1,720 words
9 minutes read time

I used to watch Sullivan’s Crossing. I say “used to” because I kind of bailed on the show like I do most shows I watch. I get bored or I’d rather work on my books. I might go back to Sullivan’s Crossing at some point, if there’s nothing else to watch, but I mostly stopped because I hated the way Maggie and Sydney treated the men who liked them, or, in romance-novel speak, their love interests. I know the show writers just wanted to devise drama for the plot, but even knowing that didn’t stop me curling my lip whenever one of their scenes came on.

I went into that because everything in the universe is connected, and I started getting emails from Reddit about people talking about that show. I engaged a little bit, enough to know that I’m not alone in my dislike and my reasons why. But there was also one exchange that I’d like to show you here:

My mind went in a couple of different ways when I read that. The first was, why are you watching something you really don’t want to watch, and second, as a romance author, I felt bad for Robyn Carr (who wrote the books Sullivan’s Crossing is based on) and the producers of this show. No one wants to be told that their content is “kind of mindless” or is made up of lazy writing.

We’re living in an age where our attention is constantly split between two or even more things. TV shows turn into background noise while we do chores or cook, we scroll on our phones when we shouldn’t like at a movie theater and behind the wheel, or we have a conversation with someone on speakerphone or FaceTime while we shop. It’s almost like if you do one thing at a time you’re failing at life.

I think what bothers me the most when it comes to talking about distraction and split attention is the lack of respect that goes along with it. What do I mean by that? I’ll tell you a little story.

Two years ago I hired my last beta reader. I didn’t pay her very much, but I was supposed to be helping her set up a beta reading service, so it was a win-win situation for both of us. I paid her and emailed her my manuscripts. She was an avid reader and I had known her for a long time, so while I felt a bit apprehensive because we’d had some conflicts in the past, I pushed them aside. She did read, but occasionally I’d get messages like, “At the auto shop waiting with my husband and reading your book,” or “On a road trip with the family, reading your book,” and I started to wonder just how much attention was she giving my story. It turns out she missed an important callback that resulted in some skewed feedback. Meaning, she forgot what a character said, or possibly missed it completely, which made what another character said later in the book not make sense to her. I didn’t need a math degree to put two and two together. She was reading while she was distracted.

Needless to say, I was pretty disappointed. Since then I haven’t bothered to find other beta readers or give my manuscripts to anyone else. I realized that no feedback is better than bad feedback and we can’t always guarantee that our money is going to pay for quality.

When you’re a new writer, accurate feedback is really important. You’re still learning and leveling up your craft depends on useful, thoughtful, and relevant critique. What is a new writer going to do if they can’t find someone who’s willing to actually sit down in a quiet space and give their words the attention they deserve? And why offer to beta read or help someone if you’re not going to do the work that’s required and expected? I’ve seen other beta readers say they’re settling down to beta read a client’s work and that they’re reading with the TV on for background noise. I can understand if that’s part your process, but not everything needs to put online. If you’re charging the going rate to beta read or edit for someone, it might be better to keep that kind of detail to yourself.

When people don’t pay attention while reading they can come back with questions, accusations, or even complaints, and an author can lose confidence that their writing is good and that plots and character arcs make sense. Books require a person to be present while they consume those words or the meaning, nuance, and themes can get missed entirely. Is that going to be the author’s fault? Was the plot too complicated? Were the characters too complex? Was the prose too purple? How is an author going to know? Maybe the real reason that reader couldn’t follow what was going on was because she was playing Bingo with her grandma at the VFW. I mean, things happen.

Distraction is also bad news on the author side. I used to be able to listen to music while I wrote, but I can’t do that anymore. I start listening to the song instead of writing, and now when I have a writing or editing session, I do it in silence. Sometimes I’ll pick up my phone and scroll, and I’ll ask myself if I’m going to write/edit or scroll because I can’t do both. That’s enough to get me to put my phone in another room and focus on the task at hand. Editing while distracted is just an invitation to edit more typos into your manuscript rather than fix what’s already there. Readers deserve respect because they invest in an author’s work twofold: they pay to read and give hours of their time as well. The last thing an author needs is a reader saying, “What was that?” at the end of their book because a main character had five careers, her hair changed colors six times, and there’s a plot hole big enough for the Grand Canyon to fall through. The setting of Sullivan’s Crossing is beautiful, but it’s not that important.

That’s not to say that a comfort watch is invalid. In these times finding comfort and a little peace where you can is more important than ever. Being able to sit and watch something relaxing is critical to mental health. Our brains aren’t meant to work twenty-four hours a day, seven days week, and authors and writers are often encouraged to take a break and fill their creative wells. Maybe that means doomscrolling while sitting through bland dialogue and watching a shirtless and sweaty Chad Michael Murray chop wood. But that doesn’t mean every show on TV needs to be that way and dumbing down scripts and books isn’t the answer to a culture that’s becoming used to doing two or three things at once.

What is the answer then? I’m not sure. I’m at a place in my career where going without feedback isn’t ideal, but having beta readers who will read with only one eye on the paper isn’t any better. We can’t police how people live, and putting a clause in a contract asking people to please don’t beta read or edit while watching TV or playing Bingo probably won’t work. People will do what they’re gonna do. But I don’t think it’s wrong to expect the service providers you pay to give you quality. Important callbacks, breadcrumbs, twisty plots, and complicated character arcs demand attention, not someone singing the theme song to Sullivan’s Crossing under their breath while they read.

What made me think of this topic was the Substack article I read a couple of weeks ago, https://thecreativegood.substack.com/p/what-is-second-screening-and-why, about screenwriters at a certain streaming service being asked to dumb down their writing. People scroll on their phones while they watch TV causing them to miss important details during a show. This article reinforced what has already been circling in my brain for a while now, especially when it comes to long serials and series where it’s imperative that readers pay attention from the very first page so the very last page makes sense.

In the article Jamie Feldman argues that dumbing down isn’t the answer, and of course it’s not. We can’t dumb down everything to appeal to the people who can’t put down their phones because that means people who do want to invest time and attention in a murder investigation or kidnapping case will get left behind. There will always be people who want to turn their phones off and get lost in a world to forget their own for a little bit, and those are the people who we should create for. If that’s who you want to create for. Maybe Robyn Carr doesn’t care the show based on her books is considered “mindless comfort.” She’s getting paid either way regardless.

I’ll keep writing my twisty books and it will be a reader’s loss if they’re distracted and can’t connect the dots. I’m not going to take responsibility for someone’s lack of focus and I won’t take feedback personally. Maybe one of the most important rules in writing craft is to trust your reader, and I will. I will trust them to remember what a character said on page 100 so the callback on page 300 makes sense. And if a reader decides my books are too complicated, they can self-select out and find lighter fare. That’s completely reasonable and won’t hurt my feelings at all. There are an unlimited number of readers out there and an author for everyone to enjoy.

There’s a time and a place for split attention, and only you can decide when and where that is. I’ll keep my attention on things that matter: my books and projects and the books and projects I help other people with. No matter how tempting Sullivan’s Crossing‘s eye candy is.

If you read Jamie’s Substack article, tell me what you think of it. The idea of dumbing down content to appeal to distracted consumers is interesting and I’d love to start a conversation in the comments.

Have a great week, everyone. See you next Monday!