writingforyourlife

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.