"You really can write! Wow..."

By afinemess · Feb 17, 2010 · ·
  1. I know people mean well when they say "I didn't expect your novel to be like this," in regards to the length, but I still find it slightly offensive. Apparently, for the almost year I spent writing it, my family and friends thought I was writing a short story. When they learn it is 68,000 words long, thier jaws drop (and then I get all defensive saying a REAL novel is more along the lines of 80k, but romances can be shorter. They then look at me like I'm nuts...) Do they really think I'm going to spend all this time working on some sort of essay? My mother in law told me she was writing a novel too, saying hers was so great she could win competitions if she entered it, and insinuating that it was far superior to mine, even though she'd never read it nor been given the plot. Turns out, her 'novel' is about three pages long...literally.
    Also, since I'm griping today, do people really feel the need to read my story and say "Wow, I didn't expect it to be so good!" I mean really folks, that is the most back handed compliment ever. So you thought I was going to suck? Thanks. On the plus side, i should be happy that it's so enjoyable for people to read. They all want it to be longer, saying it was like being in the small town with the characters and they want it to keep going. Now, I've thought about writing a sequel, but that's not my gig. I told this set of characters story, and it's closed. I am considering doing something that would be set like 20 years or so in the future and it could follow the children who would then be grown. But I already had a couple of other sets of plans for my next project, so I may distance myself from this story and move on for a while. The biggest comparisions my novel is getting would be to movies like "Steel Magnolias" and "Sweet home Alabama", along with a Nicholas Sparks kind of vibe. Now looking on it, I see where they are coming from. It's a totally different plot, but it has that kind of feel. Maybe I should put that in my query. haha "You want to make some money ala Sparks and Steel Magnolias? Pick up my novel!" Just kidding. Anyway, I have made it a point in life lately not to complain and just see the bright side of things, but I was having a moment today, and I thought I'd ventblog a little. I'm sure there are others out there that recieve these same comments and find them just as annoying. ;)

Comments

  1. Cosmos
    I don't follow some of what you've said, so I'll stick with what I had comments on: the backhanded comments. Yes, I understand how frustrating that is. I've had people say to me "I had no idea you were this good!". What automatically pops into mind is "What, you thought I *this* bad?". I don't even know if people realize how bad that line actually sounds. Some people probably say it out of ignorance of how insulting it really is, but I've no doubt others say it thinking it's a clever way to be snide. I generally think that the latter is a lot rarer, though.

    And you might want to keep in mind that it might be a way of their saying that they obviously had a very limited understanding of your writing skills and therefore assumed the writing was actually quite ordinary (which when people don't know something, is generally what they assume...a happy medium, if you will). So when someone saying it out of ignorance says it to you, you might be better off saying "Thanks, I know I keep a lot of it to myself, so people don't get to see how much I've improved." It sounds modest, acknowledges your own skill, and allows them to nod and smile.

    Or you can just nod and smile, which probably is easier. xD
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