Jerky Authors
Thursday, July 3, 2008I keep hearing rumors that some authors are jerks, although I still haven't personally met a real prizewinner yet. A few have treated me indifferently, but nobody has been rude or openly arrogant. Still, talking to people in the industry, and to bookstore employees, and readers, I hear there are some really impersonal authors out there. Names have been named to me, though I will not repeat them here.
What blows my mind is that of all professions, fiction writers should be the most personable! Why? Because to do what we do, we have to understand what makes somebody likeable or despicable, heroic or cowardly, friendly or abrasive, nice or jerky. We make our living by creating characters, and making those characters relatable to readers. How can writers who thoroughly understand what makes somebody smart, or kind, or likeable proceed to behave another way? By the way, if I'm ever a jerk, feel free to quote this back to me.
The bright side so far is that my personal experiences with other authors have been mostly quite positive. Through book conferences and other opportunities, I've had a chance to meet some pretty successful authors, and most have been very personable, including some big names like Neil Gaiman and Christopher Paolini. I hear that authors for younger audiences have a reputation for being nicer, and those are largely who I meet, so maybe that is part of it, although some of the friendly authors I have encountered write for adults. Guys like Orson Scott Card, who generously gave me some very helpful advice when I was brand new.
Not that you have to be famous to be jerky. I can easily conceive of the semi-famous or non-famous jealous jerk variety. So easily that I may have even glimpsed a couple.
Speaking of personalities, on a lighter note, somebody forwarded me a Fablehaven personality test. I have no idea who created it. I took the test, and apparently I'm Lena. Who knew? If you want to check it out, here is a link: http://www.allthetests.com/quiz25/quizpu.php?testid=1214937487
That's all for now. I'm almost done with chapter 6 of Fablehaven 4. Feels like a lot of fun so far. I'll keep you posted.
Labels: Authors, personality test
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on Thursday, July 3, 2008 at 1:16 PM.
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July 3, 2008 9:59 PM
Brandon, although I haven't met you yet, I have a student who has and said you were very nice. So, rest assured! :) I've also just written a mini review of your series on my blog. I absolutely LOVED the books. Thank you so much for writing such captivating stories. I spent three evenings in a row curled up in my bed devouring them and have since then recommended them to anyone who will listen.