“Art Hides Art”
This quote is again from Dwight Swain’s book, Techniques of the Selling Writer. It really made me think.
Swain talks about how a good artist makes it look easy. The effortless arabesque of the ballet dancer, the casual-seeming movements of a potter at the wheel, the smiling soprano who soars through the upper registers, betraying none of the hours invested in achieving her degree of excellence. Swain says writing is the same. I think I disagree there because when I read a truly astounding book I am humbled and aware of how far I am from that level. Conversely, writing looks easy when I’ve read a poorly-written work. “Someone actually published this? How hard can it possibly be?” I roll my eyes and determine to do a far better job.
But on further consideration, this quote also made me realise that even the ineffective published writer has put in a lot of effort, whether or not he was entirely successful. As I go through the process of writing a novel in a month (I’m over 32 000 words now, thanks) taking into account the preparation beforehand and the sometimes grueling hours of typing, to say nothing of the editing that I haven’t even begun…well, I have to give those bad writers credit. Like when the figure skater blows it and slams against the boards but gets up and completes the programme. No, I didn’t enjoy the performance as well as I would have if it had been better executed, but I still respect the effort made, and sometimes cheer all the louder.
Perhaps I won’t be so quick to be snide about other authors in the future.
I fully agree with you. Moreover, take for an example THE SEVENTH SCROLL by Wilbur Smith, THE LAST JUROR by John Grisham and TRANSGRESSION by Randall Ingermanson. It took Randy 15 years researching TRANSGRESSION and a further 2 years to write it. I realise that Wilbur Smith also put in a lot of effort and research but I find it hard to believe that it came even remotely close to Randy’s efforts. As for John Grisham, I seriously doubt that he did any research at all and it probably took him less than three months to write the novel. If I understand the quote correctly, TRANSGRESSION should have been a bestseller while THE LAST JUROR would not have been published because John would still be looking for an agent.
To my taste there was very little to choose between TRANSGRESSION and THE LAST JUROR. As for THE SEVENTH SCROLL, I never read further than chapter two more than seven years ago and I have no desire to read it any further in future.
November 21st, 2007 at 3:55 amThere are certainly varying degrees of effort among writers, and sadly very little that is fair on this terrestrial ball, particularly when it comes to compensating the most deserving.
Whatever degree of excellence is reached for or achieved by a writer, the fact remains that it requires work to get it down. I can respect the effort taken to put pen to paper and keep going.
My Nanowrimo novel is a horrible first draft of a potentially marketable story. It would be a sin against God and nature for it to be published in its current form. But the sucker takes work! This is how I’m learning to respect that others have worked too, even if they could have worked harder.
November 21st, 2007 at 8:24 pmhey! how’s the novel going? Are you panicking that you’re running out of time? I hope you aren’t
This morning on BBC Breakfast news there was a featured story on Nanowrimo, how it’s really taking off in the UK. Apparently York is a real hub for it, the piece showed a coffee shop and a library where everyone had their laptops open and tapping away, it was kinda funny, to be a social thing but at the same time a very individual endeavor as well. But…it’s 10 PM and I am losing the ability to type coherently so I’ll get some sleep and will try to catch up with you soon.
November 27th, 2007 at 2:55 pmWe’ve got a great Kootenay Group meeting every Sunday afternoon to write at a coffee shop, our lappies open, typing away. People must think we’re planning to take over the world. It’s been a great experience.
November 28th, 2007 at 8:03 pm