The Cumulative Effects of Violent Entertainment

Earlier this week, I joined a discussion on Tyrus Books publisher Ben LeRoy's blog about the repercussions of crime fiction. Ben conscientiously asks:

Even if all of the violent media consumed doesn't cause copycat acts of violence, what does it do to the hardwire of our brain as far as our perception of those around us, most notably the strangers on the “other side” goes?

Also taking the discussion to Twitter, Ben asks to what extent violent entertainment perpetuates real violence and contributes to a cycle whereby writers depict violence, cynicism, and other negativity in their efforts to depict our world accurately.

I replied on Twitter that—though I enjoy some violent fiction, TV shows, and movies—a lot out there doesn't appeal to me. I choose not to immerse myself in violent entertainment even knowing it's not real.

I'm not saying, "It's not a problem for me, so it's not a problem." I just think we should equip future generations to be discerning consumers of entertainment as well.

CUCKOO Commotion

You may have heard that the author of recent "debut" private eye novel The Cuckoo's Calling was actually beloved children's author J.K. Rowling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. As a P.I. fiction fan, I've been hesitant to jump on the Harry Potter bandwagon but am intrigued to compare Rowling's work in the different genres.

Pseudonyms are a time-honored way for authors to branch out. I wouldn't hesitate to use one, but I'll always be grateful to have broken into print under my own name, indeed Gerald So.

On Timeless Writing

Yesterday I commented on Patti Abbott's blog about how some writing seems dated while other, sometimes older writing seems fresh.

Love the Writing, Hate the Writer

I commented on Steve Weddle's weekly post at Do Some Damage.

Remember, this is supposed to be fun.

Today on Murderati, Gar Anthony Haywood blogs about returning to his Aaron Gunner P.I. series despite the fact he could be writing something more lucrative. As a poet, I can relate.

Say Something Funny

This morning I commented on Peter Rozovsky's Detectives Beyond Borders about the use of humor after Peter dissected a joke from Eric Beetner's crime novel, THE DEVIL DOESN'T WANT ME.

The last line of the joke ruined it for Peter, who asked, "Am I wrong? And what makes a joke function effectively as part of a story?"

In Short

I commented on a post about reading and writing short stories from Murderati's Stephen Jay Schwartz.

Violent Fiction, The Discussion Continues

This morning, South African crime writer Margie Orford tweeted:

crime fiction: does it not just add to the sum total of gratuitous & casual violence of the world?

— Margie Orford (@MargieOrford) January 20, 2013

I saw Orford's tweet via Irish crime writer Declan Burke and wanted to expand on my reply here.

Reading fiction is gratuitous and casual in that it's a hobby. For writers, violence has a purpose, and the best writing doesn't exceed that purpose. A good story can be told with little or no violence, but depicting violence can also show how writers feel about it. That is, they don't create it so much as comment on its reality.

Don't Judge a Genre by Its Cover

This week's Shortmystery discussion of violence in books, movies, and video games has been thought-provoking and enlightening. More of my comments:

For me, the difference between movie and book violence is the former is fixed imagery determined by a director and presented as such to viewers; the latter is written by an author but must be interpreted and imagined by readers—every one of whom will imagine something slightly different. That's why there is more censorship of movies and TV than of books.

...[W]e as writers should be conscious of how our imagery affects readers. Ideally, we want them to feel certain ways at certain times all through our stories. That said, being overly concerned about how any one reader might react is detrimental to writing overall and does not prevent a delusional reader's misinterpretation.

Even if the worst happens—your story inspires someone to commit a crime—the ultimate responsibility for those actions is the reader's.

And today, fellow Shortmystery member Anita Page carried the discussion on to the Women of Mystery blog. There, I commented:

...It’s wrongheaded to blame violent books, movies, and video games on face value. One must look into the ultimate messages the writers are trying to send. Are these deep or shallow? Right or wrong? Would they give a sane person the wrong idea?

