Appeal ability is influenced by the author's "personality" (humility and consideration can be a disadvantage)

The quality of a novel and its ability to appeal are two different things—I have written about this in previous articles, but I believe the biggest factor that makes them "different" is the author's personality.

Even if you know what is necessary for an appeal, there are times when you cannot do it due to your personality.

For example, can a person with a humble personality who was raised believing that humility is a virtue openly appeal, "My novel is incredibly interesting, so please read it!"?

Can a person who is considerate of others and thinks, "If I push too hard, it might be a nuisance..." really give it a hard sell by saying, "Read it! Read it! Bookmark it!"?

People's tastes vary—can a person who knows this and calmly analyzes, "I wrote this novel well, but I don't know if it will suit others' 'tastes'..." really appeal by saying, "no matter who reads it it is definitely an interesting novel!"?

Humility, restraint, consideration for others... if we think about them only in terms of "active appeal," these things that were once considered Japanese virtues are nothing more than "obstacles."

And sadly, I feel that modern society is becoming an appeal-supremacy society that tends to pay attention to people who "stand out flashily and go viral all at once" rather than people who are "working steadily without standing out."

(I don't intend to "praise" steady effort, as that could lead to black company labor issues... but I also think it's wrong for it to be completely ignored and treated as if it "doesn't exist.")

In the first place, people are creatures easily deceived by images.

Isn't it the case that people who are confident and dignified appear to have "higher ability" than people who are timid and lack confidence?

However, just as there is such a thing as "unfounded confidence," confidence is largely due to "personality" rather than "ability".

Even if they have the ability to overwhelm others, there are people with low self-evaluation who say, "This ability is nothing special at all."

If you really want someone with ability, you should not rely on vague first impressions, but rather properly assess their ability through tests or practical application.

(This is actually something I've vaguely wondered about during job hunting and even after entering society... Surely corporate recruiters aren't taking self-promotion and first impressions at face value, right? ...is what I wonder.)

The same goes for novels. A novel with an interesting image (first impression) is not necessarily "interesting" in reality.

That is because it is only an "image" that the reader has drawn in their own mind, and not the "truth."

Whether that novel is interesting or not, in the end, you won't know unless you read it.

The "image" at a glance is something you cannot understand unless you are not swayed by it and judge it with your own eyes.

"Personality" is greatly influenced not only by "innate nature" but also by the environment in which a person was raised and their life experiences.

Whether parents were positive or negative toward their child, whether they experienced setbacks in life, whether they were in an environment where they had to be considerate of others, etc...

It is almost never something the person themselves chose, but rather something that should be called fate—determined, so to speak, by a 'gacha'.

If that influences not only your life up to now but also your life from here on out—even whether or not your 'work sees the light of day'—don't you think there is nothing more unrewarding than that?

It is said that the current era is an 'unrewarding era' and a 'difficult to live in era'.

However, I think that what creates that 'lack of reward' and 'difficulty in living' is, in the end, the people living in that era themselves.

Because people don't really 'see' other people—because they are swayed by 'images' and 'appearances' and don't turn their eyes to the 'truth' that lies beneath—that is why 'lack of reward' and 'difficulty in living' are born... in the end, I think that is what it comes down to...

Conversely, if people were to 'properly' see other people instead of just their image or appearance (if such a change in consciousness could be achieved), I feel that the 'lack of reward' and 'difficulty in living' of modern society could be easily changed...