Vandermeer on Writing

Author, blogger, raconteur and international playboy buccaneer Jeff Vandermeer has blogged the introduction to what I assume will be his forthcoming bestseller on the art of turning the mere written word into good, publishable, hard-cash earning prose: The Evil Monkey Guide to Creative Writing.

The Vandermeer. Would you buy a used galleon from this man? I wonder though... in amongst the pearls of wisdom on the craft of writing, will The Vandermeer also reveal the true secret of his success? For as well as being a superbly skilled writer, and one blessed with a truly warped and endlessly fascinating imagination to boot, Mr V-- is also a world-class self-publicist. And in an entirely good way, too.

Some folks, who shall remain nameless, seem to think that "Hey, look at me! No, me! Over here! I'm great, you must read my stuff, I demand that you do!" is the way to go. They inevitably fail. Jeff's approach is more along the lines of: "Well, here's what I write, I hope you like it. Oh, and here's a whole bunch of really entertaining and interesting stuff to go along with it. Come along for the ride. But hey, only if you want to. You do? Great! Come on in..."

I'm paraphrasing, yes, but you see the difference?

It's something that any writer who's truly interested in developing more than just a minor presence on the bookshelf (it's amazing how many debut authors seem to think that as soon as they've got that first title in the bookstores that's it, they've made it; it's amazing how many of them are wrong) would be well-advised to observer closely and learn from.

It's really not just about the writing these days, you know. Whether you like it or not, you have to have the marketing (and by that I don't just mean a bit of advertising, a few proofs / ARCs and a couple of press releases; that is such a twentieth-century attitude) to back it up. And who better to spend their valuable, scare time being genuinely enthusiastic and endlessly eager to talk about the good stuff that you do than... you?

But more on that later. In the meantime, go read that intro. Then go read some Jeff Vandermeer. You know you want to.

[Heads-up via the always informative FP Blog]