anecdote time, not meant to represent some subset of current or aspiring writers today I don't usually watch/listen to this channel but the title came up while I was looking for some background...
anecdote time, not meant to represent some subset of current or aspiring writers today
I don't usually watch/listen to this channel but the title came up while I was looking for some background noise at the park, and... well, of course the title itself triggers something in many folks, but in my case it was because I had an internet friend who, nearly ten years ago, honest to goodness told me that he wasn't interested in reading. After asking for editing/proofreading advice for a rough draft for the first chapter of his novel. Where he wanted to make this whole writing thing an actual Career.
This will be getting a little toxic, but I won't beat around the bush: his writing was atrocious. Writers can bend grammar and sentence structure and all that boring stuff, but with this guy's writing you could tell it wasn't stylistic; he just did not know any better. Writing doesn't have to be good to exist in the world; I'm proud that he tried; but if you want my amateur opinion on whether other people would be interested in reading this in the current format of the written word? Well. It could use a lot of improvement, but this improvement would IMO require a lot of reading of other material because it was equal parts unfamiliarity with written English (as someone whose primary language is English) and storytelling in general. I suggested reading some short, low investment stories and he brushed it off because of lack of interest. My impression was that he wanted to write something that others would want to read, while he himself was above reading what others had written. It drove me a little nuts and this project did not last terribly long.
A lack of reading often makes aspiring writers believe that their writing is awesome and special. They have nothing to compare to. They can show a premature fear of being plagiarized. "No, dude, I...
A lack of reading often makes aspiring writers believe that their writing is awesome and special. They have nothing to compare to. They can show a premature fear of being plagiarized. "No, dude, I don't think you should be worried that your super unique idea about teenagers gaining superpowers is at any risk of being stolen".
Reality can be a shock, as they are genuinely not prepared to the possibility that they are maybe not geniuses.
It took me a very long time to understand why my earnest criticism was met with either silence or bewilderment. I was trying to be helpful. It turns out, in most cases, the socially appropriate response to writing is superlative praise. Since I cannot always guarantee that, I stopped reading stuff aspiring writers sent me. That was a great decision for my mental health.
I can sort of relate to your friend, but I actually recognize the value of reading and have told myself and others on numerous occasions this very idea that I can't be a writer because I don't...
I can sort of relate to your friend, but I actually recognize the value of reading and have told myself and others on numerous occasions this very idea that I can't be a writer because I don't read books. I read a lot, I'm looking at a screen all day, a screen frequently populated with words and sentences, but reading tildes comments or long-form news articles or such is not the same and I'm well aware I don't have the writing chops. There are occasions where I can write something that other people who aren't big readers will think is enough to qualify me as being capable of getting into writing as a career, but they're saying it because they think it's helpful or generous to praise someone for something even if they don't really know the realities of what they're saying.
The thing is, I just don't like reading books. I don't care for the type of writing that is in books. I prefer dry material. I have no imagination for words in a book, so descriptive wording is just a waste of time and bores me because I can't leverage it into something that I can bring to life in my own imagination. For that reason and many others, it would make me a very unsuccessful writer.
The problem I have is that I have absolutely no creative outlet whatsoever, and have absolutely no idea how to express myself, my ideas or feelings. I can't write them, I can't draw them, I can't animate them, I can't direct them in a film, I can't sing them, I can't dance them. I get it, many if not all of these things are skills others develop and they can come with practice, though some do have other barriers of entry than others. Writing has little to no barrier to entry, that's the attraction to the average person who thinks they can just write (even if they don't read books). If you want to get into cinema or TV or such, I wouldn't even know where to begin, but I sure as hell know there's more to it than reading books and writing on a piece of paper or opening up a word document on a computer.
Frankly most creative outlets are going to need some amount of initial practice before you can actually start enjoying them. You kind of have to suck it up and learn to enjoy the act of...
Frankly most creative outlets are going to need some amount of initial practice before you can actually start enjoying them. You kind of have to suck it up and learn to enjoy the act of learning/practicing/training.
I've learned through my writing that you can't get too attached to what you've written in your first efforts on a new manuscript. You'll have to tear it down and rewrite your story a dozen times...
I've learned through my writing that you can't get too attached to what you've written in your first efforts on a new manuscript. You'll have to tear it down and rewrite your story a dozen times or more. Recognizing where to deconstruct is difficult, and often discouraging.
I don't watch Youtube video's so I have no idea what this is really about so I'm commenting on the headline only. The idea of a writer who doesn't read books doesn't even make sense to me. A...
