 Mystery: May 04, 2016 Issue [#7618] |
  Mystery
This week: Writer vs. Storyteller vs. ? Edited by: Jeff  
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"The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense
of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery."
-- Anaïs Nin
Mystery Trivia of the Week: John D. MacDonald, perhaps best known for his novel The Executioners which was adapted into the movie Cape Fear twice, is often celebrated as one of the most talented writers of his generation. Stephen King has characterized MacDonald as, "the great entertainer of our age, and a mesmerizing storyteller," while Sir Kingsley Amis (an accomplished author in his own right) created a bit of controversy in saying, "[MacDonald] is by any standards a better writer than Saul Bellow, only MacDonald writes thrillers and Bellow is a human-heart chap, so guess who wears the top-grade laurels." 
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WRITER VS. STORYTELLER VS. ?
I'm not sure if you've noticed this lately, readers, but there's a pretty wide divide between "popular" or "genre" fiction and "literary" fiction. The latter tends to win the prestigious writing awards, make year-end "best of" lists, and are often recommended reading among snobbish discerning reading and writing circles. Popular fiction, on the other hand, tends to make the New York Times Best Seller List, fly off the shelves at bookstores, and be the kind of thing you'd find someone reading as they sit next to you on a plane or in a waiting room. There are certainly crossovers from time to time, but one doesn't generally expect James Patterson or Stephen King to have a bunch of Pulitzers or National Book Awards in their trophy cases, just like one would expect that Jonathan Franzen or Joyce Carol Oates are probably not so flush with cash that they can afford a 20,000 square foot Florida estate next to Patterson.
This is probably not news for most of us. English lit majors didn't see King or Patterson on many college class syllabi, and Oates and Franzen rarely spend much time on a bestseller list unless it's residual interest from an award win or Oprah recommendation  . For better or worse, there seems to be a distinction between popular (usually genre) fiction like mystery, romance, fantasy, western, etc. and more "artsy" literary fiction.
What's particularly interesting to me, though, is to see many authors of popular fiction trying to distance themselves from the literary movement not only in terms of what they write, but in terms of how they describe their job. Authors like James Patterson and Sean Platt (a bestselling ebook author who has published literally millions of words) are increasingly calling themselves "storytellers" rather than "writers" as if the idea of being a writer implies some sense of preciousness or ego about the quality of the words, while being a storyteller means you're more concerned with the quality of the narrative than the quality of the sentences.
Let's get one thing straight, though... they both, for all intents and purposes, mean the same thing. You can call yourself a writer, a storyteller, an author, a wordsmith, a scribe, or whatever else you want... those are all different titles for the same job description. Despite that fact, there still seems to be an increasing push to differentiate prolific "quantity" authors from more careful "quality" authors.
Who knows... maybe it's in an effort to avoid the constant criticism popular authors get for not being more literary or sophisticated in their writing... or maybe it's just a natural extension of the fact that these two camps have been divided for some time and this may just be a further clarification of the differences... but the choice of some authors to brand themselves as a "storyteller" rather than a "writer" brings up an interesting question for all of us pursuing careers in writing. What do we call ourselves?
I struggle with this a bit myself, because I have a lot of varied creative interests. I do write stories, but I also come up with ideas for graphic novels and comics. I design games and develop game systems. I produce motion pictures. I would love to develop a "shared universe" type concept along the lines of Harry Potter, Star Wars, Star Trek, etc. that would - in the best of all possible worlds - allow me to explore all of my interests and be a writer and a producer and a publisher and a game designer and an artist and a storyteller and a marketer and a businessman. Is a "writer" really the best way to describe myself? Is a "storyteller?" Should I call myself something more generic like a "creative?"
