Crane Is a Little Scared

Hi guys, Crane here. Thought I’d start by addressing a couple of things in your discussions of the last two days. I imagine it goes without saying that I disagree with quite a few of the points you raised, at least to the extent that your troubles with the book were all choices I made intentionally. One place to begin is that the book was never meant to be scrutinized as a novel. It’s a collection of linked stories focused on one character, says “stories” on the title page. Certainly, my intent was for there to be a progression in Charlotte Anne’s life, that her struggles would still ultimately end up propelling her in a forward direction by the end of the book. But at this point, as much as I’d like to write a novel someday, I am still enchanted by the short story form, and that’s what I do.
Also, I stand by all my characters as being completely developed. You can’t see Jenna just as well as Howard? Even characters who make briefer appearances, like the stepbrothers, or the Pink-Park sisters, or Rachel Richmond, or Matteo, or the mom, I believe, are fully fleshed out on the page, although the book is, above all, about Charlotte Anne’s internal conflict. The struggle we have with ourselves is always what’s most interesting to me as a person and as a reader. Sometimes, in teaching writing workshops, I’ll notice that a student will have created some really interesting character, with all kinds of inner turmoil, perfectly well-written, and then suddenly there will be some big external drama that comes out of nowhere because somewhere along the line someone told them that conflict X was supposed to happen on page P, and suddenly I don’t believe any of it.
I also really, really want to make a plea for y’all to consider pioneering with me the complete abandonment of the chick lit discussion. I know some of you have read the two posts on my blog about it from last year (Post 1, Post 2), but I urge you and any readers to read them again. My proposal was that anyone and everyone drop the discussion once and for all. You may have heard folks are talking about that dude who dissed Oprah right now – when that gets boring, I’m sure there’ll be something else right behind it. Meantime, I truly believe there is not one further word to be said on this topic that will illuminate anything, you know, that needs to be illuminated, and that the very discussion takes away from some really good writing simply on the basis of a character being a single female. I will never understand why this in and of itself makes a piece of literature less valuable, why the issues associated with being single longer and having careers are not important ones. Many books out there that some people see in this way, like let’s just say mine, address subjects including: god, cancer, loss, intimacy, friendship, family, work, child abuse, divorce, depression, September 11, identity, alcoholism, sobriety, that’s a short list, and I guess what bums me out is that although it’s true that more women read than men, if you put a book like mine into that category, potentially half of the readers, that being the male half, just won’t read it. Which is unfortunate, because I have a lot of guy fans, and have gotten some of my best reviews from men. More often than not, I find that these reviews tend to say something like, “It’s too bad this book is sometimes categorized that way.”
Speaking of the alcoholism, or lack of it, in the book, this was absolutely considered on my part. I was much more interested in Charlotte’s struggle as a sober alcoholic than I was in telling one more drunk story. Her budding alcoholism is addressed directly, in Famous, and touched on in several others, and it simply wasn’t what I was interested in writing about. There are a lot of books out there that deal with the falling down part of the story. I was interested in the getting up. As I think is clear in Charlotte Anne’s life, that can be as much of a struggle – is it any wonder why she drank, if she’s having this much trouble walking around in the world sober?
Well, I probably haven’t addressed everything you guys have talked about, but I’m going to go answer some of Dan’s questions now for tomorrow.

Comments

[Dan Wickett]

I completely missed the word Stories on the title page. That minor fact immediately causes two reactions for me. First, I like your book more than I did. It sounds foolish, but I read the book as a novel and the things that I did not like, I didn't like because for me they did not work in terms of reading a novel. Second, I question why Little, Brown did not have the word on the cover? I understand, stories don't sell as well as novels, etc., but I'll be honest, as much as I tend to read WAY too much about the type set and blurbs and author notes, etc., I tend to skip right past that title page, believing it's not going to have anything the cover didn't.

In regards to CL discussions - I've not really stumbled onto one yet that didn't have those involved mentioning that oops, they did actually enjoy one author's books that were included, or not included in the box, as you described in your posts on the topic. Or, that they really didn't like a book they were supposed to because of the color, or lack thereof, of the cover. Pretty much the same as any other type of labeling - it rarely works 100% of the time.

In light of the James Frey issue you refer to, I find it humorous that in your original post on the topic you wrote: "I’m starting to think even “fiction” and “non-fiction” are almost too specific anymore."

I like the thoughts behind the alcoholism and the way you chose to write about it. You're right about there being more than enough stories about people vomiting and falling down all over the place.

[Kassia]

Hi Elizabeth -- thanks for posting. I think, for me, differentiating between a novel-in-stories and a collection of stories can be difficult when a central character threads through the entire work. My natural inclination is to seek out threads and connections -- and to read a collection of stories in order (though some other readers don't take this approach).
I will never understand why this in and of itself makes a piece of literature less valuable, why the issues associated with being single longer and having careers are not important ones.
I completely agree with this statement -- my take (worth exactly what you're paying for it) is that certain marketing decisions on the part of a publisher (to position a book toward one audience or another) necessarily limits the audience. On the other hand, showing that there is something for men in books (primarily) marketed toward women can be beneficial. I tend to be frightened by overly pink covers, even though I know full well that color choices are not indicative of content. But I can be fooled, as I confess next.

