So the other day I made an off remark about horror writer organizations, and mentioned in passing that I had no interest in joining one. Seeing as how I have a tendency to flit from one subject to another, I thought I’d cover this now before it ends up getting lost in the dead zone.
First of all, there are many organizations out there for writers of horror, fantasy, and science fiction. Unlike, say, the Screen Actors Guild, you don’t need to be a member of one of these groups to work in the publishing field. This is because novelists and short-story writers are not part of any union (and thank God for that). As such, these organizations, though they boast many strong selling points for members, are little more than fan clubs.
In my opinion, the reason why writers have never become unionized lies in the very nature of writers themselves. As I’ve said on more than one occasion, the writer is a solitary creature, a lone wolf, who may not necessarily shun sociality but may just prefer his own company. I would fall into the latter category. I don’t hate groups of people (except maybe at the mall, especially around Christmas), I just prefer to be on my own.
But this is not the only reason why you won’t see many popular novelists on the roster of these organizations (I still feel the urge to call them clubs). I’m not going to name specific groups, but for horror writers there’s only two or three really big ones, and they’re easy enough to find in a Google search. Should you happen upon one of these groups, you will notice that they boast a roster of writers that you probably haven’t heard of – that is, unless you’re very well read in the horror genre.
The reason I’m not a member of one of these groups is probably the same reason why writers like Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Peter Straub, Anne Rice, and essentially any other prolific author is not a member. Most of these people simply don’t have the time for such things. It’s as simple as that. A better name for one of these groups would be The Affiliation of Authors Who Only Put Out One Book Every Five Years or So. Unfortunately, TAAWOPOOBEFYS won’t fit on the side of a coffee mug.
I’m not saying that popular authors turn their nose down at such groups, because they don’t. This isn’t about literati and book snobbery. Most writers appreciate their efforts – especially if they get nominated for one of their awards – but ultimately they have other things to do with their time, such as writing. I’m willing to bet that the greater percentage of people who join writer’s groups are the same people who go to a lot of writing workshops and probably are members in good standing of a reading circle or two. They buy the t-shirt and the newsletter, they put the little "I am an official member of …" button on their personal website (which is usually done in an atrocious color scheme), they exchange novel fragments with other members and swap saccharine praise and light-hearted criticism, they perform all the behavior of the animal that I have christened the "hobby novelist." Which is not to say they are not true writers (I will not be the one to define that term, thank you very much), but at the same time I question their motivations. The commitment is clearly there, but I suspect that such people – those who see joining an organization for writers as a boon – are probably the same ones who view writing as a social act, maybe even as a form of therapy. And while there’s nothing wrong with using writing to express one’s feelings, such people might feel more at home in one of the hundreds of online blogging communities than in an organization of people who are trying to make a living as a writer of horror, sf, mystery, romance, etc.
When I think of these groups and their efforts to recruit new members (young writers who may feel they have to be a member of such a group to get published), I’m reminded of a quote
by Quentin Tarantino after he was asked to explain his whirlwind success. "I didn’t study film school," he said, "I studied films."
Although he’s talking about making movies, the message applies to any creative field. Don’t talk about doing something, just get out there and do it. If you want to be a writer, write. And if you write a lot, then you are probably not the type of person these groups are looking for.
But be nice to them, because they might have an award for you one day.
Ian