Thursday, January 26, 2012

Too Old?

Last week Adrian McKinty made the bold statement that "crime novels are bad because they are part of a series". http://adrianmckinty.blogspot.com/2012/01/why-are-most-crime-novels-bad.html Now I don't disagree with him because most series do run out of steam, at least for this reader. I've dropped a great many series because I got tired of reading the same old book or the author pulled a stunt that just didn't set right with me (bringing a character back to life was one and pulling the bad guy out of his hat that was never even hinted at through the course of four books).

But this post that I read this morning over at Black Gate really scares me. Scott Taylor doesn't blame the problem on series books but on the AGE of the author. According to him most authors hit their peak at or around 55. That makes me one doomed writer. You can read the post here http://www.blackgate.com/2012/01/25/art-of-the-genre-the-age-of-perfect-creation/ The discussion that follows is quite interesting.

13 comments:

Clair D. said...

Well, most is not all. You can be the exception.

Don't let their opinion get you down, Sandra!

sandra seamans said...

For the most part, Clair, I'm surprised that I'm even here writing short stories :) But then, maybe short story writers have a longer shelf life than novelist!

Al Tucher said...

An alternate theory occurs to me. Perhaps an "average" writer has somewhere between ten and twenty years worth of output and can spend those years earlier or later. Since I didn't start writing until I was looking at fifty, I have a personal interest in this possibility.

Unknown said...

This would make my books doubly bad!

sandra seamans said...

Maybe we're just late bloomers, Al. We've saved it all up and can now pounce like a 50 year old.

sandra seamans said...

Don't you just hate blanket statements that pull the rug out from under you, Bill? And I think your work is doubly good!

pattinase (abbott) said...

Penelope Lively just published a book that got rave reviews and she was born in 1933. And there are many other exceptions. And since we started late, that sort of changes things, I hope.

Al Tucher said...

I'm also reminded of some composers who produced great work late in life, including Wagner, Verdi, Shostakovich, and Eliot Carter, who just premiered a major new work that he started after turning 100. Musical creation might be a profoundly different process, of course.

Cullen Gallagher said...

I don't see anything to agree with in that article. A world of only first novels? That would be terrible! Sure, writers try to say "everything" in it, but that's not always a good thing. It takes time and experience to learn craft, and life experience to learn character and story. And if he's only judging series characters based on Tom Clancy and other writers of his kind, then I think he's judging a very narrow element of crime fiction. Reed Farrel Coleman's Moe Prager books and Ed Gorman's Sam McCain books grow richer with every new book.

Thomas Pluck said...

I don't think the age matters. There's a peak with everything.
Either you grow or you don't.

sandra seamans said...

There are many late bloomers in any form of art, Patti and Al, so saying someone has peaked at 55, even with a list of writers he believes has, is pretty out there.

You're right, Cullen, I don't think only first novels is the way to go. Many authors only get better with age. As for series, it depends on the writer and how willing they are to keep making the stories better. Reed had a piece up at Spinetingler a while back that explained how he aged Moe so he'd keep growing. Something many series don't do.

That's just it, Thomas, everyone doesn't peak at the same time, or even start writing at the same time. If you start late, you're bound to peak much later, right?

Katherine Tomlinson said...

It's a bold and provocative statement that's pretty ridiculous in this day and age.
(On the internet, no one can hear you age...)
It reminds me of those "Women can't write science fiction" mindsets that led Alice Sheldon to publish under the pseudonym James Tiptree, Jr. (I always thought the "Jr." was a nice touch.)
Working on the fringes of the movie industry as I do, I've heard this kind of nonsense for years. Readers couldn't care less how old a writer is. But it's a good hot-button topic to get a discussion goign.

sandra seamans said...

It does start a discussion, Katherine! As for the internet hiding your age, I remember people being surprised when I mentioned I was a grandmother :)