More Larry Gold from the Book of Faces- Jack
I saw this on twitter and automatically read it in my Bad Twitter Writing Advice Voice. But then I got to expounding on why this is such a bad idea.
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Writing Community
@writingoutlook Oct 11
The aim is not to make money, the aim is not to be a best-seller, the aim is to change people’s lives. What do you think?
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Nope.
You ain’t changing shit if nobody reads your stuff.
If people read your stuff you make money.
We are entertainers, not preachers. Get over yourself.
I’ve got an incredible fan base. They have helped each other a lot. Tons of positive change. We’ve paid for surgeries. We’ve done massive charity drives. My fans once raised twenty grand for one woman’s breast cancer surgery in an afternoon. My fans have come together and paid for spinal surgeries and kidney dialysis. I have people who met on my fan page and gotten married. There are kids named after my characters. I’ve got a couple hundred people with the logo or characters from my books tattooed on their bodies. I’ve heard from many people where my books helped keep them happy through tough miserable times. I was the bestselling author in Baghdad and Bagram and helped distract dudes with fun stories while they were in the suck. My fans have become friends and consoled and boosted each other through all sorts of terrible life events. They’ve helped the out of work ones find jobs. They dominate the charity auction at conventions. They’ve shared knowledge and art. They’ve boosted the careers of dozens of other authors I’ve exposed them to so the cycle can continue. The amount of cool shit they’ve accomplished is way disproportionate to their numbers.
Over the last 15 years I’ve seen some pretty damned amazing things from them. I’m not the best writer, but I’ve got the best fans. By far. Wouldn’t trade them for anyone else’s.
Yet none of that positive stuff would have happened if my goal was to “change peoples lives”. They came together organically because I entertained them and provided them a product that they shared an interest in.
You goal should be to write good books that people will like, and get paid. As a side benefit of that you might make the world a better place for somebody. If your goal is to change people, you’re probably gonna fail as a writer, be annoying in the process, and die poor.
The shear arrogance of the twit, thinking he knows best on how people should be.
> shear arrogance
Well, in fairness, most people *are* sheep …
A good reason to pay for a proof reader…
“Kids named after my characters”
My heart goes out to all those Zastava’s out there.
I’m waiting for the poor kid (Jewish) named Mosh Pitt, some Jewish last name.
Pitz
Pitzky
Pitzkowitz (if they’re just off Ellis Island…)
Aim for your book to change the life of yourself and your immediate family by getting you lots of money.
I really enjoy your books and your commentary on life today but as I read the last comment I was struck by a memory of life in the middle east in the Navy. I bought the books there that were available and the folks running the NEX and Exchanges were not really the kind of people who read and enjoy science fiction. You know, they’re the kind of people that run the Hugos thing. I literally could not bring myself to buy the crap that made its way into the ship’s store or the Base Exchange in ASU, ASU/SWA or the Exchange in Khobar.
So I’m glad they hired somebody who knew what kind of books military people over there really enjoyed reading and actually made them available by shipping them over there for the last 22 years.
Admittedly, back then you guys weren’t writing but we were still looking for the books by Chris Bunch, Neal, Stirling and the rest of those guys and they weren’t making it over there at all.
All these pretentious people thinking they are George Orwell writing 1984. No, most readers don’t want “the message” or a sermon.
Most of those pretentious Orwell wannabes overlook the fact that he was writing against the beliefs and ideals of the current Intelligentsia, which tended to be International Socialist.
The modern sort preaches to the choir, and goes along with whatever the zeitgeist of the fashionable happens to be. One of the less noted flaws of modern message fic is that it’s conformist and cowardly, another bleat in the chorus of the 2 Minute Hate that pretends to be Oh So Brave.
It’s easy to hate on the Deplorable Flyover People when the big media companies also hate them.
Its amazing that now the phrase “The MESSAGE” will almost always be read with a Scottish accent.
BTW, his Ryan Drake books are pretty good too.
Larry,
I live in Israel and things are getting, how can I put it, a little stressed lately. YOUR BOOKS ARE KEEPING ME SANE. Thank you!!
See also: https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2023/10/the-week-in-pictures-insurrection-manque-edition.php
(especially last two).
Shalom.
I think this sort of nonsense occurs when people want expansive meaning and vast significance, but don’t place any on the work or it sproduct. They want to make their job producing miracles, rather than building software that give people an easier day or five more minutes of time. It’s not enough to produce the simple commercial things thato delight other people, you’ve got to shape their lives. Stop trying to self actualize with my life and focus on giving me the stability and comfort that comes with goods and services that do what they say on the tin. If a writer can’t find sufficient value in the joy and pleasure others gain from the work, they’re in the wrong business.
