Why there are no great writers anymore
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- Опубликовано: 6 июн 2024
- Statements like “Tiktok is ruining literature” or “Tiktok has ruined reading” have been at the core of book discourse online and off for over two years now.
We’ve arrived at a point in book culture where the publishing landscape is, for better or worse, shaped by Tiktok, more specifically the book niche on Tiktok, the infamous booktok.
Whether you agree that booktok is the end of literature or the future of storytelling, the fact remains that at the moment, writers are all but subjugated to its volatile trends.
In this video, I talk about what this might mean for individual authors and for the figure of the "great writer".
timestamps:
00:00 - intro
01:59 - what is a "great writer"?
08:28 - everyone's a sellout now
23:24 - likeability is a jail
29:47 - to promote or not to promote
references and resources:
videos on the "tiktok is ruining literature" debate
Jack Edwards: • how tiktok ruined read...
The Book Leo: • is tiktok ruining read...
videos about the Cait Corrain situation
with Cindy: • How an author’s pettin...
videos about the "death of the It Girl"
Jordan Theresa: • why are there no 'it g...
Nicole Rafiee: • why do the 'it girls' ...
the one Mina Le video I mentioned: • the luxury of privacy ...
The Polyester podcast episode about the "people's princess": open.spotify.com/episode/1Eld...
Briana Soler's newsletter: brianasoler.substack.com/p/ba...
Articles
Literary It Girls: www.nylon.com/life/the-making...
Everyone's a sellout now: www.vox.com/culture/2024/2/1/...
Cait Corrain Guardian story: www.theguardian.com/books/202...
Alex Aster Guardian story: www.theguardian.com/books/202...
Books
A Very Short Introduction to Bestsellers: global.oup.com/academic/produ...
The Death of the Artist: How Creators are Struggling to Survive in the Age of Billionaires and Big Tech: us.macmillan.com/books/978125...
Thank you so much for watching xxx 
Развлечения
Being an author used to be nice for introverts (minus occasional public events) but now even they have to be extroverted or suffer trying
Facts. Needing to have online presence in order to increase your chance of getting published sounds so intimidating, and the prospect of having to maintain that presence feels very overwhelming for an introvert.
Same as positions in academia. You really need to promote yourself. If the situation was like this back in the 19th, I suppose many great thinkers wouldn't be noticed.
@@user-xj3yo1wi3f you're joking, right? like machiavelli's the prince wasn't essentially a job application
they even expected the writer themselves to do the marketing at social media. what a nigthmare for introvert who suffers from panic and social anxiety attack 😭😭😭
One example is Emily Brontë, zero previous experience and yet her only book is a masterpiece.
"Modern writers are narcissist." Because you know, no great writer from the good old days had an ego 🤣🤣🤣
They were so selfless and down to earth
pillars of temperance and piety
Dante and his self-insert bible fanfic: 🫣
@@Musenight That guy never held a grudge against anyone 🤣🤣
nabokov and his list
A good writer can make even the most mundane human experience compelling to read. This is a feature of many great classics. Having a lot of cool experiences can be useful, but not by any means necessary.
Amen!
boiled down to essentials i can not for the life of me reckon what kept me reading pride and prejudice, but i did, by gum, and i enjoyed it, both versions, with and without zombies
Which beings us to sensitivity as the greatest requirement for a writer, an artist even
Many (or maybe even most) people consider canonically great writers such as Dickens uncompelling. People are dancing around the main issue because they don't want to confront it. Is greatness objective or subjective? If it's objective, what are the objective characteristics of great literature? If it's not something objective, a virtual conversation with the aim of illuminating the concept cannot be fruitful because we're doing nothing more than spewing out our brain chemistry onto a social media platform and revealing more about ourselves than the concept of greatness while doing so. If greatness is objective, people who feel differently are seriously in error. Many people on here might be closet elitists without even knowing it, and most of them probably know nothing about aesthetics or philosophy in general. Also, who defines greatness? Who writes that list of eternally true characteristics, since that's what objective means?
I believe that greatness is subjective, varies by time and space and is defined by the individual. Powerful people obviously impose their definitions on others because they have the power to do so. Someone like Iceberg Slim cannot be great because he is and always will be an outsider to the people in power, even though his work checks many of the boxes of "literariness" (poetic language, large vocabulary, dealing with heavy issues of good and evil, character-driven stories, doing something that has never been done before, experimenting in general). He just doesn't fit the prim and proper world of Western intelligentsia, but many African Americans consider him great.
@@accordingtoalina This is why I study Ernest Hemingway, Kurt Vonnegut, John Steinbeck, Jack Kerouac, Franz Kafka, and David Lee Foster. I am a 6-year covered IV heroin/meth/cocaine/drug addict. I have lived in the ghetto, homeless in the streets, and I've lost over $100,000 in life insurance money. My dad died in front of me after having one last talk with me, a talk I will never forget. He poured his heart out to me that my addiction was killing him, and that he was worried that if I didn't change that I would become a victim of jail, institutions, and death. I headed in the opposite direction after our conversation, I turned around *skkkkrrr in a split second, my feeling of self-loathing and desperation, transformed into overbearing fear that my Dad had just been killed in the car accident I just witnessed and was immovable denial, I ran halfway up to his vehicle, only to avoid getting close enough to confirm what I already knew deep within my soul. I head home and open the door, my pastor wearing all black from head to toe, his brown hair and eyes never looked more sorry. Before he could utter a word, I knew what he was going to say, I melted into tears uncontrollably and hugged my Pastor as tight as if he were my dad. My mother unable to handle my addiction kicked me out into the cold winter streets, and I was now homeless. My best friend of 15 years took me in and showed me kindness no one else dared to at the time, for a moment I didn't feel unloved, unwanted, or alone. I felt as though I had a family, and friends again, a support system to help me get through this crisis, however, he only made the crisis even worse. He soon kicked me out, and after I saw the notary and made him the beneficiary of my will and life insurance things went downhill even worse. I was homeless again in the late winter, with nothing but a black garbage bag of my belongings and the clothes on my back. I was truly alone. I made my way to a neighboring town and planned to settle down there, I met a new "best friend" but I didn't know this "best friend" would work in tandem with my last one to kill me for my life insurance money. If I died within 1 year of my Dad's death whoever my beneficiary was would receive 1 million dollars, more money than any of us had ever seen at one time, my Dad believed in me but he also was a man who made contingency plans, knowing I was a savage heroin addict, he knew that I would either use the money and establish myself and succeed or use it as a loaded gun to shoot myself to death with, in which case my Mom would've gotten the million dollars. Even my dad couldn't predict my own mother would make me homeless and that my heart would hurt and feel betrayed enough to remove her as my beneficiary. I had people attempting to take my life, and the money I did have was stolen from me, the man who kicked me out had all my debit cards, checkbooks, social security, birth certificate, and any other information he needed to pilfer my inheritance, I never seen a dime of it.
Later on I met a woman with two beautiful and amazing children, fell in love with her even though she was addicted to meth and struggling with her Aunt's death that she was so close to. She ended up abusing me mentally, financially, physically, in any way imaginable, and yet I still gave her everything and showed her love. I later received a final life insurance check for $50,000 and I used it to keep her out of jail so the kids didn't have two parents locked away from them, I wanted the kids to know their mother would be there for them when they needed it. She later broke up with me cause I refused to look at other women and call them hot and said I was a liar if I wasn't attracted to other women, but when I'm in love everyone else is completely invisible to me, no one else matters. My world was her and her two kids and I was content until I lost it. She kicked me out in the winter streets, It was frigid, nothing but the clothes on my back, she replaced me with a man who's been cheating on her every day, using her for a place to live and yet she calls him hubby? I gave this woman more love, affection, loyalty, money, and faith than I had ever given before (and I have given a lot in the past), and it was not enough to keep her. Because we can't keep what doesn't want us, and we can't be loved and respected if we first don't do so ourselves. I thought that if I just loved as my Father loved me it would be enough to find someone, to carve out my own slice of happiness, but it was never enough, and it never would be. My journey to happiness, self-worth and discovery begins now. I am trying to become the greatest writer of the 21st century to write books that last forever, and affect people forever. Not this booktok drivel, I don't care to be rich, I've had money, I've lost it, I just want that feeling of knowing I did what was I born to do, leave an impression on people with my stories that would last forever.
