Why Do Established Writers Get Away With Being Boring?

What you call rusty, others call atmospheric, and the author might call experimental. Once someone's name is the deciding factor on whether or not their material sells, they're given more leeway.

Also, you can't expect to always like things written by the same person. Eventually, it's likely that they'll venture into territory where you don't want to follow.

What's boring to you might not be boring for other folks.

I also think this stems from, "How can big authors get away with [X] when everyone is told not to do [X]?" That's because [X] advice is not always the best advice and anyone can get away with anything as long as they do it well.

Edit: Second thought: This was short story collection, right? Sometimes not every short story in the collection was deemed good enough to publish individually and included. Perhaps because the author liked it, perhaps to fill pages. It happens.

I've seen this same thing in long series. Take Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time or George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. Both series started out really strong, but then it felt to me like both authors got lost in boring minutiae. The middle of the Wheel of Time is particularly guilty of this. Don't get me wrong. I love the series overall, but it was a struggle getting through some of those books because they became very boring. If the first book had been like that, it would not have been published.

There's a particular best-selling author who is very hit or miss for me, and my opinions seem to have nothing to do with which of his books sell well.

There are authors I've dropped because their prose style seems to me to have changed in ways I don't like, but I've yet to notice any of those authors experiencing a huge career crash. Quite the opposite, in some cases.

Chacun à son goût. There are thousands of books I do like, so it doesn't matter a bit if I disagree with mainstream tastes on others.

Michael Panetta said:

The first two pages were spent on nothing but scenery...
Does anyone feel similarly?

Click to expand...

Yes, there are a lot of readers who feel similarly. But let me tell you another story (it was in a movie): so we got these thieves, and the police stops them and checks their vehicle for suspicious stuff. There is nothing in the van, just an white sheet of fabric, splattered with paint. So the police lets the thieves go, which the thieves are super-happy to do. Because what the police thought was a sheet of fabric with some paint splatter, was in fact a $50million oil painting, cut out of its frame. Point is, you see "nothing but scenery" while another reader would see awesome use of language. Sometimes a story is just that, something happens, some people do things. But sometimes a story is a work of art and some readers enjoy it because they like the way words are weaved into sentences, regardless of whether something actually "happens" in these sentences.

WillSauger said:

What's boring to you might not be boring for other folks.

I also think this stems from, "How can big authors get away with [X] when everyone is told not to do [X]?" That's because [X] advice is not always the best advice and anyone can get away with anything as long as they do it well.

Click to expand...

Well, maybe, but sometimes they don't do it well.

Sometimes even when an established author tries something a little different, it doesn't quite work out. Happens. I've never bought a music album that didn't have at least a couple songs on it I didn't like, no matter how much I liked the band.

Michael Panetta said:

I just get disappointed when a favorite author starts losing their bite. I always have the earlier works to enjoy.

Click to expand...

If it's an exceptional writer, I tend to think the problem lies with me as a reader and my expectations. Going back and trying the read later can be very rewarding.

Some writers do seem to run out of gas, sometimes for periods, sometimes for good. It seems to have happened to Hemingway, after The Old Man and the Sea. But, I agree with what WillSauger said: What's boring to you may not be boring to somebody else.

caw

It's just a matter of opinion.

Try reading one-star reviews of the books you don't like. That might make things seem better.

Perhaps we should also remember that authors are not robots - they don't always churn out one Really Really Really Good Book after another. And sometimes a book just doesn't 'take' with a reader. I've got favorite authors who have branched out into other areas, or done things differently, and no, sometimes I don't care for those books as much; some not at all. But that doesn't mean the author has gotten lazy - it just means I'm not willing to follow them down that particular road.

While liking ultra-descriptive writing is a matter of opinion, there seems to be an agreement that a story should start off with something happening. We're told time and time again that our opening scene needs to hook the reader. So yes, an established writer starting out with two pages of scenery description would, in my opinion, be getting rusty. Unless there's some important reason that the scenery needs to be described. There are always creative ways that things can be done, but if they work, they wouldn't be considered boring.

Michael Panetta said:

I sort of suspect that editors are afraid of correcting the manuscripts of the big names for fear of losing the meat ticket to a more lenient publisher lol.

Click to expand...

This is starting to sound like entitlement to me. We won't always like what our favorite writers write. Sometimes they go in a different direction than we want them to. And you know what? That's perfectly ok.

And sometimes it's not a matter of an author blocking STET across the front of the manuscript to make sure no one touches their precious, precious prose (A certain vampire-writer being the proud, self-proclaimed exception.) Sometimes it's a matter of "X is extremely popular RIGHT NOW, get that thing to print as soon as it hits your desk!"

