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[rhienelleth]

Via Jay Lake: Top writers feel heat from publishers to produce a book a year. Dennis Lehane said he'll never return to the book-a-year "hamster wheel" pace.

Erm...what? Seriously, a book a year is a hamster wheel? I mean, we're talking about authors - John Grisham, Mary Higgins Clark, Patricia Cornwell - who make the big bucks. They don't have to work day jobs and write, they just have to write. Producing a book a year is too much? Okay, so maybe if you're Robert Jordan and writing 300,000+ word manuscripts (the equivalent of three books a year) - but he didn't exactly produce a new book every year, did he? I mean, Clark's books have to be less than a hundred K. Have you seen the huge font size they're printed with?

I understand there is touring and things associated with publication that take more time than "just writing" - but I also look at authors like Nora Roberts, Sherrilynn Kenyon, even Laurell K. Hamilton, all bestsellers, who regularly produce multiple books a year. LKH does one Merry, and one Anita. And Roberts and Kenyon both come out with - heck, I don't know - three, four book a year, minimum? If anyone should complain about a "hamster wheel" pace, it's them.

I'm not trying to throw stones, here, I am just boggled by this article. I guess if I'm ever lucky enough to be in their position, maybe I'll have a new understanding and empathy.

Comments

[effervescent.livejournal.com]

Maybe the pace just wasn't right for him? I come from the same hometown as Alice Munro, and she takes more than a year to write a book. And also, Nora Roberts and Laurell both write... Hm, lighter books, I'm tempted to say? Mystic River isn't exactly light fodder.

But really, I think it's just what an author is comfortable with. It's just like in fandom, some authors churn out a chapter a week, others take much longer.

[winterknight.livejournal.com]

Yes, this, too. It really depends on the book. *nods*

[rhienelleth.livejournal.com]

Hmm...you make an interesting point. I'm just not sure I buy that, say, one of LKH's books is easier or quicker to write than one of Lehane's - sure, they're different genres, but when you break down their books and look at the number of storylines and characters, the fact that LKH also has a plotline running through her entire series, and both books require a certain amount of research...and are probably about the same length. Complexity is found in all genres, and that's what makes a book harder or easier to write, I think.

And I know one book for an author might be more difficult or take longer for no discernible reason - I do get that. But I don't imagine that's every book, either.

[effervescent.livejournal.com]

I think the biggest thing that bothered me about the article was the tone of superiority. "Oh, you can't write a book in a year, or even in six months? What's wrong with you?"

That just rubs me all the wrong ways. Especially since Dennis mentioned that he felt that it was a better book at the end of that time period.

I really do hate the idea that writers are under so much pressure. Some of the books that are out there on the shelves... They feel too cookie cutter, or as though the author -could- have used some extra time - which maybe they didn't get.

[rhienelleth.livejournal.com]

? I must have missed part of the article - I did not read that from DH. Interesting!

ITA that I would rather wait longer for a book, than get one a year that isn't good - and production is very individual. I also think this applies to long running series - maybe authors need to say "no, I want to write something else" instead of continuing a series and running it into the ground because the publisher wants three more books. But I have been embittered by too many good series gone bad. :-/

[effervescent.livejournal.com]

Did you get to the second page? I almost missed it -g- That's where he mentioned that.

I agree with the whole writer's block idea, as well. I'm not sure -how- I would react if I had a deadline looming over me.

[winterknight.livejournal.com]

I have to agree here. I don't know how a book a year is a 'hamster wheel' pace. The pressure to produce, on the other hand, is a whole other animal. It's one I HATE. It's loathsome and nothing blocks me like not being able to write what is in me to write until I've written what's due. *snarl*

*coughs* Hi.

[rhienelleth.livejournal.com]

Hi. :) Yes, pressure I get. *cough* Not having to produce to spec yet, I can only imagine that deadlines looming can induce the worst writer's block. I guess I just read too many author blogs from people producing two, three manuscripts a year while holding down full time day jobs. I know from my own experience, I could comfortably produce two books a year while holding down the day job.

I guess the article smacks a little too much of whining. As John Scalzi says in his blog: This attitude is naturally annoying to those writers who would strangle fluffy kittens if it meant they could publish a book a year, or alternately to those who are publishing more than a novel a year, many of whom are wondering if these authors would like a pillow for their widdle heads.

[gwynnastar.livejournal.com]

Really, if an author could write (on average) one page a day, it wouldn't be too hard to write one book a year. Unless it's some sort of 800-1200 paged and very involved book.

Though if a publisher expected 3-4 books a year from me as a published author, I think I would go a bit nuts. I don't think any form of art or creative venture should be timed and produced quickly as if some kind of boxed product. That's not how it normally works.

There are some people in the industry and readers, who feel that many of these romance and mystery books are mass produced and written using the same formula over and over again. And that's how they are written quickly. I'd say there's some truth to that as I've read many different kinds of romance novels and some of them do read similar, just the names and places change.

And there are plenty of books out there telling newbie writers the formula and what exactly publishers want. My beef with this as a writer is that I don't want to create a book within that environment. Call me a snob or whatever, but I don't want to be constrained to what someone else considers a book worth publishing, especially with the state of the industry today.

[miniglik.livejournal.com]

I think it could be argued, however, that Roberts, Kenyon and Hamilton all got very formulaic after awhile though. I've read all of them, and I had that opinion of Roberts and Kenyon at least. (Hamilton just stopped appealing to me after a couple of books.)

However, they're writing multiple books a year. One a year doesn't seem like that much of a stretch.