NOT YOUR USUAL SUSPECTS

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Friday, September 30, 2011

A guilty reader


Monday saw the release of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s first book, The Narrative of John Smith. This was the book Conan Doyle wrote and happily sent off to a publisher. He waited. And waited. There was no glorious acceptance to be had, however, and no crushing rejection either because the manuscript had been lost in the post. Lost in the post!

Writers are lucky these days. When we send our masterpieces to our editors, we have backup copies at our fingertips. We have at least two copies on our computer in case one file is damaged. We have a file on a memory stick hidden in a different room to foil burglars who might take a fancy to our computers. We have a copy stored with Dropbox in case our house burns to the ground and we need to access our work from the nearest hotel.

(I’ll pause for a moment while you all double check those backups…)

Conan Doyle didn’t have this luxury, however. He’d painstakingly written his masterpiece in longhand and he had to turn round and write it again from memory. I can’t even begin to imagine doing that. Conan Doyle was a young man, still in his twenties, so maybe he had more stamina than me, but, really, it’s the stuff of nightmares.

When he’d rewritten it, he wasn’t terribly pleased with the result. Perhaps he’d honed his craft in the interim. Perhaps the initial idea, once so bright in his mind, had faded. Perhaps he believed that anything with such a dull title wasn’t a great idea after all. I gather he drew on passages for later works but, other than that, he kept it safely hidden from the world.

He’s said to have joked: "My shock at its disappearance would be as nothing to my horror if it were suddenly to appear again - in print.” 

I can identify with this ‘horror’. Years ago, having had many short stories published, I decided it would be a really neat idea to write a novel. The result? Self-indulgent dross. Really, I would die from embarrassment if any of these old efforts saw the light of day. 

If someone found one of my old manuscripts and decided the world needed to see it, I’d want to commit murder. Writing is too private, too personal for that. I’d feel violated, as if someone had rifled through my underwear and found things they shouldn’t. They wouldn’t find the sexy, lacy, matching stuff bought for a hot date, or the neat, sensible stuff worn for doctor’s appointments or the possibility of getting hit by a truck. Oh, no. They’d find the underwear that’s been washed too many times, boasts more holes than lace, and forgot how to fit decades ago. In short, they’d find the stuff that should have been thrown out years ago, stuff I wouldn’t (willingly) be caught dead in.

I have no doubt that The Narrative of John Smith will sell well. Fans of Conan Doyle will be fascinated to see the early words from the genius that brought us Sherlock Holmes. And let’s face it, Conan Doyle is hardly in a position to complain or care one way or the other.

Me? Yes, of course I’ll be reading it. I will, however, feel as if I’m violating someone’s privacy. I’ll be a guilty reader. I’ll be waiting for Conan Doyle to creep up behind me, smack me over the head and say: “How dare you? Did I say you could read that? Did I?”

Is it me? Or is there something you’d hate people to see? Something you’d hate people to see even if you’d been dead for eighty years?

11 comments:

Wynter said...

I'm so with you on people seeing some of my earliest works. I wrote a (awful) murder-mystery while I was in college. Thankfully I saved it to a floppy disk, so it's locked forever in an antiquated technology!

Wendy Soliman said...

It's reassuring to think that even great writers got rejections. Well, okay, I know he didn't because it was lost in the post but it MIGHT have happened! Hold that thought.

Interesting post, Shirley.

Toni Anderson said...

Oh yes, Shirley! I have secrets! I did throw away 4 bras this week. FOUR!! Sometimes looking at the old stuf is really painful, but it shows how much we've grown (I hope :))

JB Lynn said...

There's definitely stuff that would have me rolling over in grave if it was dug up!

Shirley Wells said...

Wynter - I have a box of floppy disks in the attic. I'm going to check them out ... I have a feeling they need to be destroyed.

Wendy - yes, I'm going to hang on to that thought!

Toni - Four? LOL.
Yes, looking at old writing does show us how much we've grown. I just hope I'm not looking back on today's words in 10 years time and cringing. :)

JB - Me too. It's a frightening thought.

Rita said...

Yes there are things i don't want people to see. I've burned some of them and think it's time to get to the rid of the rest. I'm certainly not telling you what!

Elise Warner said...

Interesting to learn how writers develop and if we can see traces when we read their discarded or unsold work. I'd object more to old underwear with an unnoticed hole being discovered.

Maureen A. Miller said...

I cringe at some of my early works, and yes, I'm likely to creep up behind you and shout, "Dear God, don't read that, woman!"

But Sir Arthur Conan Doyle should not mind so much. I will gladly read his early works.

Doris J said...

I have a hard time letting my Instructors read my work let alone the public :-)

I do back up my work!
Thinks I may just go make sure it's all up to date. Thanks for reminding me~

Marcelle Dubé said...

Shirley, I would *so* come back from the dead if someone resurrected some of my earlier efforts. Consider yourselves warned.

Shirley Wells said...

Rita - I have a feeling there are going to be a few bonfires being lit.

Elise - Yes, it is interesting - so long as it's work from a great writer.

Maureen - My early writing is never going to see the light of day. Never. But as you say, Sir Arthur shouldn't mind *too* much.

Marcelle - LOL, we've been warned. :)

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