Jan 24 2009
Novel Writing Made Easy??
I came across this YouTube video a while ago, and I’m not sure I agree with it. I’d like your opinion on the matter.
It’s called “Novel Writing Made Easy,” presented by novelist Andrea Rains Waggener .
While the video offers some good advice for beginning writers, what troubles me more is that Waggener says novel writing can be “dumbed down to such a simple system that it becomes almost like paint-by-numbers.”
In fact, Waggener has created a whole Novel Writing Made Easy system that can be purchased online.
Here’s her promotional video:
I’m sure Charles Dickens would be pleased to know that “Great Expectations” might be little more than a fill-in-the-blanks exercise. (Okay, maybe I’m being a tad harsh there…)
Sure, you can ‘dumb down’ the writing process. Does that mean the end result will be good literature?
I’m not saying this system is a scam. On the contrary, it seems Waggener has some good tips. I’m simply wondering if it’s really fair to tell people that novel writing is easy. I think the title is more of a gimmick than anything.
Think about it: if novel writing is so easy, why are most manuscripts rejected? Why aren’t we all published?
Writing a novel may be easy, but writing a novel someone will want to read is not.
Let me know what you think.
The majority of books written will never be published. And while I’m sure some gems are lost to posterity, the vast majority are not published because they simply aren’t good.
Actually, I’m astonished by how many crappy novels are published. Very few will survive the next decade, let alone the next hundred years.
Thanks Shakespeare,
My sentiments, exactly. I think the system is probably good for hobby writers who don’t really aspire to publication–they just enjoy the idea of putting stuff down on paper for their own amusement.