tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post2747972459524192369..comments2023-09-25T02:24:22.087-07:00Comments on Anne R. Allen's Blog: Want to be a Successful Author? 10 Things English Majors Have to UnlearnAnne R. Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02420000168356370825noreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-21484963419962607292015-01-22T13:37:09.267-08:002015-01-22T13:37:09.267-08:00Jane--Ruth and I have a strict policy of not readi...Jane--Ruth and I have a strict policy of not reading any unpublished work. This is because 1) we have nearly 4000 subscribers, but only 24 hour days. :-) 2) there might be copyright issues in the future. 3) Editing is hard work and editors deserve to be paid. We are both professional editors, and would have to charge at least $30 an hour. <br /><br />But I'm sure you must know some teachers or other educated adults who would be willing to help you with your essay. Best of luck! Anne R. Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02420000168356370825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-49810454218428310162015-01-22T13:27:37.377-08:002015-01-22T13:27:37.377-08:00Wow, thank you for such a hearty response.
If you...Wow, thank you for such a hearty response. <br />If you wouldn't mind-- would you take a look at an essay I wrote?Janehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16226811036620722976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-81245156561269935002015-01-21T16:54:20.932-08:002015-01-21T16:54:20.932-08:00Jane--Good question. I majored in Art History for ...Jane--Good question. I majored in Art History for no reason except that it fascinated me, but it wasn't a bad choice, because the benefit of an Ivy League liberal arts degree is to get general knowledge of culture (and learn how to think.) <br /><br />If you go to a liberal arts college, you need to get your job training in summer internship programs or short training classes. I'm not telling students not to major in English, or Comp. Lit, or Art or French or whatever: just realize that when you put on your "professional writer" hat, you have to stop thinking like an academic. <br /><br />For somebody not interested in a liberal arts degree--which are wonderful, but expensive, I'd advise somebody who wants to be a writer to take a lot of business courses. Because writing for a living is a business. Anne R. Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02420000168356370825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-62137350386848780252015-01-21T16:38:56.394-08:002015-01-21T16:38:56.394-08:00As a prospective college student, I have a questio...As a prospective college student, I have a question for you, Anne!<br /><br />What major would you choose if you went back to college now?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14674203836089320357noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-40538226724930035312011-06-14T04:41:35.146-07:002011-06-14T04:41:35.146-07:00by the way thanks for saying:
"No time spent...by the way thanks for saying:<br /><br />"No time spent with great art is worthless. It opens your mind and hones your skills with language, so you'll be better at whatever you choose to do afterward." <br /><br />in response to Elisa's comments. Unfortunately it seems popular in some places to make disparaging comments about Arts degrees.Vincenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10688509166643451425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-54891050892467625042011-06-14T04:35:04.553-07:002011-06-14T04:35:04.553-07:00I just discovered your blog and have found it very...I just discovered your blog and have found it very interesting and helpful. Thank you.<br /> I didn't study English at Uni. I studies History, Commerce and languages. At school I only got good marks in English because I was good at creative writing, reading comprehension and listening comprehension. I could never remember all the grammar stuff. I wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference between a past participle and whatever the other ones are to save my life. I just knew how to write weird and interesting stories. I also used to get in trouble for reading in class and have my books confiscated. <br />I have several genres which I go through phases working on different manuscripts. That is probably why I have not quite finished anything yet. Although losing a whole computer’s worth of data a few years ago did not help especially as I’d been throwing away the hand written originals as I typed the stuff in. The ones that I have been working on the most at the moment would fall under Noir, Weird Fiction, Supernatural Thriller (although it might be Paranormal Romance instead) and Contemporary Fantasy. I also have tons of Traditional Fantasy, High Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Noir, Space opera, Soft SF and Military SF on the back burner.<br />I looked at Book Country and felt better when I discovered that I’m not the only one who writes in several genres or works on different manuscripts concurrently. Not sure about the whole thing. I would need to read the terms and conditions carefully. Only problem is I hardly ever write from the start to end. I hop around then kind of write the connection parts so people would just get frustrated reading any contributions I made.Vincenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10688509166643451425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-47567261099317508622011-05-13T11:08:32.897-07:002011-05-13T11:08:32.897-07:00I DID major in English and I have to separate the ...I DID major in English and I have to separate the writer in me from the editor in me (well, and the composition editor from the memoir/fiction editor in me) to allow sentences to begin with "but" and "and," etc. I have no idea who Susann and Robbins are, but when I was an English major at UCLA, I had a professor assign us to read a novel that was bestselling at the time of Hawthorne (whose books didn't sell well at all) to show us the difference between what people were really reading at the time and what we think they read at the time. I wish I could remember the name of the book. Anyway, it was a fun read, but considered trash by the other professors in the English dept who were not happy that we'd been assigned to read the whole thing.