Hello Tyger

Audrey Niffenegger is a writer’s writer. Unlike the general griping from jobbing authors over Cheryl Cole’s massive £5m deal, the news that Niffenegger secured close to $5m for the US rights to the follow up to ‘The Time Traveller’s Wife’ has been met with a sense of joy rather than jealousy among the writers I’ve spoken to. Her first book was that rare thing – a brilliant literary novel from a small publisher that became a bestseller. It appealed to a wide audience – everyone from sci-fi to romance fans raved about it. No wonder that her second book – ‘Her Fearful Symmetry’ – seems like a safe bet and resulted in a big auction.

Good news for a genuinely creative writer and artist feels like good news for us all. Niffenegger wrote ‘The Time Traveller’s Wife’ during evenings and weekends, squeezing her writing time in around the day job as so many of us do when we start out. She is still teaching at Columbia College Chicago, Center for Book and Paper Arts, and unusually she took the time to complete the new novel before the sale, rather than pitching an outline. When I asked her why, Audrey explained: “I don't like working on commissions or making anything that is not completely under my control. So I thought if I completed the manuscript first, I would have the chance to write what I wanted to write. Then editors could know exactly what the book was before they bought it; it seemed better for both writer and editor, with maximum clarity on all sides”. Nan Graham at Scribner said Niffenegger has ‘written a spectacular second novel which is one of the hardest things to do in this universe’. It’s an interesting approach to ‘the difficult second book’ syndrome.

$5m is a brilliant deal, and after the runaway success of her first book, Niffenegger deserves every cent – but when you compare it to other creative industries, it’s a drop in the ocean. Midlist movie stars command $5m for a single film. If a CD made that amount for a pop star, sales would be average but not newsworthy. Why is it that even stellar writers still don’t command commensurate sums to the other creatives?

When an author gets this kind of figure, there’s a lot of speculation about whether the book will live up to the hype. The New York Times quotes Joe Regal, Niffenegger’s agent as saying ‘There are going to be people coming to the book with claws out. That’s just reality’. Inevitably some are hoping to tear ‘Her Fearful Symmetry’ to pieces because of the deal. It’s a recession-defying gesture. You do think how many other books $5m could have funded – but right now publishers want a sure thing, and writers are celebrating Niffenegger’s good news.

TODAY'S PROMPT: 'The Time Traveller's Wife' was dazzling - maybe you felt the same hunger to get back to reading the story after a long day? It had a cinematic quality that appeals to me as a visual artist (vivid imagery, the 'soundtrack' of Iggy Pop, the Pixies). We talked in the last post about the hidden, intimate details of a character's life. Martha made an interesting comment - it's not only what your characters have but what they do with it. Today, why not get your characters to take a good look around them. What do they notice? What can they see, hear, taste, smell, touch? Or paint a word picture of where you are right now, just take a few moments with your journal. When you are developing a character it's as easy to become 'stuck' in their mind as it is in your own, but it is our senses that connect our human experience and let us enjoy and share the simple pleasure of being. Let them smell the flowers once in a while:

'The rose is without why

She blooms because she blooms.

She does not care for herself

Asks not if she is seen'

(Angelus Silesius)