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Forums - General Discussion - So who else writes?

Lingyis on 08 February 2008

Yes, I know how to write.

Do I know how to write well? Nope.



the Wii is an epidemic.

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Mummelmann on 08 February 2008
blaydcor said:
Mummelmann said:
I write in both Norwegian and English, anything from sci-fi to WWII short stories to fantasy novels.
I've written for about 8 years now, starting in the mid teens and I think that J.K Rowling and Christopher Paolini are the very definition of lack of talent...
I've also written tidbits and one or other odd story for local newspapers and I work as a translator for the biggest Age of Conan website in Norway and partially for Vgchartz!
Somebody else who thinks Paolini is completely devoid of anything resembling talent? Nice to know I'm not the only one. Thank god the media's finally fallen out of love with him; I got sick of reading about the ''prodigal fantasy author'' everytime I read an article about the genre.

 


The "man" can't even write a single, proper sentence without misplacing some obscure word or using a different kind of language structure for the same character for every dialogue. And he even proceeds to yank whole names and situations out of LotR and has borrowed entire segments off of other authors like Eddings, Tolkien and Anne McCaffrey. I can't believe the publisher lets it fly, its the most obvious case of plagiarism and simultaneously the most severe lack of talent I've ever seen in a popular book regardless of genre. And I also can't believe that some call him a prodigy, I don't think they ever looked the definition up in Webster's. He was young when he began writing the script, and it clearly shows right form the get-go... But the worst thing is how he tries to pass himself off as an intellectual and deep thinker in interviews, speaking as if his words are vital as oxygen to whomever has to go through the tediousness of witnessing and hearing his meaningless rant.

Wow, I just realized I could write a whole article about how he sucks and how much I hate the fact that success falls on such individuals on occassion. You should visit http://www.anti-shurtugal.com/wordpress/ for a good laugh, I know I love and appreciate their work!



facher83 on 09 February 2008
blaydcor said:
facher83 said:
Mummelmann said:
 

I was mainly pointing out that he's overrated, which many would agree, just not those who haven't read anything in the genre besides Tolkien. I've read over 750 Fantasy novels, so I feel I have a pretty good selection from which to draw this conclusion instead of pulling it out of ass like many others could and probably would. Harry Potter is another series I feel gets undeserved attention along with Eragon series. HP is like "Oh this poor, single mom wrote this terrific book!" and Eragon is "Oh this must be the work of a prodigy for sure!". Tolkien gets cred for inventing the genre, which he kinda did, but others refined it. What I'm getting at is; your writing should be about the value and quality of the book rather than the fuzz revolving around your person or the circumstances under which the book was written, but such is not the case with these three examples (in my honest and somewhat educated opinion, that is).

I'm being picky because A: As stated above, I've read a whole lot of books in the genre (PS; I don't consider Harry Potter fantasy, it was just for examples sake), and B: I'm trying to make it into the bussiness myself with a script I've been working on for years so I'm being overly studious and methodical in my reading to detect ways I do not want to write. Simple as that. If you want to have a gander at those who helped refine the genre, I recommend Raymond E. Feist, David Eddings, Stephen R. Donaldson and Terry Brooks, all masters of their craft and pillars in the genre since its infancy. Now, if you choose not to follow up on my recommendations, that's fine by me. But don't call Tolkien by names he does not deserve for all his depth (which frankly is just too emphasized in LotR) before you've had ample time and sound basis for comparison. My father was easily the strongest man in the world until I started seeing weightlifting on TV or strongman contests. Broaden the horizon to get a clearer picture both near and from afar is all I'm saying.


I did not call Tolkien anything other than a good author, of which many can be. Your original post was to discredit writing techniques and the idea that being made a movie does not mean greatness - no, it does not, but consider the Bible and Tolkien in the same phraseof print production and you have to question why bringing movies in to it at all is grounds for making a point. Making movies has nothing to do with making books.

Take Star Wars, for instance... dozensupon dozens or more authors take on the SW cosmosand write stories that are certainly in greater depth and detail than George Lucas ever could have... it doesn't take away from the story at hand.

I could rant on Pong, about it being too simple and that better refinements are worth playing, but it's silly. Sure, it's true, but it's as if I would only want to stand on a pillar and preach how much more knowledgable I am than the other 500 million people who have heard of Pong but who have not heard of the Infinity Engine games.

As with most art forms, credit where deserved usually is given AFTER the person's death. Sorry to say it, but maybe your opinions of your authors will become realized in 80 years, just as that of Beethoven and Mozart, but there will always be people who discredit pioneers just for the sake of doing so.

That's just silly. He wasn't doing any slander of Tolkieen, simply stated he's overrated, and compared to others who followed him, not as good of a fantasy author. I've been reading fantasy with pretty devotedly for most of my life; the point he makes is completely right. Until you broaden your horizons, there's no way you can claim that Tolkieen is some inarguable lord of fantasy.

You even manage to discredit yourself with your pong metaphor. If you'd only played Pong, I'm sure it would seem like a fantastic game. However, we've all played games significantly more complex and better than Pong. Nobody would claim that Pong is a brilliant game that will never be equalled simply because it was basically the first videogame.

And your last line about Beethoven and Mozart makes no sense. Feist, Eddings, Donaldson and Brooks hold more respect within fans of the genre than Tolkieen does. Look up a few of reviews, and see what they say about their better books. And that's without having a multi-million, three movie Hollywoodization made to drag a couple million fans on their bandwagon.

 


 C:  Go back to the Bible reference.

 A:  I used a search on "slander" and couldn't find the word until you brought it up.... and I'm not even arguing anything other than "Author", and absolutely nothing to do with lords of fantasy genres - simply authoring and creating something people like - especially like enough for others to carry on other series and ideas stemming from that success, and be inspired...  And no, I don't see how I could shoot myself in the foot in saying that.

 B: Yes, it really is similar when the basics are at the heart of the issue.  Unfortunately a lot of people prefer Pong, even modern day updated-graphics pong with new controls (such as the Wii version on Wii-Play) a lot better than, say, Baldur's Gate, as I referenced the engine earlier - no doubt Baldur's Gate is a better game, but to the 99% of other real, living human beings out there, Pong is a better game for many reasons.  Checkers, chess, Axis and Allies, Warcraft, Starcraft, Rise of Nations....  each has a lot of complexity, and only people who wish to brag about themselves would choose the latter few and suggest the previous are not worthy in the presence of greatness.

 

Added D:  The only term that comes to mind when a topic such as "Any other writers out there" is watching aspiring authors/writers proceed to complain about their lack of fame, success, or how unfair it is that these 'lesser writers' got lucky when "I" could do so much better.  This is where I feel abstract artists fit the straight jacket, most people really don't care about it.

 

I'm sorry, go out and do it already.  Make something of it.  Get others interested in it.  No need to complain.  You're supposed to share, and if you haven't shared it with dozens of people, what does it matter? 



Numbers: Checker Players > Halo Players

Checkers Age and replayability > Halo Age and replayability

Therefore, Checkers > Halo

So, Checkers is a better game than Halo.

thekitchensink on 09 February 2008
madskillz said:
I am a technology blogger for my newspaper - been writing for over 30 years. I must do a good job - games keep turning up all over the place!

Holy croop, man!  I thought you were 25 XD  (in a good way!)

 

OT: I love writing.  I get high 90's in all my writing (unless it's a subject I have no idea about), but I am very passionate about my creative writing.  When you need to get some feelings out, it really can free you from your troubles.  And if it entertains others?  Well, all the better!



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