Into the Fire

I am told (and, yes, I do know some) readers no longer have the time to read patiently. They want what they want from a novel now, or so long, baby! Down goes the book to the bottom of the pile, or under the bed, or back on the shelf—anyway, it goes away to the hinterland of book readers. Too busy. Too much to do. Too many responsibilities. Too many other fun things await. Too, too, too much to wait on an author to reveal the story. I want it, and I want it NOW!

Those of you who’ve read a bit about me know I worked in horse racing for many years. Most of those years were spent primarily at one track, the beautiful and now defunct Longacres Racetrack. Because of our climate, the track opened in February for training, raced in the spring and summer and usually ended near the first day of fall. So we had the fall and part of the winter off from racing, but often those “off” months were spent breaking the young horses. Sometimes they were spent in other jobs for the short stretch until the track opened for training again. Sometimes after the Longacres meet was over we traveled to another racetrack either in state or out of state. Time off was rare—couldn’t afford it. Maintaining a career in the sport is beyond expensive, not to mention time consuming.

The point being even though oftentimes I worked 7 days a week, when I read a book, I wanted to linger in the story. That has never changed for me. I want to know the characters, where they are, what they’re doing, and why they’re doing it, intimately. The large size of a book actually is a drawing point for me—a hope that I’ll be headed on a journey, immersed in others’ lives, learning the motivations of strangers, and maybe being enriched by their experiences. Granted, it’s possible to fashion those things in a smaller novel and many do, but no matter how eloquent and concise you are in telling a story, there’s simply no way you can show and tell a reader as much information in a shorter novel as you can a longer one. And, yes, some people just want the facts, baby.

Not only in their stories but in their relationships. Tell me what you’re made of and make it snappy. Be clever, go deep, but don’t keep me long. I don’t have time.

I think the majority of fiction books produced today cater to that crowd. And, although it makes sense, there are still a lot of us out here who want to spend time with a novel, get lost in its pages, linger in the stories, and not hurry the experience. It’s just the kind of readers we are. And the kind of writer I am. And, generally speaking, things don’t bode well for us these days.

The fact that we exist in good numbers doesn’t alter the appearance of most books. We hear glowing reviews of sterling writing which consumed all of 250 to 300 pages of prose, the author lauded for being able to tell the story so artfully, so concisely. Wonder of wonders.

Knowing that life is “just a breath”, I would rather make that inhalation deep and rich, consuming and lasting. This isn’t a judgment on the shorter novel. It’s a judgment on the assumption that the larger novel is somehow overstated, written with a certain delirium of unnecessary descriptions and drivel, and could easily, and should easily, be reduced by a decent editor. It’s a judgment against statements that novels should be of a formula defined by . . . well, anyone really. It’s fiction, don’t ya know? However the story needs to be told, let’s hear it. However the imagination of the author is directed to tell it, the more styles, the more formats, the more varying lengths—let’s see them.

Oh, and doesn’t it always come back to “the market”? What will “the market” support? What is it about “the market” that demands “lighter fare”, won’t purchase “literary” fiction, doesn’t buy “fantasy”, definitely doesn’t want “larger” novels?

What is it about “marketing” that they can’t figure out how to sell novels outside of their definitions of what mainstream consumers want? I’ve said it before and will say it again: take the human element out of the marketing statistics and what you have are worthless numbers telling a false tale. The key to good marketing is making a huge number of people aware of a product that will benefit them. When that difficult task is put into operation for authors, both new and lesser known, those perceived reasons for poor or slow sales will disappear. Not an easy chore but isn’t that what those trained in marketing are paid to do? How about some innovation and creative genius for those marketing dollars? No one knows better how competitive it is out there for the readers’ dollars than the marketing team. Right? If “it’s a business”, the often used excuse for selecting the same kinds of books over and over again to put before consumers, then why not create a way to offer the buying public more of a palette for everyone’s tastes? Market “uniqueness” effectively and you’ll entice readers.

Even if I didn’t have the time, I would want the longer novel. Yes, I want it to be well written with the characters drawing me into their lives and taking me with them wherever they go, showing me a picture of who, what, and why they are and do and see and interpret whatever goes on in and around their lives. And they can “tell” me, too. Because life is an interchange made up of dialogue, occurrences, revelations, thoughts, inspirations, conclusions, mistakes, conspiracies, isolation, passion, boredom, the divine, devastation, pain, wickedness, rejoicing, and forgiveness. And so much more. And I want to hear about it. And read about it.

God, so much to impact us as individuals and corporately, jammed into our lives. I love that a “righteous man’s steps are ordained by the Lord”. It’s comforting to know how hands-on you always have been, always will be, and always are. I need you desperately moment by moment. Guide my steps, Lord. Let me treasure and savor each moment of time allotted to me. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.