Is a modern writer obliged to have charisma?
Tue, 2001-05-22 22:37
#1
Is a modern writer obliged to have charisma?
Although I couldn't make it to The Asylum, I must admit that the thought of standing up in front of people and reading my work, stimulates a type of read or flight reflex in me. I have read publicly once, when I won a poetry competition aged thirteen. It was hell. It would seem that writers now have to perform increasingly more, to look pleasing on their dust jackets, bow to the crowds and wow with their witty charm. OK, so I'm not ugly but I do resent the circus. Is it absolutely necessary to play the PR game and enter hype hell? What happens to wonderfully talented writers who are too introverted to play these games?
Just a thought.
Hermoine Ford
Stop being so introverted. You can if you really try..
Guess who
stormy petrel
1) Define ugly.
2) Second thoughts ... don't.
3) Dunno why they do it. Some authors voices are so bad it puts me off the book. I can understand radio interviews and a slot on Parki but does reading aloud in a bookshop at lunchtime really help sales?
4) It would take a quantity of Ouzo the size of The Wash to convince me to go any kind of stage. Now there's an idea.
*waits for some smartie to rejoin with "actually, reading aloud in smalltown bookshops produces precisely 15,326.40 additional sales per annum and gives ladies with blue rinses something to do when the post office is closed" *
stormy petrel
please add the word 'on' to the above post appropriately. Thankyou.
Remainder-Bin-Laden
Dear T. Rots My Leper, (The well-known anagram)
Reading aloud in smalltown bookshops will never have as much impact as a wad of Semtext.
Have a Jolly Jihad!
binboy@bangbangholdall
wolfgirl
Well Stormy. Ugly to me is either a Medusa (snakes for hair, writhing while you are writing, hissing etc) or a face that makes even blind men shriek. As yet, I have turned no men to stone or encountered such a reaction. Therefore, I can claim a true state of non-ugliness.
If you are ever tired, do you experience storm drain?
Apologies.
repel_my_trots
Dear Bin,
Nothing has as much impact as my own wad!
Now apologise to Wolfie for hijacking the thread.
I'm off to Tooting to see what I have in common.
******
Dear Wolfgirl,
My drains are currently full and I'm never tired.
- Apart from in the morning.
How are the hairs on the palms these days?
~spies a fullish moon so 'runs' for it~
Monty
All writers are obliged to have charisma. Even the ugly ones. Look at Will Self if you have to. Without charisma the writer will not do well on the great publicity wheel. Sad but true and a good photo on the book jacket helps.
andrew pack
Surely one of our greatest poets, Philip Larkin was one of the least charismatic people around - looked like Norris out of Corrie, was a cardy-wearing librarian and hated human beings.
Am also fairly sure that JD Salinger has never given an interview.
And as I recall, JK Rowling, although amazingly charismatic didn't even disclose she was a woman until book 3.
I've never bought a book based on a picture of the writer, with the possible exception of Nigella Lawson.
My guess is - if you are very charismatic, it will help and the publisher will use that to sell more books, but if you're not, then it doesn't wholly wreck your chances.
Taj Hayer
It can help even more if you're enigmatic like Pynchon or Salinger (even with Larkin there's that mysterious jazz-twinged edge). Shows that you don't have to be an outgoing, publicity-hungry young thing. Bit of a problem if you're just plain boring; maybe (oh horror of horrors!) people will have to judge you on what you actually write. I'd like to thing that a writer with enough skill can surmount all obstacles, but I'm not sure.
richardw
depends how you define modern
back in "the day", people like eliot and pound didnt really make many appearances, apart from to give the odd lecture. i think this was because eliot at least had no personality, even before catholicism got him.
also, burroughs had no intrinsic personality of his own, any interest he got was because of the plain barminess of his writing.
nowadays i would say writers are as boring a bunch as they have always been, but with the difference that heroin and eating canapes does not have the same additive of mystery to a writers canon.
IFB
also i have experienced the opposite effect of the intention of hype ... great resistance to a writer who is over hyped or a book (capt. corelli for an example) ... i have bought books at readings as a result of being charmed by an author ... (once even a hardback of barbara trapido tho was already a fan)
i fear writer is seen as "product" by the marketing powers but i do feel word of mouth is the most powerful tool ... (corelli again allegedly) ... but it's a great insatiable media machine that requires feeding ... charisma helps make for a tasty snack ...
W H Audenary
My Doctor told me that I'm charismatic.
Or was it Asthmatic?
It was something to do with attics, anyway.
Whatever it is, my books sell by the truckload, dearies.
I hope this is helpful.
IFB
systematic?
robert
lunattic
W H Audenary
Robert,
Are you Frosty in disguise?
I think 'idiomatic' is the word you're grasping for, dear boy.
stormy
Aquatic?
kurious_oranj
beaurocratic?
andrew pack
Word of mouth - the Captain Corelli effect. Haven't read it, so hugely prejudicial sweeping generalisation. These books that take off like that tend to be read by people who only read one book a year. Much like music by Sade or Dido.
I suspect that it has nice scenery and is tragic love tale but is essentially coffee-table fluff.
Despite what the book world would have people believe, I think the majority of people read very infrequently.