What does it mean when we say a writer is 'confident'? One of our authors is releasing a third novel--literary fiction--and during meetings we've been describing the work as his/her 'most confident novel to date.' I find the term to be a strange one. Does 'confident' imply daring, risk-taking of some kind? I've heard memoirs described as 'brave,' which typically goes hand in hand with emotional risk and vulnerability--a laying bare of personal details. But fiction is murkier.
What is confident about a book? Is it the writing itself, or the execution of a plot structure? Words, or narrative? Or, maybe confidence is a marketing buzzword, relating more to an author's brand than the book itself. It puzzles me though, because through plot or verbiage, a book should be a confident thing. Who wants to read an insecure work of fiction, or one with middling self esteem? I want to feel like I can trust myself in the hands of the writer--that he/she innately knows the way from prologue to epilogue. I know it's a strange question, particularly for a Friday, but what does confidence mean to you?
An author is confident if they wear pants they definitely shouldn't. But in slightly more seriousness, I'd agree that it's a marketing buzzword. I don't think it really means anything. If I HAD to give a real answer, I'd venture that the author has convincingly/successful pulled off some seemingly difficult piece of plotting or structure. Nahh. All marketing.
Posted by: Ben Rubinstein | May 06, 2011 at 10:31 AM
I love this post. To me, a confident piece of writing is one in which the author has made obvious decisions and stuck to her guns. One of my biggest pet peeves is writing that lacks this; authors who seem to occasionally veer off course, as if they couldn't quite decide which character they really wanted to focus on or what they wanted him or her to do. Another example is the use of the hypothetical in fiction - such as in the recent "The Fates Will Find Their Way." It just doesn't work for me! I want authors to tell me a story - an actual story, one of which has clearly decided details.
Posted by: allie | May 06, 2011 at 04:58 PM
Great question! Tough to answer, but very provoking and cool to think about. I don't think it's just a buzzword, I do think it is a real thing and can always tell when I'm reading confident writing. Here's what I'm going to throw out there. A confident book doesn't ask you to like it or want it or need it, it's not trying to be like any other book, it makes no apologies or excuses, it trusts itself to get the job done. Confident books are more than a little bit sexy :)
Posted by: Books are my Boyfriends | May 10, 2011 at 12:54 AM
I hate to fall back on that old, hoaried cliche about pornography "I know it when I see it," but that's all I can say about author confidence. I know when it's there, sometimes it's bold, risktaking, bombastic prose, sometimes it's spare, subtle, quiet prose, but I always know when I'm reading confident work and I always know by page 2, usually by paragraph 1.
Posted by: Books are my Boyfriends | May 12, 2011 at 04:16 PM
when I'm reading confident work and I always know by page 2, usually by paragraph 1.
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