For some, it is all about writing. They write stuff, call themselves writers, and that's all there is to it. Others of us might seek to clarify what it is we're trying to accomplish by finding a different word or term or title that more accurately describes our goals and approach to our creative work. And I don't think there is a clear right or wrong choice because we all have our own paths to follow. The point of this editorial isn't necessarily to say, "this is what you should do," but rather to present the opportunity to think about all the possibilities and consider what direction is right for you. When you're developing your creative business, give some thought to the kind of creative you are, and what title best describes the thing you want to do.
Oh, but if there is one piece of parting advice I can give you, it's this... please, please, PLEASE don't be the person who has a multi-hyphenate business card. Unless you're accomplished in all those areas, it's just obnoxious to have a business card that reads:
John Smith
Actor/Writer/Director/Producer/Artist/Designer/Musician/Executive/Consultant/Developer
Until next time,
Jeff
If you're interested in checking out my work:
"Blogocentric Formulations"
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I encourage you to check out the following mystery items:
EXCERPT: Darlene suddenly sat up in her bed with a shocked look on her face. She didn’t say a word. But her husband, Jasper, could see what happened in the semi-darkness. The only light in that room came from the street lamp barely seeable just outside their bedroom window. Jasper sat up too. Then leaned on his elbow as he looked at his wife.
“It happened again - didn’t it? That’s the second time tonight. You need to get some help. This has been going on for almost six months.”
EXCERPT: I ran through the dim silent woods pounding my feet into the dead leaf covered earth as hard as I could. Somehow dodging tree trunks and low hanging branches in the near total darkness The sun had long since set, the moon was no where in sight and the stars were all bolted out by the think blanket of clouds. The occasional flash of lightning allowed me, for a brief moment at least, to chart my path through the sparse undergrowth. It hardly helped, but still I ran forward; guided mostly by instinct, simple hope, and fear. I didn't know where I was. I didn't know where I was going. I didn't know what I was running from, but I knew what ever it was, it wanted to hurt me.
EXCERPT: “Dr. Roach look here, I think I found it! It looks old enough and the inscription on the cover looks right.”
“Easy Geoffrey easy, let me see that book.” The old man reached out his hand and took the book from his student.
The book looked at least a thousand years old, the pages were of old cypress paper. The binding was of corroded metal and worn leather straps. The cover itself appeared to be of a leather of some kind. On the front was an emblem of a triangle with three circles, one at each point and in the center was a silver lightning bolt.
“But Doctor it has to be it!” Geoffrey exclaimed. “We didn’t travel thousands of miles all over God’s green Earth to this run down flat in Milan and not be The One we are looking for!”
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Feedback from my last newsletter about standing out:
A*Monaing*Faith  writes: "Great advice! This is why I usually scare away from a-typical Mystery/AA. Diversity is always a plus and PLEASE tell me you know about the white trash zombie book series that iZombie is based off of! I haven't committed time to the show yet but I LOOOOVE Diana Rowlands books!" (Submitted item: "The Cleaner" [13+])
I haven't read the material that iZOMBIE is based on yet, but I've been meaning to because I really love the show. I'll bump it up higher on my reading list if you promise to check out the show soon!
Quick-Quill  writes: "This was a short story for a series where a detective was killed and couldn't pass over until he'd solved his open cases. This was #2. The ezine is defunct but my story still lives here on WDC. This was taken from an early novel I wrote and in the process of editing to publish." (Submitted item: "Detective's Secret" [18+])
Thanks for sharing your story! That's a great hook for a series! 
DB Cooper  writes: "When actor Peter Finch tweaked a line in the classic screenplay Network, he changed movie history. "I'm mad as hell and I can't take it anymore!"
I love stories about iconic moments resulting from an improvisation or last-minute change. Some of my favorites are the scene from PRETTY WOMAN where Richard Gere spontaneously snapped the necklace box closed and got a genuine surprised laugh out of Julia Roberts, and - of course - Han Solo's iconic "I know" response to Leia saying, "I love you," which Harrison Ford reportedly came up with on his own when he decided that a generic "I love you too" wasn't something Han would say. 
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