Also I've been: Raped, Jailed, Hanging out with Gangsters, Allegedly a heroin dealer, a journalist, a musician, a born-again Christian, etc. I have many experiences of the human condition at it's worst and I want to share it with the world.
Being a tortured artists is actually terrible. Imagine putting all of your energy into creating something; something that you think is really great and no one ever realizing that. All that time and effort amounting to nothing. Look at Nick Drake, he made truly moving and beautiful music that no one listened to. Not unil he was long dead.
Please! I hate the idea of not being appreciated during one’s lifetime and am confused as to how that became a romanticized thing. Imagine how not only frustrating but lonely that must be…
I know artists and as a creative myself thinking of doing the same - if not appreciated during their living years (creative work) they have plans for said work to be destroyed when they die so no one can know it after either - it is tempting to me as well.
idk i feel like i have a different interpretation on the "tortured artist." yeah i guess some would be like how you described but i mostly think of Beethoven. He was extremely famous when he was alive. however because of his deafness he was deprived of his only passion in life, which was music. I feel like the "tortured" part is not necessarily material but something personal as well.
I wish I could give nick drake a hug
imagine that, sure, i'll try. i had to let go of external expectations surrounding my writing. it drained all the fun out of it
As someone who's living in the middle east, and as a woman living in Iran, we have stories to tell. There's just no one to listen.
Pain and suffering are still going on here. We're living in T.S.Elliot's Wasteland. Don't forget our existance. We're not dead yet...
I won’t forget you I promise.
Woman.
Life.
Freedom.
Damn, that's tragic
I need to make a compelling story out of your stories. Some actually go back century and in itself reveal epics way more back to the dawn of pre humanity
One of the few of your people who was heard was Marjanne Satrapi
I think it’s HILARIOUS that that person commented that writers need have “experiences” to write when a LOT of writers, past and present, are almost literal hermits. That actually cracks me up. Writers who have the privilege to travel or gain unique, awesome experiences are definitely an exception to the rule.
Also, what about writers of fantasy? You don’t actually visit those worlds and you’re not actually in those situations. You don’t actually learn how to take on a dragon or how to walk across a dessert. That’s all imagination bro.
The imagination is what overrides experience, especially in today’s day and age when you can look up pictures or videos about just about anything or anywhere.
It was definitely ~a take~ and the amount of people agreeing with it in the quote tweets was even wilder
"...especially in today’s day and age when you can look up pictures or videos about just about anything or anywhere."
The point of having experiences isn't just _research_ though. The point is also that having experiences _changes_ you, "travel broadens the mind" etc. The contention being that living a varied, eventful life fuels creativity. Basically, you have something worth "outputting" because you have a rich, varied set of "inputs". Watching a RUclips video of e.g. "running with the bulls" is categorically not _remotely_ the same in that respect as travelling abroad to meet numerous new people in a place with a different language and culture to yours then taking part in a collective (and potentially dangerous) physical pursuit.
Personally i'm not sure it's true (and the potential barriers it raises bother me) but it certainly doesn't seem a totally preposterous idea, despite your attempts to present it that way.
"Writers who have the privilege to travel or gain unique, awesome experiences are definitely an exception to the rule."
Citation needed. But even if true, _great_ writers are the exception too. Like yourself, I don't have any actual data either but i'll go ahead and make my own bold, unsubstantiated claim that a higher proportion of _great_ writers lead relatively eventful lives than not (for one thing, partly by the nature of how we define "great", a lot of them are from past eras when just the business of living was often more "eventful").
@@anonymes2884
"The contention being that living a varied, eventful life fuels creativity. Basically, you have something worth "outputting" because you have a rich, varied set of "inputs"."
Valid points. I get it from that perspective too. I'm just not going to say that people who aren't privileged enough to travel or have unique, life changing experiences don't have anything worth writing about. Imagination can sure be fueled by experiences, but is not defined by them. Children have some of the best imaginations out there and they have very limited experiences.
Experience can always help though, I'm not going to lie.
"Like yourself, I don't have any actual data either but i'll go ahead and make my own bold, unsubstantiated claim that a higher proportion of great writers lead relatively eventful lives than not (for one thing, partly by the nature of how we define "great" . . ."
I agree that defining "great" very much depends on society, culture, and individual opinion. I would say that a lot of "successful" writers do not have mind blowing, life changing experiences constantly throughout their lives. I get you wanting citations, but I'll just suggest to start looking up biographies on authors you think are "great" and see how much they experienced in their lifetime, especially BEFORE they became authors. Most of them led relatively normal childhoods and went to college and then published a book (unless it's Hemingway, because that man liked to do things XD ). I think another problem here is defining what an "eventful life" looks like to each of us. I would say that the average person has an eventful life just by living and experiencing normal day-to-day human experiences. An exceptionally eventful life would be more rare to me and I would actually also love to see the stats on how many successful authors have exceptionally eventful lives as well.
All my opinion comes down to is that if someone wants to write, they shouldn't feel that they can't because they "have a lackluster, experience deprived life" according to Twitter. Many people don't realize that they have plenty of things to write about because those things aren't considered "worthy of a book" by a vast majority of people. I think that a lot of authors from the past have proven that you can take a mundane, normal human experience and turn it into a best selling piece if you can write well.
*As a sort of disclaimer, I'm big into fantasy and fiction novels. This definitely sways my opinion quite a bit because I read books that require a lot of imagination to write and sometimes have no equal to compare to in our world, so it has to be purely imagined or drawn instead of photographed and experienced.
And thank you for your comment, it was actually helpful to think about.
@@anonymes2884 there's all kinds of experiences the most poignant of which are also the most universal
@@anonymes2884Shakespeare was not well travels nor did he lead a particularly interesting life from what we know of him
The main issue is that Tiktok 'authors' overhype their books on their accounts and cater to specific tropes demographics only for the books to be mid. Most romance novels are straight up POORLY written girl boss power fantasies with guys fawning over the MC. Same trope and little plot evey time
interesting. from what I've read of the backlash against Alex Aster it looks like people are upset with her for this as well - she was making clickbaity tiktoks about the themes in her book but when people actually read it they felt like the promised theme or trope was barely there. So you're definitely onto something here
If they're selling, they're selling. Some market themselves and their books better than others, but in the end the sales mean that people wanted it enough to spend some cash on it. None of this is really about TikTok or social media, or about "selling out" or *gasp* capitalism. It's about what people value. If poorly written and juvenile books sell, the rot goes deeper than you'd maybe want to imagine.
Are they poorly written, or do you just think that writing girl boss power fantasies with guys fawning over the MCs is bad? 🤔
Also, is there really no plot, or is there just not the specific type(s) of plot(s) that personally interest or engage YOU in particular?
A plot in which nothing happens except two characters meet each other and develop feelings/attractions for each other as they get closer and closer to each other while getting to know each other better and better and then get together[ either romantically and/or s*x*ally] in the end IS actually *_still_* a plot. But there is for some reason a very popular misconception that "plot" must equal action or other outside events happening or something which is in fact not especially accurate or true. Also, even literally no plot is not necessarily bad writing, if what you are purposefully writing is more of a deeply introspective character study or something rather than literally just telling some kind of a story[ of events] or another.
Good writing can have many vastly differing styles and/or purposes and/or intents. And every individual reader/writer/whoever will always have their own particular tastes/preferences. 🙂
@@AircaliburIf people are complaining about not getting what they expected, it's probably the result of false advertising
@@jaginaiaelectrizs6341 If those stories actually had well thought characters and their development, I doubt so many people would be saying that they're poorly written. Unless of course you've read them and have something to say. Those types of stories can theoretically be good but mostly, they are not.
