Books you wish you had written

[serria]

Here's a little ice-breaker: what existing book do you wish you had written? Whether it's because the story really resonated with you or because the book was similar to your own style in terms or writing or themes, is there any book out there that you wish had your name on it?

For me, my favorite genre is fantasy, and I absolutely love elves, dragons, and other fantasy elements that have been done a million times now. In that regard, it's tough not to be a little jealous of Tolkien. His stuff isn't even my favorite in the fantasy genre, but I'd love to be on record for "revolutionizing" a genre, or establishing elements that would later become tropes.

Comments

[lunabee34]

This is a great opening topic. :)

I wish I had written Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon. It's a Victorian novel whose basic plot (so many subthreads LOL) is that a woman's husband essentially abandons her to go to Australia to try and make his fortune. She assumes another identity in order to marry someone wealthy; her husband returns to England, and she's got to keep him from realizing who she is. Spoiler alert: she is not so successful. LOL

It's melodramatic without being ridiculous which I admire highly. As a reader, I love melodrama. I love highly emotional stories and angst and sudden plot twists. I think the Victorians really did melodrama best because they're so endearingly earnest about all the characters faking their deaths or secretly squirreling away illegitimate children or whatever the convoluted plot is. And the language is beautiful; Braddon can turn a phrase so beautifully.

There's some disconnect for me where I just don't seem to be able to write the kinds of stories I most want to read, the ones that really scratch my id. IDK if that's a problem other people have.

[serria]

I just realized that "what book do you wish you'd written" is going to become a "recommend me a book!" topic, because now I really want to read Lady Audley's Secret. :D I love reading a beautiful narrative, though it's hard for me to write - I always worry that I fall into purple prose when I try.

I try to write things I get excited about, but I always wonder if I'd actually enjoy reading the things I write. If I forget about some writing file I worked on for a couple of months (years, etc) and try to read it with a more fresh mind, it's usually pretty hit or miss. But I've surprisingly liked some of my old stuff more than I did when I was writing it, so there's that.

[lunabee34]

I'm always looking for a Braddon convert! :)

I feel like the Victorians can get away with being a bit purple in their prose because that's what we expect from them in large part. But the writing is often so very, very lush in a way that we don't allow ourselves to write now. I know my writing tends to be much more spare.

I do write things I'd enjoy reading, but not the things I'd *most* enjoy reading if that makes sense. I have a really really hard time pulling off the dramatical angsty that characterizes my favorite kind of story.

[serria]

I guess it's one of those stylistic things that changes with the fashion. Writing classes these days, in my scant experience, seem to encourage writers to be bare and not too descriptive, I suppose to let the story speak for itself. There is certainly a line for what kind of flowery narrative works by being genuine instead of cheesy and overdone, but I like pretty words and metaphors (things that are pretty much discouraged now).

Haha, I can understand that - I like reading really clever things with snappy dialogue and insane plot twists, but coming up with that myself is much more difficult. I also find that when I'm writing, I'm more afraid to take risks with the story, and can end up writing pretty cautiously, if that makes sense... which makes it not as dramatic as I'd personally like to read. It's hard to really say for certain, though.

[lunabee34]

That totally makes sense. I end up being a pretty cautious writer myself. :)

I think you're right about the current trend in prose writing. It's all Hemingway instead of Dickens. I teach writing, so I do think there's something to be said for clarity and simplicity. A lot of my students overwrite in a convoluted, confusing, and ridiculous way LOL that doesn't work. However, I love a beautiful turn of phrase or a delicious description and I feel like that's not encouraged now.

[sarillia]

I miss the way people were allowed to write in the Victorian period too. I think these days people worry too much about excessive description when really the focus should be on whether or not the description is actually good, no matter how much of it is there.

[lunabee34]

We are in complete agreement. There's a reason I specialized in Victorian lit. LOL George Eliot is a master. So is Dickens. Or Wilde. And their writing can hardly be called spare.

[sarillia]

I have yet to read one of Eliot's books. Do you have any in particular that you would recommend?

[lunabee34]

Yes!

Middlemarch is the classic Eliot and it is so so good. I snuggle it to my heart and name it George. LOL It's also pretty epic.

Adam Bede is also amazing. It's shorter than Middlemarch, and also waaaaaaaaaaay angsty. it's pretty similar to Tess of the D'Urbervilles in theme with lots of class issues.