Regardless, this writer hit me like a ton of bricks and I am now deep under his writing spell. Immediately this writer has become my favorite and I have every intention of reading everything he has or will write. This is odd to me. I’ve never had an absolute. Oh, there are many that I truly enjoy, just none that I referred to as a most favorite. Well, that was then and this is now and I’m asking myself why?
The answer (I think) lies with his writing style and diverse subject matter. His horror tales can be just about anything and are nowhere near limited to clichés. He has a wonderful eye for detail and finds horror in any setting, many where one would typically think horror would not be found. And, although I am nowhere near his caliber (but someday hope to be), I like to think I tend to lean toward the same type of writing in both style and content. And so, I now finally have a writer that I would like to model myself after.
Oh yeah, the writer…is Bentley Little. Currently I am devoting every waking free moment to devouring The Collection and have The Store sitting idly by awaiting my next grasp. While I have yet to explore his many works and therefore cannot cite any accurate reviews at the present, I can however, express how much this writer has affected me and can say that he is my favorite by far…lock…stock…& barrel.
And, since I’ve found this writer, I was compelled to explore his bio. It turns out that he is not a fan of either social networking or promoting (other than a latest work) and he doesn’t even have a website (with exception to the many fan sites, a few he endorses). Why? His explanation is that it takes too much time away from the writing and I have to say that I wholeheartedly agree.
Taking my latest piece, the novella TWITCH as an example, I understand what he means when he refers to the time-consuming promotion and social networking aspect, for I have done these exact same things. I have posted links in many places, discussed during a blog tour (which was most enjoyable I might add), and generally promoted very heavily. From what I understood about the book industry, this was how it was all done.
Well, not according to Bentley Little. He prefers to let the writing speak for itself and allow it to promote itself. This was a revelation to me that I may (but not completely) embrace. My philosophy has lately grown very similar and I am planning on following his lead. That doesn’t mean that I am completely giving up on Facebook and the like, it simply means that I am going to decrease the time I commit toward it and apply it to writing instead. Basically, I will always be around promoting, posting and maybe even chatting, but I suspect I will do considerably less in the future.
So, maybe I’m turning over a new leave. I really don’t know. However, I do understand the concept and intend to at least attempt applying. By the way, I still like the idea of having a weekly webcast as Twitchy (my evil clown persona) and have every intention of still doing this. I just can’t say exactly when. Right now, I have a few short pieces I am trying to finish to submit, a novella that is at 80% and my novel which currently holds 60k words (but is simply a rough draft).
Did I mention that I work full-time? I owe, I owe…gotta pay the bills you know! Something has to give if I want to complete all these projects and that something will be the social networking. Hopefully, this philosophy will pan out and I will become nothing but a full-time writer. In the meantime, hard work, dedication and applying this discipline just might aid in making this dream a reality. I won’t know until I try. The way I see it, what’s the worst thing that could happen? I would write more tales…
cool post. I love finding new writers. It is a passion of mine. You already know that though...lol.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Thomas! I must read some Bentley Little. I agree with him to a point on promotion by letting the book speak for itself, however, people must still know the book exists.
ReplyDeleteBlaze