pulling-the-strings

A year or so back, I was happily doing a little blog-hopping, when I came across a statement by an author that surprised me.

I’m not sure I even remember who it was, so I’ll paraphrase the comment here:

“If you’re a writer, that means you’re a manipulative sonofabitch.”

Blink.  Slight gasp, followed closely by being taken aback…

Manipulative?  Moi?? :shock:
Oh no, no, no.  I despise those kind of people.  The users, the players, the drama queens.  The people who try to mold your feelings to suit their own purposes, the controllers who insist you see things their way, the ones who can…can…

Blink.  Slight gasp, followed closely by being taken aback…

I swear, I never thought of it that way—but to some degree, there’s no getting around it.
As authors we pull the strings.  And as readers we hand over the strings of our hearts with eager or trembling fingers (depending on how well or badly we’ve been played in the past).

If you’re an author, how do you feel about having this kind of influence over your readers?

And as a reader, how far are you willing to let an author take you?  Does it depend on their skill, or how great your desire is for escape, or some combination of both?

C’mon.  Leave a comment.  Just between us.
Really.  You can trust me implicitly…