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Babbling on a Sunday Morning
Jun. 24th, 2007 09:09 amI don't know when exactly it happened, but I've noticed that I *trust* female authors more than I do male authors. Especially in the sci-fi genre. Not that I won't read male authors (if I had that policy, I'd barely be able to read the SF/F genre at all). It's just that, given two books to decide between reading, I'll probably pick up the one I think is written by a woman first. If it sucks, I'll toss it and go to the next thing, but female authors get my preference.
I can only think that this might've come from my years and years and years of writing fanfic. I started out in the fanfic community at the ripe old age of twelve - and quickly learned to assume, in the absence of any information, that the writer in question was female. And a good 95% of the time, I'm correct.
And I also know that I very deliberately trust writers that I know have written fan fic more than non-fanfic authors. Why? Because I know for certain that they're capable of writing for nothing more than a true love of their genre (fandom) and to make people go "squeeeee!".
You know how very obnoxious people say, "Oh, you don't know what love is until you've had a baby?". Well, I (probably just as obnoxiously) say, "You don't know what writing is until you've churned out fanfic at four in the morning for nothing more than the hope that somebody would drop by and tell you exactly how happy your work made them."
Strange, I know. Don't worry, boys, I'll still read what you write. You'll just have to wait a little longer in line.
Good grief, I wish the "literary" world would take some cues from fan fiction. I don't mean in writing, but in terms of organizing itself. Also? Sweet jumping monkeys, why have we not learned how to give useful information on a book cover? The little blurbs and quotes from the author's BFF's and reviewers that I neither know nor care about? Not. Useful.
What book jackets need are the standard headings for fanfic. The ones that list rating, spoilers, warnings, and summary. All decided on by the author. I just wish I could get the straight dope on books.
I also discovered that when I find out than an author with a psuedonym that I assumed was male like "A. B. Lastname" is actually female, I get a little frustrated. Because I kind of want people to be transparent about their gender. It sounds terrible, but the thought of a woman giving herself a pen name that deliberately disguises that she's a woman makes me want to scream, "TRAITOR!"
I had a professor in college who did that to get published. It made me lose respect for her, for reasons I have a hard time articulating, but which boil down to: "You're just making it worse, woman!" I don't feel like going into the complicated mechanics of gender and literature and publishing and all that jazz.
For now, I have a novel to write.
I can only think that this might've come from my years and years and years of writing fanfic. I started out in the fanfic community at the ripe old age of twelve - and quickly learned to assume, in the absence of any information, that the writer in question was female. And a good 95% of the time, I'm correct.
And I also know that I very deliberately trust writers that I know have written fan fic more than non-fanfic authors. Why? Because I know for certain that they're capable of writing for nothing more than a true love of their genre (fandom) and to make people go "squeeeee!".
You know how very obnoxious people say, "Oh, you don't know what love is until you've had a baby?". Well, I (probably just as obnoxiously) say, "You don't know what writing is until you've churned out fanfic at four in the morning for nothing more than the hope that somebody would drop by and tell you exactly how happy your work made them."
Strange, I know. Don't worry, boys, I'll still read what you write. You'll just have to wait a little longer in line.
Good grief, I wish the "literary" world would take some cues from fan fiction. I don't mean in writing, but in terms of organizing itself. Also? Sweet jumping monkeys, why have we not learned how to give useful information on a book cover? The little blurbs and quotes from the author's BFF's and reviewers that I neither know nor care about? Not. Useful.
What book jackets need are the standard headings for fanfic. The ones that list rating, spoilers, warnings, and summary. All decided on by the author. I just wish I could get the straight dope on books.
I also discovered that when I find out than an author with a psuedonym that I assumed was male like "A. B. Lastname" is actually female, I get a little frustrated. Because I kind of want people to be transparent about their gender. It sounds terrible, but the thought of a woman giving herself a pen name that deliberately disguises that she's a woman makes me want to scream, "TRAITOR!"
I had a professor in college who did that to get published. It made me lose respect for her, for reasons I have a hard time articulating, but which boil down to: "You're just making it worse, woman!" I don't feel like going into the complicated mechanics of gender and literature and publishing and all that jazz.
For now, I have a novel to write.
