(no subject)
"...In the 1990s, we turned to books...
For the first time in histiry, five factors have aligned to bring about this explosion in storytelling. In no particular order the factors are:
Free time.
Technology.
Material.
Education.
And disgust.
The first seems simple. More people have more free time. People are retiring and living together. Our standard of living and social safety net allows people to work fewer hours. Plus, as more people recognize the value of storytelling - but strictly as book and movie material - more people see writing, reading, and research as something more than just a highbrow recreation. Writing's not just a nice little hobby. It's becoming a bona fide financial endeavor worth your time and energy. Telling anyone that you write always prompts the question 'What have you published?' Our expectation is writing equals money. Or good writing should. Still, it would be damn near impossible to get your work seen if not for the second factor:
Technology. For a small investment, you can be published on the Internet, accessible to millions of people worldwide. Printers and small presses can provide any number of on-demand hard-copy books for anybody with the money to self-publish. Or subsidy publish. Or vanity publish. Or whatever you want to call it. Anybody who can use a photocopy machine and a stapler can publish a book. It's never been soo easy. Never in history have so many bookshit the market each year. All of them filled with the third factor:
Material. As more people grow old, with the experience of a lifetime to remember, the more they worry about losing it. All those memories. Their best formulas, stories, routines for making a dinner table burst into laughter. Their legacy. Their life. Just a touch of Alzheimer's disease, and it could all disappear. Besides, all our best adventures seem to be behind us. So it feels good to relive them, to share them on paper. Organizing and making all that flotsam and jetsam make sense. Wrapping it up, neat and tidy, and putting a nice bow on top. The first volume in the three-volume boxed set that will be your life. The 'best of' NFL highlights tape of your life. All in one place, your reasons for doing what you did. Your explanations why, In case anyone wants to know.
And thank God for factor number four:
Education. Because at least we all know how to keyboard. We know where to put the commas...kind of. Pretty much. We have automatic spell-checking. We're not afraid to sit down and take a swing at the job of book writing. Stephen King makes it look so easy. All those books. And Irvine Welsh, he makes it look like fun, the last place you can do drugs and commit crimes and not get arrested, or fat, or sick. Besides, we've read books all our lives. We've seen a million movies. In fact, that's part of our motivation, the fifth factor:
Disgust. Except for maybe six movies at the video store, the rest is crap. And most books, it's the same. Crap. We could do better. We know all the basic plots. It's all been broken down by Joseph Campbell. By John Gardner. By E.B. White. Instead of wasting more time and money on another crappy book or movie, how about you take a stab at doing the job? I mean, why not?..."
an extract taken from 'Non-Fiction' by Chuck Palahniuk
For the first time in histiry, five factors have aligned to bring about this explosion in storytelling. In no particular order the factors are:
Free time.
Technology.
Material.
Education.
And disgust.
The first seems simple. More people have more free time. People are retiring and living together. Our standard of living and social safety net allows people to work fewer hours. Plus, as more people recognize the value of storytelling - but strictly as book and movie material - more people see writing, reading, and research as something more than just a highbrow recreation. Writing's not just a nice little hobby. It's becoming a bona fide financial endeavor worth your time and energy. Telling anyone that you write always prompts the question 'What have you published?' Our expectation is writing equals money. Or good writing should. Still, it would be damn near impossible to get your work seen if not for the second factor:
Technology. For a small investment, you can be published on the Internet, accessible to millions of people worldwide. Printers and small presses can provide any number of on-demand hard-copy books for anybody with the money to self-publish. Or subsidy publish. Or vanity publish. Or whatever you want to call it. Anybody who can use a photocopy machine and a stapler can publish a book. It's never been soo easy. Never in history have so many bookshit the market each year. All of them filled with the third factor:
Material. As more people grow old, with the experience of a lifetime to remember, the more they worry about losing it. All those memories. Their best formulas, stories, routines for making a dinner table burst into laughter. Their legacy. Their life. Just a touch of Alzheimer's disease, and it could all disappear. Besides, all our best adventures seem to be behind us. So it feels good to relive them, to share them on paper. Organizing and making all that flotsam and jetsam make sense. Wrapping it up, neat and tidy, and putting a nice bow on top. The first volume in the three-volume boxed set that will be your life. The 'best of' NFL highlights tape of your life. All in one place, your reasons for doing what you did. Your explanations why, In case anyone wants to know.
And thank God for factor number four:
Education. Because at least we all know how to keyboard. We know where to put the commas...kind of. Pretty much. We have automatic spell-checking. We're not afraid to sit down and take a swing at the job of book writing. Stephen King makes it look so easy. All those books. And Irvine Welsh, he makes it look like fun, the last place you can do drugs and commit crimes and not get arrested, or fat, or sick. Besides, we've read books all our lives. We've seen a million movies. In fact, that's part of our motivation, the fifth factor:
Disgust. Except for maybe six movies at the video store, the rest is crap. And most books, it's the same. Crap. We could do better. We know all the basic plots. It's all been broken down by Joseph Campbell. By John Gardner. By E.B. White. Instead of wasting more time and money on another crappy book or movie, how about you take a stab at doing the job? I mean, why not?..."
an extract taken from 'Non-Fiction' by Chuck Palahniuk