profession. Reading the work of professionals has taken me to new worlds, given me new perspectives, and provided me with many hours of sheer joy, with no abrupt letdowns or consternation because of poor stylistics or unintended implausibility. I appreciate the pros, and the editors and agents behind them, and I wish them all the best. I will continue to support them by buying books to read or give as gifts.
But I hope to make more connections among people who would be happy simply swapping stories with another. I want my imagination fired by the stories they tell and I want them to climb into my imaginary worlds for a brief visit too. Ultimately, all we need are forums to share them. Independent publishing sites and shared social media spaces can provide those.
Independent publishing sites are often primarily geared toward helping people market their work, and for those who wish it, I think that’s a great thing. But what they can also offer that traditional publishing can’t as easily is connecting people to new worlds dreamed by those who look at things differently. There’s room here for whimsies, rambles, sagas, poems and ideas that only a handful might love, but would love with the same passion as those enthralled by more mainstream work. The love may perhaps be even more intense: finally finding a connection who shares the passion for that world would have an intrinsic joy of its own.
Books are portals for the imagination, whether one is reading or writing, and unless one is keeping a private journal, writing something that no one is likely to read is like trying to have a conversation when you’re all alone. Readers extend and enhance the writer’s created work, and they deepen the colors of it with their own imagination and life experiences. In a sense, there’s a revision every time one's words are read by someone else, just as surely as there is whenever the writer edits. Nothing is finished or completely dead until both sides quit and it’s no longer a part of anyone’s thoughts. So it seems almost natural that a lifelong avid reader occasionally wants to construct a mindscape from scratch after wandering happily in those constructed by others. If writing is a collaborative communication between author and reader, then surely there’s a time and a place other than writing reviews for readers to “speak” in the human literary conversation.
I suspect that there are many who have ideas and narratives that bubble up and they just want to find others who might be interested in them. And if many of us ended up writing what we might have subconsciously wanted to read, particularly if our tastes are quirky and offbeat, finding even a few more with styles similar - or even more compellingly unusual - would be just the thing.
Perhaps that idea is looking at writing too narrowly. It’s a holdover perspective from the traditional publishing model where logistics decreed that only a narrow range of those writing and telling stories were worth financial investment. It assumes that one is either a writer or a reader. It also assumes that one must be a professional to tell a story that another person would be willing to hear. I don’t think that’s true. A family member could be a beautiful singer and we could love to hear her voice, even if we didn’t expect her to have gold records anywhere. Not everything has to be bought and sold.
People who like to write are probably also people who like to read. A few are destined to be best-selling authors, but I suspect most are people who had a story inside that they really wanted to tell. For many, telling the story was a compulsion as strong as any other human compulsion and dominated their thoughts and energy for a long time. And then what?
I have nothing against those who choose writing as a profession. Reading the work of professionals has taken me to new worlds, given me new perspectives, and provided me with many hours of sheer joy, with no abrupt letdowns or consternation because of poor stylistics or unintended implausibility. I appreciate the pros, and the editors and agents behind them, and I wish them all the best. I will continue to support them by buying books to read or give as gifts.
But I hope to make more connections among people who would be happy simply swapping stories with another. I want my imagination fired by the stories they tell and I want them to climb into my imaginary worlds for a brief visit too. Ultimately, all we need are forums to share them. Independent publishing sites and shared social media spaces can provide those.
Independent publishing sites are often primarily geared toward helping people market their work, and for those who wish it, I think that’s a great thing. But what they can also offer that traditional publishing can’t as easily is connecting people to new worlds dreamed by those who look at things differently. There’s room here for whimsies, rambles, sagas, poems and ideas that only a handful might love, but would love with the same passion as those enthralled by more mainstream work. The love may perhaps be even more intense: finally finding a connection who shares the passion for that world would have an intrinsic joy of its own.
Books are portals for the imagination, whether one is reading or writing, and unless one is keeping a private journal, writing something that no one is likely to read is like trying to have a conversation when you’re all alone. Readers extend and enhance the writer’s created work, and they deepen the colors of it with their own imagination and life experiences. In a sense, there’s a revision every time one's words are read by someone else, just as surely as there is whenever the writer edits. Nothing is finished or completely dead until both sides quit and it’s no longer a part of anyone’s thoughts. So it seems almost natural that a lifelong avid reader occasionally wants to construct a mindscape from scratch after wandering happily in those constructed by others. If writing is a collaborative communication between author and reader, then surely there’s a time and a place other than writing reviews for readers to “speak” in the human literary conversation.
I suspect that there are many who have ideas and narratives that bubble up and they just want to find others who might be interested in them. And if many of us ended up writing what we might have subconsciously wanted to read, particularly if our tastes are quirky and offbeat, finding even a few more with styles similar - or even more compellingly unusual - would be just the thing.
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