Two years ago, Jonathan Franzen was asked to produce a set of “rules” that all aspiring authors should follow.
Number one on his list?
The reader is a friend, not an adversary, not a spectator.
I wonder how those people who’ve read his books via eReaders¹ - by his own first rule of writing, his friends - feel upon reading his diatribe over the weekend?
If you want my takes on Franzens’ latest rant - I think it’s worth sharing two more of his “rules” for writers:
When information becomes free and universally accessible, voluminous research for a novel is devalued along with it.
It’s doubtful that anyone with an internet connection at his workplace is writing good fiction.
…Someone worked really hard to make the language just right, just the way they wanted it. They were so sure of it that they printed it in ink, on paper. A screen always feels like we could delete that, change that, move it around. So for a literature-crazed person like me, it’s just not permanent enough…
I’m not sure if that’s an inaccurate complaint about the permanence of eBooks, or if he’s still pissed off about the monumental balls up, that happened when the wrong draft of Freedom was sent to printers…
Which, when the cock up was discovered - were destroyed, pulped, and used to print the corrected version.
Wait - just how are paper books more permanent than eBooks?
Just to finish - I’m actually a fan of his work. He’s an incredibly gifted author, which is why his rant has been getting soo much coverage on the ‘net
¹Speaking of which - yet another author who takes the time to write a detailed diatribe, insulting an ever growing number of readers, by not only questioning the quality of the works they read, but also their status as “real” readers… Who sells copies of his work as eBooks!
Edited: Thanks to d1000words, for pointing out that the link above said The Corrections, when of course, it should have said Freedom.
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