As for the alcoholism, this is where I think the jacket copy played a cruel trick on us, the readers (and despite being rather sophisticated readers, we apparently still believe in Santa Claus). It created a certain set of expectations and I kept looking for something that wasn't necessarily there -- this isn't a bad thing as it's clear that it didn't color my enjoyment of the stories.

[Dan Wickett]

KK - the one specific distinction that I make between a story collection with the main character threaded throughout, and a novel in stories, is that I expect some editing to have taken out larger chunks of information repetition when I don't think I'm reading a collection of individual stories.

There were some things about CA that were repeated almost verbatim from story to story, that now that I know were written as two separate stories, I don't find irritating, which I honestly did when reading the book as a novel. With the idea of a novel in mind, I kept thinking, why is she telling me this again. Knowing it's from two separate stories that happen to be about the same character, that may have been written eons apart from each other, and not necessarily with each other in mind? To me, it makes it okay.

[Sam]

Don't be scared, Crane! I think we'd be mortified to think we simply kicked off yet another "novel-in-stories" or "chicklit" whine-fest.

Unfortunately there are some really good good questions that get sucked into these two rhetorical black holes. For me, those questions are, respectively:

- How would you describe the relationship between young Charlotte and adult Charlotte, and did this shape how you chose to tell their stories (tone, language, point-of-view, etc.)?

- How did the book come to include such a rare combination of conventional and experimental elements, and was that conscious choice or just naturally the way it came to you?

Outside of that, is there anything that people find in ATHG that surprises you? Anything that you're pleased people notice?

Disregard any or all of the above if they're covered by your chat with Dan-o.

Thanks for being game ...

Sam

[ECrane]

How would you describe the relationship between young Charlotte and adult Charlotte, and did this shape how you chose to tell their stories (tone, language, point-of-view, etc.)?

I think young Charlotte is alive and well inside adult Charlotte, and I suppose the answer to the second part is yes. I used present tense for the childhood stories to parallel the sense I have that people often tend to be very connected to their childhoods in their adulthood, sometimes more so, which leads to why I wrote most of the older Charlotte stories in past tense. I’ve often said that I can remember some things from elementary school better than I can remember things from college or – last year. Also, the p.o.v. was intentional as well. I think it can be difficult to write from a child’s p.o.v., so I opted for an omniscient narrator, one I do not consider to be Charlotte.

How did the book come to include such a rare combination of conventional and experimental elements, and was that conscious choice or just naturally the way it came to you? Experimentation actually comes much more naturally to me than convention.

Outside of that, is there anything that people find in ATHG that surprises you? Anything that you're pleased people notice? I’m always surprised by things people find in my work, both positive and negative. In general people seem to connect to it, which is pretty great. I got an email recently from a college student who said he thought I was a voice of his generation. That surprised me. I’m old enough to be his generation’s mom.

[Sam]

Funny -- I noticed the difference in point of view, but I didn't notice how the tenses worked against expectation that way: past stories are present tense, present stories are past. One of the great things about writers who experiment with form is that it makes us more conscious of all the choices a writer makes, and the ways those choices affect how we respond to a narrative emotionally, intellectually, etc. Thanks for sharing ...

Sam

[Kassia]

In a way, I'm glad I didn't notice the point of view (or tense) shifts while I was reading, except on a very high level. Sometimes I tend to read as a writer and when I find myself thinking about craft instead of story, that's not a good sign. If the story (or in this case, collection of stories) keep me glued to the page, that makes the reader in me very happy. In retrospect, the present tense contributes to the pacing we've discussed. Present tense always feels more immediate and urgent, and I think that captures a child's mood and perspective much more effectively than creating a kid character.

I found the most surprising and effective story to be "Guidelines". The use of POV was really effective in creating a sense that the unreal has happened. It is hard to get under the skin of raw emotions to major disaster, and I really related to underwater feel created by the second person perspective.

Dan -- we discussed the novel-in-stories versus collection of stories thing, and I do agree that knowing that each story stands alone instead of forming a thread makes a difference. I am not proud to admit that I don't read title pages either...

[David Thayer]

Hi Elizabeth, I think you know how I feel about your work. I am delighted the LBC is discussing ATHG. Your style reminds me of Jose Saramago, which may seem out of left field, where an all together different Jose once lurked, but that's what I think.

[18 Inch Laptops]

It has earned many accolades from people.I am thinking to open a fan page on facebook for this wonderful thing.

[reverse phone lookup]

although I have a feeling this is less solid than I believe. But take me out of white middle class America and put me anywhere else I'd have to research. One thing I do believe in, to some extent is that if a fiction writer is on his/her game,

[Cheap Laptop Computers]

Please let me know if you're looking for a article author for your blog. You have some really great posts and I think I would be a good asset. If you ever want to take some of the load off, I'd love to write some content for your blog in exchange for a link back to mine.

[Mike]

I'm really enjoying the design and layout of your website. It's a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more pleasant for me to come here and visit more often. Did you hire out a developer to create your theme? Fantastic work