On the importance of Jealousy
Salon
The link above is to a very interesting excerpt from Peter Toohey's book Jealousy. It was printed by Salon.com and is definitely worth a read.
Mr. Toohey brings up several examples of jealousy--some ancient, the others more recent--but it's not the specific examples that I want to talk about today, but two concepts that are lightly brushed on in the excerpt.
The first is jealousy exhibited by writers against one another. The form that this type of jealousy usually takes is by up and coming writers against popular, long-standing authors.
The older authors usually have a larger fanbase and more success than those attempting to break into the business. I suppose that this situation could lend itself to an atmosphere of jealousy, and there probably are several young and jealous writers.
I urge all young writers to not be jealous. There are two reasons for this. One, it does no good, and two, if you are a good enough writer, your time will come.
It's really that simple. There is a lot of luck in becoming a mega writer like J.K. Rowling and making more money than you could ever know what to do with. That might not happen for you. But if you are talented enough you will find an audience. That audience should be enough to allow you to support yourself and your family.
And, morbid as it is, honestly sooner or later the older writers are going to die off. When they are gone something is going to have to fill in the void. That something will be new, younger writers. It's just the way of the world.
However, I do not think that most young writers are jealous of the old guard. I know I'm certainly not. Sometimes it is unavoidable to feel a twinge when reading something truly great and thinking (or knowing) that you will never be able to write something that wonderful. Yet, you can't go through life comparing yourself to other writers. The art of crafting a story is unique to each person and the process involved is rarely the same for any two people. Our ends might be similar (we both produce a novel at the end of the process) but the journey is completely different. When I am composing I'm thinking about my characters and my world, not how it would stack up against another author's work.
The second kind of jealousy touched on in the excerpt is fan jealousy.
I know I'm in the minority of people that have fans (and somehow I do) when I say that I think fans should feel entitled.
Now let me specify. There's a quote from Wil Wheaton in the article about an incident that he went through where fans camped out at his hotel and separated him from his friends to try and hound him. A woman even threatened to expose him on Twitter as a bad person if he didn't give her an autograph. This isn't the same as fans feeling a connection to a story or a character. This is just people being fanatics.
What I'm talking about are the people who feel entitled that an author finish a book series that they started. Or feel entitled to a satisfying ending to a book, or those who think their favorite television show is being ruined. As a Dexter fan, I know how that feels.
There is some backlash amongst my colleagues that these fans are pushing things too far. They, the writers, are the creators of their worlds and they are the only ones who hold dominion over such. But that just isn't the case. Writers like Stephen King and J.K. Rowling have made millions from their fans. Producers and writers of television shows also make a large amount of money. Money is only a small piece of the puzzle, although I do believe that when a fanbase allows you to make a very good living from your creativity than you do owe them something.
The bigger issue is the fact that you have let your story go out into the world. Once you expose it to the light of day it is no longer just yours. The story can only be yours when you are sitting at that computer and making it. If you don't want to hear what the fans have to say, if you don't want to deal with the backlash from an unsatisfying turn of events in one of your stories, then I have a simple piece of advice for you. Never publish anything.
If you never get a fanbase then you will never have to deal with their demands. If, however, you want to share what you've done with others (and maybe make some money doing it) then you will also have to accept the possibility that those fans will have something to say to you.
Now, that doesn't mean you should change the course of your story because of something a fan said to you. However, if you're disappointing your entire fanbase, you might be doing something wrong. It is human for people to make mistakes and writers are no different. If there was some magical font that produced perfect ideas then there would be no need for writers. Anyone could make a story.
The ability to create a story is a wonderful thing, but it is not a superpower, and writers are not supermen. Nor does your work exist in a vacuum (unless you really do decide to never put it out there) but in a world where other people can judge it and talk about it.
If you do your job well you will be rewarded for it and your fans will be happy. If you do your job poorly than people are going to complain. And if you lose your edge you can be sure you'll hear about it. Only fools ignore their fans.
