This is something I've seen a couple of times. I'll find a new fiction site, and on the sidebar or in an "about" page it'll say something like "this story is about blah. My writing is influenced by the early\late writings of some dude I really like and also a little bit of the early\late writings of some guy I also like."
What I don't get is why announce this sort of thing? What piece of info is trying to be conveyed by this? Just tell me what genre you're writing because chances are I probably haven't read whoever influences you and if I have it's probably only 1 example. So, I'm really just asking, why announce your influences?
Why announce your influences?
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8 comments:
I'm really glad you're back blogging again, Dustin. I like reading your opinions.
A couple of reasons I can think of... I suppose it's a good way to give an indication of your style, acting like a quote on the back-cover blurb of a published novel. If a reader sees that your influences are authors they themselves like, they might be more prepared to give the text a chance.
Secondly, it may score you a couple of Google hits, specifically from people who like the authors you do, who then might give you a click on the off-chance that you write the kind of thing they like.
Of course, the flip-side is that you're making claims for your writing that may take a bit of living up to.
@Scott
Thanks, it feels good to be back
@Emma
That's a really good point about the Google hits. I hadn't thought of that.
My reasons are similar to Emma's. For genre writers, citing influences provides an economical way to give more specificity and differentiation to a genre label.
"it may score you a couple of Google hits"
Yup.
- "the flip-side is that you're making claims for your writing that may take a bit of living up to."
OH yeah - took my worst hit (review) ever on that second one! (though, dude was gunnin' for me even if i HADN'T compared my blog to "Hitchhiker's Guide" meets "High Fidelity") Along those same lines - it helps if your blogfic doesn't fit easily into a single genre (see above...)
Glad to have you back as well, Dustin. I'm comin' out of a weird couple of months, but you're inspiring me to get crackalackin' again, myself.
Also: VERY intrigued by Emma's blog/thesis. It's nice to see folks who still believe, in the face of microblogging and "status updates"...
I totally agree with Emma in the sense that announcing your influences can get the attention of many fans of said type of material. For example, I've written a small book of short stories called "Twilight Ruminations" that I am trying to publicize myself, and on the back cover of the book it says, "Inside this book you will find six tales of terror and suspense not unlike those of The Twilight Zone, Amazing Stories, Tales from the Crypt and Weird Tales." Now, that doesn't exactly mean that I am professing myself to be Rod Serling, but it gives any prospective buyer an idea of what kinds of stories these are. To me it just makes sense to try to attract that "niche"...that audience who enjoys that type of material. In regards to living up to the material...that's a matter of opinion. You could sell a book and a lot of people may say, "hey, it's just like the type of stuff so and so writes...the type of stuff I like!" Others may say, "this is nothing like so and so" and give you a flaming review. It's all part of the equation. You have to use every tool you can to publicize yourself. It's sink or swim. Besides, we all know there are a lot of bitter, pessimistic people out there who will blast your work just to make themselves feel better. It's a reality of life. I have a writer friend who told me, "just stay strong, brother!" and I think that's sound advice.
Feel free to check out my own fiction blog over at http://nighthawkfiction.blogspot.com
God knows I need all the exposure I can get as well!
The thing I always compare it to is when you're at a gig and the musician has this blurb before every single song, going on about how "this song is about when I was walking down the street, and then I thought..." just let the music do the talking!!
Sometimes it's a nice homage to the person that did influence you, though.
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