Unpopular opinion I don't think TikTok is necessarily ruining reading or writing its just bringing forth bad trneds that always have existed in these communities. There's always been hyperconsumerism, toxic cukture of reading challenges, and skeletons in the publishing industry or overproduction over quality (James Patterson has literally been producing multiple books a year for decades) its just now we're more aware.
This is interesting and I think applies to social media in general. I guess the answer lies in figuring out whether social media platform are just an expression of what was already there or can they actually influence behaviour
By definition though, a "bad trend" on a bigger scale _is_ worse. Even IF it's true that hyper-consumerism has always been a thing, it's surely the case that a thousand people being hyper-consumers isn't as bad as a _million_ people doing it. And it seems beyond contestation to me that social media like TikTok, Twitter, RUclips etc. driven by "the algorithm" _amplifies_ things, some good (minority voices are louder) and some not so much (idiots are _also_ a "minority" - well, hopefully anyway, some days I wonder :).
So TikTok "ruining" reading and/or writing strikes me as hyperbolic (the truth is, we just don't know yet what, if any, long-term effect it's having) but "changing and probably not for the better" seems entirely plausible to me. I certainly don't think it's making _us_ better.
*crushes random sheet of paper on desk in knurled fist turning white in rage*
"Pattersonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn..."
(Yeah, but he also often has co-authors, too. 🤣)
Harlequin and all its various associated publishing imprints/houses/etcetera has also been putting books out with ridiculous regularity for decades and decades. Think of authors like Nora Roberts, one of the most prolific writers ever, obviously far pre-dates social media too. The types of writers that exist come as varied as the types of readers do, always have and likely always will. The problem is really just when everyone gets too locked into any particular thing or another being "THE ONE true most-absolutely-ultimate bestest thing" or whatever. But, yeah, people do for sure also need to try and be a little bit more conscientious of exactly what trends they are or aren't perpetuating most and why.
Most writers throughout modern times have been relatively boring. Usually the most interesting thing about them is that they are writers. The world traveler, adventurer, warrior writer is the exception, not the rule.
And also, that kind if life is conducive to a specific type of writing. I can’t imagine proust writing down everything he saw and thought in excruciating detail had he been a “man of action”
@@accordingtoalina Absolutely right. It is also, I think, a gender biased excuse for men to dismiss the writing of women as less important and therefore less great.
@@BookishTexanI respectfully disagree with the notion that it’s a gender biased excuse to dismiss female writers. At the end of the day, it simply comes down to preferences and/or interests in topics. Most people read less than 1 book a year on average, if that. So therefore the average man is going to be way more interested in reading a single book from men whom have lived interesting lives like Hemingway, Bukowski, and Henry Rollins than they are to pick up a book from Isabel Allende, Toni Morrison, or Virginia Woolf. And there’s really nothing wrong with that, the same way that there is nothing wrong with young women who prefer to read a Sarah J Mass over something like Murakami or McCarthy.
@@UnknownJorge My comment was not a condemnation of what people choose to read. It was a condemnation of the attitude that only men who lead exciting/interesting lives create great literature.
@@BookishTexan And my comment is directed at your second comment in which you claim that the attitude is a gender biased excuse to dismiss the writing of women. My point is that it's not an excuse, it's just a preference.
this puts so many thoughts I've had into words, especially about what makes a "great writer". A lot of the traditional ideas of what a great writer looks like revolve around privilege i.e. having the money to travel/live in other countries or even knowing that you will be relatively safe whilst solo traveling (which women don't always have)... and that the whole attitude of writing for yourself and not caring about commercial success is like ????? how do people pay rent then??
"great writers" more like rich men :')
@@JaceBlack-do2uy alot of writers that are considered great lived in poverty have huge debts..... died in misère
Alina is friends with Colleen ballinger btw
@@ville__??
Idk 😂😂😂😂
I am so over the tortured artist narrative! Having these kinds of experiences can influence your art (just how other kinds of experiences ALSO influence your art) but I know so many people who struggle with the fear of no longer being a good artist/creative if they "get better" or stay on their meds. You do not have to be sad or in a crisis to make good art! Your art will probably be different but it will not be better or worse! All art is inherently valuable for different reasons!
Please I am begging whoever is perpetuating the tortured artist narrative to please stop!
Stephen King touches on this in his book “On Writing”. He’s specifically speaking about the raging alcoholic cliché and how, as with anything, you cannot sustain a career if you’re struggling with substance abuse
Van Gogh was doing his best art when he was doing better.
I am a tortured artist in that I've had a lot of tragedy in my life and one of my main copings in art and writing but its not a label I like to associate with unless my writing is about tradgey. I would say to those people with those fears I know what its like to have that fear you aren't you without your traumas I feel like that too and my best ideas and concepts did come from my traumas. That is true for me my art is worse and not valuable when I'm not suffering. However I can only work on those ideas if I am better and on my meds cause without them i'd be less disciplined and cry in my bed all day. Meds and getting better arent meant to make you less emotional or even take away that part of you, meds are meant to help you focus more so you can write these emotions down without having your trauma take away your time.
@@TravellerZasha Thank you for sharing ❤️ ❤
I saw a thread recently by agents stating that social media presence plays very little in their choosing of an author to represent. The same was reiterated by withCindy on twitter when she said that her social media numbers didn't determine her landing an agent. The idea that tiktok is getting authors book deals is grossly misrepresented. A self pub book going viral can get a book deal. An author having hundreds of thousands of followers means little. I think it's laughable that people are talking about a lack of great writers when Percival Everrett, Dom DeLillo, Jeffrey Eugenides, Elif Shafak, Donna Tartt, Elena Ferrante, Maryse Conde, Jamaica Kincaid, Bryan Washington etc, exist. If you can't find Great Literature™ that's a you problem.
That last sentence 🔥
Those writers are old. That’s like calling Alice In Chains modern music lol
@@scottysbottom5769 Markus Suzak
But people are kind of spoiled/pampered and really want things delivered to them now rather than to actually have to go out and get it for themselves. Lol
People want the absolute maximum reward possible for the absolute minimum effort/investment/whatever they can manage. But they forget that it takes a lot of discernment and effort and strategy and such to be frugal and efficient and productive.
But, I dunno, maybe that's just me and my own thoughts. 🤷 🙂
Writes: "A self pub book going viral can get a book deal. An author having hundreds of thousands of followers means little." Does not realize irony or self-contradiction in that.
I do think that booktok is filled with people reading the same 5 books and it's always romance mixed with porn. Lazy writing, nothing to really reflect on. That's what I've seen at least. That and overconsumption
Tbf, you have to remember who the people on booktok even are. Most of them are teen girls, who are gonna read books aimed at teen girls.
Heard someone say its their wattoad/ ao3 phase but delayed
I had it
Quite Grew out of it
I feel it will die down after a while
The audience will mature and so will the book probably@@callnight1441
there are really good booktok accounts out there that read and recommend actual good books, but they're a bit hard to find. I follow a few that I found by chance thanks to the Tiktok algorithm
@@callnight1441 I partially agree with this but a lot of the popular booktok books have smut, so I reckon they aren’t being aimed at teen girls. and if they are, then it also raises the issue of why porn is being peddled to them in the first place.
for the record, I don’t believe teens can’t or shouldn’t read about sex but there’s still a difference between teens engaging with adult content on their own terms vs. explicit adult content being shoved into books meant for younger audiences.
@@nel1214 YESSS i 100% agree w the second part!!!!!
The topics you touched on in this video are basically why I decided to stop pursuing publishing altogether. My creativity and my mental health have suffered a lot over the years. The pressure of trying to treat my writing like a job/business/profession/career has done a lot of damage. I'm still struggling to get back to the joy of writing and having fun with it like I did when I was younger. I constantly have to remind myself that I don't have to cater to other people's tastes or worry about their opinions. I don't have to be "productive." It's okay to let my writing remain a hobby.
