I just read this post by Georgina Bruce, an up-and-coming writer I admire, and it made me think of this research done by the online dating service OK Cupid on “The Mathematics of Beauty.”
Bruce said this about an experience she had with a bad review of her writing:
I once read a review about one of my stories that was so scathing, so unkind, that it stopped me writing for months. It made me frightened to write anything else, scared that more scorn and bile would be poured over my creations, terrified that this person might be right. In retrospect, it’s easy to see that this critic had some kind of personal axe to grind, but at the time, I was deeply affected.
I had a similar experience, in a fiction writing workshop waaaaay back when I was an undergraduate, which was very damaging and hurtful. It stopped me in my tracks for a long time. (It is probably not a coincidence that I switched genres to poetry and have only switched back to fiction in the past five or so years.)
Typically, we get advice from other writers that haters gonna hate, and to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, etc., etc., but that’s hard to do in practice.
Enter OK Cupid and their research on beauty, hotness, and number of times you get asked out. Their findings indicate:
- that the more men as a group disagree about a woman’s looks, the more they end up liking her
- guys tend to ignore girls who are merely cute
- and, in fact, having some men think she’s ugly actually works in a woman’s favor
I highly recommend reading the article, because how they reached those conclusions is fascinating, but let’s assume for the moment that this is an accurate assessment of reality.
Now for the magic: let’s replace a few key words, shall we?
- The more critics as a group disagree about a writer’s ability, the more they end up liking her work
- critics tend to ignore writers who are merely competent
- and, in fact, having some critics think she’s a terrible writer actually works in a writer’s favor
This kind of boils down to the homegrown wisdom that if you aren’t pissing off a few people, you probably aren’t doing your job as a writer. This may be especially true in speculative fiction, where so many people arrive with so many different expectations of the genre.
What do you think?
by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (the back cover advises that’s pronounced “chick-SENT-me-high”) and am so far (about halfway through) finding it really useful.
– HIGHLY recommended). If you can find a recording of him reading it, even better; he embodies the process of seeking and paying attention that writers do in a simple, brilliant, and poignant way.