I don't watch Youtube video's so I have no idea what this is really about so I'm commenting on the headline only.
The idea of a writer who doesn't read books doesn't even make sense to me. A writer needs to be an absolutely voracious reader, it should consume their entire life. A great writer lives and breathes language and reading/writing. Think of the library of Cormac McCarthy, thousands of titles, chicken scratch and margin notes in a huge amount of them. Hunter S. Thompson said he wanted to know what it felt like to write a great book so he literally sat down and typed out the entirety of 'The Great Gatsby' on his typewriter. Books piled up all over the place at Owl Farm. The best artists are usually obsessive and partly insane.
But also reading at scale does not always equal a great writer, I think about the critic Howard Bloom whom claimed to read up to 5 books every day. You may not agree with his views but the man was a genius and deeply loved literature. His attempts at fiction never really went anywhere.
Could you imagine a musician who doesn't listen to music? The ones I have met are obsessed with music and have a deep and wide knowledge.
He uses similar examples to call out the absurdity. One of the beliefs is that consuming mass media will corrupt your natural creativity and expose you to trite ideas that'll seep into your work....
He uses similar examples to call out the absurdity.
One of the beliefs is that consuming mass media will corrupt your natural creativity and expose you to trite ideas that'll seep into your work. This idea of inherent genius is pointless though because it ignores cultural context and most readers being, well, readers. Stories are always written in the fabric of a certain time and place.
If an undiscovered tribe independently invented bicycles, that'd be incredible, but their invention wouldn't be anything truly unique and valuable. We already have bicycles.
Being widely read is important both to stir up your own creativity and know what has come before. Unique creations aren't born in a vacuum. They're only unique by comparison to everything else around them.
It’s almost like civilization has been a big group effort for thousands of years… A lot of this goes back to an overarching social myth I like to call The Outsider Savant or The One Special...
It’s almost like civilization has been a big group effort for thousands of years…
A lot of this goes back to an overarching social myth I like to call The Outsider Savant or The One Special Talent, where it’s any variation of “Hero is completely untrained and shows up everyone in the field by having this unique outside perspective that none of the so-called experts could ever possibly entertain because they’re so closed-minded” which unfortunately has actually happened in the past; it’s rare, but not unheard of…
It is directly based on that theory, yes, but tries to encompass more than just the geopolitical domain. I’m sure there’s a proper terminology for the phenomenon by someone with actual research...
It is directly based on that theory, yes, but tries to encompass more than just the geopolitical domain. I’m sure there’s a proper terminology for the phenomenon by someone with actual research and knowledge, I just lack the skills to uncover it so I default to making up placeholder names and hope to be corrected.
(Humorous aside, but when I tried to type “Great Man Theory” in an earlier response, my phone keyboard autocorrected it to “Great Nan Theory” and that just amuses me.)
anecdote time, not meant to represent some subset of current or aspiring writers today
I don't usually watch/listen to this channel but the title came up while I was looking for some background noise at the park, and... well, of course the title itself triggers something in many folks, but in my case it was because I had an internet friend who, nearly ten years ago, honest to goodness told me that he wasn't interested in reading. After asking for editing/proofreading advice for a rough draft for the first chapter of his novel. Where he wanted to make this whole writing thing an actual Career.
This will be getting a little toxic, but I won't beat around the bush: his writing was atrocious. Writers can bend grammar and sentence structure and all that boring stuff, but with this guy's writing you could tell it wasn't stylistic; he just did not know any better. Writing doesn't have to be good to exist in the world; I'm proud that he tried; but if you want my amateur opinion on whether other people would be interested in reading this in the current format of the written word? Well. It could use a lot of improvement, but this improvement would IMO require a lot of reading of other material because it was equal parts unfamiliarity with written English (as someone whose primary language is English) and storytelling in general. I suggested reading some short, low investment stories and he brushed it off because of lack of interest. My impression was that he wanted to write something that others would want to read, while he himself was above reading what others had written. It drove me a little nuts and this project did not last terribly long.
A lack of reading often makes aspiring writers believe that their writing is awesome and special. They have nothing to compare to. They can show a premature fear of being plagiarized. "No, dude, I don't think you should be worried that your super unique idea about teenagers gaining superpowers is at any risk of being stolen".
Reality can be a shock, as they are genuinely not prepared to the possibility that they are maybe not geniuses.
It took me a very long time to understand why my earnest criticism was met with either silence or bewilderment. I was trying to be helpful. It turns out, in most cases, the socially appropriate response to writing is superlative praise. Since I cannot always guarantee that, I stopped reading stuff aspiring writers sent me. That was a great decision for my mental health.
