This is one of those situations where the old advice still rings true. "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."
I don't comment on other authors by name unless I can honestly praise them. it feels too self serving to do anything else, especially with authors in the same genre. Anyway, there is enough conflict in society without adding pointless spats between creative people to the mix.
Evaluating a creative product is inherently subjective. You can take one piece of writing, survey a thousand people, and get responses all over the map. My own reviews prove this. I get "fast paced" and "slow moving" on the same book. Or I get "the character changes too fast" and "the character doesn't change at all" on the same book. Some books run the gamut from five-star to one-star. If you look around, you discover that wide spreads are typical of most books, and that the more a book is read, the more likely it is to cover the whole spectrum. (Bestsellers do get predominately high ratings, but there's almost always that little group of dissenters.)
I have always enjoyed interviews where I was asked who I was reading, who I admired, who inspired me. And then when I taught most recently at MSU, I did my best to only teach books that really delighted me, whether by living authors or deceased ones. I also enjoyed reviewing in print and on-air when I could strongly recommend some new writer or a new book by a writer the audience might already know.
I have a long-standing policy not to “name names” particularly after a high power agency and high powered agent fucked me over in what is a long and sad horror story. You never know who’s listening and what will get back to the power names. Getting fucked over is one thing. When your villains are power players, it’s best to keep one’s mouth shut.
That said, we live in a world of public “feuds” by pop stars, stories which get more oxygen than deserved. Which is any oxygen they get. It’s all so small and petty and tells us what a dumbed down society we live in. Oh, give me the glory days of yore when a good feud was a literary feud. Capote versus Vidal. Vidal versus Mailer. Mailer versus everyone. McCarthy versus Hellman. Hemingway versus Fitzgerald, Faulkner, and Stevens. Camus versus Sartre. Back then, good feuds had a higher level of lowbrow.
Sorry to hear that. Bad agent stories are more common than non-authors imagine. When I've written about my disastrous agents, I haven't named names. Even though I'm not actively looking for an agent, you never know....
Good points, Lev! I agree that writers should avoid slamming one another. We need to model maturity, not juvenile snarky behavior. There is room in the world for many good writers, and we need to respect one another. Best wishes! Janet
On the evening of a day when the Pulitzer Prize winners had been announced, I went to a poetry reading by one of the nominees, who dissed the winner. Not a good look.
That is such a huge mistake because people will talk about it. I've seen the inappropriate dissing in other venues, like at a Dionne Warwick concert where she had some mean things to say about Diana Ross. It was only in passing, but it was unpleasant.
Very good advice.
Thanks. Have a great weekend!
Thanks. U2
This is one of those situations where the old advice still rings true. "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."
I don't comment on other authors by name unless I can honestly praise them. it feels too self serving to do anything else, especially with authors in the same genre. Anyway, there is enough conflict in society without adding pointless spats between creative people to the mix.
Evaluating a creative product is inherently subjective. You can take one piece of writing, survey a thousand people, and get responses all over the map. My own reviews prove this. I get "fast paced" and "slow moving" on the same book. Or I get "the character changes too fast" and "the character doesn't change at all" on the same book. Some books run the gamut from five-star to one-star. If you look around, you discover that wide spreads are typical of most books, and that the more a book is read, the more likely it is to cover the whole spectrum. (Bestsellers do get predominately high ratings, but there's almost always that little group of dissenters.)
I have always enjoyed interviews where I was asked who I was reading, who I admired, who inspired me. And then when I taught most recently at MSU, I did my best to only teach books that really delighted me, whether by living authors or deceased ones. I also enjoyed reviewing in print and on-air when I could strongly recommend some new writer or a new book by a writer the audience might already know.
I have a long-standing policy not to “name names” particularly after a high power agency and high powered agent fucked me over in what is a long and sad horror story. You never know who’s listening and what will get back to the power names. Getting fucked over is one thing. When your villains are power players, it’s best to keep one’s mouth shut.
That said, we live in a world of public “feuds” by pop stars, stories which get more oxygen than deserved. Which is any oxygen they get. It’s all so small and petty and tells us what a dumbed down society we live in. Oh, give me the glory days of yore when a good feud was a literary feud. Capote versus Vidal. Vidal versus Mailer. Mailer versus everyone. McCarthy versus Hellman. Hemingway versus Fitzgerald, Faulkner, and Stevens. Camus versus Sartre. Back then, good feuds had a higher level of lowbrow.
What do we have today? Twitter. Oh, the humanity.
Sorry to hear that. Bad agent stories are more common than non-authors imagine. When I've written about my disastrous agents, I haven't named names. Even though I'm not actively looking for an agent, you never know....
Good points, Lev! I agree that writers should avoid slamming one another. We need to model maturity, not juvenile snarky behavior. There is room in the world for many good writers, and we need to respect one another. Best wishes! Janet
And if we can't respect some writer, we should keep it to ourselves. :-)
Great advice.
Thanks. I was glad to hear it when my career was taking off.
On the evening of a day when the Pulitzer Prize winners had been announced, I went to a poetry reading by one of the nominees, who dissed the winner. Not a good look.
That is such a huge mistake because people will talk about it. I've seen the inappropriate dissing in other venues, like at a Dionne Warwick concert where she had some mean things to say about Diana Ross. It was only in passing, but it was unpleasant.
Seriously. And Diana Ross dissing Whitney Houston.
So tacky of her.
Even if you have few of them.
Any writer who is being read will experience people who don't like him/her. Wear it as a badge of honor. You're being read.
Of course, if you're looking for material, then Alice Roosevelt Longworth's pillow applies. :-)