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Wynelda-Ann Deaver

Author's Note:
Last month I talked about Nanowrimo, the challenge to write a novel during the month of November. I completed the challenge, having written 51,124 words for the month.

Genre

I was home sick today, watching a show on organizing one's life that happens to be filmed in Britain. On the show, the hostess/organizer told the hapless homeowner that it was okay to keep "literature" but not "trashy books."

The woman had mostly "trashy books."

Ruth Rendell was the author whose books were shown, although I'm sure that there were plenty of others that weren't quite up to the literati snob's standards. They were popular fiction, well loved and well read by the condition of their covers.

This offended me. It offended me greatly.

Lest you think this is something that only rears its ugly head across the pond, it is rampant everywhere. While attending University, I often left my romance novels at home. I read my fantasy and science fiction books on breaks, or even the required reading for classes. But never my romance books.

Even publishing powerhouses are not exempt from the fracas. Recently, Stephen King was the recipient of the National Book Distinguished Contribution to American Letters Award for 2003. Some people loudly decried his nomination for the award, others cheered. (Read the transcript of Stephen King's acceptance speech.) I have to admit that it puzzles me a bit why so many were so violently opposed to his winning the award. His popularity and genre have a lot to do with it. The fact that he isn't a "literary" writer, that he writes for the masses instead of the intellectual few, might be a few of the reasons as well.

Here's the thing, though. Not every one can be a Hemingway, or a Faulkner, or even a Stephen King. Each writer has his or her own path that he/she needs to follow. Even should I step onto the same path as you, with say, the same opening sentence, we shall arrive in different places. Interests, the lives we've led, our own hopes and dreams, all will splinter our "same" stories into unique beings. Even though I read romances, most of my work ends up being fantasy, with a little bit of romance thrown in.

I have read the classics, and they are wonderful. Faulkner's descriptions can make me cry, Hemingway is always a fascinating read. I don't necessarily want to read them every day, however. Shakespeare's Henry V is one of my favorites, and the title character's speeches can make the skin on my arms rise with goose-bumps. So can Lynn Flewelling (fantasy), Christina Dodd (Romance), C.S. Friedman (Science Fiction) and countless others.

Don't let an artificial placement affect what you read. Read what you love, and your writing will follow.