Does a writer have any artistic freedom left...?

Write a trilogy start the first book in Japan then half way through the second book shift it to another country.That way your fans have got a one and half books to get used to you not writing about Japan.Leave the trilogy open for more books starting in the country you left the last book in.

Steve

Hey, that's actually not a bad idea

I generally like to write every book with a completely different set of characters and stories, but why not, I could extend one such imaginary world into 3 books...

If this works I will put you on the "thank you" page!

I also had another idea - to approach another publisher and write a book that I want to write (not Japan!) under a nickname. I know my readers expect Japan in every story, but if the author's name is different? The problem might come with promotion, because these days books don't sell by themselves - I have to do tours around the country, meetings with readers, radio, TV, etc. If I showed my face at such events everybody would know who's behind that nickname...

How about set it in Japan but the first half turns out just to be a dream or a flashback memory. Bad sushi? Then the lead steps out the shower and they're actually in Sheffield?

As you point out yourself you see yourself "as a writer of novels that talk about people, their stories, their emotions and experiences". The context is secondary to you, but important for your readership.

I like 'seriality' as a priciple myself so, if it were me, I'd not worry about the context and concentrate all my effort on the next really excellent "novel that talks about people, their stories, their emotions and experiences."

Good luck with whatever you decide.

G

I have to say that while I sympathise 100% with your plight, I find the title of your thread rather self-pitying and in slightly poor taste. This is NOT a question of artistic freedom. You simply have an unimaginative publisher who is unwilling to take risks or to deviate from a previously successful formula (a problem faced by artists, musicians and writers for centuries). Nobody is forcing you to write something you don't want to, nor are you being stopped from writing what you please, or from expressing yourself.

Just try being a writer in places like China, Putin's Russia, Turkey, Iran, Egypt or Zimbabwe - then you'll know what a lack of artistic freedom really means. Try reading Barbara Demick's horrific Nothing to Envy (about ordinary life in North Korea) to really learn about repression. Or think about the outrageous case of Salman Rushdie, who had to go into hiding for years simply for the "crime" of writing a book (and a number of people associated with that book were murdered).

Then try growing a pair, getting a better agent or finding another publisher. Or better still, why not do it yourself? You obviously have a name, a reputation and a readership, so you have a head start on most...

Slate your publisher, or bemoan your audience for not wanting something new and interesting. But please, don't bleat about artistic freedom. You don't know how lucky you are to be able to express yourself.

Well, I guess it's time for another publisher. You can, of course, write whatever you want. Your question is about publishing, not writing; and certainly not about artistic freedom.

I grew up in communist Poland and I know 1st hand what it means to deal with censorship (which was actually sometimes easier than dealing with the publishers' free market rules now), and I know how does it feel to be beaten by ZOMO for carrying G. Orwell's "1984" in your school bag. At least I'm alive, because my friend was beaten to death. So get off your high horse and don't lecture me on freedom.

OK, I might have called the issue incorrectly, because English is not my 1st language. Good lesson for me never to visit this section of the forum again.

Subject closed, I'm checking out "Follow this topic" and I'll stick to Hi-fi and Streaming sections from now on.

have you ever been to Russia, leave alone 'putins', to make such a generalisation?

suppose i take issue against same sex marriages, may i publish a book in Britain and push it as widely as Gary Potter's for example?

well the West has destroyed the USSR only to take its place.

Yes. And its predecessor, the Soviet Union. While things are better now than in the Soviet era, Russia is not a "free" country by the standards of most of the West, particularly for critics of the current regime. A large number of dissident voices - particularly journalists - have been silenced, either by losing their jobs, being imprisoned, or mysteriously "disappearing", falling out of windows etc.

And according to the latest (2013) report from Reporters Without Borders, the international organisation which monitors press and media freedom, Russia is one of the most repressive regimes on Earth - 148th  out of 179.

The full report is available here

In case you don't want to read the full report, here's a quote:

In Eastern Europe, Russia (148th, -6) has fallen again because, since Vladimir Putin’s return to the presidency, repression has been stepped up in response to an unprecedented wave of opposition protests. The country also continues to be marked by the unacceptable failure to punish all those who have murdered or attacked journalists.

