We Were Liars is a YA novel by E. Lockhart. It has a 3.84 rating on Goodreads, it was popular a few years back and probably is still popular now, and it seems that readers either love it or hate it.
But I’m not here today to give my opinion on We Were Liars.
The edition of We Were Liars that I read contains some extra content, one of which is a note from E. Lockhart about writing the book.
Lockhart states, “I worried people would find it overdramatic and pretentious,” and that “almost all those bad things [she] worried about came to pass.” But she also writes, “I would rather try and fail than never try at all… even if everyone had hated We Were Liars and even if no one else had read it, I would have been glad I took the risks.”
So maybe you’ve read We Were Liars, or maybe you haven’t. Maybe you hated it, maybe you didn’t. All that to say, there is something of value in trying to write something even if other people think it’s over-the-top and pretentious and terrible.
Because here’s the thing. The more you write, the more you’ll get better at it. Even if it doesn’t sell, even if no one is going to read it, write for yourself. You’ll understand the process more. You’ll get the satisfaction of finishing whatever it is that you’ve written. And it will be okay.
If you want to write something experimental or unconventional, do it. It’s true, some readers might not like the way you’ve formatted things or decided to tell the story. Maybe they’ll even think that it’s pretentious and bad. But sometimes unconventional is what makes a story work. There’s Kristoff and Kaufman’s Illuminae, which is absolutely wild in its formatting. Or Jess Rothenberg’s The Kingdom, which mixes trial recordings and post-trial conversations with the main storyline.
Unconventional is a risk, but even if it doesn’t work, at least you know you’ve tried it.
That’s all for now!
Today was a short post, but I hope you’ve enjoyed it. Let me know what your favorite unconventional book / film / other form of media is in the comments below.
All the best,
