On what literature is really about, and being a "serious" writer

Literary snobs annoy me. They annoy me a lot.

I tire of the idea that the only "serious" writers are the ones writing literary fiction.

I tire of the idea that I am less real as a writer or work less hard or am somehow less important because I write books for teenagers.

And I think it is absolutely absurd when people say things like "That isn't what literature is about."

Like, the only stories of worth have to examine the human condition and be about death and some middle-class white bloke wandering about doing nothing for four hundred pages (as written by some narcissistic middle-class white bloke).

About 90% of the time when I read a critically-acclaimed, award-winning novel I am just baffled. (Generally of the books-for-adults variety. I usually like the YA award winners.)

A great deal of literary fiction seems to be about literary fiction which, to me, is very odd. It's like an entire genre of in-jokes.

I dislike the idea that all the important stories must be depressing. I think that literature can and should be about a lot of things. Entertainment and comfort and whatever it is the reader wants out of it. I don't know, I think there's enough depressing in the real world without every novel of "value" (how do we ascribe this value? how does this work?) being so incredibly depressing.

I think the idea of "serious" and "non-serious" writers is stupidly linear. (Maybe I should add "unserious writer" to my bio. I'm not sure I could ever be, or be considered, a "serious" writer.) I am, however, very uncool and not really part of any literary scene and likely not a future award-winner, so perhaps I am not the best person to listen to.

To sum up:
1. I have forgotten how to write blog posts.
2. People who talk about "serious" fiction are irritating.
3. Lots of novels are important and have value and bring people joy and make them think! Stories, I love them all! Stop acting like your genre is by default superior to mine!

Life in Outer Space by Melissa Keil

The first novel published through Hardie Grant Egmont's new Ampersand Project, an imprint dedicated to debut YA novels, Life In Outer Space is just the loveliest. As a result, I am very much looking forward to what the Ampersand Project discovers next.

Reminiscent of Six Impossible Things by Fiona Wood in terms of adorable romance (and a little bit Shirley Marr's Preloved too), Life In Outer Space is just nice, you know? I don't know how to express this properly (if we could mind-meld you'd get it - how much easier everything would be if we could mind-meld), but sometimes I tire of all the edgy, and the gritty, and the ever-present overly masculine and borderline-disturbing love interest (I mean, really) and I just want to read a novel with people I can relate to in it. It's like a YA novel version of a rom-com with all these socially awkward nerdy kids in it (who are actually really cool and awesome, despite their professed geekiness).

It's funny and endearing and chock full of movie references (do you think I've used the phrase 'chock full' on this blog before?) and there's a little bit of World of Warcraft in there, too. It's not groundbreaking - just boy-meets-girl, boy-is-socially-awkward, boy-eventually-realises-he-loves-girl but it's so darn nice/adorably funny. I love Camilla myself, and I also love Melissa Keil and I'd quite like it if another Keil novel were published very soon (why must it take so long for books to be written? Again, mind-melds, they'd be handy).

Here it is on Goodreads, should you care for a blurb or a second opinion.

New Adult, you confuse me

People I know are on about New Adult now as if it is an actual genre (remember 2009 when everyone thought it was ridiculous?). Look, it has a Wikipedia page. I am not sure anyone who is a non-writer/non-publishing person is aware of New Adult's so-called existence but maybe in five years time this will not be the case. Also I am in the target market for this Brand New Unique Concept Genre (totally not already in existence under the umbrella of Fiction or Romance), so I have thoughts on the topic.

Here are the things that do not make sense to me about New Adult as a genre:
A: University-aged kids do not have copious amounts of time on their hands in which to read, irrespective of whether they're studying or just in full-time work for the first time.

B: 'New Adults' also don't have copious amounts of money to spend on books. Parents buy their teenagers books. I am not sure they buy their adult children books as much.

C: I mean, let's be honest with ourselves, middle-aged women are just going to hijack it anyway, Twilight-style. Is it just paranormal romance minus the paranormal? You can tell me the truth.

D: Isn't it just fiction, people?

E: I don't really get the need to subdivide every novel into a variety of smaller and smaller pigeon-holes until you end up with speculative dystopic urban fantasy romantic suspense chick-lit novellas. But then again I am not very marketing-minded so maybe this is necessary.

F: Seriously. This genre already exists. Fiction. That is what it is called.

G: People are describing it as 'sexed-up' YA ('sexed-up' is such an unpleasant phrase, I mean, really) which makes me wonder if it's actually just romance. It seems to be very tailored towards female readers.

H: Every New Adult book I have read about seems to be very reminiscent of Fifty Shades of Grey. And you know how I feel about that.

Destroying the Joint: Why Women Have to Change the World

A fabulously provocative collection by women ready to destroy the joint.

Early in September 2012, commentator Alan Jones, responding to a comment by Prime Minister Julia Gillard, said: ‘She [Gillard] said that we know societies only reach their full potential if women are politically participating. Women are destroying the joint – Christine Nixon in Melbourne, Clover Moore here. Honestly.’

