Hey angelsss…

I recently searched on Google what classic literature books were good for beginners but somehow this post made me reflect on my own writing rather than about reading classics.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/classic-books/gen-z-reading-wuthering-height/?ICID=continue_without_subscribing_reg_first

It critiques what it describes as the inability of Gen Z to read classic literature, in particular “Wuthering Heights”, a novel written by Emily Brontë. 

Since the movie, which was released this year, received quite a bit of positive feedback, many who had seen it were inspired to read the book, which was published in 1847.

I myself have not read this book and I have not been really into classic literature, for I mostly have taken pleasure in reading modern novels for reasons such as escapism and simple entertainment in my sixteen years of residing on this planet. 

I used to like a book more for its entertaining story and beautiful prose than for its educational value. 

I have been a writer since childhood and I developed a deep love for great stories far before I knew how to write or even read. My mom used to always read to me until I was 5 years old, then I began reading for myself and later even wrote my own stories. 

As a result, my childhood dream has always been becoming an author. 

And since I began taking writing more seriously, I became increasingly open-minded for a variety of literature and different genres. 

But the reason I am writing this, is that this post made me realize something which I found to be crucial for my further life as a writer. 

I do not need to write to fulfil other people’s expectations of my book. 

Let me elaborate: 

As I was plotting my most recent novel I had a very clear concept in mind. The setting was already building vividly—nearly cinematically—inside my writer’s brain. Yet surely not everything was as easy as creating a setting. It took me two entire months to finish my plot, making up believable and realistic characters, hoping I would not come across a myriad of plot holes.

Spoiler: I am currently at 12,000 words and I already noticed a few things I perhaps need to think about again.

As I developed my plot I had the goal to write a book that a lot of people will like. I dreamt of my book becoming a bestseller and I already pictured purchasing my own book from the “bestseller” shelf at a bookstore. I thought about my book becoming one of those viral BookTok novels. 

Highly ambitious goals, right? 

I think BookTok can be compared to Shein. Much of mainstream BookTok seems to reward books with fast pacing, directly stated themes, that follow a specific pattern, fit into recognizable “tropes”, provide attractive male leads which the readers—primarily female—can swoon over, and are overall quite similar to one another. 

Just like Shein, which makes up a huge part of the fast fashion industry, BookTok changed into something I would call a “fast reading” community. 

It adapts to trends and ephemeral preferences of mostly young readers rather than focusing on lasting artistic visions.

And some authors tend to do so too. After all, for many authors writing is their source of income.

Yes, some people do not write merely for the sake of the art of writing itself but to gain money from it. 

If you ask me this is not quite the most effective way to earn a lot of money. 

Side note: I want to state that I cannot and do not want to lump every BookTok content together and criticise it as one. What I mean is that reading is not merely invented for entertainment but should give us insights on other perspectives and sometimes make us uncomfortable too. Not every BookToker disagrees with this matter and this does not mean every “Romantasy” book is bad. With that I merely wanted to criticise the intolerant beliefs towards other genres of some creators / readers. 

As a person who used to write, writes and will continue to write because I take pleasure in it—for the sake of the art of twisting language and writing beautiful prose that inspires, educates and entertains other people—I realized that I do not need to write specific plot elements only because it is trending right now and “BookTok-approved”. 

No one has to restrain their creative expression to something that has to be approved by people who understand nothing about it and just find it all cringe.

Books and stories are meant to be unique, such as the very individual who created the story. 

Writing is an art and should be treated as such. 

Much love