Speaking of that, I think there's way too much pressure these days to turn anything you enjoy into a business. If you have a talent, you MUST use it to make a living. God forbid you work for someone else in order to pay the bills! 🙄 And if you do decide you want to profit from your creativity, you're forced to sell yourself whether you like it or not. Well, call me lazy, but I have no desire whatsoever to be a social media star. Y'all can have all the money and fame. I'd rather have what's left of my sanity.
Both sad and glad to read about your experience. Sad you had to struggle but happy you’re in a better place! If it helps at all, I’m still figuring out my own boundaries when it comes to writing for myself and writing for “content”. I don’t think there’s one correct of doing writing as a job and you’re right, it’s incredibly high pressure and very little reward, unless you get very lucky
Sounds very familiar, great that you are doing better! I was putting my book out chapter by chapter and it was so awfull to read all the opinions, even though they were mostly positive - it made me feel I need to modify my next chapter to cater to them. Showing your unfinished process sounds like a nightmare. I deleted twitter and all those chapters and now write for myself, creating all I wanted from the start. Maybe I will put the finished book out one day, but it is not a priority to get some hearts emojis anymore.
I’m kinda in the same place. It’s just not worth the mental health to try to sell it. I’d rather just put out the story on substack, do short subjects and let my work just be fun. If my friends read it, great. And this is also driving me towards shorter stories- I don’t need to do a huge project to publish, I just need to play with the concepts.
Im just gonna self publish on Kindle and Nook and be done with it.
"writers don't travel anymore, experience things etc". me, an amateur writer who barely leaves the house: *chuckles* i'm in danger
Lol you and me both!
The danger is probably less in the not traveling and more in how much of our thinking is filtered through memes
nothing is ending, we are just not used to how fast paced and intertwined things have become. although some people are already born with that rhythm in mind, time has yet to marinate our youth.
just believe in the human spirit, and wait.
That hit hard ❤
Incredible , diverse writers with experiences on conflict, societal oppression etc are still alive and writing today. I am convinced people saying otherwise literally just get their rec commendations from popular tiktok videos and that is their ‘analysis’ on writing today.
It is also an incredible privilege l travel the world and sit inside all day.
Talent and dedication is what makes a writer
This!! I was recently thinking about all the Palestinian writers and artists killed over the past 6 months… but as I was writing in a reply to someone else, when people talk about the state of “literature” most of the time they’re talking about Western Europe
Me only speak English, that’s the problem.
@scottysbottom5769
I am sure that if you actually take the time to look for good writers who write in English, you will find them. They are just underrated.
As a writer on tik tok I wish I got better interaction and comments people are less likely to pause and read a poem because of TikTok’s effect on attention span.
So glad to have you here because I’m so curious about this, actually!! Is tiktok the best place for poetry?
@@accordingtoalinaI think the same question could be made about prose, or writing and reading in general. But I haven't watched the full video, so my opinion may change when I complete it.
What’s your tiktok ??? I want to follow you and support other TikTok poets. I am one myself🤗
@@accordingtoalina probably not but I have friends on there so I use it. Instagram should be the best place but the algorithm on there is BRUTAL you don’t get any interaction if ur not popular somewhere else most of the time.
You should read “Who Canonizes the Classics” by Stephen Leacock. I honestly think its assessment both of what makes a literary classic and why there won’t be anymore still hold true today.
Are you sure that title is correct? Because I can't find that book in particular 🤔 I did find others by that author.
@@GladysHunnam It’s an essay in his book “My Remarkable Uncle”! You can find it online for free through Project Gutenberg
I’m putting this on my list so fast 🏃🏻♀️
Hey, is this a book or just an essay? I’m so intrigued but I googled it and came up with nothing
@@cloudsinmykoffie I’m so sorry, I thought I commented to that effect! It’s an essay in his 1941 collection “My Remarkable Uncle” and you can find the whole thing free online via project gutenberg!
I would love to become a writer one day, when I have lived some more life and settled a bit in general...but the idea that I would need to put myself out there before hand and sell myself as much as my book is horrifying. I have a very unique name and a sort of public job, and I would probably want to write under a pseudonym, but SM would not allow that. I'm not saying I will be this, but I just know this is also putting off some hidden amazing writers out there.
I guess all types of writing come with a bit of “putting yourself out there”, unless you’re Elena Ferrante. Maybe you can come up with a cool story as to why you refuse to participate in public life
may i ask what your name is? :)
As nearly a life-long writer in nearly every form (except poetry - I can't write poetry for shit), gotta tell you that if you want to be a writer, you better start now. Learning to be a competent writer (ie know how to push the reader's buttons), takes a longlonglonglonglonglong time. You're going to write a lot of lousy prose hung on crappy structures to begin with, and the sooner you get that out of the way, the faster you'll get to where you can write a scene and go "That's not bad..."
So pick up your pen or keyboard, and start living on the edge of insane, and learn how to set the world on fire, because that's what the Baddest do...(with apologies to K/DA...)
the argument that "there are no more great writers" also comes from a very egocentric way of seeing things, because english is not the only language books are written in, these people forget that there are so many more writers outside of english literature and english speaking countries, people need to read some translated work for heavens sake. is very selfish to think or assume that in other countries and languages there are no good writers.
I agree! Everytime I see one of this "tiktok is ruining reading/literature" videos I never feel like this is relevant to what is going on in my country when it comes to reading. But then I don't live in an english speaking country...
this is a very good point - I think that when it comes to viral social media discussions, they tend to revolve around wester/anglophone countries. "there are no great writers anymore" on twitter means "if Hemingway started writing in America today no one would care"
@@textilaerika agreed.
Thats exactly what I was thinking, as a literature student of Mexico you can bet that Mónica Ojeda, Mariana Enriquez and Yuri Herrera are beyond great, and many of them are translated to english
I love Mariana Enriquez!! She liked a post I made on Instagram about her novel once and it was all I talked about for 3 days lmao
That is so interesting!
An author whom I love and would 100% point to as a great modern author is Kate Elizabeth Russel (author of My Dark Vanessa). One thing about her is that she is very online but not very "online". She presents herself as having grown with and on the internet: on forums, on Tumblr, in writing communities, has a blog, a newsletter... Yet, this presence seems to have evolved very slowly towards (not anonymous) social media: she posts very sporadically on Instagram though she did more stories when she had things to highlight. Even this is more of an extension of her aesthetic collages and reflections than a sole promotion tool.
(Also, spot on about some of the tortured artists. So many are considered lonely because of their works, yet their wives typed them and they presented said works in salons after discussing them over absinthe at the café with the friends who literally published and publicized them!)
yesss! I haven't read My Dark Vanessa yet (it's on my list tho!!!), but from the excerpts I read online I can totally see it becoming a modern classic which would grant Russel “great author” status even more
My Dark Vanessa has been on my radar for so long now - must remember to actually pick it up!
Please pick it up! Very disturbing but so good!
One of the things I’ve noticed is the number of recently published books I’ve read lately have been really poorly edited. It’s almost as if the editing process was either curtailed or cut out completely in order to get the book out as quickly as possible. Maybe because the publisher wanted to jump on some trend and/or thought they’d make more money if they managed to get the book on shelves as soon as humanly possible.
Anyway, that’s what I was thinking about while I was watching this video.
If you're putting your work out there and plan on querying traditional publishers: STOP! It's very rare that you can publish traditionally a book that's been already available on your blog or social media. Yes there are some successful examples but they are NOT the rule. Share published stories or flash fiction, share samples of work you know for sure you'll self publish. Don't share work you want to present to an agent or acquiring editor.
And go to workshops about publishing before you start your journey. Don't just listen to advice you get on a RUclips channel or on a random blog. You'll get different advice when you become part of a professional writing group/ organization. I know, I'm going through that journey now.
And honestly: yes promotion and social media is important but no, not mandatory to get published nowadays. If you want to write, write! Also get educated about what to expect and network as much as you can. But write, write, edit, write. Your work has to be engaging before you can jump on any social media to promote.
