A friend shared this very enlightening article with me the other day and it made all kinds of light bulbs go off in my head.
Basically, the article discussed four doorways, or access points, of fiction:
- Story
- Character
- Setting
- Prose
As readers, we gravitate to certain doorways.
There are those who pick up a book, hoping for a page-turner. Story is their flavor of choice.
There are those who pick up a book, hoping to fall in love with the protagonist. Character is their flavor of choice.
There are those who pick up a book in hopes of being carried off to a different place, perhaps a different time. Setting is their flavor of choice.
And there are those who pick up a book, hoping for a well-turned phrase. Prose is their flavor of choice.
Nancy Pearl, the author of the article, thinks we often go about recommending books in the wrong way. We ask a person what genre they prefer. Or what topics interest them. But maybe, it’s all about the access point.
Nancy says, “When we want a book exactly like the one we just finished reading, what we really want is to recreate that pleasurable experience.”
How true is this?
She goes on to explain that every book has a prominent access point. The key is finding which access point a reader prefers and recommending books accordingly.
I found this all to be incredibly fascinating. Especially in light of the great branding debate.
Rachelle Gardner recently wrote a post titled Can I Write in Multiple Genres? A very informative, helpful post about the importance of specializing, especially for those of us early in our careers.
I agree with everything she says. I don’t think any of us should aspire to become the jack of all trades.
But what if our brand is much less about genre, and much more about the experience we create for our readers? Maybe it doesn’t matter if we branch out a bit, so long as we keep our primary access point the same.
For all I know, this could be horrible advice. I just think it’s interesting thought fodder.
After reading the article, I asked my friend which doorway she gravitates toward. She said character. Then she said something else that really resonated:
The really great books? The ones we can’t put down. The ones we read over and over again. The ones we share with our friends. They excel in all four.
As authors, that should be our ultimate goal.
It reminded me of the post I wrote on Rachelle’s blog last week, Finding the Sweet Spot. I talked about excelling with our prose and our story. But really, that’s only half of the equation. The super sweet spot comes when we master all four – story, prose, character, and setting.
Let’s Talk: Which doorway do you gravitate toward? Have you read a book that combines the strengths of all four doorways? What do you think is more important when it comes to branding – doorway or genre?