Wednesday, March 30, 2011

The customer is always irrelevant

Among the many writers (of varying degrees of up-their-own-arse-ness) discussing their craft in The Guardian a few days back, it’s the late, glorious Beryl Bainbridge who says the most by analysing the least:
I don’t write for readers; I don’t think many writers do – I don’t think any. They say they do, don't they? But... well, I only write for myself, and when somebody says: “Oh, your book has given me so much pleasure,” I just think, “How peculiar”. I don't know what to say. Of course I don't say that; I smile and say “How nice” – but I think I’d have written books whether they were published or not. I just liked writing.

So presumably the whole concept of vanity publishing left her entirely befuddled.

7 comments:

Sam said...

I really enjoyed getting lost in their creativity, and then reaching the comments was like a balloon getting pricked. Beryl does seem fun though.

Charles Edward Frith said...

Can I call her an arsehole? I only write so people can pretend they don't read my blog when they meet me. I find that really satisfying.

The Poet Laura-eate said...

Quentin Crisp would concur and used to say 'Books are for writing, not reading.'

That said, I think he was pretty delighted to become a publishing sensation, even if he did have to wait until he was 75!

Tim F said...

Think that's the problem, Sam. They like to get lost in their own creativity, but won't allow anyone else in.

You have a blog, Charles? Why didn't you say?

He was indeed a publishing sensation, Laura, but I suspect the thing he enjoyed was that people didn't point him out as "the author Quentin Crisp", but just as "Quentin Crisp." Did he ever meet Beryl, I wonder? I reckon they'd have got along, in a brittle way.

expat@large said...

She's not quite Jacqueline Howett is she, good old Beryl?

Tim F said...

Nobody is, e@l, nobody is.

E. Studnicka said...

I write so that I can call myself a writer and make people think that I wear purple velvet jackets and live in a quaint home filled with intriguing artifacts and that when I give them that "look" they will think that I understand them better than they themselves do.