Must We Be Smug?

All---

Pardon me while I get my whine on for a moment.

There are times when I almost regret being part of the literary culture, simply because so many of us seem to find such great pleasure in self-satisfied dismissal of others who are not like us, as if there is something inherently virtuous about our own particular pursuit of the written word.

You can see this attitude in a whole lot of different ways, but I'll leave the big picture smugness for another today.  What I want to to whine about right now is the insufferable self-importance of so dang many Harry Potter readers.

If you haven't read the books, so many HP fans dismiss your interest in the franchise as not only invalid but somehow incriminating.

I can't even count the number of (frankly) snotty comments I've seen this weekend from writers and readers towards people who've only seen the HP movies, as if they are somehow inferior people.  Many are tagged with such bold signatures as, "Sincerely, People Who Know How to Read," or "Yours Truly, People Who Like BOOKS."

Good golly.

I have enjoyed the Harry Potter movie franchise.  (Haven't seen the most recent one yet.)  I read a lot.  I'm a writer.  But I have no interest in reading the HP books.  I'm sure they're great.  My wife and most of my family love them.  Several friends who are writers love them.  Several friends who have little other literary connection love those books.  I have nothing against them.

But they are the sort of material I don't really have any interest in reading. 

Just my personal taste.

I can enjoy movies without enjoying related books.

The assertion that somehow that means I don't really like Harry Potter, or worse yet that I'm illiterate and uncultured is shocking to me.

Let's sit down and talk about Antigone, Frogs, Beowulf, and Candide.  Sir Thomas Moore, Leon Uris, and Jack Higgins.  How about pre-columbian art?  Existentialist philosophers?

I just don't feel like reading Harry Potter.  Please stop extrapolating my human nature from that one fact.

And, while you're at it, please sit back and think if there are other matters upon which you position yourself in the judgment seat of literary virtue.

We all like different things.  We all do different things.  Why do so many of us seem hell-bent on investing our particulars with exclusive value?

.Nevets.

Think Twice

All---

Think twice.

Think twice when you say something on your blog.  Especially if you're trying to be controversial, ironic, or counter to prevailing wisdom.  Make sure you understand  how your words might be interpreted, and then make sure you're okay with that.

Successful agents, think twice about your jaded perspective on the publishing industry and how difficult it is for you to find material you want to publish.  Often the best artists are the most sensitive.  This is as true for writers as it is for other art forms.  Do you really want to discourage the best writers from getting their material to you, by feeding into their fears and insecurities?

Published authors, think twice about your cynical commentary about what it's like to "make it."  I know you think you're giving us a reality check.  I know you think you're being clever.  I know you think you're giving us tough love.  But really, you're just puking all over our dreams.  Telling us they're either unattainable or not worth it.  Is that really what you want to do?

As-yet un-agented authors, think twice about what advice you give.  I think many of us have insights on the craft and process of writing, and maybe even into some parts of the business side.  When you get right down to it, though, we're still un-agented and so the one thing we are not qualified to talk too much about is how to get an agent or what agents like/dislike.  We may think we've learned a lot and that we want to share that with others, and there's a safe way to do that, but we need to be careful about misleading others in our same position by speaking with too much authority about something we only know second- or third-hand.

Okay, that's a bit more of a rant than I usually like, but I'm in a weird spot right now with my writing (for reasons entirely separate from these issues) and I felt like just growling for a bit.

Next time, peace, love, and applesauce.

.Nevets.