When does a writer-protagonist feel earned, and when does…
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When does a writer-protagonist feel earned, and when does it feel like a craft shortcut?
Am I being unfair, or do you share this kind of reaction?
When a novel is openly about writing, literary life, authorship, writer’s block, etc, my reaction is usually something like: "all right, here we go again, a writer writing about their own world." But in that case, when the premise is clear enough from the outset, I don’t really mind it, since I’m free either to read it or skip it. If it's a worthy novel, good, I'll buy it, but if I feel tired of the trope, then I'll pass.
That's different in the other case, when I discover along the way that a main character, or a major secondary one, happens to be a writer (or an aspiring writer, or something adjacent). That's when I get the thought that this may be a kind of craft convenience. I wouldn't call it laziness, but I see it as a familiar and very available profession for a novelist to give a character. This mere thought is a bit intrusive and gets in the way of my reading experience and my overall appreciation of the work.
I never bothered to keep tabs on this or make a list of such readings, and I won't point fingers at my current read, as I feel it would be unfair (and I'm enjoying it anyway), but I have the impression that both cases are frequent occurrences, that this happens more than it should if it were just about framing a story in our world.
What is your take on the matter? Have you noticed this practice as a 'craft shortcut'? Or do you see it as a natural and 'legitimate' phenomenon, with authors always projecting themselves into their writing? Or am I simply overestimating how often this occurs?
#entertainment
source
Am I being unfair, or do you share this kind of reaction?
When a novel is openly about writing, literary life, authorship, writer’s block, etc, my reaction is usually something like: "all right, here we go again, a writer writing about their own world." But in that case, when the premise is clear enough from the outset, I don’t really mind it, since I’m free either to read it or skip it. If it's a worthy novel, good, I'll buy it, but if I feel tired of the trope, then I'll pass.
That's different in the other case, when I discover along the way that a main character, or a major secondary one, happens to be a writer (or an aspiring writer, or something adjacent). That's when I get the thought that this may be a kind of craft convenience. I wouldn't call it laziness, but I see it as a familiar and very available profession for a novelist to give a character. This mere thought is a bit intrusive and gets in the way of my reading experience and my overall appreciation of the work.
I never bothered to keep tabs on this or make a list of such readings, and I won't point fingers at my current read, as I feel it would be unfair (and I'm enjoying it anyway), but I have the impression that both cases are frequent occurrences, that this happens more than it should if it were just about framing a story in our world.
What is your take on the matter? Have you noticed this practice as a 'craft shortcut'? Or do you see it as a natural and 'legitimate' phenomenon, with authors always projecting themselves into their writing? Or am I simply overestimating how often this occurs?
#entertainment
source
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