After hearing last year about Boris Johnson’s thriller, then about Saddam Hussein’s romance novels, I got thinking about why people from all sorts of backgrounds are drawn to writing fiction. Reading them, I’m struck by two thoughts, firstly by how easy lots of professional writers make writing fiction look, and secondly by how much you can come to understand a person by the way they write.
Are there any novels you know of from unexpected authors? Have you found any that are decent as books apart from their creators? What is it about novels that draws non-writers that’s missing from, say, pottery or interpretive dance?
A lot of famous people get novels published not because the novels are good, but because they are famous. They also have well compensated professional editors or even ghost writers to help them turn their pile of crap fiction into something at least publishable with a straight face.
Every artistic ‘industry’ is like this, maybe more than ever. All the money people are obsessed with making safe bets so basically no new artists are getting recognition unless they have some kind of fame or wealth to begin with. And nobody cares, most people are happy with whatever slop they are fed, so it’s not changing any time soon. Sorry, that’s a rant and a bit off topic
Every artistic ‘industry’ is like this, maybe more than ever. All the money people are obsessed with making safe bets so basically no new artists are getting recognition unless they have some kind of fame or wealth to begin with. And nobody cares, most people are happy with whatever slop they are fed, so it’s not changing any time soon. Sorry, that’s a rant and a bit off topic