The twitterverse exploded with passionate, disbelieving and hilarious responses, and now here in Destroying the Joint women reply to this comment and the broader issues of sexism and misogyny in our culture. With Jane Caro editing, this entertaining and thought-provoking collection consists of essays, analysis, memoir, fiction and more, from:

Penny Wong, Christine Milne, Tara Moss, Corinne Grant, Clementine Ford, Carmen Lawrence, Wendy Harmer, Catherine Deveny, Steph Bowe, Emily Maguire, Leslie Cannold, Stella Young, Monica Dux, Catherine Fox, Nina Funnell, Susan Johnson, Jennifer Mills, Michelle Law, Melissa Lucashenko, Krissy Kneen, Paula McDonald, Abby Cathcart, Dannielle Miller, Jenna Price, Lily Edelstein, Jill Tomlinson, Yvette Vignando
 
I have an essay in the collection (titled Joint Destroyer, Born and Raised - not my title because I am terrible at titles, but I quite like it) and I've been feeling rather humbled and very lucky to have my piece published alongside the writings of so many amazing, intelligent women.

I'll be at the Brisbane launch at Avid Reader on May 8th - if you go along, do say hi!

You can read a few extracts online: Corinne Grant at The Hoopla, Carmen Lawrence at The Conversation, Leslie Cannold at Crikey, and Catherine Fox at Women's Agenda. And here it is on UQP's website.

Do you need Life Experience in order to write?

I think about Life Experience (with capitals, yes) more than I probably should. This is the trouble with being a writer. You're always thinking about stuff, rather than actually doing anything.

It worries me that young people (young writers specifically because young writers are my people) are consistently being told that their opinions are invalid, or, in the case of young writers, that they cannot write, and that their stories are not of value because of their youth. That they need Life Experience. And this assumes a great deal about young people, and doesn't take into consideration the extraordinary diversity of human experiences. I think as a rule people assume to much about other people's lives. Who is to say young people don't have valuable stories to tell and opinions to share?

I think young people having respect for adults and knowing that they still have a lot to learn is incredibly, incredibly important, but I don't think learning from your elders and being able to share your own opinions are mutually exclusive. I think we build a more respectful society on the whole if respect goes both ways. I think we should be encouraging young people to think critically, and to express themselves creatively.

I'm not entirely sure why this discouragement is so prevalent - I think people have this concept that if teenagers aren't constantly reminded that they are young and stupid, we'll all grow up arrogant and self-obsessed. Humans are arrogant and self-obsessed as a species, and all we can do is our best on an individual level. I think every generation of teenagers gets a reputation as the worst generation yet, and we don't need to all get so panicked about it. Putting teenagers down all the time only really makes them feel misunderstood. There is no point to discouraging creativity and imagination.

You are alive, as you read this. (I assume. Good on you, if you're a ghost who's managing to operate a computer.) You are experiencing things. Life does not automatically start randomly at the age of 18, or 30, or 65. People who are older and have had fascinating and varied experiences are not by default brilliant writers (though they would certainly have a lot of material if they chose to take it up). People can be young and have had fascinating and varied experiences already. Even if you haven't had fascinating and varied experiences, you can still write. You still have imagination. You still have a capacity for empathy. You can still learn about the world.

If you're going to write for young adults, being a young adult is an advantage. You're experiencing the things you want to write about right now. Isn't that brilliant? You know how teenagers speak and feel and think, and what concerns them. You don't have to creepily lurk outside schools and eavesdrop on conversations (I sincerely hope no actual adult YA writers do this).

If you want to write for adults, or you want to write non-fiction, why not try that? One of the many wonderful things about writing, particularly of the creative and fictional variety, is that it relies on you empathising with other people. You don't have to be old to do that. Probably children are better at empathy than anyone.

I think you can be young and write and share your opinions and be open to growth and learning. Know that your opinions may change, and that you will mature as a writer and a human. But there is no arbitrary shift between teenager and adult, I don't think. There is no point at which the Life Experience bar is entirely full and a little bell goes off and announces 'you are ready to write!' If you want to write, start now. If you deliberately set out in life in search of Experience so you can write, I don't think you will find it. The more you live, the more material you will have to write about, the more your ideas and concepts of the world, other people and yourself will form. But you don't have to wait to start writing. You will always be learning and growing and changing throughout your life (I should hope. Ask me again in fifty years). You can write and live your life at the same time, honest.

When We Wake by Karen Healey

Recently I learnt, via Snopes (Snopes is really ruining urban legends. Shame on you, Snopes. Urban legends are fun), that Walt Disney was never actually cryogenically frozen, just plain old cremated. Which is unfortunate, because people being cryogenically frozen seems awesome (at least on TV, like that X-files episode where the frozen scientist was controlling his unfrozen brother in order to avenge his death) and also because when I was twelve I told everyone that Walt Disney was cryogenically frozen as if it were an absolute fact. I had no idea I was spreading an urban myth.

