Meeting the Reader’s French Expectations (Or Not)!
By Guest | May 22, 2016 |
By Flickr’s Moyan Brenn
Please welcome Adria J. Cimino as our guest today. Adria is the author of four novels including Amazon best-seller Paris, Rue des Martyrs and her latest release, A Perfumer’s Secret. She also co-founded boutique publishing house Velvet Morning Press and is a member of Tall Poppy Writers. Prior to jumping into the publishing world full time, she spent more than a decade as a journalist at news organizations including The AP and Bloomberg News. Adria lives in Paris with her husband, Didier, and daughter, Phèdre.
As writers, we want to please ourselves and please our readers—and sometimes that’s difficult. Managing reader expectations as well as our own is key to finding happiness and fulfillment as a writer, and that is why I’m passionate about this topic. In my piece, I use the example of writing a book set in France, but my tips and message can be applied to other situations involving reader expectations.
Connect with Adria on her blog, on Facebook, and on Twitter.
Meeting the Reader’s French Expectations (Or Not)!
Settings are among my favorite pieces of the writing puzzle. Through words, I love to transport readers to gritty city streets, charming villages or cozy neighborhoods.
My debut novel, Paris, Rue des Martyrs, and my latest release, A Perfumer’s Secret, are set in France, and what an ideal terrain that is for creating a setting! It seems like I’d have it easy. Writing a story set in such a beloved and well-known place is a snap, right? Just imagine the historic monuments, the flaky croissants, the accordion music, the wine… But wait, let’s hit the “pause” button here.
Those are some of the common images associated with France, but they don’t exactly suit the theme of my novels. And that, I soon realized, would be my challenge. Readers might not have expectations about some places, but they certainly do about France!
When it comes to settings in my own work, I usually like a heavy dose of reality. In Paris, Rue des Martyrs, I wanted to take my readers to the real Paris. They experience what it’s like to live in a Parisian neighborhood and meet strangers whose lives entwine. No Eiffel Tower, no berets to be found. In A Perfumer’s Secret, readers don’t spend much time strolling along the touristy Mediterranean but instead find themselves in fragrant flower fields and inside a perfumer’s laboratory.
I realized right away that some readers would love my take on the French setting—but plenty would not. In some cases, my setting would surely fall short of reader expectations. What’s a writer to do?
Here’s how I managed to find a balance—it is possible! And these tips apply to any setting that might inspire certain expectations (London, New York, etc.):
Be true to yourself. There are plenty of great books out there with a sparkling Eiffel Tower and crispy baguettes. But if that sort of thing doesn’t suit your story or writing style, don’t force yourself to fit into the mold. Sure, you’ll disappoint some readers, but you’ll delight many others who will appreciate your words. If you force your work to fit into a mold, you won’t please anyone.
Find a compromise. Writing what you want, however, doesn’t mean there isn’t room for a small compromise. In this example of novels set in France, without breaking from the mood of the story or falling into stereotypes, there are opportunities to include a bit of the familiarity some readers might crave. For instance, in A Perfumer’s Secret, my protagonists dine on a terrace overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. On other occasions the scents of butter and crepes perfume the air. Both of these examples were “real” enough to suit my writing style.
Be creative. Some readers might have well-defined expectations—but will be delighted by surprises rather than the descriptions they had in mind. In A Perfumer’s Secret, my main characters are perfumers. So throughout the novel, the reader discovers the South of France through the senses of scent and taste in addition to the more common visual descriptions.
Be honest. If your book is set in Paris, feel free to put “Paris” in the title and tell the world that this novel is set in the City of Light. But when you sit down to write the book description, keep the focus on the story rather than on trying to seduce the reader with the Parisian setting (unless, of course, you have written a book laden with common Paris images). If you build up certain expectations that aren’t met, you’ll disappoint your reader and yourself.
Develop a thick skin. Whether your book is peppered with berets and baguettes, or whether you eschew every common French symbol, you will face criticism. In the first case, some will say your book was filled with stereotypes. In the second case, certain readers will say your setting just didn’t seem like France. So that brings us back to my first point: You have to be true to yourself and create the setting that suits your characters. It’s impossible to please all readers, so there is no use in being discouraged by criticism. If you’re comfortable with your story, then it will find the readers who will appreciate it.
Overall, there isn’t one “right” way to create a setting. (Who knows? In the future, I might write a book with plenty of beret and croissant references.) But for the particular book you’re working on, for this particular story you are telling, there is one right way—and only you know it. Any other way would result in a different story.
Have you written settings that readers might have expectations about? What helps you maintain the balance between what readers expect…and staying true to yourself?
Many thanks to today’s guest.
You can read more WU guest posts by visiting this link.
Thanks for inviting me to Writer Unboxed! It’s always fun to chat about all of the aspects of writing…
Adria–
Thanks for your post. It makes a strong case for writers to develop and nurture their unique vision of place, not one acquired through others’ eyes. As you say, this is made more difficult by how readers develop expectations–the beret/baguette version of Paris, say. It’s not so easy to persuade some readers to see things differently from what they’ve come to expect.