<br /><br />A note about beautiful prose - someone from my MFA program is an AMAZING writer and writes incredibly beautiful prose, and I had to really struggle to finish reading her book when it came out. It was so impenetrable and abstruse (how are them words for an English major!)Meghan Wardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12773598501857799104noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-73229405486790490402011-05-10T15:44:55.366-07:002011-05-10T15:44:55.366-07:00Dorothy--I hope Book Country helps. Don't you ...Dorothy--I hope Book Country helps. Don't you just love Colleen?Anne R. Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02420000168356370825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-69077944612499845562011-05-10T10:46:37.694-07:002011-05-10T10:46:37.694-07:00An English major and english teacher here! I have...An English major and english teacher here! I have long since overcome the taboo of sentence fragments. This article is very helpful in validating my approach to writing. What hasn't worked is selecting a genre. Book Country may just be the thing. I have variously referred to my work as historical fantasy and family saga. That has not caught any agent eyes. I have appreciated Colleen Lindsay's blogging for a couple years.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11995877160240974606noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-36218169994257448262011-05-09T09:18:13.257-07:002011-05-09T09:18:13.257-07:00Elisa--Don't despair. I didn't say an Engl...Elisa--Don't despair. I didn't say an English major is worthless. Far from it. No time spent with great art is worthless. It opens your mind and hones your skills with language, so you'll be better at whatever you choose to do afterward.<br /><br />There's no college course that can really prepare you to be a writer--and 99% of writers don't make any money anyway--but exercising your brain is the most important preparation for any path you take in life.Anne R. Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02420000168356370825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-10515896743315228632011-05-09T04:43:41.299-07:002011-05-09T04:43:41.299-07:00Well this is depressing, haha. I'm getting an...Well this is depressing, haha. I'm getting an English major and am in my second semester, but from the sounds of this, the next four years of college are going to be worthless.<br /><br />Does that mean I should just quit now and call it a day, get a more useful major? Sorry, it's a great post about writing and I absorbed every word. It's just discouraging to hear how pointless an English major is.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-71379108671051097742011-05-08T09:34:21.563-07:002011-05-08T09:34:21.563-07:00ess.kay--Thanks!
Jan--Actually, I think I did tak...ess.kay--Thanks!<br /><br />Jan--Actually, I think I did take Middlemarch on a plane once--but I was already part of the way through. It's pretty compelling once you're into the story. George Eliot, like Dickens, was writing to entertain the masses, not impress a tiny elite. But I'm with you on omniscient narrators. I have to keep re-reading the same sentence to figure out who the author is talking about now.Anne R. Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02420000168356370825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-68812538648962206092011-05-07T11:19:19.818-07:002011-05-07T11:19:19.818-07:00Tons of good points in this post! Thanks. Love the...Tons of good points in this post! Thanks. Love the 'we don't need no stinking genres' all writers need to know where their work fits into the market even if they are writing literary fiction. I'm currently reading <i>Middlemarch</i> by George Eliot. Great story once you get used to the omniscient narrator and sentences that resemble paragraphs! And you're right, most people wouldn't take it on a plane to read. Reading and writing trends change and you have to be aware of where your writing fits into the market.Jan Markleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08317561950719847803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-52429969804323591922011-05-07T08:06:49.533-07:002011-05-07T08:06:49.533-07:00Entertaining, surprising, and refreshing! Thanks f...Entertaining, surprising, and refreshing! Thanks for the tips-- I will definitely keep this in mind for now on :)ess.kayhttp://esskayscoffeeshop.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-46928875297268382272011-05-06T17:37:34.892-07:002011-05-06T17:37:34.892-07:00Anne,
Paulina DeLeon - I like that! I'd better...Anne,<br />Paulina DeLeon - I like that! I'd better check if the dotcom is available :)Paul Dillonhttp://www.pauldillon.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-23911830572906941002011-05-06T14:10:48.719-07:002011-05-06T14:10:48.719-07:00Paul--Good deal. Contemp romance is a perennial, r...Paul--Good deal. Contemp romance is a perennial, recession-proof seller. And romances by men sometimes do very well (like the Bridges of Madison County) But you may have to call yourself Paulina DeLeon, or something like that.Anne R. Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02420000168356370825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-21877218588147447002011-05-06T12:11:42.116-07:002011-05-06T12:11:42.116-07:00After reading about genre in your post, I just wen...After reading about genre in your post, I just went over and signed up at Book Country to look at their genre map. It appears that I’ve wrote a contemporary romance novel. Armed with that knowledge, I can start to focus my efforts.Paul Dillonhttp://www.pauldillon.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-10419326132344688062011-05-06T11:39:43.644-07:002011-05-06T11:39:43.644-07:00See Elle Oh--I adore all those writers. David Seda...See Elle Oh--I adore all those writers. David Sedaris is one of my idols. They are perfect examples of how to write fantastic memoir (well, Sedaris is half way between memoir and stand-up comedy.) They never navel-gaze. What I'm talking about is the opposite kind of writing: mommy-look-at-me journaling and word-for-word transcription of pointless conversation. Typical pitfalls for newbie writers.<br /><br />Authenticity is essential to good writing, but when presented without story, it's just as boring as fake-poetic posturing.<br /><br />Frank--Oh, good. I did mean this to be encouraging. I've been reading and re-reading Dorothy Sayers since my teens. She is the perfect example of the academic, literary person who wrote brilliantly within an unpretentious genre. Her books are "classic literature" to me. I love that quote. And everything she said about advertising is even truer now.Anne R. Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02420000168356370825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-59420375365752453142011-05-06T10:42:15.047-07:002011-05-06T10:42:15.047-07:00Ann,