I can sort of relate to your friend, but I actually recognize the value of reading and have told myself and others on numerous occasions this very idea that I can't be a writer because I don't read books. I read a lot, I'm looking at a screen all day, a screen frequently populated with words and sentences, but reading tildes comments or long-form news articles or such is not the same and I'm well aware I don't have the writing chops. There are occasions where I can write something that other people who aren't big readers will think is enough to qualify me as being capable of getting into writing as a career, but they're saying it because they think it's helpful or generous to praise someone for something even if they don't really know the realities of what they're saying.
The thing is, I just don't like reading books. I don't care for the type of writing that is in books. I prefer dry material. I have no imagination for words in a book, so descriptive wording is just a waste of time and bores me because I can't leverage it into something that I can bring to life in my own imagination. For that reason and many others, it would make me a very unsuccessful writer.
The problem I have is that I have absolutely no creative outlet whatsoever, and have absolutely no idea how to express myself, my ideas or feelings. I can't write them, I can't draw them, I can't animate them, I can't direct them in a film, I can't sing them, I can't dance them. I get it, many if not all of these things are skills others develop and they can come with practice, though some do have other barriers of entry than others. Writing has little to no barrier to entry, that's the attraction to the average person who thinks they can just write (even if they don't read books). If you want to get into cinema or TV or such, I wouldn't even know where to begin, but I sure as hell know there's more to it than reading books and writing on a piece of paper or opening up a word document on a computer.
Frankly most creative outlets are going to need some amount of initial practice before you can actually start enjoying them. You kind of have to suck it up and learn to enjoy the act of learning/practicing/training.
I've learned through my writing that you can't get too attached to what you've written in your first efforts on a new manuscript. You'll have to tear it down and rewrite your story a dozen times or more. Recognizing where to deconstruct is difficult, and often discouraging.
I don't watch Youtube video's so I have no idea what this is really about so I'm commenting on the headline only.
The idea of a writer who doesn't read books doesn't even make sense to me. A writer needs to be an absolutely voracious reader, it should consume their entire life. A great writer lives and breathes language and reading/writing. Think of the library of Cormac McCarthy, thousands of titles, chicken scratch and margin notes in a huge amount of them. Hunter S. Thompson said he wanted to know what it felt like to write a great book so he literally sat down and typed out the entirety of 'The Great Gatsby' on his typewriter. Books piled up all over the place at Owl Farm. The best artists are usually obsessive and partly insane.
But also reading at scale does not always equal a great writer, I think about the critic Howard Bloom whom claimed to read up to 5 books every day. You may not agree with his views but the man was a genius and deeply loved literature. His attempts at fiction never really went anywhere.
Could you imagine a musician who doesn't listen to music? The ones I have met are obsessed with music and have a deep and wide knowledge.
He uses similar examples to call out the absurdity.
One of the beliefs is that consuming mass media will corrupt your natural creativity and expose you to trite ideas that'll seep into your work. This idea of inherent genius is pointless though because it ignores cultural context and most readers being, well, readers. Stories are always written in the fabric of a certain time and place.
If an undiscovered tribe independently invented bicycles, that'd be incredible, but their invention wouldn't be anything truly unique and valuable. We already have bicycles.
Being widely read is important both to stir up your own creativity and know what has come before. Unique creations aren't born in a vacuum. They're only unique by comparison to everything else around them.
We all stand on the shoulders of giants.
It’s almost like civilization has been a big group effort for thousands of years…
A lot of this goes back to an overarching social myth I like to call The Outsider Savant or The One Special Talent, where it’s any variation of “Hero is completely untrained and shows up everyone in the field by having this unique outside perspective that none of the so-called experts could ever possibly entertain because they’re so closed-minded” which unfortunately has actually happened in the past; it’s rare, but not unheard of…
Sounds adjacent to great man theory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_man_theory
It is directly based on that theory, yes, but tries to encompass more than just the geopolitical domain. I’m sure there’s a proper terminology for the phenomenon by someone with actual research and knowledge, I just lack the skills to uncover it so I default to making up placeholder names and hope to be corrected.
(Humorous aside, but when I tried to type “Great Man Theory” in an earlier response, my phone keyboard autocorrected it to “Great Nan Theory” and that just amuses me.)
Behind every great man is a grandmother who inspired them 😂
He's on Nebula too, if you prefer.
https://nebula.tv/videos/mancarryingthing-writers-who-dont-read-books-a-response
Perhaps consider adding "source.youtube" to your filtered tags.