OK, I don't even DO NaNoWriMo....

[kusanivy]

... and I think this woman is a clueless idiot... XP

I heard an interview with her this morning on Radio One's Q where she told Jian that basically the world didn't need anymore novels because there were more novels out there now than one person could read in a lifetime anyways

Comments

[cobalt_00]

Yes, because reading is entirely selfless. You're just out there, reading to support an author. No enjoyment whatsoever.
This woman is a flake. An overly negative, pessimistic flake. She acknowledges that she does want more new novels - but only HER favourite novels. For her to then tout as heroes people who read outside of their comfort zone reveals that she doesn't believe much in editing, either.
And the "heroes" at the end are slackers.

[kusanivy]

Yes - how dare we go out and write our own books (or paint our own pictures for that matter, or anything else that we create simply for the pleasure of doing so) - we should be out reading the books already out there like, OH, her book :P

[jetsan_supreme]

I didn't read any novels this year. The closest I got was the short-story collection The Dragon and the Stars (squee!). The rest I read was:
- the Old Testament
- Montaigne's Essais
- The Templars
- Genghis Khan
- L'Assassinat de Henri IV

All non-fiction or philosophy books. To her, I must be the Devil.

I agree that writers need to keep reading...it's like going to a professional development course for your own writing, and a really *fun* PD course at that. :D

[kusanivy]

It's like saying we shouldn't make more TV shows or more movies because the majority of them are bad, and there are more than one person could watch in a lifetime right now anyways.

[jetsan_supreme]

Who's forcing her to read them anyway?

And forgive me if I don't feel sorry for publishers inundated with manuscripts. Sorting through them is the poor babies' job.

[cissasghost]

I'm not necessarily a fan of the NaNo concept - I think the comradery of it is wonderful, but the actual time constraint and pressure aren't something that work for me. I'm a revise-as-I-go sort of gal, which means there may be days or weeks where I re-read my last chapter 87 times and don't write a single word (I may change up a few already-written words) . . and those aren't wasted weeks.

. . . but I agree that that woman's a clueless idiot, or at least a self-congratulatory idiot with an inflated idea of the importance of her favored pastimes. Classifying people as "readers", as if it were a profession, strikes me as similar to calling folks "eaters". Some folks may not have a very varied or adventurous appetite, but everybody eats. In this society, damned near everybody reads. It's entirely possible that they don't read novel so much - maybe they read self-help books, or graphic novels, or journal articles related to their profession. But they read. You don't exist as a functional adult in modern Western culture and not

[jetsan_supreme]

BRAVO!

:D

[baensidhe]

There's no such thing as a story that shouldn't be told

Hear freakin' hear. \o/

[kusanivy]

I think NaNoWriMo itself is a bit of a head-fake - I think the whole point of the exercise is really less about writing a single coherent novel and more about getting people into the habit of doing something creative (in this case writing) every day. It's just that it's easier to sell the idea as a challenge - "National Novel Writing Month" sounds more exciting, and is a clearer goal than "National Write Something Every Day Month

[kazahaya]

I think the comment "So I'm not worried about all the books that won't get written if a hundred thousand people with a nagging but unfulfilled ambition to Be a Writer lack the necessary motivation to get the job done. I see no reason to cheer them on." says a lot. Especially the 'I' in the statements. Well guess what, they're not writing for YOU.

Ironically enough, she WROTE that little blog entry, and pasted her own book/writing credentials at the end of it. Nevermind it's a study on Narnia, not an actual fantasy novel she's written.

I think one of the best comments I saw was:

"It was yet another depressing sign that the cultural spaces once dedicated to the selfless art of reading are being taken over by the narcissistic commerce of writing

[jetsan_supreme]

*Standing ovation*

:D

[glamourcorpse]

How did Jian respond to it? That man has had to deal with some real winners in his time...

[kusanivy]

Well it wasn't another Billy Bob incident (although how he ever kept his cool then I'll never know)

He remained fairly neutral although he did have to finally cut her off rather abruptly at the end and he did sound rather amazed she was saying these things.

[cobalt_00]

Billy Bob? As in Thornton, or someone else?

[sonic_assassin]

As in Thornton, indeed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJWS6qyy7bw