I apologise in advance but I can feel a bit of a rant coming on.
As I was driving into work this morning I heard a little snippet on the radio about the Fifty Shades author EL James. She has made a comment that when she was writing the trilogy she actually had no idea what she was doing, wasn't really working to any kind of plan and was basically just winging it.
I think if anyone could have seen me in my car they may have seen steam coming out of my ears. To be that successful at your first go and earn all those royalties? Well, lucky for her I guess.
I think the main reason it annoyed me was that it makes a bit of a mockery of the rest of us, slaving away every day to make our writing the best it can be. We plan and plot and edit and think constantly about every step of the story as we go along.
I'm not saying that she didn't do any of these things, but it certainly comes across like that. Why do we even bother to go to all this effort if it's as easy as knocking something up off the bat and seeing what happens?
Honestly, I bother because I want to be proud of what I have written and feel I have earned whatever praise I may get for it. I don't just want to churn out any old story just to make a few pence.
Ok, rant over for now. I can carry on with my day now in peace xxx
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Almost as bad as Snookie's book deal.
ReplyDeleteI know exactly what you mean. It's hard to hear about all those that got a major hit right off the bat. But it also gives you hope that you might be able to do it too if you work hard at it. :)
ReplyDeleteI've heard many authors saying that about their best-selling books- that they just made it up as they went along, not knowing how it will end. I think to each his/her own writing style..
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