Don't be a fool.
The link above is to a very interesting excerpt from Peter Toohey's book Jealousy. It was printed by Salon.com and is definitely worth a read.
Mr. Toohey brings up several examples of jealousy--some ancient, the others more recent--but it's not the specific examples that I want to talk about today, but two concepts that are lightly brushed on in the excerpt.
The first is jealousy exhibited by writers against one another. The form that this type of jealousy usually takes is by up and coming writers against popular, long-standing authors.
The older authors usually have a larger fanbase and more success than those attempting to break into the business. I suppose that this situation could lend itself to an atmosphere of jealousy, and there probably are several young and jealous writers.
I urge all young writers to not be jealous. There are two reasons for this. One, it does no good, and two, if you are a good enough writer, your time will come.
It's really that simple. There is a lot of luck in becoming a mega writer like J.K. Rowling and making more money than you could ever know what to do with. That might not happen for you. But if you are talented enough you will find an audience. That audience should be enough to allow you to support yourself and your family.
And, morbid as it is, honestly sooner or later the older writers are going to die off. When they are gone something is going to have to fill in the void. That something will be new, younger writers. It's just the way of the world.
However, I do not think that most young writers are jealous of the old guard. I know I'm certainly not. Sometimes it is unavoidable to feel a twinge when reading something truly great and thinking (or knowing) that you will never be able to write something that wonderful. Yet, you can't go through life comparing yourself to other writers. The art of crafting a story is unique to each person and the process involved is rarely the same for any two people. Our ends might be similar (we both produce a novel at the end of the process) but the journey is completely different. When I am composing I'm thinking about my characters and my world, not how it would stack up against another author's work.
The second kind of jealousy touched on in the excerpt is fan jealousy.
I know I'm in the minority of people that have fans (and somehow I do) when I say that I think fans should feel entitled.
Now let me specify. There's a quote from Wil Wheaton in the article about an incident that he went through where fans camped out at his hotel and separated him from his friends to try and hound him. A woman even threatened to expose him on Twitter as a bad person if he didn't give her an autograph. This isn't the same as fans feeling a connection to a story or a character. This is just people being fanatics.
What I'm talking about are the people who feel entitled that an author finish a book series that they started. Or feel entitled to a satisfying ending to a book, or those who think their favorite television show is being ruined. As a Dexter fan, I know how that feels.
There is some backlash amongst my colleagues that these fans are pushing things too far. They, the writers, are the creators of their worlds and they are the only ones who hold dominion over such. But that just isn't the case. Writers like Stephen King and J.K. Rowling have made millions from their fans. Producers and writers of television shows also make a large amount of money. Money is only a small piece of the puzzle, although I do believe that when a fanbase allows you to make a very good living from your creativity than you do owe them something.
The bigger issue is the fact that you have let your story go out into the world. Once you expose it to the light of day it is no longer just yours. The story can only be yours when you are sitting at that computer and making it. If you don't want to hear what the fans have to say, if you don't want to deal with the backlash from an unsatisfying turn of events in one of your stories, then I have a simple piece of advice for you. Never publish anything.
If you never get a fanbase then you will never have to deal with their demands. If, however, you want to share what you've done with others (and maybe make some money doing it) then you will also have to accept the possibility that those fans will have something to say to you.
Now, that doesn't mean you should change the course of your story because of something a fan said to you. However, if you're disappointing your entire fanbase, you might be doing something wrong. It is human for people to make mistakes and writers are no different. If there was some magical font that produced perfect ideas then there would be no need for writers. Anyone could make a story.
The ability to create a story is a wonderful thing, but it is not a superpower, and writers are not supermen. Nor does your work exist in a vacuum (unless you really do decide to never put it out there) but in a world where other people can judge it and talk about it.
If you do your job well you will be rewarded for it and your fans will be happy. If you do your job poorly than people are going to complain. And if you lose your edge you can be sure you'll hear about it. Only fools ignore their fans.
Don't be a fool.
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