This is such great advice! I would only add thar if you are taking advice from people online get it from agent interviews and q&a and also check out advice from agents in you own territory!!!! (Unless you’re writing in English and are looking for an agent in US or UK)
@accordingtoalina to be honest in some genres social media participation is much more necessary, because a lot of the community is online. I know for romance, fantasy and sometimes horror there are strong online communities and authors may need to become involved in advance if they want to publish. But literary fiction is not tied to social media success (there are always exceptions of course). Crime fiction is also not as chronically on Twitter as other genres (at least that's my impression).
People who say there are no great writers anymore are people who don't read. There's absolutely no problem with popular writers in terms that there are always existed books of lower quality and value, the cheap thrills.
The only one issue that I can seriously consider is an issue of attention span visibly diminishing in many people. The fact that people in book groups are complaining that they can't read Stephen King because his books have too many words.... Well then what's going to happen if they try Victor Hugo who has chapters and chapters describing a building for example.
I swear this is how I feel it’s like tell me you don’t read without telling me 🙃😫
A terrific video as always Alina. Just my personal opinion, unless an author holds abhorrent personal views that shine through in their work, I honestly could not care what background the writer has. So long as they can tell a good tale, why does it matter?
exactly! thank you for watching x
Every single human on this planet has something to say because every single human is living the human experience. So it’s actually impossible to not have anything to say. Even the most boring person on the planet could write something compelling about boredom, loneliness, isolation, age, death … that’s what connects us all.
hmm I certainly agree that everyone has something to say but I'm not so sure about the "compelling" part. Not everyone has the talent/skill to put their thoughts, emotions and experiences into words in a way that's articulate and compelling. My favourite writers are the ones who manage to articulate seemingly ineffable experiences and feelings
Interesting people with something original to say are very rare. What connects us all is mediocrity.
@@fuowl666 Nah
You almost made me tear up at the end.
I started following you because I loved your analysis of La Divina Commedia, but these video essays are so good!
Stop it this is such a nice comment 🥹🥹🥹
Thanks, what an insightful video. I think on that last point you’re absolutely right, and it’s good to see someone thinking about this stuff in grounded material terms instead of the usual reflexive finger pointing.
Hi, this my first time on your channel but I love the way you present your information! Will come back!
I wanted to note: Another facet of "Being a Great Writer" in modern culture is, in the literal sense of the phrase (not the glorified sense with all its cultural implications of being a veteran and a drunkard and a hermit), there are TONS of great writers now who don't write books. TV shows have more good writing than ever. Video games react narratively to minute player choices and have something to say about the players. RUclips essays like this, blogs, etc. all have examples of incredible writing. I have cried at the honesty and authenticity of a good Tumblr post.
But these things are considered "disposable" and "commercial" so they WON'T be ""Great"" TM in the big cultural way. But I don't think that makes it bad and I don't think you have to have mass appeal to be "Great". When people decry the death of culture because of popular trends, they clearly haven't seen THE REST OF HUMAN HISTORY doing the exact same thing
Aaah thank you so much, hope to see you again! And thanks for sharing your thoughts! I agree that a lot, if not most, online media gets automatically discarded to the “content” category, when in reality a lot of people are producing incredible things…
Here in Brazil (and latino America in general) people write because they want to, they don't earn a lot of money and most of them have other jobs to be able to buy stuff they need.
I'm sure there are a lot of good artists (all kinds of, not just writers) everywhere, we just have to look harder to find them.
And I've been reading a lot of great stuff, no idea what books tik tok recommends.
Your point about the “tortured artist” can’t be one that makes a lot of money, and that we as a society hate paying people for their art - what if it’s deeper than that? What if people become resentful if someone isn’t a “starving artist” and makes a decent living off of their art because then it would mean that art is a worthwhile pursuit and one that can make a living. Not that it isn’t a worthwhile pursuit already, but in the eyes of those who maybe abandoned their artistic passions to secure a career which would make them money. Those resent the ones who made it, or are at least happy with the life their art has given them.
Yes yes yes! For a while now I’ve noticed a tendency to put down people who have “made it” with their creative pursuits. This “sure they’re good at music/painting/writing but their personal life is a mess” or they have an illness or an addiction… it’s almost like when we see someone successful in a discipline that doesn’t have a tried and trusted career path or that seems enjoyable and not a lot of work from the outside, we have to put them down a bit to make ourselves feel better
This is such a great video. You came at this from all angles. Really impressed with how you tackled this.
Regarding Taylor Swift, I'd say she uses the hell out of every situation when she was to any degree mistreated to write songs (like the whole Kanye situation, her masters being sold - you bet she's not letting any of this die down), but one of her biggest recent singles literally contains the words "I'm the problem". So it's rather she romanticizes all her experiences for all they're worth, which does give me some tortured poet vibes.
Yes to all of this!!
Your channel is a gem! Cant wait for more video essays on the lit/book world from you 🎉
Really enjoyed your perspective on this. Lots a food for thought.
Excited to see this one pop up in my feed, your opinions are always nuanced and well informed. Great job as always.
Thank you friend❤️
Your videos are always so well thought and articulated. And the way you speak is so calming! Thank you Alina, God Bless you. ❤
I am so glad I found your channel. Black Rock owns everything, especially media and publishers, that's why the Tik Tok problem. Tik Tok is dopamine-fed mind control, one minute at a time.
great to have you here!
Good video, the part about bestsellers was super interesting. I believe social media has complicated succeeding as any type of traditional artist, but also the publishing industry has always been inaccessible to many types of authors. It does suck that book deals are being given around with social media marketibility in mind, but I don't think even before social media they ever signed a book they thought they couldn't market.
This is a great point and one that people often forget - publishing has always been a for profit business!
I just love your channel so much. Amazing videos.
Excellent analysis! After watching your video, it sounds like a big part of the problem is that the level of networking and self promotion necessary for so many authors ends up attracting and supporting specific types of people. It makes it much harder for anyone who doesn’t fit the mold to succeed, which then results in a greater number of books being written by people with similar personalities and ideas.
This was a very insightful discourse, nicely done! The only thing that strikes me as important to unpack more is the idea that people who write intend for their work to be read, which in turn means they intend for it to be public, which should (in theory) mean they will have some interest in advertising themselves because we must assume they understand the importance of that aspect of the process.
Here's the thing though; one of the most important skills you can learn as a writer is to stop doing things you think are necessary even though you don't have an interest in doing them. A skilled artist will just ignore, compensating in other ways. Orson Scott Card rarely bothers with descriptions, David Foster Wallace obsessed with footnotes instead of linearity, and plenty of writers hate editing, or beginnings, or outlining. The solution is simply to figure out what it is that you do well and make that the focus. If you're an artist that doesn't self promote well, there's no fair alternative if the publishing industry necessitates it. Because it doesn't just stop there. They're also dogmatic about genre, form, experimentation, and anything truly new.
The priority of the industry, despite what they may tell themselves, is profit. If they cared about the artistic importance of the craft, they would be doing their actual jobs of carrying the burdens they are currently content to dump on artists. Its easier for them if the book they are buying has some measurable degree of a return attached. And why go through the extra effort of thoroughly combing for the "next great American novel" when they have a bargain deal that's good enough. I'm not saying they shouldn't want to make a profit, or that they're all shills. As you point out, the system is the problem here, but I think it's a bit disingenuous to assume they couldn't be doing more about it. Mind you, you didn't do that, but speaking from personal experience, it really does feel like the industry, and in particular spaces like tiktok, are active hindrances.
As an author currently querying agents, and having these exact thoughts on my mind 24/7, I absolutely adored hearing this poignant commentary. Thank you so much for vocalizing this phenomenon. The idea of having to pump out vasts amount of 'content' while simultaneously trying to channel my focus into my work, my art, is a bit nauseating. I'm against this modern era of the artist having to become content creators / brands / PR people / etc. Perhaps there's a healthy middle ground I can occupy here on RUclips.
Thanks again & cheers Alina! Immediately subscribed.
I think writers nowadays work just like how a fast fashion industry work.
THISSSSSSSSSSSS....literally everything has become fast whatever. A lot of things aren't about substance anymore.
