Daughter is a little like Lucy Coats. She doesn’t trust her mother.
According to Lucy’s comment on FLF the other day, her mother reads her books and praises them, which immediately disqualifies her from being taken seriously. I believe it’s the same with Adèle Geras and her daughter Sophie Hannah. They read each other’s books and Sophie offers constructive criticism, whereas Adèle tells Sophie how good her book is. As mothers do.
So why Daughter should ask my opinion on anything is beyond my comprehension. Her school is running a story writing competition, and she spent the half term writing her entry. I said it was good, but why should she believe me? (And however good it may be, has no bearing on how well she might do in the eyes of the judges.)
She wanted proper opinions, and she knows I know proper people. I counted to one hundred and plunged in with my emails, asking for people’s professional opinions. I now know how it might feel to have a whole proper real book that you want someone to read and say nice things about.
Thank you lovely readers for taking the time to read and comment.
I am completely unbiased when it comes to Sophie’s work! No, not really but I do genuinely love it. What I would do if I didn’t hasn’t therefore arisen. And she’s kind to me about mine, too, though she does often have very good ways to suggest in which things might be improved. And I always listen carefully….I think I’m just not as good an EDITOR as she is, that’s all. And a much less critical reader. I like most things except the things that I really don’t like, if you see what I mean!
Yes, I either like it or I don’t.
Yes, thank you everyone for reading it! The praise and critism were both taken well!
It’s a curious thing. I realised a while ago that I didn’t care two hoots what any given person thought about my writing, so long as there were some people who did like it.
At one time I wanted nothing more than for my girlfiend-later-wife to like my writing. Which she does, I think, but I know she doesn’t love it. And to be fair she’s not the target audience, and doesn’t read anything else like that. But I soon got over my insecurities at her ‘not loving’ my work. Why? Because there are books that are my favourites (Cloud Atlas, His Dark Materials, books by Paul Auster) that I think are undeniably genius… which my wife has given up on. Didn’t like ‘em, never finished ‘em. So she has bad taste? Not at all – she’s more widely read than I am, and most of the time we agree. I’ll read any book she recommends.
But imagine: suppose I was David Mitchell. I’d just written Cloud Atlas. Then my wife tells me she doesn’t like it. Am I right to worry/panic/burst into tears? No. Cloud Atlas, HDM etc, are brilliant books. And they will be whether I, or anyone else, thinks so or not. So: never set too much store by one individual’s reaction.
I do trust my mother–implicitly–about everything else though. Just not for an unbiased opinion on the YA fantasy writing front. You see, I know she absolutely hates fantasy, having tried to wean her onto it for years. I can’t believe she has had some miraculous conversion just because it’s me writing it…
It’s funny how we end up loving what our parents can’t stand. I ‘hated’ the colour blue for most of my life, because my mother did, until I realised I don’t, at all. Now I’m very blue in everything.