{"id":266,"date":"2017-03-13T11:51:00","date_gmt":"2017-03-13T11:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/2017\/03\/13\/in-defense-of-fluff\/"},"modified":"2020-10-26T23:54:58","modified_gmt":"2020-10-26T23:54:58","slug":"in-defense-of-fluff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/2017\/03\/13\/in-defense-of-fluff\/","title":{"rendered":"In Defense of Fluff"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"georgette<\/a><\/div>\n

Well-written literature is a wonderful gift. \u00a0There is nothing like closing the cover of a book and knowing you have read something truly great. \u00a0Whether, for you, that is a Dickens novel or a modern classic that feeling is unmistakable.<\/p>\n

But sometimes you just want to read fluff. A cozy mystery, a Regency romance, a detective novel, chick lit, whatever your fluff of choice is, we all need it sometimes. \u00a0But all too often, we feel like we need to apologize for it. \u00a0“Well, I wouldn’t usually read this but….” or “It was fun for what it is but….” \u00a0There is always that “but”, that implies that the fluff isn’t good enough.<\/p>\n

I am writing this in defense of fluff.<\/p>\n

I am a firm believer that a bit of chocolate contributes to a well-balanced diet and that a bit of fluff is essential for the well-balanced reader. \u00a0We all need to escape sometimes. \u00a0We all are tired sometimes. \u00a0We all occasionally want to retreat to our childhoods and read old favorites. We need to shut off our brains and read the story and not analyze the writing. \u00a0Why do we apologize for that? If cozy mysteries set in an English village full of doddering spinsters and handsome vicars are your thing then read them and preach their wonders from the rooftops. \u00a0And please, send them on to me when you are done. \u00a0No, they may not be great literature but did the book engage your interest? \u00a0Did it pull you into the story? \u00a0Most important of all, did you enjoy it? \u00a0If you answered yes, then it was worth reading.<\/p>\n

There is a difference between poorly written books and fluff. \u00a0I have less and less tolerance for poorly written books. \u00a0If the writing is too pedestrian and I find myself editing the book as I go I am unlikely to read it. \u00a0But that is not fluff. \u00a0Fluff is just what it sounds like, light and fun and not too demanding. \u00a0And there is a lot of well-written fluff out there.<\/p>\n

Georgette Heyer is one of my favorite writers of fluff. \u00a0Actually, she is what inspired this post. \u00a0I read a review of one of her books–I can’t remember where–and the whole thing was a disclaimer. \u00a0“I don’t read romances” \u00a0Yet, the blogger enjoyed it. \u00a0And in the comments, everyone else was saying “I don’t read romances” yet they were going on to recommend other Heyer novels. \u00a0So they do read romances. \u00a0They feel it is something to be apologized for. \u00a0Just don’t. \u00a0Don’t apologize for reading Heyer and don’t ever apologize for reading something you enjoyed.<\/p>\n

Because that is why we read. We enjoy it. \u00a0Of course, there are a lot of other benefits. \u00a0We broaden our horizons, we develop empathy, we learn, but the main reason we read is because we love it. We love books. \u00a0We love stories.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, the stories we love are fluff and that is perfectly okay.<\/p>\n

Preach its wonders from the rooftops.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well-written literature is a wonderful gift. \u00a0There is nothing like closing the cover of a book and knowing you have read something truly great. \u00a0Whether, for you, that is a Dickens novel or a modern classic that feeling is unmistakable. But sometimes you just want to read fluff. A cozy mystery, a Regency romance, a detective novel, chick lit, whatever your fluff of choice is, we all need it sometimes. \u00a0But all too often, we feel like we need to apologize for it. \u00a0“Well, I wouldn’t usually read this but….” or “It was fun for what it is but….” \u00a0There is always that “but”, that implies that the fluff isn’t good enough. I am writing this in defense of fluff. I am a firm believer that a bit of chocolate contributes to a well-balanced diet and that a bit of fluff is essential for the well-balanced reader. \u00a0We all need to escape sometimes. \u00a0We all are tired sometimes. \u00a0We all occasionally want to retreat to our childhoods and read old favorites. We need to shut off our brains and read the story and not analyze the writing. \u00a0Why do we apologize for that? If cozy mysteries set in an English village full of doddering spinsters and handsome vicars are your thing then read them and preach their wonders from the rooftops. \u00a0And please, send them on to me when you are done. \u00a0No, they may not be great literature but did the book engage your interest? \u00a0Did it pull you into the story? \u00a0Most important of all, did you enjoy it? \u00a0If you answered yes, then it was worth reading. There is a difference between poorly written books and fluff. \u00a0I have less and less tolerance for poorly written books. \u00a0If the writing is too pedestrian and I find myself editing the book as I go I am unlikely to read it. \u00a0But that is not fluff. \u00a0Fluff is just what it sounds like, light and fun and not too demanding. \u00a0And there is a lot of well-written fluff out there. Georgette Heyer is one of my favorite writers of fluff. \u00a0Actually, she is what inspired this post. \u00a0I read a review of one of her books–I can’t remember where–and the whole thing was a disclaimer. \u00a0“I don’t read romances” \u00a0Yet, the blogger enjoyed it. \u00a0And in the comments, everyone else was saying “I don’t read romances” yet they were going on to recommend other Heyer novels. \u00a0So they do read romances. \u00a0They feel it is something to be apologized for. \u00a0Just don’t. \u00a0Don’t apologize for reading Heyer and don’t ever apologize for reading something you enjoyed. Because that is why we read. We enjoy it. \u00a0Of course, there are a lot of other benefits. \u00a0We broaden our horizons, we develop empathy, we learn, but the main reason we read is because we love it. We love books. \u00a0We love stories. Sometimes, the stories we love are fluff and that is perfectly okay. Preach its wonders from the rooftops.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1065,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-thoughts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2731,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266\/revisions\/2731"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}