I bring this up because When We Wake features a protagonist who, about a century after her death, is reanimated. I started reading When We Wake expecting a fast-paced sci-fi with lots of adventure! and baddies! and futuristic weapons! Which was well and truly delivered. I think what's especially great in this novel is not the fact that it's an intense, brilliantly-plotted science fiction novel (which it is), but how incredibly authentic and thought-provoking it is. The Australia of the future described is both disconcerting and terrifying because it is very, very believable. (There are real live people who would be in favour of the fictitious 'no immigrant' policy in the novel's future Australia, which is what makes it scary.)

Tegan is an awesome protagonist, who is very, very committed to doing the right thing. (She also does free running at one point. They should turn this into a movie, or at the very least, a series. It'd be very cool. By 'they' I mean people with the money to make films. The free running bit would be great.) If you are incredibly irritated by insipid female protagonists, this novel will be refreshing. Tegan, however, can be a bit soap-boxy (that's totally an adjective, just go with it) - I think the tendency towards preachiness will turn some readers off.

Lots of excellent Beatles references. Always a good thing. I found it reminiscent of Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series. A little heavy on the romance for my liking (Sometimes it feels forced with dense, plot-driven novels, like the author think it is a vital aspect of every YA novel. 'You are on the run from shifty government authorities! How do you have time for romance?!') I loved the amount of diversity in the supporting characters, in their religions and cultures and orientations, all of whom are realistic and naturally written. Definitely worth a look if you like YA sci-fi.

When We Wake on Goodreads
When We Wake on the publisher's website

Things I would do differently if I had my teenage years again

I like to think I've spent my teenage years reasonably well. I'll be twenty in ten months, which is just unfathomably old, so lucky I've got ten months to prepare myself for it (I also need a new name for this blog. This one, while based on a cool song, will no longer be age-appropriate).

I did an interview recently where I was asked if I regretted publishing my novel so young, which I hadn't really thought about before (which is surprising, because I think about everything, and with great intensity). I don't regret it - I love being a writer, I've had many brilliant experiences and learnt a lot and met wonderful people, and I don't think I was any more unready for publishing a novel at fifteen than I would be now. I'm not especially old yet, but I can imagine a 20-something novice writer Steph would find publication overwhelming, too. Almost all debut novelists would. I'm not big on regretting things because I haven't done especially many things worth regretting yet, but I am plagued by thoughts of 'how might things have worked out differently if I'd taken this opportunity/made a different decision?' I generally assume that there's not a Sliding-Doors reality going somewhere and I'm a millionaire there, because I think my current reality is pretty awesome already (and being a millionaire would stress me out).

If I had my time again, I would do it all the same, to quote Big Audio Dynamite. With some slight alterations. So, in the spirit of narcissistic blog posts everywhere, here are some things I would do differently if I had my teenage years again:

1. I would never behave like a ridiculous caricature of an obnoxious teenager (occasions which I like to think were pretty rare, but you'd probably have to ask my mum if you wanted the truth). If I started over I like to think I'd have more self-awareness.
2. I would not delude myself from the ages of thirteen to sixteen that external success directly relates to being a fulfilled and self-actualized human being.
3. I would not fixate quite so heavily on being smart, and proving that I was smart.
4. I would just let myself be a weirdo introvert. Everyone acts as if we are all supposed to be extroverted and outgoing as if that is the ideal human state, but really we do need some people to be quiet and reflective and listen. Introspection is not a bad thing, and I didn't need to feel bad for being so much in my own head, since being so much in my own head is what gives me the ability to write.
5. I would not spend so much time on the internet, oh my goodness. I have been so enamored with the internet for so long and in the last two years it's occurred to me that maybe the physical world is pretty awesome too, and I've been ignoring it a bit too much. I don't know, technology is a drug.
6. I would dress better. I picked some really terrible outfits for several years there. I continue to do so. If I'd been born any other species this wouldn't be a problem, and neither would my inability to work a keyboard properly. Unless I was a monkey that scientists were training to type and choose its own outfits. In which case I would be a very disappointing monkey.
7. I would not miss quite as many opportunities out of fear or anxiety or overwhelm. The whole 'you regret the things you didn't do, not the things you did do' does not seem entirely true to me - maybe when I am on my deathbed I'll stop regretting dumb things I said and problems I dealt with badly. But I do regret things I avoided doing. As much as regret is a useless emotion.
8. I would not have given up certain things. I could've been a prodigious musician by now, gosh! I would learn, learn, learn everything. I would read more non-fiction, perhaps, and take more classes, and learn to dance.
9. I would care less what people thought of me (by 'me' I mean 'me plus all of the words I write which I regard as an extension of me against my better judgement'). This includes reading reviews.
10. If I got to go back to being thirteen, having lived through my teenage years, knowing that I managed to avoid becoming an off-the-rails teen, am doing quite well with the writing-business, and that finishing high school was ultimately not all that difficult, I can tell you absolutely and definitively: I would stress less. But there being no unknown to fear would probably take the magic out of everything. Having never travelled back in time, I cannot tell you this for sure.