Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Disturbing Sells

"Disturbing" sells today. In movies, TV, and - my area of interest - books. Problem is - I don't really care to disturb. I keep thinking maybe I should want to disturb, but then I just keep thinking. And thinking.
And I figured out that what I want to do is have a person say, "Yes, that's right. That is right!" when they read my writing. I don't want to reach down and touch those parts of our psyche that we usually keep hidden. That probably needs to be done at times and I've found myself at times drawn to books or shows that do that. What I want to reach in a reader is the part that isn't hidden because it might embarrass us, but because it's so simple it gets pushed to the back of our mind.
Like a book from childhood you see in a secondhand book store that causes you to smile. You pick it up and run your hand across the cover and then with love you reverently open the pages. Or the way you breath deep when you smell cookies or daffodils or rain. The way our nose crinkles and our eyes squint as we grin watching puppies play. How our shoulders relax when we step out into spring sunshine. The way our eyes fill with tears when we hear the Star Spangled Banner at a ballgame.
Those are the places I want to take a reader. And if that doesn't sell, then it doesn't sell.
But it should.

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