Michael Wu - Using the Alphabet to Explain Why You're Tired of Books

Using the Alphabet to Explain Why You're Tired of Books

E is the most used letter in English by a very large margin. While every letter has its place, some just happen to show up more than others.

The alphabet is arranged in a seemingly random order that has nothing to do with the actual frequencies of the letters themselves.

All the letters are still decently frequent, though. Any page in a book should contain close to if not all 26 of these symbols.

Only the two ends of the spectrum are noticeable. Everyone knows that vowels are the most popular and certain consonants, usually near the end of the alphabet, are the rarest.

It’s the rest of the letters in the middle of the spectrum that aren’t talked about. Because frankly, those statistics aren’t that important.

Nobody really benefits from knowing if P is used more than F or whether S and G are close or far from each other on the list.

So, knowing letter frequencies is a niche skill at best unless you’re playing hangman, inventing Morse Code, or trying to guess your neighbor’s wifi password.

Reading those letters is a much more useful skill. But books have their own set of popular elements. Let me explain what I mean.

Historically, books as a medium have been used to describe many things, from pure scientific information to deeper philosophical lessons and social commentary.

Literature is grouped into several genres, and almost every new title can be grouped into one or more of these categories.

Doing this allows people to create groups and bring order to the world’s enormous collection of written works.

Consequently, it also creates preconceived expectations for how certain stories are “supposed” to look and sound.

Usually, these “clichés” are viewed under negative connotations. Readers don’t like novels that follow these tropes because they feel like clones of earlier, previously groundbreaking works.

Many of you are probably aware of the “hero’s journey,” a set of rules for directing the main character in a story. Almost every work of fiction follows the hero’s journey at its core.

Fortunately, this framework is very flexible, which is why not every story feels exactly the same. If you think about it long enough, though, you’ll find the underlying similarities between supposedly distinct stories.

Putting these tropes in your story is almost necessary now, like putting Es in your words. The difference is that no one cares if every other word has an E in it, but a story with lots of clichés is likely to be frowned upon.

Granted, it’s not the author’s fault that certain character types and plot elements have become so popular that it’s not favorable to use them anymore.

We collectively have accepted that this has become the natural order, so new and experimental plotlines are either regarded as bold and exciting or are criticized for deferring from the norm (usually both to some capacity).

Yet, we still get surprised and entertained by new books, even though they supposedly all follow the same narrative. Like I said before, there’s still a lot of room for flexibility.

Breaking boundaries is important for creating fun and original art. If a story is only slightly innovative, it will still be fun to read, even if its overarching structure matches that of a million other titles.

Vigilant and considerate readers will often pick up on any tropes or clichés while reading and will be able to make reasonable predictions about the plot. Still, any good book will always have its surprises.

Keeping that in mind, here’s one last issue. I’ve talked a lot about popularity, requirements, and the “natural order of things.” But are popular story elements actually irreplaceably crucial, the way that E, T, and A are? The obvious answer is no.

X-pecting (can you see that I’m running out of words?) something as abstract as a fictional story to follow any clear-cut rules is crazy. Still, there are so many common threads that it’s hard not to think some things are set in stone. Why does the main character have to die only to be revived later? Why do so many stories seem to need some romantic B-plot? Why are the characters always depressed?

Just because so many stories have elements like these DOES NOT mean they are required. So don’t ever think that that’s what a successful story needs.

Questioning the nature of literature has sort of become my brand at this point, but seriously: don’t let preconceived expectations about the elements of a story hold you back from creating what you want to make. It’s okay to take inspiration, but it’s even more important to know that what you’re making is really yours and not some ghost-written clone of earlier works.

Z is the least used letter in English, and it’s miraculously also the last letter of the alphabet. I guess the order isn’t completely random after all. Thanks for sticking with me through this essay, and remember: the ABCs may be static, but the words you make with them should be far from it.

Michael Wu