This idea can be applied to every aspect of writing: character, plotting, even to some degree voice. This is more pronounced in genre writing, where readers’ expectations are shaped more narrowly. Agents and editors are looking for stories that will make money, and they do it by reading in terms of what they know has made money before.
If we are what we eat, we’re also what we consume in the way of others’ words and images. It’s no mean feat to write a story that is fresh and true, but still able to shoulder its way into acceptability with publishing’s tollkeepers–agents and editors looking for the next Grisham, the next King.
Yes, the key is finding the right balance — that ability to tell the story we want to tell, and at the same time to take a step toward the reader and offer some familiarity. Part of the fun of writing and figuring everything out!
I love this! My story takes place in rural New Jersey (nobody believes that there’s even such a thing!) in 1978, and its been challenging to bring this time and place to life. I’ve discovered the power of smell and color and light to evoke time and place, not to mention story mood. And yes, food. There’s a kind of NJ cuisine that teenagers subsisted on back then. A bag of Fritos or a Devil Dog and a coke can convey more sometimes than words are able. Thank you for a thought-provoking post!
Glad you enjoyed the post! And yes, use of the senses sounds like a perfect way to bring the reader back to rural New Jersey… Sometimes even a simple detail can do the trick! Good luck with your writing!
I agree wholeheartedly. Evocative details and balance in everything. In character, setting, mood, description. Balance balance balance.
When I began writing my historicals set in Germany, it had been many years since I’d lived in Germany. Furthermore, my four historicals take place over thirty-five years from 1912 to 1947. I clearly had a problem. Had never seen pre-war Germany.
Impressionism is the word. You know the impressionistic painters. You see an impressionist painting and your mind fills in the hard details.
Impressionism works as well in writing. The crooked red rooftops of Heidelberg viewed from just under the castle. The Spree Canal at dusk, the barge lights blinking on. Alpine air so clear you could see the feathers on an eagle soaring a mile away…
Impressions.
Then, of course, drop a sharp detail from time to time to pin it down, just in passing.
I have had Germans tell me that my stories were evocative of the country they remember. How great a feeling is THAT !!
Yes, it is indeed rewarding when people who are familiar with the setting in your book say that it’s realistic! We all “see” a place through so many different lenses that there is not one right answer. The key is finding balance…
I liked you instruction to ‘develop a thick skin.’ If there’s one thing that has happened since I dared to publish is that everyone feels completely free to tell me what I’m doing wrong!
Complete strangers have told me I write wrong, price wrong, and should do something else entirely.
I was kind of taken aback until I realized it means something different: if someone takes the time to comment, it means they thought it wasn’t half bad, but could really be improved if I…
That’s engagement.
I think I’m happy about it, in general, and responding to a few of these (NOT reviewers – those you don’t go near) has allowed me to put in writing why I did things, for myself.
You write it, you put it out, and then things happen you didn’t expect. Some of them are good – the first time someone writes that you’ve changed their life (though the feeling of responsibility was heavy); others are – interesting.
It has been fascinating; I can feel the skin thickening so the real me can be safe inside.
Yes, it’s impossible to please everyone (you’ll see that even the most successful books have both 5 star and 1 or 2 star reviews) unfortunately! But thankfully we learn to take a step back and accept the fact that some people are going to love our work, and others won’t…
Excellent article – all had to do was to substitute “Paris” for “Rome”
Ha, ha! Yes, I’m sure that authors of books set in other well-known places have faced the same challenges… It still is a joy to write about cities like Paris and Rome, but this element makes it a bit more difficult than one would expect.
Years ago I self-published a book set on my island home. The mystery was written out of love and I felt free to twist certain details to serve my story. It was an on-island best-seller. Though others may have thought it, only one reader said, “Hmm, that’s not the Mayne Island I know.”
Though dialogue may be sexier to write, I think it is essential to set out readers in a time and a place.
How interesting! And when an author writes about a place he or she loves, I think the reader can sense that… but yes, certain details usually have to be changed to fit our stories!
Your article really made me think about an issue that had never occurred to me before! As we say in the US, good on ya! Oh right, we don’t say that here . . .
It’s true that this sort of thing isn’t necessarily something we would think of — until we face comments from readers! With each book, we learn something new. Glad my post was helpful!
Thank you for this post! I’ve subscribed to the adage “write what you know” for my first two books, but now I’m working on a setting that I’ve visited several times but I don’t live there. I’m worried others will know the streets with more intimacy and call me a fraud.
Often I’m tempted to broad brush the details because I don’t know them and to throw in a few iconic sites to ground the reader in a place, but I love that setting is more than the cliche. I keep reminding myself that the setting is what surrounds the character, not a description of the place.
And then I also remind myself of Chris Bohjalian who wrote a book from the point of view of a woman midwife. If he can do that, I can set a book in NYC and not own a home there.
Yes, Ella, I agree… We don’t have to know everything about a place to make it a compelling setting. I think through research alone, we can accomplish so much. Then if we’re lucky enough to be able to travel to the place — even better. But really, as authors of fiction, we have that wonderful thing called imagination so we should feel free to add that to the mix. Happy writing!