Many classic writers also weren't poor. Some could travel and gain experience and be enigmas BECAUSE they had wealth. Having money can lead to questionable ideas and behavior, but it's not an inherently bad thing for an author to have.
On the Taylor Swift album -- I heard that the title comes from one of her ex's group chats called "The Tortured Man Club." But I like that she changed the title in a way that does seem to reflect her. I'm really hoping for some classic break-up music AND some introspection like we saw in the last album. Is it all a facade? Maybe. But damn if I'm not bought in.
Oooh thank you for the swiftie context - I missed the first and second big Taylor Swift bandwagons and now it’s too late to get into her music for me. But always fascinated by the little world she’s created
That was a deep dive and quite interesting. While you're correct to point out many writers are outgoing people, let me remind folks that many of us aren't - indeed, our introversion was part of what made us writers, because we needed an outlet we got with few people socially. Otherwise, I've been facing many of the difficulties you brought up for some time. Your observation that writing a novel and marketing are entirely separate skill sets is on point. I spent five years writing and revising and rewriting and yet again revising a sci-fi novel, getting it into such solid shape that I could pitch it to agents and small presses. I didn't spend that time building a large social media following (how? with what?). I published poems and used that genre to network on social media, but poetry is comparatively niche, the audience is smaller, and there's little crossover with sci-fi to speak of (unless you write poetry about sci-fi concepts, which I don't). I spent most of my time writing, because I'm a writer. When finally I had the manuscript in shape - you know, per the advice everyone gives about this - I started querying agents. I met a wall of rejection. I thought the problem was that the book was too long and still not good enough. So I spent another two years rewriting and revising *again* to make it better, which involved breaking the book in half to make it into two books - it was the start of a series anyway. Queried agents afresh (a new batch, not the ones I'd already queried), pitched to small presses too. Utter silence. It's been half a year now, and I'm weighing whether I'm going to bite the bullet and self-publish online, maybe using Substack. I don't like this idea so much, as serialization doesn't seem well-suited to my novel (it's a slow-building story, not a nail-biter with a cliffhanger at the end of every chapter), but I've already decided I'm not going the Amazon/Kindle route, which just looks like launching the book into a void.
Another interesting and insightful video, thank you Alina. "I don't care and it's none of my business" is a good summary of my attitude towards authorial branding and backstories in general, but that's probably an eccentric attitude. As a flippant aside, I think we can safely say that Charles Dickens would have been all over social media, so it's not as if the writer as performer and self promoter is a new phenomenon - more that it's become the norm rather than the exception now.
Oh yeah!! Dickens would be putting out 50-part tiktok series of his stories like the “who tf did I marry” lady
I completely agree with you on the idea that the "great writer" is kind of a mystification based on different factors (wealth and class status being huge ones) and I also think that literature is not always the fact of great writers. For every period there's gonna be people who write books because that genre is a trend, whether it's adventure novels in the 19th century or romantasy full of tropes in the 21st. But the thing is, we don't necessarily read stuff by great writers, reading can be entertainment and the figure of the author is, as you said, greatly romanticized!
And to add to this, something I forgot to say in the video: great literature is decided by posterity. It’s very possible that we will never know who the greats of our time are
Just discovered your channel, instant sub, great video. As for the topic, it’s interesting and I find that it’s the type topic where there is no right answer. I read somewhere a few years ago that there are more books being published now than ever in history. To me this dilutes literature and makes it very hard for the best works to raise to the top. That said, I want to recommend two great (imo) books from relatively young writers I discovered in the past year that I loved: New Millenium Boyz by Alex Kazemi and Treshold by Rob Doyle. Once again, great thought provoking video.
Thank you for the sub and the recommendations!!
I agree that observation is the most fundamental skill alongside talent that a writer can have. I'm thinking Fyordor Dostoevsky who experienced much of what he wrote about but was also the quintessential observer
So I just started the video so idk if you get into this, but the Jack Edwards video that you showed I believe was the one where he mentioned that there are good books out there you’re just looking at the wrong tags.
I don't have TikTok, but it really feels to me that it's like a echo chamber. Once you get stuck in one place all you can hear are the same opinions or books ect.
I think the key is to not get stuck and just go out there and look for what you want.
There are great authors with amazing prose and characters.
I firmly believe that there are great writers like Brandon Sanderson, Robin Hobb, Joe Abercrombie and so, so many more.
I also think what genre you're talking about effects the discussion.
Edit: 5 minutes in and I completely misinterpreted what the topics of the video could be 😅. My definition of a 'great writer' didn’t fully include the writers personality and their life experiences.
Yes, Jack is correct in saying that there are lots of great people on booktok BUT the algorithm is constantly learning about you, so if you’re hate-watching videos about smut it will keep giving you that. So you have to be very picky with the stuff you pay attention to or just type very specific things into the search bar so that the algo understands your vibe
16:20 ish, not sure about Taylor the person but her artist persona definitely fits into that, many of her lyrics state that actually.
About the initial thread talking of how full of experience and adventures writers used to have - that's only a piece of the picture. People in general strive from acquired knowledge and how creative they are. This is especially true for writers. Their ability to make others dream with them is what make them remarkable, in my opinion, and I take as an example one I grew up reading, Malba Tahan. He wrote many Arab tales filled with moral values, reflections, enigmas and wonders. Malba Tahan was also the pseudonym of a Brazilian math teacher/writer (Júlio César de Melo e Souza) who most likely never stepped foot off Rio de Janeiro and believed nobody would care about his stories had he not created this persona. He understood the game and found his niche, like so many others try to do through social media nowadays. It is really special to live in a time you may so easily share your work and get feedback. The writing might not be brilliant, nor the ratings, but it is a pretty fair bargain. Writers cook up something in their taste or what they think will please the masses, readers navigate the options out there and pick their flavours. In a bag of flavoured beans some ought to be shite.
LOVED this video!
Very balanced and eloquent. Thank you.
thank you for watching x
No one is mentioning this (it seems?) but writing is WORK. It tends to be romanticised bc dug. But Writing is a dedicated practice. Writers, like all people, are varied with many individual differences. It’s not necessarily an adventurous spirit, but a dedication to put considered thought pen to page. Many people start off as okay writers but can improve with effort and love for it. Which is the same for being good at anything.
*bc duh lmao
I see there are many people saying that modern writers lack experience to write something as great as authors of classics. But the thing is not about traveling or having a troubled life, it's about being able to be a great OBSERVER of life itself. Observing doesn't mean only watching and superficially describing, but also interpreting it into a form of idea that artistically portrays aspects of society and world
But the issue at hand is most people block what they could learn from new writers because they have this Lens of nostalgia and they let it rule there lives and enjoyment so easily
@@krow5099 It's also true, but in the same time I see where that kind of nostalgic lens comes from. I can't tell for the English-speaking world and literature market, but the most consumable (and consequently written by modern day authors) stories in my language are: sci-fi fantasy, magic fantasy, idealistic romance (with two subtypes: dramtic or perfect relationships). Plots that go around one thing and limited by one dimension of its genre (although these aren't genres but rather "tags"). People read them because they want to "have fun or relax and not think" as they say, so the demand is high, while anything else is just getting overwhelmed or passes unnoticed
@@yoshibros8904 but it’s the same with politics and religion nostalgia is ruining things and cheap easy non talented writers are ruining another there is basically no balance within the world. Yeah your right a lot of good authors are no being noticed, and it’s gross. And look I like a bit of junk food books, but when it’s overwhelming to a point where it messes up business practices for people who have been working on there books for decades it’s gross. This is why I’m glad I write for myself and not instant gratification. Now imma snuggle up and read me some Samantha Shannon
Experiences and the ability to observe the world around you are great indicators of a great writer. Sure, Kafka might have not traveled the globe but he sure as hell experienced it. He suffered and he loved, and then wrote about it. Rotting in bed will not make you a great writer, and most importantly -- it will not make feel good. Don't force yourself into solitude just because some corpse did it 100 years ago, live your life as best as you can and try to leave a few lines behind, that's it
I think that people forget how small online world can be and that while it has power to move trends not everyone is on booktok only reading or writing to cater to the book Tok that people seem to hate.