I wasn't an English major (or MFA)so I fo...Ann,<br />I wasn't an English major (or MFA)so I found this heartening rather than distressing. I don't think a lot of enduring literature set out to be enduring; I suspect (as do you) the authors set out to sell something. The Bard is full of murders, hot babes, slapstick, spooky ghosts, sword fights, and dirty jokes. <br /><br />The cultural divide between genre and literary fiction is nothing new, of course. A little while ago I was reading a Dorothy L. Sayers novel written in the 20's (so now over 80 years old) in which a character opines that the only books which seem to get published are, "Bad stories written in good English, and good stories written in bad English."Frank Chadwickhttp://space1889.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-86464663981590421172011-05-06T10:42:05.882-07:002011-05-06T10:42:05.882-07:00I agree with most of your list, except for #8. If ...I agree with most of your list, except for #8. If authenticity (or, OK, feigned authenticity in some cases...which I know is an oxymoron) didn't sell books, how would Memoir have gotten so huge? Why would would authors like David Sedaris, Bill Bryson, Elizabeth Gilbert and Augusten Burroughs be so so popular? They draw on their own lives and inevitably tell truths about the lives of others in doing so. <br /><br />Readers want to read about people like them doing/experiencing things, yes. Conversely, they also want to read about characters completely unlike them, because it lets them be legal voyeurs, gawkers/zoo-goers without the guilt, and think about "what if". <br /><br />It's the job of the writer to make his/her own truth/experience accessible and palatable to an audience. However, shooting explicitly for universality often fails because you run the risk of watered-down characters and situations. You run the risk of pandering to, or worse, patronizing your readers. A successful writer, in any genre, will inevitably touch on something universal, because most of existence is pretty universal, and definitely the most basic of human needs/desires are. <br /><br />I'm not saying a book should read like a diary entry or a couch session with a therapist. Or that there aren't instances where a writer gets too carried away with telling his own truth, thereby alienating readers who can't relate beyond a certain level. I'm just saying that readers do want some level of authenticity and pin-pointable truth.See Elle Ohhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10694842803414379136noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-26758568459702583102011-05-06T10:31:57.630-07:002011-05-06T10:31:57.630-07:00Lynda--I adore reading and re-reading the classics...Lynda--I adore reading and re-reading the classics, but I let them influence my work too much.<br /><br />Jessie--LOL "Would you like some Jonathan Swift with that?"Anne R. Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02420000168356370825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-1713548627931334632011-05-06T10:06:33.641-07:002011-05-06T10:06:33.641-07:00Re: #3, I actually impressed some young college st...Re: #3, I actually impressed some young college students the other day at work by correctly identifying the author of "A Modest Proposal" for them. I think it earned me a few extra dollars on the tip.<br /><br />See, mom, I'm finally using that English major!Jessie Kwakhttp://www.jessiekwak.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-53047035984638485522011-05-05T15:38:22.780-07:002011-05-05T15:38:22.780-07:00This post is brilliant. I loved it. I can so relat...This post is brilliant. I loved it. I can so relate too. There was so much I had to unlearn when I started writing. In the early days I started reading all the classics too and soon realised they weren't helping me ;)Lynda R Young as Elle Cardyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09975442291393246148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-4331718470251829652011-05-05T10:41:02.978-07:002011-05-05T10:41:02.978-07:00Emily--Thanks. BookCountry does look interesting. ...Emily--Thanks. BookCountry does look interesting. Asking writers to wade through our own slush pile. <br /><br />Amanda--I'm in sweats, too. Hoping nobody comes to the door.<br /><br />Veronika--There's no way I can fight off my themes. I just try to keep them subtle and out of the way. Your advice is perfect "Let the characters take care of it. They're usually pretty good at it."Anne R. Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02420000168356370825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8385052143211121638.post-72270738312279572342011-05-05T09:47:50.736-07:002011-05-05T09:47:50.736-07:00Anne-
Noooooo!!!!! You must needs break every one ...Anne-<br />Noooooo!!!!! You must needs break every one of these rules to be a writer! <br /><br />Ehem. <br /><br />Now that my English-majored-muse has had its scream...you're absolutely right. I especially struggle with the punctuation/syntax rule, following the "masters," and inserting themes into my fiction. It's incredibly tempting, and hard to not do intentionally. I've had to learn to just follow the characters' lives and let them take care of the theme, dialogue, and formatting. They're usually pretty good at it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com