Are you writing jazz or pop? Are you living jazz or pop?
The gatekeepers (agents or publishers) will tell you it must be pop if you want to travel the traditional route to publishing. On the average pop overwhelmingly outsells jazz.
In life, jazz is free spirit. Be true to yourself and walk your path with head high.
Shut Up And Dance by Walk the Moon, 2014
The gatekeepers (agents or publishers) will tell you it must be pop if you want to travel the traditional route to publishing. On the average pop overwhelmingly outsells jazz.
What is pop in writing? It’s an approved structure. You must
have an inciting incident in scene one (something changes in a
protagonist’s life that sets him/her on a new journey). Life must get
progressively more difficult for your protagonist (black moments). The
antagonist must be worthy of the fight. In romance, there must be a happily
ever after.
What is jazz in writing?
A lyrical trip of beauty or ugliness in which the art holds
sway over structure. The structure glimmers and is more likely felt than pinned down.
If you are self-publishing you have a choice. If you have an
artist’s soul, sing your black and white song and watch as readers blossom under
the colors of their imagination. But there’s nothing wrong with pop as long as
you keep your integrity and pay attention to the beauty of your story.
If you are trying to pay
bills choose pop. Either way, good luck.In life, jazz is free spirit. Be true to yourself and walk your path with head high.
Shut Up And Dance by Walk the Moon, 2014
Bob: When it comes to music, I'm a Jazz fan, but in writing, I try to produce books that will be popular. That means following some rules. But it's all fun.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful little piece/post.
ReplyDeleteI've mostly put my jazz away to pop as an author.
Always thought literary was a place for jazz, and
I'm looking for places amid my prose to wax poetic.
Sometime handholding and clarity is not in order. Sometimes the reader
has to just "shut up and dance."