Yesssss!! The thing I’ve noticed the most is that the internet is most important to people ON the internet
Its why we need more promotion of indie writers, nit even indie publishing houses, one of my favorite writers is Soren Narnia who narrates his stories on his podcast and i love supporting his patron
I'm in a discord server for a Web Serial I loved that got taken down to see if they can end up getting it published and they actually got a deal! I genuinely think perserverence and finding someone who'll actually give your book a chance.
I think there's a big difference between Agents looking for books that can/will be money makers and Agents who want to actually get good stories out there that happen to have the potential of selling well.
Totally agree with you about Ariana Grande. Unless Ariana is coming after my boyfriend it's none of my business to call her a homewrecker. I don't care if celebrities are bad partners, I'm not dating them. My experience of their art is not ruined by learning they are cheaters or mistresses, also homewrecker is such a ridiculous term.
Ariana won't come after your boyfriend, but girls who look up to her and see that she's neglected or praised for it, might! If you don't care about celebrity influence it doesn't erradicate it out of existance. And let me also remind you that, instead of a cheating narcissist we could've had a better person being that pop singer. Meaning: if the society stopped accepting these inhumane behaviors, they would have been replaced by genuine, down to earth people!
@melofy-vibes what does being a good person have to do with being a good artist? I don't think we need society to make only pure and morally superior people successful, does not leave room for rehabilitation and we lose aesthetic and artisitc value.
Also I don't think that's how cheaters or mistresses (and whatever the word is for the male counterparts) work, people need to already have those values/lack thereof to be influenced. Going after someone's partner is not the same as buying r.e.m beauty, Ariana can't make someone do it.
@@SoVidushi Influence is not a surface level change that happens in people. It's psychological and happens through time, often indirectly. Of course she can't change people's values as an individual person, but she's merely an example here. My problem is with the normalization of a toxic behavior in the society. This can and will change some people's values.
Fantastic video! I came here because of the provocative video title and stayed because of the nuanced and intelligent discussion. Consider me a new subscriber.
I think a lot of the decline is down to algorithmic optimization. It’s happening quite a lot in most arts - the publishing industry knows beat for beat and concept for concept what will sell. And if you’re not hitting that and can’t find examples of other books that do well you can’t really get published. You end up having to choose the “latest storylines” or be left behind. People end up nearly forced into making only highly marketable books or other arts.
The other thing that happens is that because of the social media and always on, people don’t really get off by themselves to think about what they actually believe. If you want to write about a social issue, you’ve already absorbed so many takes on that issue that you can’t get at your own opinions because of all the sound bites you’ve seen, all the Twitter hot takes, all the editorial content, video, etc. that you aren’t reacting to a real world full of real people and real things but to a mirror reflecting a video screen of the real world.
I finally watched the full video.
I wonder why you didn't adress the fact that most of the books that are popular on Tick Tock are pretty similar in their themes (and I know that that's how trends work, but this is limiting the works that are being published and read), and that most of them follow tropes in a pretty similar manner (depending on the genre). That, there are less books with a deeper message and literary value, being read.
And I'm not saying that is wrong to like certain kinds of books, but we're paying less attention to other options that are created with a different intention than solely entertaining.
true, but no one is stopping people from reading those types of books. Things like classics aren't promoted as much (school already does that) but people can still read them whenever they like.
@@katgreer6113 Yeah, but what I mean is that we are so saturated with those types of books and they're being promoted so much, by people that have a ton of influence over young people, that writers like Mircea Cartarescu and others, that write books with a deeper meaning, are left aside.
It's not that we are forbidding them from reading those books, the thing is that they aren't interested in them.
I have a bunch of videos on the topic of Tiktok/ booktok, so I focus on one aspect of the community per video to avoid repeating the same stuff over and over
@@juanestebanmoralesquevedo7002
yes, well there's a reason people aren't interested though. It's not for no reason. Like I mentioned before, school already does that. They already FORCE many students to read those kinds of books...and we all know that forcing people to do things never turn out well. I like to read classics and books with "deeper meanings" too. Only...it takes up just 20% of the things I read. I don't think you realize people come to books to escape most of the time. Not to hear someone talk about deeper meanings. Life itself is already so deep, so stressful, so tiring, etc.. A lot of the books that people recommend with deeper meanings or what not are depressing. I personally don't want to go from a sad life in reality, to a sad life in a book. No. But, if you are saying that we should be promoting "deeper meaning" books that are very joyful, witty, and funny...then yes I agree. Maybe something like Pride and Prejudice? Yes. Absolutely. Also, I just wanted you to know that even if you consider these booktok books shallow, many people sit down, read it, and find their OWN meaning in it. Sometimes , it's deep for people too.
I've not been published yet. Largely because I'm writing a novel in a very unorthodox way, and I have a steep learning curve to overcome.
All I'm hoping for is to complete a trilogy and get the books in my hands, but social media influence taking the role that it is it is looking increasingly unlikely my books will be nothing more than Google docs I spend the rest of my life asking people to read and tell me if they like it.
Literature was in trouble loooong before TikTok, but this was interesting to hear.
great video!!!! just subscribed :)
I'm sorry but if you expect me (or anyone else) to go to war just to write about it--
Or to travel places, like not all of us can afford to travel somewhere just to write about it.
Writers don't have to experience something to write about it, I mean do you really think Shakespeare experienced a tragic love to write Romeo and Juliet? No.
Also good writing is subjective (for the most part) and most readers are reading for enjoyment, not something critical and deep (most of the time)
If you don't the same books on your fyp 24/7 then go search for different types of books, the FYP is literally made based on that person's engagement.
to add to your Shakespeare point, the man never even went to Italy
Writers don’t necessarily have to experience something to write about it, but they should at least try to be somewhat familiar with it.
It’s weird to read a book and immediately know that the writer has never experienced a certain feeling and never spoken to someone who has.
Or to read something mentioning a certain technology and realise that the writer has no idea what they are actually writing about.
Or to read about a certain area and notice that the writer clearly has never even looked at pictures of the place.
So no need to experience stuff or travel the world as long as the writer bothers to do the research to make sure that things still feel right.
I don’t know what the definition of a “great writer” is. I don’t understand why anyone would look to social media to determine what they read. The best source for good literature is word of mouth of readers. I read authors I respect and writers they in turn respect and what my peers whom I respect themselves endorse. Popular and great are not synonymous. Look deeper.
There are plenty of excellent writers who aren't active on social media, especially outside the US and perhaps less so in popular genres like romance or thriller. However, it's worth noting that many of the most successful writers worldwide focus primarily on their craft rather than social media presence. These writers delve into meaningful topics and produce substantial work that resonates deeply with readers.
In the age of ever shortening attention spans, do the writers themselves have the focus to do something truly great? Would a modern unknown writer take the 5-10 years to create a novel of a higher order like a Thomas Pynchon or Cormac McCarthy? Seems many modern writers treat their career like a startup company looking for Venture Capital funding more so than trying to equal the legends of the past as they used to. Social media makes the industry a Pay-As-You-Go model that leads to inferior products overall with a sporadic touch of greatness here and there.
I love to read fantasy novels, and I'm making my own fantasy novel with a lot of lore and worldbuilding, all in an old writing style. I'm doing it not for popularity, but to share my world, its races, its history, culture, and their stories.
"Goethe barely left the house" 4:49. I'd like a source on that, because he is kinda famous for his Italian Journey.
i do think if you spend a significant amount on social media you end up filtering your experiences through algorithms and memes (also in the broader definition). and this often results in less rich inner worlds than if you experience the world first-hand. cultivating a more unique and personal worldview and voice is something that is pretty essential for a great writer
I liked your video!!
I remember seeing a documentary that said Jane Austen was dirt poor for almost her whole life. Thats a struggle she went through
Alina, what are your thoughts on the concept of originality? In terms of story tropes and just stories in general? ❤
Thank you for highlighting such an important topic ❤ my first video+instant subscription!