One of the series that hooked me on crime fiction was Robert B. Parker’s Spenser. Spenser and his friend Hawk are former boxers, capable of inflicting pain and forced to do so from time to time, but neither takes pleasure in it. Both have strategies to keep themselves in check. For one thing, Spenser makes a commitment to Susan Silverman, a psychologist who can help him with moral choices. Hawk, on the other hand, commits himself to no one, does not allow himself to feel much emotion of any kind. Parker shows that one is clearly the better path to contentment.

The Spenser series would undoubtedly teach a sane person not only how to keep violent impulses in check, but also how to develop morality and autonomy.

UPDATE: It's only fair I also examine the negative message sent by Spenser's continued association with Hawk and other killers.

Guilt by Association

Yesterday, a new member of the Short Mystery Fiction Society posted his concern that friends would read into his psyche from an assassin character he was writing. Alluding to my Sunday post about actors unfairly associated with the characters they play, I replied:

[T]here are bound to be some people who judge you by what you write. In the end, it has to remain clear to you why you write what you write. In the case of mystery/crime writers, the reason is often to make sense of crime, to satisfy their own curiosity/concerns.

It tends to make news when killers are discovered to have read violent books, watched violent movies, or played violent video games. However, the very same material helps ease tension and safely release frustrations for many more people who don't make the news. These are good reasons to write about bad people.

Replying to another member on the same thread, I added:

A common criticism is, "Aren't you writers just giving potential killers and terrorists ideas?"

Along with keeping sight of our reasons for writing, we should remain clear which readers we want to reach. We aim not to inspire anyone to commit crime, but to reach readers who perceive the subtle morality play going on, who understand that—though they may have criminals for protagonists—crime stories on the whole condemn crime.

What Reviews Are to Me

Do Some Damage's Steve Weddle, also a poet, teacher, and newspaperman, last week brought to light Amazon.com's new policy to curb sockpuppet reviewing. The policy has had the effect of not allowing fellow authors to review each other's books. It will have almost no effect on sockpuppeting. This week, Steve advocates full disclosure of reviewers' relationships to authors.

Perhaps because I'm an academic—went to college and grad school to hone my writing, taught freshman comp for six years—or perhaps because I naturally mistrust sweet talk—I've never given much credence to glowing/glaring brevity. Neither do I appreciate a reviewer's voice and vocabulary outshining what's being reviewed.

I am incapable of writing that a book, movie, TV show, etc. is good or bad without writing why I think so. That's the only kind of review that means something to me, so often not what I see at online megastores.

As someone who sells what he writes for money, I'd like to boast that my books get scads of five-star reviews, as many authors do. But to date, my books haven't gotten many reviews. I do know that the majority of people who left reviews actually read my books and wrote intelligently about them, some even at online megastores. I like to think the honesty, purpose, and substance in my writing lead to reviews of similar quality.

Like anyone who sells what he writes for money, I hope to be better known. I wouldn't mind being known for pseudonymous work, but am glad I broke into print with a poem under my real name (Yes, it is Gerald So).

How I Came to Write This Poem

Patti Abbott, a contributor to the Lost Children: Protectors anthology, asked her fellow contributors to take part in her regular blog feature, "How I Came to Write This Story". My poem, "Hushed", is one of two in the anthology, and here's what inspired it.

I'm pleased to share the space with my friend, Charlie Stella, who discusses the inspiration for his contribution, "In Dreams". Thanks again, Patti.

Don't Get the Wool Pulled Over Your Eyes

The entry title is a stretch callback to yesterday's post on sockpuppet reviewing. As much as I appreciate well-written reviews and am committed to writing them, no reader should rely completely on reviews.

Art is subjective. Everyone who takes it in sees it differently. The best way to know whether I'll enjoy a book is to read the first page or two. Those first pages either move me or they don't, and that makes up my mind.

If I enjoy something hundreds of critics pan or no one else seems to watch—Weekend at Bernie's, Licence to Kill, Firefly, Andy Barker, P.I., etc.—I don't dwell on what I'm missing. I count myself lucky that perhaps I'm on the same wavelength as the creator, and we can share an enjoyment others don't get. Writers think of reaching one reader, not millions. That our words do connect with many is a testament to how much humans have in common.

