Writing, Grub-Bowl Ballet, and Ate-a-cat
I read a blog this morning that summed up many points on what is often wrong with far too many authors today; fear.
Before anyone gets offended, let me explain, please. When I say fear, I aim it toward those authors who feel they have to protect the reading public from the unwashed-unedited-ill mannered hordes of self-published amateur authors who can't possibly write well, but in many instances often do.
I've seen authors who claim that when reading a self-published book four typos (or less) is the point where they close the book and stamp it unfit for public reading. Other self-proclaimed geniuses state they can tell if a book is worth reading with no more than the first sentence (yea gods, what intellect). These same authors often tout the perfection of traditionally published works, as there is apparently never (in their qualified-justified opinions) a bad cover, typos, and any other complaint. All I can say is, what a load of cow pies.
I write, and I read. I've read more books than I could possible write if I had that much time to write, which I don't. In the last fifty-one years of reading, I've seen a large number of works by traditional authors with poor cover art, crappy editing (lots of typos and WTF passages), where the only reason the books in question were marketed was because the author was famous.
I've also read works by 'hobby writers', works I'd willing shell out the money for the paperback or Ebook. Were there typos? In one roughly 400,000 word novel I spotted four typos and promptly forgot them because the story had me hooked. In another, I spotted three or four, but the story kept leading me along and the few typos didn't matter.
Up to now you've seen how this blog relates to writing, so it's time to pull in the "Grub-Bowl Ballet" and "Ate-a-cat".
The "Grub-Bowl Ballet" was what I was dancing while preparing tiny demon warrior princess' second-breakfast. While my knees crackled and my vertebrae popped during the preparations for her soon to be devoured solids I was contemplating the blog I'd read earlier.
The issue of etiquette, or as my father would have said when I was young "Ate-a-cat" went through my poor simple-minded noggin while I was getting the Grub-Bowl ready. I listened to the complaints of a five-and-a-half month old child: "You're not feeding me fast enough", "There's not enough chicken", "It's too cold", "Faster, feed faster", and "Oh no, it's finished".
The dictionary (dictionary dot com) defines etiquette as: (1) conventional requirements as to social behavior; proprieties of conduct as established in any class or community or for any occasion, (2) a prescribed or accepted code of usage in matters of ceremony, as at a court or in official or other formal observances., or (3) the code of ethical behavior regarding professional practice or action among the members of a profession in their dealings with each other: medical etiquette.
I've read a number of postings as to the "Ate-a-cat" expected of authors, especially amateur or hobby authors, and it's fairly arbitrary. I've corresponded a few times with a few famous and not so famous professionals, and to be honest many of them aren't much different than us less-than-professionals. The etiquette I encountered was fluid, variable, and dependent upon the author.
The fact remains though, authors read. Professional authors read the work of other professional authors. Professional authors often applaud the work of other professional authors.
Perhaps I'm wrong but if one author reads another author's work then the reader is free to like or dislike what he or she read. If the author-reader goes on to rate or review what they read, it's not improper etiquette. As readers, authors have as much right to have a personal opinion as anyone else.
If you're an author and you like my work, great. If you're an author and you don't like my work, great. Either way it means you read my work and had a reaction to it, which led to an opinion. At the end of the day, all any author can hope for is that someone will pick up some of his or her work, take the time to read it from beginning to end, and either like or dislike it.
If an amateur or hobby author takes the time to make their work as indistinguishable from the professional as possible, it's even more better (mas mejor).
For now, I think it may be time for me to do the "Change-Poopy-Diaper Ballet". Have a great Friday, and take the time to enjoy a book.
Before anyone gets offended, let me explain, please. When I say fear, I aim it toward those authors who feel they have to protect the reading public from the unwashed-unedited-ill mannered hordes of self-published amateur authors who can't possibly write well, but in many instances often do.
I've seen authors who claim that when reading a self-published book four typos (or less) is the point where they close the book and stamp it unfit for public reading. Other self-proclaimed geniuses state they can tell if a book is worth reading with no more than the first sentence (yea gods, what intellect). These same authors often tout the perfection of traditionally published works, as there is apparently never (in their qualified-justified opinions) a bad cover, typos, and any other complaint. All I can say is, what a load of cow pies.
I write, and I read. I've read more books than I could possible write if I had that much time to write, which I don't. In the last fifty-one years of reading, I've seen a large number of works by traditional authors with poor cover art, crappy editing (lots of typos and WTF passages), where the only reason the books in question were marketed was because the author was famous.
I've also read works by 'hobby writers', works I'd willing shell out the money for the paperback or Ebook. Were there typos? In one roughly 400,000 word novel I spotted four typos and promptly forgot them because the story had me hooked. In another, I spotted three or four, but the story kept leading me along and the few typos didn't matter.
