Musing: Robin Hobb - A lesson in how to alienate your readers

[wilderthan]

At the moment, I'm rereading Robin Hobb's fantasy trilogy, Farseers. Those books have been treasured possessions of mine for a long time, and when I met her and got a book signed by her, I was ecstatic. But these days, she really annoys me. You can read her opinions on fanfiction here (with commentary, unfortunately: she's replaced the rant on her site) and on blogging here. Although, if you want to read her books? I'd advise against it. I know of at least one person completely put off her writing by the offensive way she writes about both fanfic writers and those who keep blogs.

Ha. Here I am, falling to the temptation she warns of, with three regularly updated journals and several more, somewhere. But I actually get writing done (admittedly, the novels aren't edited, but that's because they weren't worth that effort). As does Neil Gaiman. Perhaps her rant says more about her own tendency to get distracted than anything about writers in general.

My point is... sometimes it's nice to not know the author. I'm quite glad that the POV in Farseers is so strongly not Hobb herself. It makes it a lot easier to separate the characters from her. Sometimes, I think that separation between the author and the characters, in the eyes of the reader, is the best thing. Maybe it's best not to follow your favourite writer's blog, for fear that something they say will make you want to throttle them and take away the enjoyment from reading their work. Perhaps it's best to keep your favourite author a stranger.

Personally, so far I'm not having much trouble reading Farseers without letting Hobb's own opinions getting in the way. But I would much prefer to remember the snapshot of a person I had before I read her rants: reading an excerpt from Fool's Fate, answering my clumsy questions about how to write, signing my brand new copy of Fool's Fate.

Comments

[wilderthan.livejournal.com]

Not entirely. I think she was making a point, albeit in an over the top way. To an extent, she's even right, for some people.

Regardless, her rant against fanfiction is sincere enough.

[nerwende.livejournal.com]

Yes, I do think she really meant that blogging can leave less time for productive writing for professional authors, and as a fan and a reader I actually agree. I love the fact that many authors (including Hobb) try to communicate with their audiences through email and newsgroups and blogs, but if/when their time is limited, I would prefer them to use that time for writing those brilliant books. :)

I just think people (in general) take her rants too seriously. Obviously she means the things she says, but those rants shouldn't be taken out of the context, which is the Mad Woman at the attic. They way I see it is that she's writing "in character" even though she's expressing her own opinions (but maybe that's just me). I do wonder whether the general response would have been different if she had used a regular blog to express her views... It's not uncommon that writers are against fanfiction, but I can't remember anyone being criticized so heavily for that opinion as she has been.

[wilderthan.livejournal.com]

I don't know, Neil Gaiman seems to manage fine. :) His blog is pretty awesome. But yeah, as a general rule she can be right. Just... generalisations are never good.

I agree with you that I don't think the rant about blogging was meant to be as offensive as some people have found it. I mean, it's obviously OTT. But I think the fanfiction one was much more serious. Regardless, it doesn't get in the way of my reading of her work -- just, I know that for some people it has. Mostly, I'm just using her as a prominent example -- I do think that sometimes, it's better for authors to be strangers, because then you carry no preconceptions with you about the persona.

[nerwende.livejournal.com]

Oh, I totally see what you mean. I lost all my respect for David Eddings after reading his opinions about Tolkien and writing fantasy (in his book the Rivan Codex). I don't think I would have continued reading his books much longer anyway (I had read through two series already, and they're really repetitive) but that made me lost all interest in him and his works.

On the other hand, it's terribly nice when one can agree with their favourite author/musician/actress/etc about things in addition to being a fan of what they do for a living. :)