Friday, April 26, 2013

Happenings In The Outhouse 26-Apr-2013 / Best advice against using pseudonyms for writers

Recently, I heard what is, hands down, the best advice against writers using pseudonyms.  This is from The Roundtable Podcast segment featuring Hugo-award winning author Mary Robinette Kowal.  She made the analogy towards actors working in different genre movies.  Would Will Smith or Jim Carrey go by a different name when they starred in movies that were different than what they were originally known for?

Not a chance.

Several of the best known actors will purposefully turn down roles because they've "done that movie before."  Steven Spielberg, after such successful movies such as E.T. and the Indiana Jones franchise, delved into other movies that were so far off from what he used to.

Why don't writers get the same treatment?  Why can't writers cross genres without having to adopt a pseudonym?  Readers are not stupid, and I truly believe we should not treat them as such.

If your reasons for doing so are valid--for you, and they very much could be, depending on the genre--then by all means do it.

One of my favorite actors is Robin Williams.  Talk about a genre crosser!  The man can literally play any kind of character, from funny to serious to scary--and he does it well!

I've been working diligently on my alternative history military thriller.  I have almost 39,000 words written in 33 chapters.  I'm very pleased with my progress.

What's next on the stove?  I'm planning out--yes, some of you could say outlining, but I just call it brainstorming at this point--an inspirational-based novella.  That one shouldn't take too long to write, as it'll be slightly longer than "Guest of Honor" and after that . . . I'll start formatting Beholder's Eye as well as working on editing a previously written novel.

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