Are Writers Cannibalizing Their Best Ideas?

A lot of people enjoy binge-watching a show’s television season, even an entire series, but I am starting to wonder if all of this content can really be condensed. How often do you watch an 8-12- episode season and think, that really could have been done in half that amount of time?

How many shows use the common tool of showing back stories of back stories, of overusing flashbacks, and of seeking to drain characters dry by placing them in every possible situation that a character could possibly be put into?

How often do you lose interest in a show that you initially loved? How many times do you wonder if the show you are watching just “jumped the shark?”

Too often!

This affliction of dragging out content, I am afraid, extends to too many novelists taking a decent book idea and then diluting it by forcing a trilogy to be squeezed out of it.

Yes, too many writers, whether for television or books, are giving us a watered-down product. Great ideas and concepts and wonderfully drawn characters take a nosedive in the writer’s bid to milk it for all it is worth. It seems like the mantra of: “Quit while you are ahead” has now been replaced by: “Once your viewers and fans abandon you, stop writing.”

Trying to find a balance between creating something good vs commercializing mediocrity is always a battle for writers and artists, but the trend of over-writing needs to be corralled or readers and viewers will not want to invest in content that they know will go stale from unnecessary expansion and overkill.

Do you have a good idea for a book? Great. Write it. And stop there!

 

“I suppose most editors are failed writers – but so are most writers.”

--TS Eliot, Poet

 

“Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.”

--Elmore Leonard, American Thriller Writer

 

“A good storyteller is a person who has a good memory and hopes other people haven’t.”

--Irvin S. Cobb, American Writer (1876-1944)

 

“Classic! A book which people praise and don’t read.”

--Mark Twain

Do You Need Book Marketing Help?

Brian Feinblum can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator! 

 

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over 7,400,000 page views. With nearly 5,700+ posts over the past 15 years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2026, 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2026.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully) and (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/10-things-my-dog-taught-me-about-marketing-books). He was recently interviewed by the IBPA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0BhO9m8jbs

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, three times at BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association, Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, five times at Morgan James Publishing Red Carpet, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum