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Why to Not Write a Book

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Re: Why to Not Write a Book

#121

Post by tinybrain »

vouaobrasil wrote: post #10

The main reason not to write a book is that the topic doesn't need a book-length treatment, and would be better as an article. Fiction of course is one thing, but even then, some fictional ideas and personality combinations are better as short stories. Personally, as a reader, I find a lot of book ideas interesting (especially in the realm of popular science), but I can stomach very few of them because they are exces…

This is my #1 gripe with non-fiction books. Way too wordy, too many anecdotes, just spit it out already.

Please value my time as the reader. I read a lot of books, but I feel like I’m allocating more mental energy skimming half the content than I am absorbing knowledge.

37signals/Basecamp had some illuminating things to say about their book experiences. They kept fighting with the publisher to make their book short, the appropriate length. The publisher kept wanting it to be double the length to seem more impressive on the shelf.

That mindset is to the detriment of books, just get to the point.

Re: Why to Not Write a Book

#122

Post by sph »

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #117
TheOtherHobbes wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is called write-to-market, and it's a well-known thing in self publishing - even though many wannabe fiction writers choose to ignore it, because they'd rather believe their book will have publishers swooning and readers gushing. (Spoilers: odds of that are very, very close to zero.) In fact all publishing is write-to-market now. Most traditionally published books are picked to chase trends. There's also a huge…

"Most drama today sucks" --- "This is called write-to-market" Yes. I doubt you disagree, but I needed to point that out. These two, along with writing-by-formula, are intricately related. There's nothing wrong with writing being a racket. If you want to feel depressed and lack a sense of optimism in humanity, spend some time learning about the publishing industry. Woof. It's nothing but formulaic conservative market-…

> "She's a gay little person goth time-traveling alien, he's an autistic left-handed incel Quaker. They live in Portland, and together they solve crimes."

I'm pretty sure a Netflix executive would have signed on this concept based on this sentence alone half a decade ago. Now it seems the entire world is waking up to these formulaic data-driven products that have been pushed by media conglomerates for a decade. This is especially apparent in the gaming world, where big productions seemingly flop out of nowhere (cough Concord cough) while indie studios keep innovating.

It's so easy to blame this phenomenon on rose-tinted glasses and older people like us thinking all old things are better than modern, but when the world wasn't decided by "data scientists" and corporate committees, there was more variety, more volatility. Lower lows but higher highs as well.

I've been thinking about this a lot the other day while watching snippets of the movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou?", wondering where pure, plain fun movies that are not pushing an agenda or pandering to some audience have gone.

And now, in the current era of the remake, which still has to reach the film industry, it is gonna get worse. When they'll find they are unable to invent the new multi-billion franchise, why not go and remake and "modernise" an older one? It's basically free money.

Re: Why to Not Write a Book

#123

Post by taptak »

modernerd wrote: post #61
gizajob wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What happens when you walk up to a publishing agent and tell them you don’t have anything to show them, and they’ll need to force you to write every sentence but assure them it’ll be brilliant? I think you’re also talking about one of Adams’ later books after HHGTG once his publisher was deep in hock for his advance.

> What happens when you walk up to a publishing agent and tell them you don’t have anything to show them… They told him to hand over whatever he'd got: "Douglas happily built his reputation for (at this stage, merely) sailing close to the wind when it came to publishing deadlines by telling interviewers that he had been ordered to literally stop writing and hand his manuscript over to a courier no matter where he had…

> "All of my life I've been attracted to the idea of being a writer, but like all writers I don't so much like writing as having written. … each time I meant to try to write something, I'd miss the deadline by two weeks."

Having written several works without ever completing or publishing any of them, I find this comment from Adams particularly resonates with me. That said, I’ve had success with a narrative podcast, which is heavily influenced by his genius—his wit and comedic writing style shine through. While I’ve always admired what he brought to the sci-fi comedy genre, in hindsight, I probably owe just as much gratitude to his editor and publisher.

Re: Why to Not Write a Book

#124

Post by sundarurfriend »

a_bonobo wrote: post #43
gizajob wrote: post #20

If you’re not completely driven to write a book, and there isn’t a book inside you that you just have to get out, then do not bother writing a book. Agents and publishers have nothing to do with it - you don’t need to ask for permission to write your book, it’s a piece of art. Agents and publishing come afterwards - and nobody is going to be interested really anyway, at least in the early stages. So if that is enough…

I've heard this many times before (I think Charles Bukowski used to preach this?), and I have to say I disagree. Famously Douglas Adams had to be forced to write every sentence in the Hitchhiker's Guide. He certainly didn't have a book inside him that had to get out, he had external deadlines and rent to pay. Can you imagine a world without HGTTG?

