Sunday, May 23, 2010

Why? Why, why, why?

Where Am I: at the dining room table - they'll have to eat elsewhere

What Am I Listening To: Phineas and Ferb in the background



A seemingly harmless thread over at the Absolute Write Water Cooler got me thinking (now, just keep your smart remarks on that subject to yourselves, please). The question was simple. Would you use your real name or a pen name on your published work?

I am surprised by the number of women (who include myself) who have chosen to use their initials because (though there may be other reasons, as well) they are women writing in a male dominated genre and feel the readers/editors/reviewers will not view them as favorably as their male counterparts.

HARUMPH!

I don't like this, people! Why should there be any difference? How often have we heard that the most important thing is to write a great story? Sure, we need to be thoughtful when crafting our queries and selecting agents or editors to approach. It isn't a bad idea to build some sort of online presence as well (yet another reason for this blog, right?). But none of that matters if the story doesn't wow the reader. So, can someone please explain to me why anyone should feel that gender indicated by their name should have any influence over the success of their writing?

I don't have any clever hypothesis on this one. I don't have any brilliant articles to link or quote. I just have a sense of indignation that this should even be a consideration.

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