Every November, I log into the NaNoWriMo convention, which is where the world's authors gather online to ask such questions as: If I have a story that happens in 1850, how many stars would be on the American flag?
Others are less amusing, more to the point of: WTF did you have in mind when you decided on the title?
The main one is the absurd notion that a high school student can freely express a unique point of view that carries over into a salable novel.
Alleging a superb level of intellect based on an eclectic and diverse life experience, most of these wannabes are driven by a story in their heads that they learned playing video games. "Wow, I could invent Zepidoptera, the stalwart defender of justice with Double-Ds, a ba-dass attitude and a generally subtle streak of generosity, sincere love and affection for her true ..." ........... stop me here before I have to get a plastic bag.
World building, to a fan of cartoon fiction, is quite simple.
There are various parts to this, the chief one being ... where exactly is this world you just built? Well, in some other "galaxy," is the standard answer -- as if the one they're in isn't big enough.
But the main parts of this relate to how one gets there, why they chose to go there, or how we knew they were there if they were already there.
More subtle components all mesh what the potential writer knows, and how to modify it.
We need a whole lot less of this "literature" and a whole lot less promoting of it as a form of writing.
NaNoWriMo is an interesting place to visit when going off-world. Almost nobody who participates has any concept of how to write a novel and they aren't getting much in the way of help. Rooting somebody on is fairly free, hardly of any value.
I have no idea what percentage of Wrimos get a real book written. I suspect less than a percent or two. Most of them have no idea how to research and fewer have actually read very much. When you're 17, you aren't ready to write a novel.
No matter which world you inhabit.
No comments:
Post a Comment