Jason Brant's Blog, page 43
May 22, 2012
Swearing
I'm guessing I'm in the minority here, but why do people get so pissed off over swearing? Now, I understand that some are raised in certain environments where they are told how evil four letter words are. But it still shocks me when adults, people who are supposed to be able to think critically about their beliefs, start slinging shit when they hear someone curse.
What the hell? It's interesting as well when someone tells you to "grow up" because you swore. To me, not being able to tolerate certain words (that aren't used in an insulting way) is far from being grown up. Not that I'm trying to belittle anyone here, but why is this such a problem for some people?
I spend a lot of time analyzing my beliefs and thoughts, trying to understand why I think the way that I do. Maybe that's why I'm curious what makes someone get so fucking angry over swearing.
Obviously, it's a part of certain cultures, but c'mon. Use your goddamn head. I actually read a review for a horror movie, that said they couldn't finish it because of all the swearing. A horror movie had too much bad language? The blood and guts was OK, but don't you dare put a couple of sounds together in a way that is somehow offensive.
Shit.
May 19, 2012
Pace
Since I decided to start writing a few months ago, I've spent a lot of time considering the pacing of books. What I've found is that many of them move at a snails pace. There is an incredible amount of fluff in novels. Whether that's characterizations, description of surroundings, or whatever else an author can come up with to get their word count up.
I can see why this is important for print books. More often than not, if a book buyer is trying to decided between two separate works, they will take the thicker book. All other things being equal of course. With ebooks this isn't nearly as important. Potential buyers don't have that bias. At least not in the same way.
When I looked at some older classics like I Am Legend, Carrie, Fahrenheit 451 - they're all shorter works. I don't think that people would say they're lesser stories because of their length. I'm sure some people always look at the estimated page count that amazon uses, but a lot of them don't. These things have helped me to concentrate on removing as much filler as possible in my writing. Stop stalling and get to the story essentially.
Does this make my writing stronger? Who knows. What I do know is that it makes the speed of my books very, very fast paced. So far people have been responding with very positive reviews so at least there's that.
I've actually found myself reading and enjoying novellas and short stories much more since I purchased a kindle. Being able to read a higher volume of excellent books in the same amount of time as a long novel has been very enjoyable. Whether or not I continue to like the short stuff remains to be seen, but it's a nice side effect of getting an e-reader so far.
I can see why this is important for print books. More often than not, if a book buyer is trying to decided between two separate works, they will take the thicker book. All other things being equal of course. With ebooks this isn't nearly as important. Potential buyers don't have that bias. At least not in the same way.
When I looked at some older classics like I Am Legend, Carrie, Fahrenheit 451 - they're all shorter works. I don't think that people would say they're lesser stories because of their length. I'm sure some people always look at the estimated page count that amazon uses, but a lot of them don't. These things have helped me to concentrate on removing as much filler as possible in my writing. Stop stalling and get to the story essentially.
Does this make my writing stronger? Who knows. What I do know is that it makes the speed of my books very, very fast paced. So far people have been responding with very positive reviews so at least there's that.
I've actually found myself reading and enjoying novellas and short stories much more since I purchased a kindle. Being able to read a higher volume of excellent books in the same amount of time as a long novel has been very enjoyable. Whether or not I continue to like the short stuff remains to be seen, but it's a nice side effect of getting an e-reader so far.
