Comments on: Community Service

By: Kate Rothwell

Kate Rothwell — Tue, 07 Sep 2004 14:52:16 +0000

Grrrr. What they said. Grrrr.

And how can a dedicated writer have such a clean house? Maid service must be the answer.

By: Susan Gable

Susan Gable — Tue, 07 Sep 2004 11:51:08 +0000

Angry?? Moi? No, I am a happy person. (Although I don’t usually lie on the floor and smile while writing. Sometimes I lie on the floor, but usually my arm is draped over my face and I’m trying to visualize something. Sometimes anything. G Sometimes what I visualize is hurling my computer out the office window. )

Yes, I do have a stronge sense of right and wrong, and deep desire for justice. (Any wonder I write books with happy endings? G ) Yes, this software is just the latest way to “get rich quick” off that novel you know you have in you!

I think that’s what bothered me more than the software. Hey, if something works for individual writer, then more power to them! Use whatever works for YOU. But the ad I got in my in-box for this software implied that by using this software YOU (Or I suppose, I) could be the next JK Rowlings. (Ah, would that the mega-success came just like that. But JK earned her success. And this ad makes it seem as though everyone who hammers out a book will have that same result. Ummm…doesn’t happen that way, sorry.)

And stop hogging those potato chips!

Susan G.

By: booksquare

booksquare — Tue, 07 Sep 2004 01:05:57 +0000

I figure the types who aren’t willing to put in the time are also the types who figure they can dash off a novel over a weekend. I actually possess, and sort of use, writing software. Currently, I’m working on something with multiple plot lines, and having a graphic visualization of the various threads helps me see how the whole thing comes together…but I do not mistake pretty pictures for actual writing.

There will, alas, always be someone out there hawking the latest cure-all. Until you actually sit down to construct a scene (or destroy and rebuild, if you’re like me), you cannot appreciate the work that goes into writing. At least with brain surgery, there’s a map of sorts; with novels, even the best laid plans aren’t enough.

By: Brenda

Brenda — Tue, 07 Sep 2004 00:19:16 +0000

Okay, this is going to sound snotty, but I’ve had a rough day and I’m feeling entitled. With one published novel under my belt and one, as yet uncontracted, on my editor’s desk, I just have to say that in my experience, the people who tend to require a lot of hand-holding are not the ones who get published. If a writer doesn’t have the guts and the drive to FIGURE THINGS OUT ON HER OWN (no, my Caps Lock isn’t stuck; I’m shouting) I submit that she probably doesn’t have what it takes to become a published novelist. Paint-by-numbers software won’t make anyone a writer. Writers make themselves.

By: booksquare

booksquare — Mon, 06 Sep 2004 18:52:00 +0000

Yes, the floor part is very important — it’s one of the things they gloss over in writing classes. I think the smiling is optional — I’d check a reference books, but they’re in the garage, and I’m lazy.

I’d probably try the floor thing with and without a smile — see what works best for you! Now that you have the key to success, there are no more excuses.

By: David Thayer

David Thayer — Mon, 06 Sep 2004 17:33:15 +0000

I clicked on the new novelist website and now realize what I’ve been doing wrong all these years. You have to lie on the floor and smile. Who knew?