Sockpuppetry

I'm a longtime Twitter follower of British spy thriller author Jeremy Duns, a former journalist who has helped uncover high-profile, recent incidents of plagiarism (Q.R. Markham, Lenore Hart) and "sockpuppetry" i.e. creating false Internet IDs to praise one's own work or arguments while bashing those of fellow authors.

As a nerd, goody-goody, and teacher, the thought of creating sockpuppets never occurred to me. I imagine if I did, I would be quickly caught. But I have dealt with a sockpuppeteer in my time as a discussion list moderator.

A member of Spenser's Sneakers calling himself Spensermein created three IDs to support his arguments. I traced the IDs to the same IP address and banned them all. It's sad that people feel they need to support their points in this deceptive way. I imagine it's more difficult to trace and stop fraudulent reviews on bookstore sites, but I hope the work of Jeremy and others exposing sockpuppets will encourage higher standards of site security.

Every work is bound to get a bad review sometime. Authors responding to them personally or driving their fan bases to Amazon seems petty. It bothers me, though, that people are allowed to rate books without actually writing a review, such as this 2-star, anonymous "review" of my ebook, Call Me Cupid, on BN.com. You would think BN's system would flag it, saying, "You haven't written anything," but evidently not.

My review policy is to point out a work's strengths and weaknesses without getting personal. As impersonal as sockpuppetry pretends to be, it is extremely personal when you think of the time sockpuppeteers spend crafting their false identities to put others down to an extent they never would using their "real" names. Sockpuppeteers actually take reviews of their work very personally and can't stand the thought of many readers preferring someone else's work.

By the time writing or any product is made available, creators should have developed some objectivity about its quality, so they don't take criticism personally. Before reviewing products, consumers should have developed similar objectivity, so their criticism isn't personal.

Poetry as Witness to Tragedy

Last night, I received a 5-2 submission I read as a response to the Aurora midnight shooting. It prompted this commentary.

Finding Your Poetry

I nudge people to submit to The 5-2 whenever I can, of course, and many tell me they'd love to write poetry, but they don't know how to start. Some are even great prose writers. As a teacher, there's nothing I love more than stirring someone's imagination, giving him the tools to create something that shows his individuality and dedication.

I discovered I wanted to write at thirteen, but didn't dedicate myself to poetry until I was an adjunct English professor at Hofstra University, working the technical side of a faculty poetry website. You might say my motivators were a desire to contribute and a fear of embarrassment, a fear so strong, I made sure I wouldn't be embarrassed.

Three books helped and continue to help me: In the Palm of Your Hand: The Poet's Portable Workshop by Steve Kowit, The Practice of Poetry: Writing Exercises From Poets Who Teach by Robin Behn and Chase Twichell, and Poemcrazy: Freeing Your Life with Words by Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge. There are, of course, several good books on writing poetry, and a different one may help you. For that reason, before you seek out books on writing poetry, try to connect with a poem you've read. Does it move you or not? Why? Analyze your reaction and try to write a poem in response, bypassing for now the need to generate an idea all on your own.

That's how I started. Let curiosity lead you from there. I look forward to reading your work.

Murderati: The Pace of Prose

I commented on David Corbett's post about whether a writer's success can be measured by quantity or quality.

Not My Type

Members of the Short Mystery Fiction Society are sharing typewriter memories. I was neither very fast nor proficient with a typewriter, and was always conscious of how much paper I wasted. Luckily, by the time I had to type term papers, several relatives were on their way to becoming programmers, and I had access to computers and printers.

Working on a magazine in college, I had basic knowledge of MS Word and ClarisWorks, but always preferred WordPerfect.

I've been a Linux/OpenOffice user since 2004. I bought my current computer new for $800 in 2006 and in six years of system updates, it has never slowed down like my two previous Windows machines.

All this said, I brainstorm with a pen and memo pad, which might be conspicuous in public if people ever looked up from their laptops and smartphones.

Writing Rules

Frustrated with some writers' cutesy rules, British crime novelist Matt Rees blogged some of his own. I heard about them via Twitter, and tweeted my own:

1. Read the kind of material you'd like to write.

2. Hone the discipline to write beyond distraction.

3. Develop the confidence to stick to your words, but also the flexibility to know when to change them/try new things/be creative.