And, if a writer was experimenting a little, a collection of short stories might have seemed a good place to try out the new material, with the idea that the reader would have plenty of other stuff if they didn't care for the experiment.
Like Buzhidao, I've never bought an album (or a short story collection) that didn't have a couple of songs/stories that I didn't care for. Whether the artist was 'rusty' or just trying something I wasn't interested in, these things happen.

If I trust and like a writer, I'm willing to read two pages of description. If it's my first time reading someone's work, I'm not so patient. Earned privilege.

rwm4768 said:

I've seen this same thing in long series. Take Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time or George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. Both series started out really strong, but then it felt to me like both authors got lost in boring minutiae. The middle of the Wheel of Time is particularly guilty of this. Don't get me wrong. I love the series overall, but it was a struggle getting through some of those books because they became very boring. If the first book had been like that, it would not have been published.

Click to expand...

I think GRRM is really boring more often than not. Some of his books have about 19 povs with 16 of them being completely pointless.

Cyia said:

(A certain vampire-writer being the proud, self-proclaimed exception.)

Click to expand...

Who?

I've run across books by debut authors that contain what I think of is flat or bad writing, and ones that simply bore me too. Sometimes it's just a taste or intended audience thing.

Established writers do have loyal readerships that are based on whatever style established their popularity, though. So even if that isn't what publishers are looking for right now, the author is still selling well, so their editors may be fine with it. Some authors who have been at it a while will modify their style to try and attract new readers, but it can be a hard line to walk between not delivering what your loyal fans want (kind of like the people who go to rock concerts and groan when the band plays more of their new stuff) and what the next generation of readers like.

Also, established writers (and their editors) are often working on contract and under time pressures.

Cereus said:

I think GRRM is really boring more often than not. Some of his books have about 19 povs with 16 of them being completely pointless.

Click to expand...

Er, respect your fellow writer? His books bore you; that's a valid criticism. The man himself is apparently quite a lovely gent, however.

Also, I am a great fan of his books, even the ones that aren't as good as some of his previous books, so it's very much subjective whether a a given book of his is boring.

jjdebenedictis said:

Er, respect your fellow writer? His books bore you; that's a valid criticism. The man himself is apparently quite a lovely gent, however.

Also, I am a great fan of his books, even the ones that aren't as good as some of his previous books, so it's very much subjective whether a a given book of his is boring.

Click to expand...

I met him very briefly once and he was quite willing to answer a question I had about one of his short stories, although I'm sure he had other things he would have rather been doing. I appreciated it immensely. (It was a question I'd been dying to know the answer to for four years at that point. I was so excited to have the chance to get an answer.)

Roxxsmom said:

(kind of like the people who go to rock concerts and groan when the band plays more of their new stuff)

Click to expand...

Boring fans.

jjdebenedictis said:

Er, respect your fellow writer? His books bore you; that's a valid criticism. The man himself is apparently quite a lovely gent, however.

Also, I am a great fan of his books, even the ones that aren't as good as some of his previous books, so it's very much subjective whether a a given book of his is boring.

Click to expand...

That wasn't a personal attack. I was talking about his writing (which I still like and recommend, whatever that's worth). I actually find him engaging on his blog and in interviews.

Cereus said:

Boring fans.

Click to expand...

Not necessarily. Sometimes they just like the older stuff better. I imagine it's hard for all artists to find that mix between old and new, to continue to evolve artistically without repudiating everything that made them popular in the first place.

There are some writers whose older stuff I like a lot better. Sometimes it's because the new stuff is just so much the same old, same old that I begin to think I've read a particular book before, but sometimes they go off in a completely new direction and start writing in a subgenre I don't even like that much (like when an author who writes EF for adults starts writing contemporary urban stories about vampires and werewolves or starts writing YA stuff that isn't to my taste). Of course, I'm just one fan, but taste is really subjective.

Roxxsmom said:

Not necessarily. Sometimes they just like the older stuff better. I imagine it's hard for all artists to find that mix between old and new, to continue to evolve artistically without repudiating everything that made them popular in the first place.

Click to expand...

I guess. Music is different. I just think if you want the old stuff, you should listen to the old stuff instead of judging an artist based on your narrow expectations.

There are some writers whose older stuff I like a lot better. Sometimes it's because the new stuff is just so much the same old, same old that I begin to think I've read a particular book before

Click to expand...

I know what you mean. That's bad writing.

but sometimes they go off in a completely new direction and start writing in a subgenre I don't even like that much (like when an author who writes EF for adults starts writing contemporary urban stories about vampires and werewolves or starts writing YA stuff that isn't to my taste).

Click to expand...

EF? And yes that shit annoys me.