tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434602314756730550.post5359972868183052041..comments2024-03-28T05:15:00.483-07:00Comments on Buddies in the Saddle: How to write like Zane Grey (cont.)Ron Scheerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15357501069513854664noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434602314756730550.post-80084996513536638342016-01-09T22:39:49.370-08:002016-01-09T22:39:49.370-08:00The key to Zane Grey is not that he is a western w...The key to Zane Grey is not that he is a western writer, but that he wrote Romance Westerns... vastly different and I think he was the first to do so with any success. He also wove social issues into his writing and was one of the early conservationists... and the most published author of the 1st half of the 20th century, far ecclipsing those before him.<br />Canyon Covenants Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00069510320060060277noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434602314756730550.post-53399078402974978932016-01-09T22:39:42.449-08:002016-01-09T22:39:42.449-08:00The key to Zane Grey is not that he is a western w...The key to Zane Grey is not that he is a western writer, but that he wrote Romance Westerns... vastly different and I think he was the first to do so with any success. He also wove social issues into his writing and was one of the early conservationists... and the most published author of the 1st half of the 20th century, far ecclipsing those before him.<br />Canyon Covenants Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00069510320060060277noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434602314756730550.post-15634988238579227212011-05-11T01:32:54.634-07:002011-05-11T01:32:54.634-07:00I agree with Charles. I have been a lifelong Grey ...I agree with Charles. I have been a lifelong Grey reader, have all his books, spent two years exploring the west, searching for zane grey's america and come to the conclusion that Grey like his son Dr. Loren Grey, had a profound psychological aspect to his writing. They are very mythological stories.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12344650985098085839noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434602314756730550.post-85419437023148056962011-03-10T20:14:51.171-08:002011-03-10T20:14:51.171-08:00Charles, you have a point there. I'm probably ...Charles, you have a point there. I'm probably too much of a literalist. I understand that people live by myths, but my imagination doesn't seem to work that way.Ron Scheerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15357501069513854664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434602314756730550.post-81781354651294826912011-03-10T09:12:13.350-08:002011-03-10T09:12:13.350-08:00An interesting point occurs to me. Since I often ...An interesting point occurs to me. Since I often think of fiction as coming from a mythological perspective, the overheightened drama doesn't typically bother me. I neither expect nor want my fiction to perfectly mirror real life. Grey is definitely not writing about a west that was, but an emotional west. And maybe that's part of his success.Charles Gramlichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02052592247572253641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434602314756730550.post-83644941068842052292011-03-10T08:12:20.110-08:002011-03-10T08:12:20.110-08:00Walker, I take your point. I often think of THE VI...Walker, I take your point. I often think of THE VIRGINIAN as really getting the ball rolling, quickly followed by "early adopters," but it may have taken a Grey to take the new genre to the next level of mainstream readership.<br /><br />If my understanding of trend analysis is correct, you do that by stripping away perceived novelty to merge a new thing with what's already familiar. In this case it would be at the loss of what was truly inventive and exciting about what had come before.<br /><br />Thanks for your comment. It's great to have an expert in the house.Ron Scheerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15357501069513854664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434602314756730550.post-15055995497137259302011-03-10T03:53:46.632-08:002011-03-10T03:53:46.632-08:00I agree Zane Grey was not in the first early group...I agree Zane Grey was not in the first early group of western writers, many which you have been discussing. But even if we say there were 20 or so others ahead of him, that is nothing compared to the deluge that eventually made the western story so popular. When we look at the enormous number of writers that came after Grey, then that makes him and the other 20 look like pioneers of western fiction.<br /><br />For instance, when Grey started writing there were no western pulps at all. Yes, there were such stories in the general fiction magazines like POPULAR MAGAZINE and THE SATURDAY EVENING POST, but no title devoted to the west, until WESTERN STORY appeared in 1919 and was such a rousing success that many other western titles started to appear. <br /><br />By the 1930's western fiction was the favorite reading matter of the country, with the exception of possibly love and romance fiction which young girls and women read.<br /><br />Taking this enormous increase in readership in account, then it makes Zane Grey look like one of the early authors to take advantage of the western interest, even though there were 20 writers ahead of him. <br /><br />If we take the above into consideration, then it looks to me, that many readers were ready to accept Zane Grey, even though his work is often turgid, verbose, and not as interesting as some of the other writers you have been discussing.Walker Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16089880902426182100noreply@blogger.com