The way I chuckled at the Taylor Swift comment. Not a TSwift hater and I love her music, but that was a good insight.
Being both a talented artist and a savy business person honestly sounds good for me personally. I’ve dreamed of being an author since I was 12 but I went to school to study business because I love business as a topic. And recently I found out that I have adhd and apparently people with adhd thrive in an entrepreneurial environment. So even though the work is daunting it feels like a good fit for me. I feel for the people for whom this is all entirely too much though. I’m depending on my hyperfixation to get me through the worst of it. It’ll feel terrible for anyone else though.
You can't be a person who mindlessly follows trashy and ridiculous trends and also be a great artist at the same time. One cancels out the other. Publishers are demanding that writers be both, which culminated in the fourth wing.
There are good writers, they just aren't writing tiktok genre fiction. Popcorn fantasy and smut have been things for decades and they've been popular for decades and people have been doing think pieces about how literature is dead for hundreds of years now. It does suck that social media is making more useless labor for a certain type of author but that type of author is also not representative of the whole of literature. Isabelle Allende is alive and well, Murakami is still chugging, George Saunders, Margaret atwood, Cormac McCarthy, Thomas Pynchon, Alice Walker. So many great novels have been published in the last 10 years.
Prose is a poor fit for social media. Unlike visual artists, writers cannot simply share snippets of their work and build hype organically through them. Most people find flash fiction intensely annoying, and excerpts from works in progress are even more unpopular. Thus writers adapt, pivoting their content marketing more towards topics *about* writing and/or the Aesthetic around the "writer lifestyle" (how do all these people afford these international trips??)
I wish prose writing would come back I love it so much I write it myself but people hate it so much. 😢😢😢I mean reading SJM ran up my blood pressure cause she writes like a 15 year old doing fan fiction for her first time.
Always look forward to Alina's Monthly ✨️💜❤️ best wishes 🙌🏻
Thank you!! Doing my best to make it more often than just monthly!
I don’t think there are no good writers. I think the publishing landscape of today favors “fast fiction,” and, well, fast fiction is often written fast. The good writers who actually take the time and put the passion into their books aren’t able to make a living for themselves writing, but therefore they can’t put that time their books take, and their books don’t get finished.
Why fast fiction is favored now is an entirely different question lol.
Have you seen the movie Old Acquaintance from 1943? Bette Davis plays a serious author, and Miriam Hopkins plays her friend. Miriam “churns books out like sausage.” They’re all cheap romance novels that make a lot of money. She’s also an over-the-top performative personality. Bette writes great books slowly and they don’t sell. That was 81 years ago.
@@JZ-mn8wv oh my goodness. I guess I'm not very knowledgeable on history lmao but that is crazy
I love that you're trying to make sense of this all and inform. Thank you! But I do feel a lot of the articles spring back to a small sliver of time (the 2000's I guess. We had our peak year off booksales in 2008 books here in the Netherlands).
In the ’80 you sold books when you got on TV and when did you get on TV? If you where in the right group of people aka the old boys network.
Lots of people are able to sell their books now via self-publishing and small publishers that didn’t exist 20 years ago. I’m not saying it’s easy to sell a book these day’s but there is a lot to be thankful for.
Also I would love to see a graph with how many readers are actually on Tiktok. I believe TikTok influence is overrated -atleast here most books sold are by old writers.
This data is a bit old (2018) and from the Netherlands but here bookbuyers here mostly 40+. Among women, the largest target group is 40-54 years old with a share of 27% (1.7 million book buyers). Among men, the largest group of buyers is over 65 with a share of 29% (1.6 million book buyers).
(All my info came from the Dutch Reading Foundation - stichting lezen.)
Thank you for the extra data an context you added! I agree that overall things are getting better. As for your point that tiktok’s influence is overrated, idk, I go back and forth on this myself. I guess it depends on where in the world you are and what genre you’re trying to break into
Experience does help, that goes with anything. Maybe not required for good writing but far from a controversial opinion.
A great writer, in my opinion, is someone who expresses some degree of creativity, vision of, or wisdom about, the world or the human condition in the form of writing.
I tend to lean more towards the George RR Martin approach: to be a good writer you need to read and write… a lot! Whether or not he’s taking his own advice now is up for discussion lol.
8:17 - It comes from literature originally being considered much more a subset of like either art and/or philosophy, either very impressionistic or very highly studious, I think. But then FAME and POPULARITY and RENOWN began to take over. Everybody just wanted to be known and/or remembered, and nobody remembered how many artists and/or philosophers were derided and/or forgotten in their own lifetimes until after they were no more with the world and people in it.
There are great writers today…the problem is the attention span of the mass population is at an all time low and most people either can’t be bothered or are literally unable to take their time and interpret great writing, so they turn to the blandest easy reading YA books to get their fix of “literature”. Most people don’t want to challenge themselves or learn anymore
i would love to see you speak of and give your opinions on topics that aren’t just related to books 🤗
I actually have a few topics I’m working in atm! Do you have any suggestions?
@@accordingtoalina something related to how social media has affected our lives or something related to fashion. i’m sorry i don’t have anything creative
You are absolutely right. In order to get your book to the reader these days, you need to write and have a social media presence. As you note, those are two different skill sets. Heaven help you if you go the self-published route and you don't excel in creating a social media brand. You will be so buried in the algorithm that your book will most likely never see the light of day, no matter how good it is. I applaud the people who can do both, but it is sad that many good writers will labor in obscurity.
Abdullah got a point, thanks mate.
Things have both changed and stayed the same for artists here in the west. Allow me to eloborate.
Art has always been reserved to those with the resources to make it. The most important resource for an artist is TIME and MONEY.
Imagine who was successfully painting in the 1600s in the Netherlands. It defintely was not a son or daughter of a farmer. It was someone who came from an affluent background, or someone who was lucky enough to garner the attention of a patron that would buy their work and introduce it to their other rich friends.
If we were to make a catelogue of all the famous writers in the past 300 years, I'm sure the data would showcase to us that MOST of them came from an affluent background. Most of them had the time and leisure to write, free of the obstacles and burdens of daily life and its drudgery.
Money and time WILL always be an important commodity needed for an artist, regardless of the art they make. Creating art has never been for the poor.
At least in our modern era, people can post their art online and garner attention for it. Will they make loads of money off of it? Probably not. But at least they will have an audience. Art that is only made for oneself is basically a diary. Art needs to be shared with others for it to create a meaninful impact.
At least in our modern era, the creation of art is no longer something that only the rich can indulge in. It's something that we the poor can particpate in. Will we make monetary gain and fame? Some of us will, but most of us will not. That is just the name of the game.
@@87eargasm that isn’t the perspective I was trying to come from. Im discussing how art that is recognized by society has historically been produced by people with means and time.
Your perspective has merit, and I understand where you are coming from. Your perspective actually made me ponder and think more critically.
I understand this is the internet, and you can’t see me, but Im an actual human being behind the screen. I don’t know why you came at me with such an aggressive tone. It’s completely normal to disagree with another, but remember to keep it respectful. Thank you.
I don't know but, didn't Van Gogh die without a penny and then his art was recognized, and wasn't Dostoevsky poor after being incarcerated. I don't know their full story but, I think there were plenty of artists that weren't from an affluent family or, that became poor with time.
Please correct me if I'm wrong.
People used to have a lot more silence in their life and could not elivate boredom so easily. There are some good thinkers with interesting takes but mainly authors use quotes from other books and stories about people to write. We will never see a genius dedicate every moment of his or her life to writing a truly great work ever again.
The alure of average success and the comfort that comes with it is too tempting for modern man.
great vid. agree 100%
I’m struggling with SO MUCH to try and promote my book cuz so many readers nowadays don’t read a book unless they see it on TikTok :/
As a writer, something often repeated to me is "get big online and you'll be fine" or something along those lines. Except when writers join the conversations happening in book communities, they are not welcomed but instead critisised for trying to promote their work. I have joined the flurry of other writers who vlog their progress but people too commonly misunderstand the difference between trying to become famous, and trying to be recognised for hard work