the drive to write and read inspiring Things...
Two weeks ago, I read a friend of my brother's - and now it seems my friend too... connections are so exciting - first novel. I can honestly say, it was gripping and exciting writing. The story itself was charming, as were the characters - whom I really did feel I wanted to continue to know and explore - but intriguingly it was almost like a dream that came out of the fog, enough to remember the events and the way that it made you feel, but the details somehow illude you. I have honestly never read anything like it.
I promptly devoured this novel in a week's time, and then wanted to read it again - ironic, given that the story hinges on rereading of texts. And, I found, like a good piece of poetry, something new sprung up out of the book and took me by surprise. I strongly suspect on a third reading, a similar experience may happen.
So, on the weekend I was delighted to sit down with the author and have a good bash through what she's concerned about, what didn't work for me, why it wasn't working and how to tighten things up and make the criticisms that other people had given her more 'hers'. Because as it stood, you could see what she was doing because people 'needed' it, as opposed to the writing that she was clearly versed in and had opened herself to. On a personal note, it was rather nice to hear her say that despite all the supervisors she had had and the people who had read the book, I had given her the most helpful and the most in depth advice she'd had yet, so I will be reading further drafts. So, you know, if this whole theatre gig doesn't come through, I can always try reading for a living...
The thing that was markedly beautiful about this process - the novel started from another piece of writing done seven years ago, and largely done over the last year and a half - was that even when she had given me something to read and we started looking over specific details, she responded 'Oh no, I've already got rid of that, I hated that', showing that she still was working on it day to day even where she felt stuck and was unsure. She has also started a new novel - which sounds equally stunning - and is balancing both with her full time job.
In this world where we expect our stories to tell us everything and go blow by blow, it was also refreshingly dense in its meaning, imagery and occurances - and yet, the language stays simple, but gives so much. It's cerebral and doesn't try to dumb down its concepts. As such - she's clearly having trouble getting published, for those reasons she believes.
She says that Australia won't touch this sort of text - and I tend to agree, but here's the real sticking point. How do Australian writers - who are not writing the 'Australian Story' find publishers outside Australia, when surely the corporate view is something along the lines of 'well if your own country won't deal with it...'. The arts mentality in this country drives me nuts. We say that the market's needs drive the corporations' eventual product. Are we simply dealing with the problem that if 1% of the population like a certain niche genre then 1% of America is still 2.5m people, where here it is 200,000. Comparing things in this brute figures, it is easy to see why fringe art is struggling so badly here. We've got a market who are hungry to be spoiled, but, from a marketing POV, if only 1% of that 1% hear of a text (which is probably still overestimating on the meat market that is books with the ocean of overseas published books side by side Australian texts and which Australian publishing houses are now printing to boost their output numbers) then that's potentially only 2000 people who will pick up the book... It's too much of a risk to run a 1000 book run on a whim, when you can sell a cookie cutout book about the Aussie battler which touches the soul and shows the rural lifestyle in all its harshness, which every Australian still waiting to be told 'who they are' will pick up...
Commercialisation of art doesn't work.
There's something to be said for Danielewski's self made fame, say I.
I promptly devoured this novel in a week's time, and then wanted to read it again - ironic, given that the story hinges on rereading of texts. And, I found, like a good piece of poetry, something new sprung up out of the book and took me by surprise. I strongly suspect on a third reading, a similar experience may happen.
So, on the weekend I was delighted to sit down with the author and have a good bash through what she's concerned about, what didn't work for me, why it wasn't working and how to tighten things up and make the criticisms that other people had given her more 'hers'. Because as it stood, you could see what she was doing because people 'needed' it, as opposed to the writing that she was clearly versed in and had opened herself to. On a personal note, it was rather nice to hear her say that despite all the supervisors she had had and the people who had read the book, I had given her the most helpful and the most in depth advice she'd had yet, so I will be reading further drafts. So, you know, if this whole theatre gig doesn't come through, I can always try reading for a living...
The thing that was markedly beautiful about this process - the novel started from another piece of writing done seven years ago, and largely done over the last year and a half - was that even when she had given me something to read and we started looking over specific details, she responded 'Oh no, I've already got rid of that, I hated that', showing that she still was working on it day to day even where she felt stuck and was unsure. She has also started a new novel - which sounds equally stunning - and is balancing both with her full time job.
In this world where we expect our stories to tell us everything and go blow by blow, it was also refreshingly dense in its meaning, imagery and occurances - and yet, the language stays simple, but gives so much. It's cerebral and doesn't try to dumb down its concepts. As such - she's clearly having trouble getting published, for those reasons she believes.
She says that Australia won't touch this sort of text - and I tend to agree, but here's the real sticking point. How do Australian writers - who are not writing the 'Australian Story' find publishers outside Australia, when surely the corporate view is something along the lines of 'well if your own country won't deal with it...'. The arts mentality in this country drives me nuts. We say that the market's needs drive the corporations' eventual product. Are we simply dealing with the problem that if 1% of the population like a certain niche genre then 1% of America is still 2.5m people, where here it is 200,000. Comparing things in this brute figures, it is easy to see why fringe art is struggling so badly here. We've got a market who are hungry to be spoiled, but, from a marketing POV, if only 1% of that 1% hear of a text (which is probably still overestimating on the meat market that is books with the ocean of overseas published books side by side Australian texts and which Australian publishing houses are now printing to boost their output numbers) then that's potentially only 2000 people who will pick up the book... It's too much of a risk to run a 1000 book run on a whim, when you can sell a cookie cutout book about the Aussie battler which touches the soul and shows the rural lifestyle in all its harshness, which every Australian still waiting to be told 'who they are' will pick up...
Commercialisation of art doesn't work.
There's something to be said for Danielewski's self made fame, say I.