All right, here is my take on the What's Keeping you, and the people peddling their courses...I could be totally wrong, but I like to think that most of the time I'm pretty optimistic.
There are a whole group of people that those courses are perfect for. The not very creative, average IQ people. The "workers" of the world, that you may have met in Basic Training, or that you rarely see out and about in the world, because their heads are down doing their work. They watch their sports and cheer for their team, they have their beer after work, they mow grass and maybe go to the lake on Sunday. And every once in a while, they hear a cool story from another average Joe, or they watch a show and something catches their attention as "new" or "different" and they want to write it down because the guys at the café, or feed store aren't interested.
So, they need a set of instructions, just like in school, or just like those given by their coach on their high school sports team, because that is the only way they know how to do things. And so, those courses give them the step by step that they are used to in order to do something that they are not naturally inclined to do.
Bright, creative people tend to forget (or maybe not even realize) that most people aren't like them, with a story in every drop of water and falling leaf. The average Joe, sees leaves that have to be raked to fit the HOA's requirements, and rain (or a leaky faucet) that is keeping them from going to the lake to fish.
Most average Joes won't finish the courses to actually write that spark of story because it's WAY too much work outside of their wheelhouse. But, there are some folks that think they are average Joes, but they keep on plowing through, and eventually the shell cracks and more creativity starts growing out, and then the shell falls away completely. Then the scaffolding of those courses falls away, as well, and they hop and flap and jump and run and fly into the wide open sky of possibilities.
It reminds me a little of the core story of Jonathon Livingston Seagull.
I was actually one of those guys for 61+ years. I learned what I'd been fed, was able to shove it aside, and found a whole world of a better way to do it, a fun way to do it. So naturally (or maybe unnaturally?) I want to share that way and pull others—but of course only those who are willing—out of the muck and mire. Being frozen by unreasoning, no-consequences fear is not a natural state.
Yes, of course, and good for them. But I submit that 99.999% of them are not fiction writers. They have other priorities, and there's nothing wrong with that. I'm talking about people who want to write fiction, who are striving to write fiction, and who have been sold a stock of goods in a false narrative. I will always do my level best to lead people back from the mind-controlled BS peddled by the writing gurus. And I will never assume anyone who reads TNDJ doesn't want to write or would rather do something else than write.
Congrats to everyone who met their goals this week! That's a great feeling.
Harvey, what is exotic fantasy? (your short story genre).
I keep wanting to create new genres (since my fiction never seems to entirely fit) or mash a couple together like DWS does with titles. I guess I could do that in the keyword section of publishing, or in the book description...
For me, it's basically erotica with a story behind it. I suppose it could also be any fantasy story set in an exotic location or peopled with exotic characters. But then, what's "exotic" to one reader is "local" or "normal" to another.
I went looking for definitions of exotic fantasy after I commented and found an interesting site that I think did a good job of describing different sub-genres of fantasy--but didn't list exotic fantasy. It's a bit dated, with the latest blog entry of 2020. But seems legit. https://thoughtsonfantasy.com/2015/12/07/17-common-fantasy-sub-genres/
Woodward's site has some links to good Jim Butcher posts related to a craft book by Dwight V. Swain. Karen Woodward: Jim Butcher On Writing https://search.app/5QByjmYWGfwnA92S9
All right, here is my take on the What's Keeping you, and the people peddling their courses...I could be totally wrong, but I like to think that most of the time I'm pretty optimistic.
There are a whole group of people that those courses are perfect for. The not very creative, average IQ people. The "workers" of the world, that you may have met in Basic Training, or that you rarely see out and about in the world, because their heads are down doing their work. They watch their sports and cheer for their team, they have their beer after work, they mow grass and maybe go to the lake on Sunday. And every once in a while, they hear a cool story from another average Joe, or they watch a show and something catches their attention as "new" or "different" and they want to write it down because the guys at the café, or feed store aren't interested.
So, they need a set of instructions, just like in school, or just like those given by their coach on their high school sports team, because that is the only way they know how to do things. And so, those courses give them the step by step that they are used to in order to do something that they are not naturally inclined to do.
Bright, creative people tend to forget (or maybe not even realize) that most people aren't like them, with a story in every drop of water and falling leaf. The average Joe, sees leaves that have to be raked to fit the HOA's requirements, and rain (or a leaky faucet) that is keeping them from going to the lake to fish.
Most average Joes won't finish the courses to actually write that spark of story because it's WAY too much work outside of their wheelhouse. But, there are some folks that think they are average Joes, but they keep on plowing through, and eventually the shell cracks and more creativity starts growing out, and then the shell falls away completely. Then the scaffolding of those courses falls away, as well, and they hop and flap and jump and run and fly into the wide open sky of possibilities.
It reminds me a little of the core story of Jonathon Livingston Seagull.
I was actually one of those guys for 61+ years. I learned what I'd been fed, was able to shove it aside, and found a whole world of a better way to do it, a fun way to do it. So naturally (or maybe unnaturally?) I want to share that way and pull others—but of course only those who are willing—out of the muck and mire. Being frozen by unreasoning, no-consequences fear is not a natural state.
Yes, of course, and good for them. But I submit that 99.999% of them are not fiction writers. They have other priorities, and there's nothing wrong with that. I'm talking about people who want to write fiction, who are striving to write fiction, and who have been sold a stock of goods in a false narrative. I will always do my level best to lead people back from the mind-controlled BS peddled by the writing gurus. And I will never assume anyone who reads TNDJ doesn't want to write or would rather do something else than write.
Totally agree!
And you do that on a daily basis!
Congrats to everyone who met their goals this week! That's a great feeling.
Harvey, what is exotic fantasy? (your short story genre).
I keep wanting to create new genres (since my fiction never seems to entirely fit) or mash a couple together like DWS does with titles. I guess I could do that in the keyword section of publishing, or in the book description...
For me, it's basically erotica with a story behind it. I suppose it could also be any fantasy story set in an exotic location or peopled with exotic characters. But then, what's "exotic" to one reader is "local" or "normal" to another.
I went looking for definitions of exotic fantasy after I commented and found an interesting site that I think did a good job of describing different sub-genres of fantasy--but didn't list exotic fantasy. It's a bit dated, with the latest blog entry of 2020. But seems legit. https://thoughtsonfantasy.com/2015/12/07/17-common-fantasy-sub-genres/
Yeah, that was just my own term. But I'll mention the URL you sent in tomorrow's TNDJ.
Woodward's site has some links to good Jim Butcher posts related to a craft book by Dwight V. Swain. Karen Woodward: Jim Butcher On Writing https://search.app/5QByjmYWGfwnA92S9
Thanks Bob. I'll put your comment in tomorrow's TNDJ.