This week I cringed numerous times for Stephenie Meyers as I followed book reviews and news article about her final book in the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn.
It sold an astonishing number 1.3 million copies on the first day of its release, making news in both the financial and entertainment sections of newspapers. With the movie of its first book due out in December, it's being hailed as a Harry Potter type of phenomenon in the literary world.
Yet of more interest to writers now, are the heated debates among its fans as to whether or not the last book completely ruined the series. There are those claiming it’s their favorite book ever, and those urging readers to return the book to show publishers that readers won’t accept work that doesn’t measure up to its hype.
For the last several days, I’ve been scouring different forums and reading what’s being discussed. Like THX has been telling us for years—The audience is definitely listening.
Fans who have been waiting for the final book before making any judgment calls on the series, are now discussing everything from the very first book to its last. It’s eye-opening to see just how retentive the audience is. Everything from character inconsistencies to unpopular social commentaries are being challenged and dissected.
If you guys get a chance this weekend, pop over to Amazon or other sites with forums and read up. There are few things more beneficial to writers than to take a moment and listen to unsatisfied readers.
You may be surprised to see what you can’t get away with. You know that slight character shift on page 322, -un-uh, you’re not gonna get away with it. The audience will definitely know. You know that clever red herring you threw in there—are you sure it’s so clever? Is it going to stick out later like a sore thumb? Better make sure now. The audience isn’t going to happy if it does.
As for Stephenie Meyers, at least it sounds like she’s as thick-skinned as she says she is. There have been reports that she has planned this ending since 2003, and her national book tours seem to be going well.
Thoughts anyone?
Get a Free Ebook
Five Inspirational Truths for Authors
Try our Video Classes
Downloadable in-depth learning, with pdf slides
Find out more about My Book Therapy
We want to help you up your writing game. If you are stuck, or just want a boost, please check us out!
Friday, August 08, 2008
The Audience is Listening
Meyer has obviously connected with a bunch of readers. I have two teen daugthers--one who's a big fan, and one who couldn't get through the first book.
ReplyDeleteI think the tightrope Meyer walks is between teen drama and enjoyable adult fiction. She risks alienating or displeasing one or the other group, and in "Breaking Dawn", I think she pandered to teens who are more achingly modern than her style accounted for. (I have two teen daughters, so I'm going by what they've told me.)
Eric Wilson
That’s an interesting observation about whether or not the break down occurs between the teenagers and the middle-agers—especially since both have been fans of the books all along.
ReplyDeleteIt brings up the question whether it was the writing of the last book, or the conclusion.
Having read the series, I personally think it was both. The last book deviated too much from the characters and the conflict promised in the proceeding books. It's amazing how many of the readers refuse to tolerate that.
One question it raises is “Because it is our books, can we do whatever pleases us?”
William Zinsser might agree, as he encourages writers to write what interests them, “You are writing for yourself. Don’t try to visualize the great mass audience. There is no such audience—every reader is a different person . . . you are writing primarily to please yourself, and if you go about it with enjoyment you will also entertain the readers who are worth writing for.” (quote from On Writing Well.)
While others would encourage us to constantly keep in mind the reader’s experience.
Maybe’s it’s the writer’s “Who came first, the chicken or the egg?”
Steph did a TV interview in which she says that very thing, Jessica. She doesn't write with her millions of fans in mind. She wrote BD for herself, planned the ending to please herself before any of her fans existed. Perhaps if more people shared her religious background and general reading tastes, Breaking Dawn might have gone over better? Though that's just one aspect of the issue.
ReplyDeleteSide note: I'm looking forward to hearing reactions from the teenage patrons on our hold queue. Should be some good discussions there.
To quote Michael Kors, "The worst review is... no review."
ReplyDeleteIf readers are taking the time to comment on your writing, you've achieved a small kind of victory regardless of the content of the commentary. Why? Because something in your writing - your style, a character, your setting, a plot twist - captured the reader and made them yearn for a book that would live up to the promise of that part they were drawn to.
Now maybe your book did live up to that, the reader enjoyed it thoroughly, and they told all their friends about it. Or maybe it sucked and they got so frustrated they went on Amazon and thrashed you good. The point is - you wrote something that touched them enough to generate a reaction. Good job.
Wouldn't it be worse if a reader picked up your book, found the writing mediocre, and returned it to her 'reject' pile without a second thought?
You all have very interesting points.
ReplyDeleteI know Steph wrote Twilight for herself--and her dream happened to connect with a lot of people. But when she was writing Breaking Dawn, she already had a huge fanbase, significantly responsible for her success. Since the book was purposefully being written for an already-existent mass audience, maybe she should have at least taken her readers into account?
But I think the major critique over the last book was that she did not remain true to the internal reality of her novel or her characters. She seemed to twist a plot around what she thought would make a satisfying ending.
Of course, I can't say whether no review is worse than a bad one. All I know is that I've met a crowd of people who now refuse to read any of her books because of these bad reviews. That can't be good either.
I just finished the book.
ReplyDeleteI don't want a refund of my money--just my time. Can I get my two days of reading back? ; )
I loved Twilight though and can't wait for the movie. But book IV---um, wow.
But I still think it's cool anytime a book sparks a nation-wide water cooler conversation.
Great post, Jessica!
Thanks, Noel. I've really enjoyed the e-mails that flew between us this week on the series. We'll have to take on and dissect another phenomenon in the future.
ReplyDeleteKatemoss, a really good point! The fact that the audience cares is an achievement all to itself.
Jenna, I think there’s a balance to learn about writing for yourself and pleasing the readers. I shopped around a book with a protagonist that amused me to death, but my critique partners warned me might be well received . . . let’s just say, I’m reworking the book. Maybe Stephenie needed to test out Breaking Dawn on a few readers—but with the popularity, perhaps she didn’t want to risk anything leaking.
Jenny, like you I won’t be returning my copy. It will sit on my shelf and complete the series. Most of the books in this series, I found myself sitting up late reading and pushing aside stuff (like writing) to finish. Breaking Dawn had the same effect, but for other reasons. I’d waited too long to see how much value would be placed on Bella’s eternal soul—and what the final message of the book would be. But like Jacob said, it was like some “Goth version of a bad sitcom.”—I ended pushing my way through it just to be done.
another
Amazon readers notice shifts in writing? I *have* to see this!
ReplyDelete