Wednesday, March 14, 2018

My realization about the pursuit of reader identification

I'm not sure why I didn't post this earlier. I guess it was because it was more of a stream-of-conscious self-reflection thing then something for my blog. However, it is something that I want to share. This self-reflection was triggered by "Canterlot Boutique", the 14th episode of the fifth season in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

The monotony of the same thing over and over again; the thrill of inspiration; satisfaction from others enjoying one's work;  trying new things; as an artist (albeit an author rather than a seamstress) I can relate to that. This could be my favorite of the season and high up there in the series as a whole. Is this the appeal of identification? It is certain relating. I could understand the joy at the start, the frustration at the middle, the shift between financial concerns and artistic direction. Yet, I didn't think that I was Rarity, in her shoes, or anything like that. Rather, it made me want to start writing. To enjoy my own craft. Yet I wanted to get my thoughts down first.

The pursuit of reader identification is a thing that has bothered me for some time. While I look through articles about writing and marketing books, I see "identify this" and "identify that". How important it supposedly is for a given reader to be able to identify with the main character (or some other prominent character) is regularly mentioned.  I saw this in a book about bats when the author spoke of the initial inspiration as if it were a self-imposed challenge. I believe the words were "could kids identify with a bat?" I see it in several places on Tvtropes, such as the tropes This Loser Is You, Audience Surrogate, and Lowest Common Denominator, among others. I even saw it in a Just For Fun page, "So You Want To Be a Voice Actor". The line was "the audience sees themselves in you". All this bothered me because it didn't make any sense.

Identify with a character? That's nuts. Emphasize with? Sure. Relate to? Yes. Understand their situation and trouble? Definitely. But think that I am the character or that the character represents me? No. I bring this up because "Canterlot Boutique" helped me achieve a moment of clarity.

A lot my own fears regarding my career as a novelist are here.
1. Someone taking over the process and taking credit for everything.

---> That's why I hesitated so long before publishing my first book. It took more mustered up courage and resolve to upload it to KDP than anything else I've done, including my driver's license test and the promotion for my black belt in Tae Known Do. It was like jumping off a cliff into cold water.
2. The fear of doing something dull and monotone endlessly; writing the exact same thing at the command of someone else (be it a publisher, agent, marketing team etc.).

---> That's the biggest reason I ultimately decided to be an independent author.
3. The fear of losing inspiration

----> ......I don't even want to go there.

There's also the joys that I experience as a novelist.
1. A flash of inspiration from a random thought or experience. A lot of ideas came that way.
2. The exhilaration of a review from someone who truly enjoyed my book. There are few bigger intrinsic highs for me.
3. The satisfaction of announcing a new book (i.e. grand opening).



It's not identifying in the sense that the reader thinks they are this character. Rather, it is a connection to them that goes deeper than sympathy or understanding. I can sympathize with and feel sorry for, say, Bill Yoast in "Remember the Titans" when he struggles between his ambition for the Hall of Fame and defending his fellow coach and players from racism but there's a disconnect because I'm not into Football (or any sort of team sport for that matter). I can relate to Ron Weasley of "Harry Potter" fame more than Bill Yoast when he's trying to make his homework report a little bit longer because I've been there and I understand the problem, but this is only a shallow thing because I am otherwise nothing like Ron. I had a bigger, deeper, more intense emotional experience with Rarity's dilemma because I felt like it spoke to me personally. I can understand why a writer would want to be able to evoke that in their audience. However, I still don't like the idea of trying to distill such a experience.

That leads to things like lowest common denominator and mass market appeal; a character generic enough to fit anyone in a given demographic doesn't fit anyone within it at all. Indeed, that was the surface conflict of the episode; making dresses that were exactly the same. Rarity has an Imagine Spot of everyone outside her shop wearing one of her dress designs and it saddens and depresses her because they are all wearing the exact same design. The idea of an assembly line making the dresses horrifies her. The satisfaction (and, yes, success too) comes from reaching customers individually. In other words, identifying them as individuals rather than a faceless demographic.


What do you think? Have you ever had a moment like this from a show/book/game etc.?


Brian Wilkerson is a freelance book reviewer, writing advice blogger and independent novelist. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).

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