Yes! I'm really struck by formulaic thinking and writing that's self -conscious about publication potential, rather than just being authentic. Literary fiction in the US has taken a real beating, and I suspect that's part of why, along with elitism, and literary novelists being produced by a small cadre of programs. Love voices that aren't just original for originality's sake, but that reach out to the reader. Vibes, indeed!
I agree with this especially for books that I really love reading (as opposed to books that I’m “glad to have read”) — it’s always about the vibes, whether those are sweet and cozy or frightening. And for any book to be readable multiple times, it HAS to have the right vibes! I think “vibes” are part of why those really popular kid wizard books by she-who-must-not-be-named worked so well. They really do wrap the reader in a cloak of cozy. But obviously that wouldn’t be enough without the characters and the plot pacing and the mystery, etc.
Thank you so much for putting into words something I’ve been trying to articulate! I ghostwrote a book last year for HC, and the author client and I ran into this issue often. They wanted to present just the information, as stripped down as possible, and I gently argued that part of the reading experience is the way you make the reader ~feel~ when they open up your book. I’m saving this post.
I'm in the middle of revising my NaNo challenge for this year. (I've got it at a comfortable 90,000 words.) I like a good book with that right "vibe." I remember I listened to an audio clip for the book, Where the Crawdads Sing, and fell in love with the overall voice of it. It made me want to run out and buy it. But there are so many books out there that have that vibe, and I love stumbling across them. You're not going to find that vibe reading Jack Reacher, but that's okay, too. Hopefully, my story has that vibe. It's a fantasy, but who says fantasy can't have that vibe as well? Or Westerns? (Can you say Lonesome Dove?) But it's all a matter of what the reader wants. The writer can only do the best he can, and hope someone likes what he reads. (Here's Sub page if you wanna look: https://benwoestenburg.substack.com )
Musicians definitely understand this. “The vibe was off” can cover everything from a room that sounds overly dry to unsavory ulterior motives on the part of a brass player.
I TOTALLY agree and the woowoo witchy part of me thinks it's because we are channeling something when we write, and then the reader receives those vibes straight off the page. Ya know?
The comprehensive nature of your all-inclusive style is indeed challenging, as it is readily apparent to all individuals. https://connectionspuzzle.com
just read cormac mccarthy's 'the passenger' - and that book was pure ~vibes~ for me. whole sections just of the lead character ruminating about stuff or a long and winding convo in a garrulous new orleans bar. absolutely devoured it.
I've had readers return to my book because of its unique atmosphere, and that was only a thing which came about as a sum of its parts. Mixing existentialist sci-fi with dark comedy was not something anyone ever told me was a good idea, but it works for me.
Loved reading this. Maybe I'm misremembering, but it feels like the way that I was taught to write was very much in line with it's, "all about the characters," and that if the reader can't empathize with the characters then the story is, well, kind of doomed. I've always thought that to be far too simple. Because as you point out there's a lot more going on that creates the story's atmosphere. And if you focus on strictly characters, just as example, what happens to plot? Does it suffer? I certainly think so.
The whole point of words is to capture a Vibe so this tracks! That’s part of why I love creating playlists for my WIPs *cough* instead of writing them *coughcoughwheeze*. Because I love the vibes of, say, a single drum solo from a song circa 2001, and I spend the next weeks/months/years trying to figure out how to funnel that same energy into a character relationship.
Yes! I'm really struck by formulaic thinking and writing that's self -conscious about publication potential, rather than just being authentic. Literary fiction in the US has taken a real beating, and I suspect that's part of why, along with elitism, and literary novelists being produced by a small cadre of programs. Love voices that aren't just original for originality's sake, but that reach out to the reader. Vibes, indeed!
I agree with this especially for books that I really love reading (as opposed to books that I’m “glad to have read”) — it’s always about the vibes, whether those are sweet and cozy or frightening. And for any book to be readable multiple times, it HAS to have the right vibes! I think “vibes” are part of why those really popular kid wizard books by she-who-must-not-be-named worked so well. They really do wrap the reader in a cloak of cozy. But obviously that wouldn’t be enough without the characters and the plot pacing and the mystery, etc.
Thank you so much for putting into words something I’ve been trying to articulate! I ghostwrote a book last year for HC, and the author client and I ran into this issue often. They wanted to present just the information, as stripped down as possible, and I gently argued that part of the reading experience is the way you make the reader ~feel~ when they open up your book. I’m saving this post.
I'm in the middle of revising my NaNo challenge for this year. (I've got it at a comfortable 90,000 words.) I like a good book with that right "vibe." I remember I listened to an audio clip for the book, Where the Crawdads Sing, and fell in love with the overall voice of it. It made me want to run out and buy it. But there are so many books out there that have that vibe, and I love stumbling across them. You're not going to find that vibe reading Jack Reacher, but that's okay, too. Hopefully, my story has that vibe. It's a fantasy, but who says fantasy can't have that vibe as well? Or Westerns? (Can you say Lonesome Dove?) But it's all a matter of what the reader wants. The writer can only do the best he can, and hope someone likes what he reads. (Here's Sub page if you wanna look: https://benwoestenburg.substack.com )
Musicians definitely understand this. “The vibe was off” can cover everything from a room that sounds overly dry to unsavory ulterior motives on the part of a brass player.
I TOTALLY agree and the woowoo witchy part of me thinks it's because we are channeling something when we write, and then the reader receives those vibes straight off the page. Ya know?
The comprehensive nature of your all-inclusive style is indeed challenging, as it is readily apparent to all individuals. https://connectionspuzzle.com
just read cormac mccarthy's 'the passenger' - and that book was pure ~vibes~ for me. whole sections just of the lead character ruminating about stuff or a long and winding convo in a garrulous new orleans bar. absolutely devoured it.
Rilke, Selected Poems. The Color Purple. Wolf Hall trilogy. It’s like they are part of my blood!
I've had readers return to my book because of its unique atmosphere, and that was only a thing which came about as a sum of its parts. Mixing existentialist sci-fi with dark comedy was not something anyone ever told me was a good idea, but it works for me.
It is my 'vibe'
Loved reading this. Maybe I'm misremembering, but it feels like the way that I was taught to write was very much in line with it's, "all about the characters," and that if the reader can't empathize with the characters then the story is, well, kind of doomed. I've always thought that to be far too simple. Because as you point out there's a lot more going on that creates the story's atmosphere. And if you focus on strictly characters, just as example, what happens to plot? Does it suffer? I certainly think so.
Anyway, thanks for posting! :)
The whole point of words is to capture a Vibe so this tracks! That’s part of why I love creating playlists for my WIPs *cough* instead of writing them *coughcoughwheeze*. Because I love the vibes of, say, a single drum solo from a song circa 2001, and I spend the next weeks/months/years trying to figure out how to funnel that same energy into a character relationship.