Wangst and weemo

[feuervogel]

I read a lot of writers' blogs. Or LJs, whatever. And I've started to feel like I'm inadequate and inept as a writer, because I wasn't an English major. I'm not Trained in things like Narrative Technique, Structure, and Symbolism, and I'm not well-read enough in classics, folklore, or myths to make use of Allusions.

I'm an impostor.

All I've got is some characters, a story idea, and 20-odd years of reading spec fic (and some Real Books™). No technique, no ideas for creative symbolism or structure or literary allusions.

I'm never gonna sell anything.

Comments

[feuervogel]

Some modern genre writers are very enamored of Structure, Narrative Form, and Deconstruction of Tropes. People love them. They win Hugos. (Also, apparently, Purple Lyrical Prose is the big thing these days.)

I'll also never be considered a Good Writer because I don't like killing off my characters.

[tammylee.livejournal.com]

And is winning a Hugo your goal and why you want to write? Are you looking for literary acclaim? If you are then, yes, be concerned about these things. If you just want to publish your stories and have readers enjoy them then don't sweat it; just tell your stories as best you can. J.K. Rowling is proof technical skill and education are not requirements for writing a popular and money-making story. (Not that I am accusing you of writing as bad as J.K.Rowling, I would never do that! lol I'm just saying, if SHE can do it...)

(Purple lyrical prose will NEVER be a big thing in my taste for writing. If it has come back into vogue then comfort yourself with the knowledge it is a fad and will go away. [Much like acid wash denim.] =p)

As for killing off your characters, dude, who says?

I understand that all creative people navigate ups and downs with their work but don't let these sort of things get to you. Soldier on and keep writing. Rejection is part of the industry and you need to move past the stories that don't sell and keep going!

And, yes, next time I'm having a low moment and going on about how I'm unpublishable feel free to toss all this back at me. I'll likely need a reminder!

[smarriveurr.livejournal.com]

J.K. Rowling is proof technical skill and education are not requirements for writing a popular and money-making story.

Ahem. For further evidence, I refer you to Stephanie Meyer. If the metric is success, money, audience... yeah. Knowledge of and even skill at writing aren't requirements.

[tammylee.livejournal.com]

I was going to mention S.Meyer but I've never been brave enough to actually try reading one of her stories. XD Is her writing absolutely horrible?

What bothers me about popular but horribly-written stories is what the kids reading them learn about story-telling. Then again, history is fraught with horrible writers who tell popular tales. Staying power seems to be based on popularity and having your works physically survive long enough to become 'classic'.

[smarriveurr.livejournal.com]

I've never read them. I'm afraid the books would burn me. I've read in-depth reviews and analyses, though, and excerpts... summaries showing the characterization, etc. I know some people who have read it, but none of them are writers or English majors, and even they comment on the mediocre quality.

I particularly worry about popular-but-crappy genre fiction, because it just confirms what people want to believe - that all genre fiction is inherently inferior, because look at what the "break out" genre fiction is like! Likewise, every poorly written breakout inspires even crappier knockoffs of the crappy original. From what I've read, the Twilight novels actually bother me more for their commentary (and indoctrination) on people and relationships than their writing lessons.

Not to mention that S.M. publicly and profusely disavows having done her homework with regard to writing fantasy. Which, of course, she's not writing, really. Those vampires and werewolves are taken from fantasy, which is of course a ghetto of unpopular, badly written stuff for D&D nerds.

[tammylee.livejournal.com]

...because it just confirms what people want to believe - that all genre fiction is inherently inferior...
Ugh, yes. This attitude needs to go away and blockbuster crap isn't helping. XD

[smarriveurr.livejournal.com]

Not to mention that whenever a genre novel starts getting literary attention, it stops being considered "science fiction" or "fantasy" or what-have-you - now it's a bildungsroman that just happens to be set on a fictional world where there happens to be magic, or it's a "startling vision of the future" or what have you.

[smarriveurr.livejournal.com]

Oh, god, I forgot, until a news story tonight about the new book...

The ultimate argument. The final proof you don't need writing skill. You don't need research. You don't need realism. You don't have to write compelling dialogue or narrative. You don't even need interesting, realistic characters or consistency in characterization.

I give you...

Dan. Motherfucking. Brown.

Quod Erat Demonstrandum.

[tammylee.livejournal.com]

Ahahah! Is that the guy who wrote The Da Vinci Code? (Which I have not, nor will I ever, read.)

Q.E.D., indeed!

[smarriveurr.livejournal.com]

It is, and, sad to say, I have read the book. So I can say with all reasonable assurance that he would fail any writing course in the world. Not to mention any history course.

[tammylee.livejournal.com]

And then this lovely link (http://ow.ly/pGV9) crossed my path. XD

[smarriveurr.livejournal.com]

Wow. Picking the 20 worst sentences of Dan Brown is like trying to find a needle in a needlestack.

So, now, take that, and multiply it by hundreds of pages over multiple novels. Because, trust me, The Da Vinci Code doesn't really have any better turns of phrase that I recall.

But the chapters are short, and the sentences are usually simple, and you get to thrill to the fact that you're way smarter than the Professor of Symbology and all his very educated friends. I mean, like, people who studied Leonardo da Vinci's life, but are thwarted by a clever "code" for several pages - said "code" being mirror-writing. You know, like Leonardo used all his life.

[feuervogel]

Ack! Horrid! That shit was *published*????

As someone's LJ icon says, Stephenie Meyer is my hero. If she can get published, I can too.