Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 105667 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 528(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105667 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 528(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
“Impostor syndrome is a tough thing to navigate,” I say with a sigh. “Books on writing tell authors to let our imaginations run free, but those same books tell us to write what we know. Well . . . what if we don’t know? But we want to write it? And then we get it wrong?”
“But there’s really no wrong, is there? Every human responds differently to situations,” Nora says, her voice still calm, a steady anchor in my rising tide of self-doubt.
“I feel like I certainly got it wrong,” I say. “Look at the last year of my life.”
Nora raises a surprised brow. “Well. Since you brought up the elephant in the room,” Nora says, “I’d like to be able to address this if that’s okay with you.”
“Go for it. I’d love to hear what you have to say.”
“We write fiction,” Nora says. “For entertainment. I don’t understand how and when the fun got flipped on its head. You wrote a book, and that should be praised. Hell, you’ve written dozens of books. Fun, entertaining, sometimes emotional books. Why has the backlash gotten so severe for authors when a reader doesn’t agree with them, or hates their book, or their adaptation? It’s a book. It’s a movie. It’s not brain surgery. We aren’t saving lives.”
“Some might argue against that,” I say. “I mean, I get what you’re saying, and I agree with the first part of what you said. That it doesn’t feel as fun now that we’re getting reviews in more forms than just ratings on Goodreads and Amazon. Now people make videos and dedicate entire social media accounts to reviews, so we see it more. Readers are more involved and have more impact, but that’s also a positive thing. One good review that goes viral can change an entire author’s life in a lot of positive ways. But I think you’re wrong about books just being for entertainment. I personally think books and movies can be very powerful tools. They can change minds, behaviors, thought processes. And yes, they can save lives. I do believe reading can save lives.”
“Interesting,” Nora says. “Do you think books can ruin lives?”
What a great question. I’m not sure I’m prepared to answer it, but Nora gives me space to think about my response. “There are absolutely people who think books can ruin lives. That’s why books get banned. Do I agree with them? Not with banning books. But I do worry that some readers, especially the younger ones who are reading books meant for adults, don’t quite know where to draw the line between fiction and reality. We’ve seen how the behaviors of a character we intentionally wrote to be evil can occasionally be excused by a reader. Does that mean the reader would excuse those behaviors in real life? I hope not.”
Nora slaps her hand on the table in agreement. “Yes! I swear, the number of people pleading for me to write a sequel to redeem that awful character from my first book makes me so sad for humanity,” Nora says. “Don’t get me started on the complexities of humans and their morals. It fascinates me how one person’s experience and interpretation when reading varies so much from another person’s experience who is reading those same words. I’ll get emails from readers telling me a book was way too vulgar, and in the same day get an email from a reader complaining that the same book wasn’t edgy enough. It’s all so subjective. And confusing to navigate, especially when you’re reading these opinions that come through to you all day. We’re up, we’re down, we’re back up, we’re down again. And sometimes, the same people who say books shouldn’t be banned are the same people making a living off of saying certain books should never have been written. And then they go on to review in detail all the reasons why the book shouldn’t have been written and why the author shouldn’t be an author, but then their next post is a rant about the banning of books again. Make it make sense! Which is it? Ban the books or just beat the author down until they can’t write anymore? And then some of them have the audacity to tag us in their rants as if we want to read about why we should quit our careers!”
Nora takes a deep breath after that tirade.
I don’t know what’s got her riled up, but I have a feeling not all the questions have been as safe as the ones she’s read out loud.
“Thanks for letting me get that out,” she says with a laugh.
“You’re welcome. Maybe we should go back to another reader question before we lose all our readers,” I tease.
Nora looks into the camera. “You know that wasn’t directed at any of you guys,” she says. “We love and appreciate our readers. We just don’t necessarily want to be tagged in the hate. Now, back to the question at hand. I forgot the question at hand,” she says.