Writing Style: Taylor Swift in the World of Beyoncé
April 28, 2019
This week I got feedback on my latest projects. Now let me reiterate that it was excellent, timely, professional advice. And I trust this writing professional implicitly and she challenged me to go deeper -- which I need to do in this publishing climate.
I'm writing about wealth and privilege (Wentworth Heiresses) in a time when all of that stuff is not relevant to normal people. People are into #MeToo and making deep, emotional statements about the world around them. I'm still walking my dog and dancing to Adam Ant down the sidewalk. Then, I had an epiphany yesterday when my mom sent me the new Taylor Swift video and said it reminded her of my daughter.
The world is falling apart. I don't want to go there. I don't even read the news anymore. It's so ugly and depressing and full of name-calling and I don't like that. It's bad juju for me. I like happy, colorful energy and though life has taken me through the wringer in the last few years, I'm still not ready to go "deep" in my fiction. This writing professional was adamant that I didn't need to -- but if I wanted to catch up with what's happening in publishing, then I did -- and that is 100% truth. But I think I'm the Taylor Swift of writing and I'm oblivious to what's going on in the real world, and happily so. Like Taylor in this video.
So I guess I don't want to catch up. Not because I couldn't -- I'm a good learner -- I would figure it out. But because I don't want to explore those dark places emotionally that other people seem to love in their fiction. At least not yet. Even when I read Thomas Hardy's "Jude the Obscure" he didn't take me emotionally to some of the places that today's fiction does. I don't want to be depressed or feel dark things. Which may make me a dinosaur and irrelevant in the publishing world, but I want to look at the shiny, pretty side of life. The world needs those depths plunged. I just don't think it's my job to do it.
I grew up with "Pillow Talk" and Doris Day as my influencer. My mom said I never walked anywhere as a child -- I danced. I think that is my nature and I'm going to stick with that.
While WWII was raging on, Fred Astaire was dancing.
While the world battles, I want to dance because there are enough writers out there who can plumb the depths of life's harsh truths. My current book is about five sisters with three different moms, but the same dad -- who inherit billions. I wrote it because I wanted to explore what it's like to watch a father be a good father to one set of kids and a terrible father to another. It's not rocket science -- but it interests me and for now, that has to be enough.
Incidentally, I have never been everyone's cup of tea. My humor is not for everyone and can be quite offensive to some people. Luckily, in today's market I CAN write what I want and that is a blessing! I'm also going to buy me a bubble gum cover that everyone says is out of fashion. As if.