Up to now you've seen how this blog relates to writing, so it's time to pull in the "Grub-Bowl Ballet" and "Ate-a-cat".
The "Grub-Bowl Ballet" was what I was dancing while preparing tiny demon warrior princess' second-breakfast. While my knees crackled and my vertebrae popped during the preparations for her soon to be devoured solids I was contemplating the blog I'd read earlier.
The issue of etiquette, or as my father would have said when I was young "Ate-a-cat" went through my poor simple-minded noggin while I was getting the Grub-Bowl ready. I listened to the complaints of a five-and-a-half month old child: "You're not feeding me fast enough", "There's not enough chicken", "It's too cold", "Faster, feed faster", and "Oh no, it's finished".
The dictionary (dictionary dot com) defines etiquette as: (1) conventional requirements as to social behavior; proprieties of conduct as established in any class or community or for any occasion, (2) a prescribed or accepted code of usage in matters of ceremony, as at a court or in official or other formal observances., or (3) the code of ethical behavior regarding professional practice or action among the members of a profession in their dealings with each other: medical etiquette.
I've read a number of postings as to the "Ate-a-cat" expected of authors, especially amateur or hobby authors, and it's fairly arbitrary. I've corresponded a few times with a few famous and not so famous professionals, and to be honest many of them aren't much different than us less-than-professionals. The etiquette I encountered was fluid, variable, and dependent upon the author.
The fact remains though, authors read. Professional authors read the work of other professional authors. Professional authors often applaud the work of other professional authors.
Perhaps I'm wrong but if one author reads another author's work then the reader is free to like or dislike what he or she read. If the author-reader goes on to rate or review what they read, it's not improper etiquette. As readers, authors have as much right to have a personal opinion as anyone else.
If you're an author and you like my work, great. If you're an author and you don't like my work, great. Either way it means you read my work and had a reaction to it, which led to an opinion. At the end of the day, all any author can hope for is that someone will pick up some of his or her work, take the time to read it from beginning to end, and either like or dislike it.
If an amateur or hobby author takes the time to make their work as indistinguishable from the professional as possible, it's even more better (mas mejor).
For now, I think it may be time for me to do the "Change-Poopy-Diaper Ballet". Have a great Friday, and take the time to enjoy a book.
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P.J. wrote: "You had me at Ate-a-cat! This was quite a nice posting, from the intriguing title, the way you covered each point in the title, and even the fun tags at the end. And if I know my little brain - a..."
When I was growing up our father would purposely snarl up words like etiquette with ate-a-cat just for the fun of seeing how often we'd goof and use the wrong pronunciation. Then he'd go on to do the surrealist word-association thing.
Remind me to tell you how one of my aunts once confused 'fainting from heat prostration' with 'fainting from heat prostitution" -- Dad was such a good influence...
It's fine to read other authors' work and enjoy it, and if I do then, like any reader, I may want to tell others about it. So I review it. No problem... :-)It's not that I read the books of my friends and/or relatives and then review those to an unsuspecting public. Far from it... It's more like I read work I like by an author I don't know, and eventually may strike up a conversation or a GR-friendship with the author because I liked their work. And then what? Am I supposed to no longer read or enjoy their books because we're (horrors!) acquainted with one another?
Richard wrote: "It's fine to read other authors' work and enjoy it, and if I do then, like any reader, I may want to tell others about it. So I review it. No problem... :-)It's not that I read the books of my fr..."
You've more or less hit the conundrum of some of the self-appointed guardians of self-published books offered to the public -- they arbitrarily set up a list of ate-a-cat for everyone to conform with.
One could get the impression the self-imposed gatekeepers truly believe that the 'professional' authors never know each other, never communicate with each other, and never read another's work. This tends to be at odds with the traditionally published work where one professional is quoted on the cover or inside saying something along the lines of "A marvelous romp..." or "A stellar work by an author I admire..." and so on.
As far as I'm concerned the bottom-line is if you like or dislike what you read and then it's your choice on whether or not you rate the work or review it.
If all of us 'amateurs' were trying to game the world of readers it would be readily apparent by the ways we'd be trying to double-down on marketing.
Personally, I'm trying to find more time to read and write more when not fixing someone second-breakfast or cleaning up the result of an uber-pooped diaper. As a result, if I like what I read I'll rate the heck out of it as I think it deserves.
My motives are simple. I read what I choose. I like or dislike what I choose. I rate as I see fit. I believe the 'pros' do the same thing.
When all is said and done we either write a story an audience likes or doesn't like (or kind of sort of likes in a lukewarm way) with the caveat that not all stories are well-received by all audiences.
And if I know my little brain - and I suspect I do - it's going to spend much of the day on two-sentence reveries that include all of thoe tags together.