The article was simply terrible. She accuses NaNoW...

2011-12-02T14:55:03.760-05:00

The article was simply terrible. She accuses NaNoWriMo participants of narcissism, but she is the narcissist. There's nothing narcissistic about people writing. It is, however, narcissistic to think you are are among an elite who has ideas, and that everyone else should just sit down and shut up. That's what she does for a living, is to tell other people what to think. There's nothing wrong with that, the problem comes in when when it involves telling others to sit down and shut up. Who is she to tell people there are too many books written? I've seen people say that NaNoWriMo is "insulting" to writers, and that's a classic case of narcissism. There have been detractors who claimed that NaNoWriMo is like being an amateur brain surgeon, and this is still more narcissism. We restrict brain surgery to the experts because it is a matter of life and death. With books, the reader has the final say. Narcissists want to tell you what you can read.

Why is writing the one creative endeavor that people get angry when the unwashed masses try it? Where is the wrath when an amateur buys a guitar or a cookbook? There are many thousands of art supply stores, and no one protests against them. Why the inconsistency? The vast majority of the art that people create wouldn't even sell at a garage sale, let alone see the inside of a gallery. Yet those amateurs who paint are not considered narcissists for doing so, in fact any professional artist who did decry amateurs would be labeled a narcissist. The claim that there aren't enough readers assumes that people who participate in NaNoWriMo don't read, which is a baseless claim.

It is tempting to look at the past with rose colored glasses, but there have always been bad books published, you've heard the term "Penny Dreadful"? It is no different today. There never was a time when people sat around reading the classics, they read the dreaded popular fiction. One thing I have noticed is that really successful writers don't have a problem with amateurs writing, whether they participate in NaNoWriMo or not. It seems there is a great deal of fear of the competition. Book haters do not buy e-readers. People who buy e-books buy them for one reason only, to read. I buy both e-books and paper books. I'll get public domain and independent books in e-book format, for other books, I go to my local independent store. The big box bookstores are the real enemies of independent stores, not e-books.

Comments on Benefit of the Doubt: On National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and Sa...

The article was simply terrible. She accuses NaNoW...