Aspirations…or lack there of

An author friend and I got into a debate over the “point” of our manuscripts. She writes to fight social injustice, to change perception, to teach a lesson. My goal is a little less lofty: to tell a good story.

She was surprised that I hadn’t set my sights a little higher and felt I was selling myself short.

Maybe I am.

Or not. I think providing entertainment and escape is wonderful and worthy of my effort. Honestly, I spent so much time in high school and college searching for an author’s meaning and underlying message that I don’t want to do it with my own writing.

I don’t think that makes me shallow, I just have a different end game.

Do your stories have a point?

28 Comments

E.J. Wesley

December 15, 2011 at 2:35 pm Reply

Never a point when I start, Becky. It’s always about letting characters live out an idea for me when I initially tackle a story. Sometimes in the ‘after’ I’ll pick up on something (a theme) and try to massage it a little.

Personally, I think I’d get a little (i.e. a lot) preachy if I set out with a mindset of, “I’m going change lives with this story!”

That being said, there’s probably a place for both kinds of storytelling.

Becky Wallace

December 15, 2011 at 2:59 pm Reply

Hi EJ! *waves* I need to go drop by your blog. It’s been too long. I hope Texas is treating you well!

Cynthia

December 15, 2011 at 3:11 pm Reply

I don’t think I have a message, although if one is found buried inside, then in my eyes that’s great. I love digging into stories to find the message. I bet your stories do have a message, they are just less obvious that’s all.

William Kendall

December 15, 2011 at 3:21 pm Reply

I’m with Cynthia and EJ… there might be the odd message buried in the text, so be it, but I’m there to entertain and thrill the reader. I’m not a preacher (holy water and I don’t agree with each other for some reason), and I’d come across wrong trying to impart a moral lesson.

prerna pickett

December 15, 2011 at 3:27 pm Reply

sometimes you just want to relax and read a good story. There’s nothing wrong with writing a story you love and is fun. I tend to enjoy those more.

Holly L'Oiseau

December 15, 2011 at 3:53 pm Reply

I agree with you. Let teens find their own way. No book will do that for them. My job is to entertain…and if they get ‘something’ out of it…bonus points!

Carrie Butler

December 15, 2011 at 9:02 pm Reply

Like you, I’m all about the story. If people want to interpret the piece and find their own meaning, that’s fine–I just won’t be the one to cram it down their throats. 🙂

Charlotte Sannazzaro

December 15, 2011 at 11:10 pm Reply

I think my main goals are to provide a bit of escapism, to move people’s emotions and, ultimately, to make them smile. Hopefully I can make their world a little brighter, if only temporarily. I think that’s just as important as more “serious” goals.

I do find that messages, themes or lessons creep into my books – they sort of have to, because the MC has to learn something, right? But it is sort of accidental.

Carol Riggs

December 15, 2011 at 11:31 pm Reply

Nah, you’re not shallow! People read for differing reasons, the same as people write for differing reasons. To be read for escapism, learning something, being entertained, spreading joy, creating awareness–all these things can be byproducts of our work, but I don’t see every book as HAVING to have all these things. That’s impossible as well as not necessary. 🙂

Laura C.

December 16, 2011 at 5:49 am Reply

To each his own. My bookshelves are filled with Sci-Fi, Horror, and Fantasy. Those are what I read growing up, too. I just love a good story, I don’t need to be ‘taught’ anything, thank you. (As a matter of fact, I can’t stand ‘message’ books unless they’re satirical.)