> Can you imagine a world without HGTTG?

Yes. Maybe an unpopular opinion here, but the book form of HGTTG is a mess. You can tell that it was converted from an episodic weekly-gag-based radio show into written form with very little effort to make it into a coherent whole. It's popular because it has brilliant one-liners, but as a book it's not nearly as good as its popularity would suggest.

Re: Why to Not Write a Book

#125

Post by hotsauceror »

passion__desire wrote: post #105
hengheng wrote: post #52

I've once talked to a semi-successful author. His day job was Mechanical Engineering at the local university. He eventually quit once he had his formula worked out. He writes crime novels. Doesn't even like them, but if you want to sell, you either write smut (big gamble) or crime novels (less crowded). Anything you actually want to write about, you have to shoehorn into the crime novel. You also have to keep your pr…

This was depicted in The Simpsons. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_Job > "The Book Job" is the sixth episode of the twenty-third season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 20, 2011. In the episode, Lisa is shocked to discover that all popular young-adult novels are not each written by a single author with any inspirati…

There was also a wonderful little throwaway gag, with a sign outside a bookstore reading “James Michener $3.99/lb”

Re: Why to Not Write a Book

#126

Post by greenie_beans »

ruthmarx wrote: post #115

I have several books I want to write - I'm definitely bursting with idea, intent and motivation, and not just idea as a concept, but rather fully fleshed out. The hardest part is fighting ADHD or whatever and actually doing the work. These days if I were to publish I'd probably setup an LLC as a publishing company, do a little work to make the company look a lot bigger than it is and try to find some bookstores to se…

> try to find some bookstores to sell to directly

bookstores don't wanna carry your book if they can't buy it from a distributor with standard discounts and the ability to return. good luck getting your books from your brand new publishing company carried by ingram. (see https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/p..., which would've been the best chance you had at being distributed, and even then they weren't easy to get into)

Re: Why to Not Write a Book

#127

Post by andai »

hengheng wrote: post #52

I've once talked to a semi-successful author. His day job was Mechanical Engineering at the local university. He eventually quit once he had his formula worked out. He writes crime novels. Doesn't even like them, but if you want to sell, you either write smut (big gamble) or crime novels (less crowded). Anything you actually want to write about, you have to shoehorn into the crime novel. You also have to keep your pr…

If I'm reading this right, the proofreading process massively improves the quality of the work? Could you expand on this?

Re: Why to Not Write a Book

#128

Post by [deleted] »

_tom_ wrote: post #100
grecy wrote: post #88

I’ve self published three books now, with another in the works. Amazon print on demand makes it incredibly easy. They’re about my adventures around the world, with some lessons I learned and observations about whatever part of the world I’m in sprinkled throughout. The process was immensely satisfying, and I’ll never forget the feeling the first time I held the printed book in my hands. “Holy shit, I wrote a book!” M…

I don't see a date the article. The web has taught me to never waste time with an undated article. Odds are very good it's obsolete.

[deleted]

Re: Why to Not Write a Book

#129

Post by water-data-dude »

mewse wrote: post #55

I can't stop thinking about this throwaway parenthetical at the start of the blog post: > [...] for many writers, writing a book is about the last thing they should do (unless they feel a book bursting out of them, much like a facehugger). Now, as we all know, the aliens that burst out of people in the Aliens franchise are called 'chestbursters'. "Facehuggers", by comparison, are hatched from alien eggs. So in this m…

Are you saying everyone would be better off not reading my Starship Troopers fan fiction where they get it on with the Arachnids?

Re: Why to Not Write a Book

#130

Post by BiteCode_dev »

mewse wrote: post #55

I can't stop thinking about this throwaway parenthetical at the start of the blog post: > [...] for many writers, writing a book is about the last thing they should do (unless they feel a book bursting out of them, much like a facehugger). Now, as we all know, the aliens that burst out of people in the Aliens franchise are called 'chestbursters'. "Facehuggers", by comparison, are hatched from alien eggs. So in this m…

No he just made a mistake.

As usual, readers reading too much into something.

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