Write for Love
I want you to do something for me. Never complain that you are a bad writer - NONE OF YOU. I believe I've read snippets from just about everyone on my friends list and I can safely say (with great confidence) that you are better than some of the people on my Kindle.
You see, I get a lot of the free books. That can be really good or, in this case, so mind-numbingly frustrating that I can't even find the on/off button.
This might sound like I'm being uncharitable but I'm not being mean. I am being honest.
I'm not sure how I got hold of the first book (Forever Young) as it is now only available in the UK. I've deleted it from my Kindle so I can't share any of it with you word for word. It was a very short story and a lot of the commentors blamed that for the lack of story. No, this guy just can't write. It was BAD! I've read AMAZING short stories in fandom that are MUCH better than this. It was written in a sort of journal format (i.e. all tell and no show) and had about as much warmth in it as a bowl of scrambled eggs that have set out all afternoon long. When the woman's first husband died, I didn't care. I also didn't care when her daughter died.
The fact that so many of the commentors (both on Amazon and Goodreads) actually LIKED IT makes me think that this guy has a lot of friends. Or aliases.
He has another short story that is also available here. What do you think of this one? Would you pay 99 cents for it? I wouldn't.
No one has ever told this guy about SHOWING. He writes erotica (these stories are some of his more "serious" stories - his word, not mine) so you would think he knows ALL ABOUT SHOWING. I don't know about you but I have bought a few erotica stories (the Kindle makes is blissfully easy to read these and no one can tell what you're reading) just to see what all the fuss is about and some of them are DRIVEL. I have a feeling his are, too. Not that I can judge them as I've never read them but I think it's pretty clear that this guy has a writing style and it's not good.
He's also blissfully unaware of dialogue although there is some in the second story. There was very little in the first, that I can remember. I won't even get into punctuation.
Okay, so why am I bringing this up? Because it continues to AMAZE me that people are putting some of this stuff up for public consumption at Amazon. They expect people to pay for it. Every day, I read amazing fanfic for free that is so much better than this stuff. The difference? Fanfic is playing in someone else's world and we can't get money for it.
If you want to, though, I think you ALL could publish something on Amazon. You are all more talented than this guy. I think the real difference is that we do it for love while he's doing it for a buck.
So, never mind. Keep doing what you're doing. Write for love because you're all doing fabulous at it! When I come across more stories like this (it's running about 50/50 on the free stuff these days), I'll just shake my head and wish more people wrote for the love.
This entry was cross posted at dreamwidth - where the cool kids hang out.
You see, I get a lot of the free books. That can be really good or, in this case, so mind-numbingly frustrating that I can't even find the on/off button.
This might sound like I'm being uncharitable but I'm not being mean. I am being honest.
I'm not sure how I got hold of the first book (Forever Young) as it is now only available in the UK. I've deleted it from my Kindle so I can't share any of it with you word for word. It was a very short story and a lot of the commentors blamed that for the lack of story. No, this guy just can't write. It was BAD! I've read AMAZING short stories in fandom that are MUCH better than this. It was written in a sort of journal format (i.e. all tell and no show) and had about as much warmth in it as a bowl of scrambled eggs that have set out all afternoon long. When the woman's first husband died, I didn't care. I also didn't care when her daughter died.
The fact that so many of the commentors (both on Amazon and Goodreads) actually LIKED IT makes me think that this guy has a lot of friends. Or aliases.
He has another short story that is also available here. What do you think of this one? Would you pay 99 cents for it? I wouldn't.
No one has ever told this guy about SHOWING. He writes erotica (these stories are some of his more "serious" stories - his word, not mine) so you would think he knows ALL ABOUT SHOWING. I don't know about you but I have bought a few erotica stories (the Kindle makes is blissfully easy to read these and no one can tell what you're reading) just to see what all the fuss is about and some of them are DRIVEL. I have a feeling his are, too. Not that I can judge them as I've never read them but I think it's pretty clear that this guy has a writing style and it's not good.
He's also blissfully unaware of dialogue although there is some in the second story. There was very little in the first, that I can remember. I won't even get into punctuation.
Okay, so why am I bringing this up? Because it continues to AMAZE me that people are putting some of this stuff up for public consumption at Amazon. They expect people to pay for it. Every day, I read amazing fanfic for free that is so much better than this stuff. The difference? Fanfic is playing in someone else's world and we can't get money for it.
If you want to, though, I think you ALL could publish something on Amazon. You are all more talented than this guy. I think the real difference is that we do it for love while he's doing it for a buck.
So, never mind. Keep doing what you're doing. Write for love because you're all doing fabulous at it! When I come across more stories like this (it's running about 50/50 on the free stuff these days), I'll just shake my head and wish more people wrote for the love.
This entry was cross posted at dreamwidth - where the cool kids hang out.