For companies, and other communities, to rope people in emotionally, trying to convince them they aren’t just enjoying mac and cheese but saving the world…or some other pablum.
“The aim is not to make money, the aim is not to be a best-seller, the aim is to change people’s lives.”
Like Karl or Adolph orMao or Kendi? Be careful what you ask for.
“to rope people in emotionally, trying to convince them they aren’t just enjoying mac and cheese but saving the world…or some other pablum.”
That’s been the mantra of journalism schools for decades.
No man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money.
— Samuel Johnson
I see a lot of commentary about how this is, in not so many words, pretentiousness. My own suspicion is that the twit that tweeted (or is xed it now?) is not so much trying to truly be a writer of moral superiority, but instead is trying to to cover up for the fact that they are a R tier writer and aren’t making money by finding “higher purpose” for their work. Ego defense allows them to pretend like “money and sales doesn’t matter, I’m changing lives!” It’s a salve to console them that their mom won’t even buy their work, and half of the 12 purchases they got on Amazon were likely accidental.
If I ever sell any of the novels I’ve written, my only hope is people enjoy them. Full stop. I write to entertain, not educate. If you want to educate, write non-fiction. And actually be qualified to teach something, not spout off on communist nonsense.
“But… but… but… getting ‘qualified’ to teach something requires actual work! Can’t I just lecture on something I believe I know a lot about?”
Sure, you can. But if you want to “change the world”, you’ll have to both get published and sell books, which means you’ll have to be noticed, which means you’ll have to differentiate yourself from hundreds of thousands of other aspiring world-changers with the exact same goal and the exact same ideas (practically verbatim with a lot of communist nonsense).
And the very best way to do that is to either know what you’re talking about better than they do, or know how to express and explain it better than they do. Preferably both. But both of those require putting in the effort to learn.
Put another way, when you hire a contractor or engineer and they quote you for 40 hours of labor, you might be shocked what they charge. But if you’re smart, you realize you’re not paying for 40 hours of labor; you’re paying for their years of experience that let them do the job — and do it right — in “only” 40 hours. An inexperienced person might also be able to do the job, but won’t do it as well and will take (at least) twice as long figuring it out.
“Changing the world” sounds great, but unless you’ve experienced enough of the world to have some unique insight into what needs to change, how to change it, and — perhaps most importantly — why it needs changing, nobody’s going to want to listen to you. (And if you’re trying to spout communist nonsense to “change the world”, do everyone a favor and just stop right there. It’s been done to death — and the deaths of hundreds of millions — carries a long track record of 100% failure, and in a century and a half has added zero new ideas or even new phrasing of old ideas; its current adherents use almost identical verbiage as its long-dead founders.)
That sounds like the Engineer who spent 30 years with a Company. A year after he retired a machine broke and the current engineers couldn’t figure out how to fix it. Finally somebody got the bright idea to bring the retired engineer back to take a look at it. So they brought him back and he started the machine, walked around it for a bit and finally walked up to a small actuator and made a chalk mark by it. He said “Replace that and it will be fine.”
The Finance guy asked how much they owed the Engineer and he replied $25,000. The Finance guy said “I’m going to need an itemized bill to pay you.” The Engineer sat down at a typewriter, typed for a few minutes and handed the sheet of paper to the Finance guy. The paper read
One chalk mark………………………………………….$5.00
Knowing where to put it……………………………$24,995
What a strange thought. In my very limited free time I like to enjoy myself. I get enough lecturing and navel gazing in meetings and workplace nonsense.
You’ve many in depth and very different worlds and each one is awesome to explore no matter how many times I’ve re-read or relistened to the book.
I think the only thing you’ve “changed” in me was more motivation to get back into monster hunting shape. Keep on being awesome fella!
“. . .gonna fail. . . and die poor.” We can only hope.
British magazine, “The Economist” discovered that Utah has teachers lawfully carry in the classroom this past week. So their lives are being changed! Right?
I wonder how it took “The Economist” so long to discover this. Maybe it was the lack of deaths from school shootings? I’m just guessing.
By the way, Monster Hunter International got a shout-out from Jill Bearup: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/QaXBEhqRPas
Total agreement. I turned off the TV during the ‘lockdown,’ and left it off. I hate ‘message’ books. I want to be entertained; I do not need to be told how much I suck.
(PS – I’m almost done with Alliance of Shadows – more DEAD SIX please!!!)