In today’s Journal
* Topic: On Reader Taste
* The numbers
Topic: On Reader Taste
Some of you will remember, awhile back I had a problem understanding “reader taste.” One reader will be absorbed into a story whereas another won’t care for it at all. He might not even finish reading it.
I’ve been on both sides of the experience as a reader, but still I didn’t quite get it.
Slowly, I came to understand. I still say it’s the writer’s responsibility to do all the things necessary to pull the reader into the story. Otherwise, why bother studying and learning craft at all?
Still, there’s reader taste to account for. And frankly, there’s no accounting for it. You write the story you want to write and trust that roughly 80% of the readers will enjoy it.
Recently, James Scott Bell drove that lesson home for me in a post over on the Kill Zone blog. You can find that post at https://killzoneblog.com/2019/09/the-most-important-question-you-can-ask-about-a-scene.html.
He wrote somewhat derogatorily about a short story by Ernest Hemingway, one that sold quicky and was widely loved by most of those who read it (I dare say 80%).
The title of the short story is “The Killers.” You can download and/or read the story free at https://liternet.bg/publish24/e_hemingway/killers.htm.
What Mr. Bell apparently missed is that, although this is a complete short story, it’s really more of a vignette, a slice of a larger story. It feels as if it begins before the first word and continues after the last word. The reader is left to fill in the blanks (just as the characters are doing) if he wants to.
To me, the story is practically a masterpiece. I could have disagreed with almost every statement Mr. Bell made, but I didn’t bother.
Why? Because I realized I would be speaking (as Mr. Bell did) to reader taste. And as I wrote earlier, there’s no accounting for that.
*
Still not writing fiction. I can’t explain it, except to say it isn’t time. And I’m a little worried about it, but on the other hand, not really.
I think the worry stems from the fact that I’ve written fiction almost every day for a very long time, so that’s my “norm.” My last publication was on July 1. So two months ago. Yet it feels as if it’s been years. (grin)
But I’m not really worried because stories and ideas, including my WIP, continue to stew in my mind almost constantly. So I’m sure I’ll get back to fiction writing when it’s time.
Total fiction words for the month……… 15916
Total fiction words for the year………… 374653
Total nonfiction words for the month… 420
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 247130
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 621783
Calendar Year 2019 Novels to Date…………………… 7
Calendar Year 2019 Novellas to Date……………… 1
Calendar Year 2019 Short Stories to Date… 2
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 43
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 8
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 195
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31