Bless that Stephenie Meyer...
Well, I did it. I committed that cardinal sin and gave in.
I am reading Twilight.
I am a great believer in 'if you haven't tried it, don't knock it', and so couldn't with good conscience comment on a book I had never read. Plus, I was a bit curious - just what is all this fuss about? And then the crunch came when Di, our school librarian, challenged me to read it over the holiday. So with these three things in mind, I picked up a copy on Amazon and am now about half way through it.
Let me say straight away: it isn't the most well-written book I have ever read. Not by a long stretch. Bella annoys me (she's just so damn dour all the time), I'm not really feeling the attraction between Bella and Edward at the moment, and I'm finding that I am having to re-write sentences in my head so they sound better (*cringes* does that me me a terrible person? I feel like such a writing snob for admitting that!)
BUT!
I'm still reading. Despite its flaws, I am still, dare I say it, interested. I'm not entirely sure if I am enjoying it as such - whilst I want to find out what happens next, I wouldn't say I am hooked as such. But, saying that, SMeyer has rocketed up my list of 'people I like'.
I like SMeyer simply because she has given me hope. Not that snobby hope of 'if tripe like this can be published, then anyone can', but a little happy bubble that says 'this woman wrote from the heart. She either ignored or didn't know the so-called 'rules' of good writing and it hasn't mattered. Despite their obvious flaws (from a critiquing point of view), she has had a multi-million dollar set of novels published and is enjoying success beyond our wildest dreams. And she did it all in the passive voice via the way of adverb abuse and repeated use of the word 'chagrin''.
And I love her for it.
It has also given me a lot of food for thought, with the main question being: just who is right? The publisher, with their apparent desire for literary austerity (or so I have been led to believe - I could be wrong...), or the buying public, who have proven they can tolerate - and even love (to a frightening degree) - what is technically considered 'bad prose' simply because they like a good tale? She has literally broken every single 'rule' I have been led to believe is carved in stone in the basement of every single publishers' headquarters - how on earth did this woman get her foot in the door? (And I don't mean that from a nasty 'she should never have been published' standpoint - I am genuinely thrilled someone like her, with all of her little writing foibles, has managed to not only get published but succeed to such a huge degree.) And just how *did* her publisher / agent see beyond all those adverbs?!
And then that leads to: ... and just who is going to write like that and take the chance that she isn't just the exception that proves the rule?
^^D
NB: Please - this blog is not intended to spark a 'let's all bash SMeyer and her scary stalker fantasies. I am literally talking about how she writes, not what she writes. Thank you!
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17 Comments
I do, however, appreciate the perspective you take in this blog.
But most people - the average person would not recognise good prose and are not literary. They want a good story easily told. That is what Cartland and Archer are good at. They like to race through it while eating a pot noodle or ice cream. She had a new idea and hte teens were ready to run with it.
I had the same experiment as you, I gave up after the first few pages though . . . but I decided it wasn't bad, just that it appeals to a different audience than me.
Mike - I do find it infinitely interesting how so many so-called 'bad writers' end up on the bestsellers list. I read something interesting on another site, where someone said it's because whilst we as writers know the 'rules', readers don't, and so where things jar in a critiquing environment (possibly because we are being a little too vigilant?), they don't in a wider reading context. I don't think I am being too presumptuous in assuming that a lot of people who read couldn't identify / have no interest in identifying an adverb if it came up and bit them, and so because they aren't looking for them, their inclusion just doesn't bother them that much. Or it could just simply be a case of 'whilst a Michelin starred meal is nice once in a while, most people would still plump for fish and chips if given the choice'. As writers, we look for accomplished prose. As readers, we look for a story we can invest a bit of time in and escape from the real world (I know I can't speak for everyone, but I know that's what I do). It's a weird quandary to be in sometimes - you'd think writing and reading would go hand in hand, but sometimes, they seem completely disparate...
it is possible things are more complicated. Society has 'defined' some sort of role for an artist, ( In whatever medium.) What about the arguments about popular and classical music?
If I could. I would write Stephanie Meyer's books. Perhaps it is envy we feel?
(In the library the books are classed as teenage fiction. Other vampire writers are just as popular, which is the strange thing. Why the craze?)
Maybe I should stop trying to improve my writing, and just start sending stuff out?
It does make me a little more inclined to send out something that doesn't so much break the rules and bend them a little bit now - I'm certainly not going to fret so much about the odd adverb or slipping into the passive voice now and again. Meyer is living proof that it can, if you're lucky, not be a barrier to your aspirations!
“I am embarrassed to admit that I loved the Twilight series. Stephanie Meyer gets a bad rap for her agonising writing style and if I’m to be honest, half of it should be edited out. But her story has captured the imagination of many, including myself. Irrespective of her amateurish writing style, I think she is an amazing story teller, and managed to get a lot of YA's to read, instead of sitting with their PS. That is quite a feat in my opinion.
I find SM quite inspirational as an author - it is possible to get published even if you’re not Jane Austen. I think it is great that a publishing house actually saw through at the ‘distant gazes’ and ‘faint smiles’, repetition and amateur writing, to find the essence of it. It is a pity that the books were not better edited; they would have been greatly improved.”
I only read the books on the last month, originally objecting to the sheer fact of being so commercial. I did finally relent, reading them all in 4 days, granted I skipped through much of the excessive wording. And I loved them.
Why is it so embarrassing to admit enjoying SM’s books. That jealously issue ... I think there is something in that.
... I will never be able to pen ‘chagrin’ into anything I write, not now or ever! Thanks Stephanie Meyer.
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