{"id":2756,"date":"2013-05-06T13:32:11","date_gmt":"2013-05-06T17:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/?p=2756"},"modified":"2024-09-10T07:44:40","modified_gmt":"2024-09-10T11:44:40","slug":"books-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/2013\/05\/06\/books-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Books"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gone Girl<\/em> – Gillian Flynn.<\/p>\n

I figure a lot of you have read this, or have plans to. Flynn is arguably the master of popular fiction right now. She writes fantastic stories that get great reviews and sell a lot. So I&apos;ll take this is another direction.<\/p>\n

\n

I admit I became a fan of Flynn because of her biography. She is a Kansas City native and University of Kansas graduate. It helps that she\u2019s written three fantastic novels. But sharing that common background is what first drew me to her books.<\/p>\n

Flynn and I are the same age. We arrived on campus at KU in the same steamy, late summer days of 1989. So each time I read one of her books, I\u2019m thinking two things. A) Why the hell haven\u2019t I written three best-selling novels? B) Did our paths ever cross while we were in Lawrence?<\/p>\n

The first isn\u2019t worth writing about. I have dreams of writing something that gets published, but it\u2019s not like I\u2019ve slaved over drafts and seen them rejected for the last 20 years. There\u2019s no jealousy of a classmate who made it while I\u2019ve suffered for my art or anything like that.<\/p>\n

But that second one can be interesting to explore. What if we were casual acquaintances and, at some point, something I did caught her attention and she tucked it away, pulling it out years later as she was creating a character? She may not have remembered that the trait or mannerism or silly joke originated with me, but still there would be some small part of my DNA in one of her books. That would be kind of cool.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s the bigger What If. What If we had been more than just classmates or casual friends? What if we had dated? If you\u2019ve never read one of her books, they\u2019re pretty dark and twisted. They aren\u2019t populated by normal, well-adjusted people. What if she created a character that vaguely resembled me? And then what if that person was a total freak, or a murderer, or did awful things to women? Would I be hesitant to share that I had known and dated Flynn years before she was famous if people could connect me with some nutjob in one of her books and wonder, \u201cGee, is that psycho based on him?\u201d<\/p>\n

Silly, I know. But I can\u2019t help but think it. And maybe it\u2019s not so far-fetched. One of my friends from high school who also went to KU had a roommate her freshman year that, ever so slightly, resembled Ms. Flynn. I can\u2019t for the life of me think of that girl\u2019s name, although I\u2019m pretty sure it wasn\u2019t Gillian.<\/p>\n

But just for fun, let\u2019s say it was her. Why is that fun? Because this girl had a bit of a crush on me, or so I was told, and I kind of blew her off.1<\/a><\/sup> Then I could say, \u201cYou know, a best selling author was totally into me in college. And I blew her off.\u201d Self-mockery is the best mockery.<\/p>\n

Finally, there\u2019s another thing I think about while reading Flynn\u2019s books. By all accounts she is a very nice person, true to her Midwestern roots. I greatly admire her ability to write about awful things and remain normal to the outside world.2<\/a><\/sup> That has been a barrier I\u2019ve struggled with when I think about writing fiction to share with others. How do I write about darkness, about the failures of humans, and not have people put that behavior back on me?<\/p>\n

Another example: Tom Perrotta is one of my favorite authors. Each of his books is built around infidelity. He is married and has a family. I can\u2019t help but wonder about that. Does this mean he is always thinking about banging the babysitter? Does his wife question him as to whether every book he publishes needs to center on people cheating? If I wrote stories similar to him would people think, \u201cDude, you might want to chill on the whole “sex with someone other than your spouse” thing in your books,\u201d?<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s Stephen King. I don\u2019t think I could ever write true horror, or even some of the more graphically gory fantasy stuff he\u2019s crafted over his career. Still, if I wrote about a psycho clown that was killing children, would other parents be reluctant to let me be around their kids?<\/p>\n

Again, all silly thoughts.<\/p>\n

Being a writer requires you to free your mind. You have to be able to take an idea and explore it in any direction until it finds an interesting and entertaining end. As important, though, is the need to free yourself from the expectations and reactions of your readers. You have to trust that they will get that your story is fiction, a product of your imagination. There might be familiar settings and elements in your stories, but they still are rooted in the land of make believe. You have to trust that even if your readers don\u2019t like what you write, or give you uncomfortable, \u201cSooooo, that was an interesting book…\u201d in response to your work, they still understand that it\u2019s art and not memoir.<\/p>\n

