I’ve had a hard time coming to terms with my opinions of National Novel Writing Month. Part of me appreciates the kick in the pants it gives to new writers. The other part of me hates the kick in the pants it gives to new writers (is it fear of more competition? Maybe). The one opinion I can be faithful to is that NaNoWriMo isn’t for me.
Legion by Brandon Sanderson is a quick, fun, enjoyable read. The problem for me may be that it’s ONLY a quick, fun, enjoyable read. But that’s my personal crap, I understand. I generally like a different kind of book, one that forces me to think a bit more. But again, that my personal, elitist crap. Why shouldn’t I be able to simply enjoy a book rather than deconstruct it? It makes no sense. In fact, I should read more stories like Legion by Brandon Sanderson. I’m not being snide here; I really should.
Literary vs. Genre. It’s a debate had mostly by linguistic and book nerds, one that honestly has no effect on anything important, so why even have it? Shut up! That’s why!
Who knew the memory was so misunderstood? Well, memory scientists, maybe, but surely they aren’t going to admit that; it’d be like admitting that they aren’t good at their jobs then, right? Sorry, this video is a conspiracy theory thing, I promise. It’s actually about how interesting the book Moonwalking with Einstein is. How interesting? Very.
Really, the title of this entry is all I need. Imperfections do make for interesting characters. Nobody wants to read about a perfect human (unless the story deals with the human’s perfection as a weakness in contrast to the rest of the human race). Even Superman needed Kryptonite to be interesting. I re-learned, during a recent trip to New Orleans, that a writer should embrace the imperfections.
Though we’re just past Banned Books Week, I don’t think it’s ever too late to celebrate the majesty of systematically stripping away a person’s right to choose literature. But I don’t just want to stand on the sidelines and praise those beautiful nutjobs. I want to help. Banning books can only do so much. To really make a point, you have to burn books. Here I present a few examples which I hope you will copy so that we may all live in a better world.
I don’t agree with the avoid-them-like-the-plague concept of spoiler alerts. To me, if a book can be spoiled by a simple plot revelation, then it’s not a book worth reading. I read for the journey, for imagery, vivid description, the language, concept, and on the list goes, but what remains interestingly absent from this list is plot. I don’t care much about the plot of a book. But that’s me. I know I’m in the minority. So don’t be surprised when I continue to write *SPOILER ALERT* every time I tell you that Tyler Durden and the narrator of Fight Club are the same person.