The person you meet through the pages of this biog, my social media, or even the author as unconsciously revealed in my stories is not the real me. Not because I'm lying to you. but because it's impossible to fit a real person into a persona.
Again, when I say "persona", I don't mean a fake personality. What you see here is the truth and nothing but the truth – but it's not the whole truth. That would be impossible.
We are all in the same position as those blind sages who tried to describe an elephant, arguing back and forth about whether an elephant was most like a wall, a tree, a rope, a fan, a snake, or a spear. We want to have neat, familiar descriptions for people: Agatha Christie = murder mysteries, Jane Austen = witty romances, Terry Pratchett = absurdist fantasy, Malorie Blackman = dystopian YA, etc.
It's not that these descriptors are wrong exactly, but they are certainly incomplete.
Labels are useful, though. They help us to find what we're looking for, and to describe things to each other. If you're after a fast-paced action thriller, then Jane Austen probably isn't the best fit. But she's perfect if you want a subtle piece of social satire, or a contemporary view of that particular bit of history.
So, we can't completely do without labels, but labels are not enough. This is part of the trouble I'm having with creating my "author brand". Every time I try to fit my writing under a helpful label, I find myself thinking about all the ways that label doesn't quite fit. Even this portfolio-blog (blog-folio?) is hard to categorise, and this is a curated collection.
I know my stories won't appeal to everyone – that would be impossible, even if I wanted to do it – but I don't know how best to label myself so that the people who might like my work will be able to find me.
What am I: A poet? A novelist? A blogger? Songwriter? Game designer?
What's my genre: Fantasy? Historical? Superhero? Dystopian? Fairy tales?
What kind of narrative voice do I use? Comedic? Serious? Literary? Accessible?
Well... yes. All of the above. Some of those things haven't been uploaded here yet, but I've done them. And that's not even counting the projects I have in my queue, where many new and strange things are waiting to be explored.
Lesson Five:
Labels are OK, but I shouldn't get too worked up about them. They're useful indicators, not hard limits.
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