\n

Oh, and I loved the book.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
    \n
  1. \nThat\u2019s right, friends. Me, the guy who complained about never having dates, blew off a perfectly nice girl who showed interest in me. Sadly that wasn\u2019t the first time I did that. Often my misery was self-induced. ↩<\/a>\n<\/li>\n
  2. \nOf course, we have no idea. She could be bat-shit crazy. But that does not come across in interviews. ↩<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn. I figure a lot of you have read this, or have plans to. Flynn is arguably the master of popular fiction right now. She writes fantastic stories that get great reviews and sell a lot. So I&apos;ll take this is another direction. I admit I became a fan of Flynn because of her biography. She is a Kansas City native and University of Kansas graduate. It helps that she\u2019s written three fantastic novels. But sharing that common background is what first drew me to her books. Flynn and I are the same age. We arrived on campus at KU in the same steamy, late summer days of 1989. So each time I read one of her books, I\u2019m thinking two things. A) Why the hell haven\u2019t I written three best-selling novels? B) Did our paths ever cross while we were in Lawrence? The first isn\u2019t worth writing about. I have dreams of writing something that gets published, but it\u2019s not like I\u2019ve slaved over drafts and seen them rejected for the last 20 years. There\u2019s no jealousy of a classmate who made it while I\u2019ve suffered for my art or anything like that. But that second one can be interesting to explore. What if we were casual acquaintances and, at some point, something I did caught her attention and she tucked it away, pulling it out years later as she was creating a character? She may not have remembered that the trait or mannerism or silly joke originated with me, but still there would be some small part of my DNA in one of her books. That would be kind of cool. And then there\u2019s the bigger What If. What If we had been more than just classmates or casual friends? What if we had dated? If you\u2019ve never read one of her books, they\u2019re pretty dark and twisted. They aren\u2019t populated by normal, well-adjusted people. What if she created a character that vaguely resembled me? And then what if that person was a total freak, or a murderer, or did awful things to women? Would I be hesitant to share that I had known and dated Flynn years before she was famous if people could connect me with some nutjob in one of her books and wonder, \u201cGee, is that psycho based on him?\u201d Silly, I know. But I can\u2019t help but think it. And maybe it\u2019s not so far-fetched. One of my friends from high school who also went to KU had a roommate her freshman year that, ever so slightly, resembled Ms. Flynn. I can\u2019t for the life of me think of that girl\u2019s name, although I\u2019m pretty sure it wasn\u2019t Gillian. But just for fun, let\u2019s say it was her. Why is that fun? Because this girl had a bit of a crush on me, or so I was told, and I kind of blew her off.1 Then I could say, \u201cYou know, a best selling author was totally into me in college. And I blew her off.\u201d Self-mockery is the best mockery. Finally, there\u2019s another thing I think about while reading Flynn\u2019s books. By all accounts she is a very nice person, true to her Midwestern roots. I greatly admire her ability to write about awful things and remain normal to the outside world.2 That has been a barrier I\u2019ve struggled with when I think about writing fiction to share with others. How do I write about darkness, about the failures of humans, and not have people put that behavior back on me? Another example: Tom Perrotta is one of my favorite authors. Each of his books is built around infidelity. He is married and has a family. I can\u2019t help but wonder about that. Does this mean he is always thinking about banging the babysitter? Does his wife question him as to whether every book he publishes needs to center on people cheating? If I wrote stories similar to him would people think, \u201cDude, you might want to chill on the whole “sex with someone other than your spouse” thing in your books,\u201d? And then there\u2019s Stephen King. I don\u2019t think I could ever write true horror, or even some of the more graphically gory fantasy stuff he\u2019s crafted over his career. Still, if I wrote about a psycho clown that was killing children, would other parents be reluctant to let me be around their kids? Again, all silly thoughts. Being a writer requires you to free your mind. You have to be able to take an idea and explore it in any direction until it finds an interesting and entertaining end. As important, though, is the need to free yourself from the expectations and reactions of your readers. You have to trust that they will get that your story is fiction, a product of your imagination. There might be familiar settings and elements in your stories, but they still are rooted in the land of make believe. You have to trust that even if your readers don\u2019t like what you write, or give you uncomfortable, \u201cSooooo, that was an interesting book…\u201d in response to your work, they still understand that it\u2019s art and not memoir. Oh, and I loved the book. That\u2019s right, friends. Me, the guy who complained about never having dates, blew off a perfectly nice girl who showed interest in me. Sadly that wasn\u2019t the first time I did that. Often my misery was self-induced. ↩ Of course, we have no idea. She could be bat-shit crazy. But that does not come across in interviews. ↩<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[7],"class_list":["post-2756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-books"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2756"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2756\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14502,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2756\/revisions\/14502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}