I'm sorry about your friend, and I'm glad you no longer have to suffer that kind of Stalinist-style repression. But given your unfortunate experiences, I really think you would have considered the title of your initial post more carefully, especially as English isn't your first language. I apologise if my post offended you but it did come across as being a bit self-pitying. Also, I wasn't lecturing you about freedom - I was merely commenting on the fact that your publisher is unadventurous (as most of them are these days) and that your problem is with that, not artistic expression.

things are in fact much better, strange you had to resort to understatement... and who has set those 'standarts' that you feel okay to impose on the rest of the world?

people lose there jobs for many other reasons than being 'silenced' as well as disappearing or falling out of window. Snowden and Assange were persecuted unjustly though.

...and whose strings are pulled by the CIA and MI6, right?

Well, Gary Potter is, as far as I know, either a jazz guitarist or a former lower-league footballer.  Not sure if either has published their thoughts on gay marriage - so I'm not sure what point you are trying to make.

But if you did want to write a book arguing against same sex marriage - and it did not break any laws (with regard to breaches of the peace or incitement to hatred or committing violence) then I don't see any reason why you couldn't or shouldn't publishing your book in the UK.

And if you couldn't find a publisher, you could always do it yourself, either on paper or electronically.

that might be... i only hope the world gets rid of -isms someday, as well as of politics and policies.

ah you know what i meant to say, don't you?.. as you might guess i'm not into the books of that sort, so i only heard its title off some radio etc.

 to call things what they are would break British laws?

If you think that Reporters Without Borders' strings are being pulled by the CIA and MI6, you are sadly mistaken. In fact, the UK and US rank fairly low (33rd and 46th respectively) in the most recent Index. Both have slipped down the rankings in recent years. 

And yes, I agree with you about Snowden and Assange. But why was Anna Politkovskaya, a prominent journalist and critic of both Putin and the regime's actions in Chechnya - and a real pain in the arse to the President - mysteriously shot in her apartment block? After a poisoning attempt and several years' worth of death threats? And why has the murder remained so stubbornly unsolved? And why have a number of people connected with the case have since been assassinated? Does it not strike you as suspicious?

I am not seeking to impose any "standarts" [sic] on anyone, but I do believe that freedom of thought and expression are fundamental and universal human rights to be enjoyed by all. Unless of course you believe that Russians do not deserve liberty...

Why are so so keen to jump on those who seek to criticise Putin? He is a tyrant and a bully - Uncle Joe would have been proud of him.

You are very naughty, with your selective quoting. But it won't wash.

What I actually said was "and it did not break any laws with regard to breaches of the peace or incitement to hatred or committing violence."

So, if you were to write  polemic or a book against gay marriage, that is not illegal. But if your book urged readers to kill same-sex couples, or vandalise their houses, or burn down churches that held gay marriages, or told readers to spit on, or attack, gay couples in the street, then yes, that would likely (but it's not 100% certain) be regarded as an incitement to hatred or violence, or as a breach of the peace in the courts, and the author of the book could find him or herself in trouble with the law.

But that's different from "calling things as they were" isn't it?

Ha! Very good... thankfully though, they never seem to succeed these days.

the US and UK might be evil but certainly not stupid, are they?

ask the CIA that question.

yeah, go try it in today's Britain.

because there's more to Russia then Putin, to start with, i jumped your bigoted view of things, in the first place.

tyrants can't rule countries, at least not longer than a couple of months or so.

Possibly, except if you're a journalist or female pop musician...

Originally Posted by GraemeH:

I'd not worry about the context and concentrate all my effort on the next really excellent "novel that talks about people, their stories, their emotions and experiences."

...except then my publisher won't publish it (unless it is set in Japan)...

What I meant by not worry about the context WAS to set it in Japan. Sorry I wasn't clearer.

G

"yes, we'd love for you to write another novel..."

To the OP, my advice, concentrate on that part of the sentence, someone is willing to pay you for doing what you love. Write them another Japan book, take their money then watch and wait for an opportunity to write the book you want to write. In the meantime, artistic freedom won't pay your bills.

And btw it's called Padded cell for a reason...

Voltaire and I agree.

G