I give up. Somebody just help me already.

"No, I don't thank you for the fish at all" (notindetroit) 09/28/2016 at 10:20 • Filed to: None

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I don’t get what the point is !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . I’ve given it multiple attempts to read since it was published but I can’t ever make it past the part where she goes in-depth about the adult human’s tendency to have “humiliation dreams.”

I have the same problem with her “ !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ” article. I get that she’s an author. I get that she’s a young adult author, and that’s a genre I more or less specialize in, actually. Confession time: I’m working on two or three young adult novels myself (yes it’s not something I really try to advertise as it’s probably even more embarrassing than my !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ) but moreover I’ve read literally hundreds of young adult novels (a big part of it professionally as a teacher and now someone looking to get into publishing) just in the space since I’ve had posting privs here on Oppo (yeah along with the whole Disney Channel thing I’m a walking pile of fail when it comes to actual interests and hobbies, no wonder !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ). And for what it’s worth I appreciate her appreciation of the early second-gen Camaro. But here’s the thing: after reading so many damn cheesy novels of various degrees of writing skill and so many damn hours of watching cheesy multi-camera television of varying degrees of acting and scriptwriting skill (and I trust you enough to guess where on the spectrum the vast majority of that falls into), it’s easy for me to recognize when an author actually has a very focused direction and point and uses her skill to craft a very focused story that sticks in the memory, and when an author is more under the impression that good, high-art literature is more about weaving a story into an unrecognizable exquisite corpse in which the entire goal seems to be how much can the author flirt with the line between when paragraphs remain tangentially connected with each other and when the story just becomes a collection of disparate stories just daring you to figure out the common link between them.

There was one guy who was really good at the latter.

Maybe her young adult stories are more focused (I haven’t read any of them, maybe I should make a point to read at least one) but when you’re writing for an adult audience on a journalism blog and when that audience is accustomed to non-fiction, highly focused stories (usually of a factual variety) appealing to a very specific hobby or group of enthusiasts, well...the truest thing about writing there is as far as I’m concerned is write to your audience . And I hope I don’t offend anyone, but both tweens/teens and automotive enthusiasts - well, not to say they lack attention but I think they most appreciate stories that are highly focused that don’t require referring back to previous paragraphs to follow along.

OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 09/28/2016 at 10:26

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¯\_()_/¯

CalzoneGolem > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 09/28/2016 at 10:31

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My takeaway was that more people should paint birds on their skid plates. That shit is lit.

MonkeePuzzle > CalzoneGolem 09/28/2016 at 10:39

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I missed this in my read through, thank you for the succinct summary of the valid points.

CalzoneGolem > MonkeePuzzle 09/28/2016 at 10:43

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There could be other points in there that I’m missing. Also her inner fenders sloughed off like a dozen times.

Nothing > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 09/28/2016 at 11:07

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I’m not a prude, but at least it doesn’t have some form of “Fuck” in the title this time.

DipodomysDeserti > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 09/28/2016 at 11:44

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Is “young adult” a genre of literature? Because at 34 she’s hardly a young adult anymore.

Party-vi > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 09/28/2016 at 11:59

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So you, someone who hasn’t published any books, are giving Maggie (someone who has published books, and is getting paid to write) shit because you have determined through the breadth of your experience as an author (of no books) that she has not used her skill to craft a story that sticks in your memory (even though you devoted stringing together 492 words on the subject), but rather she failed to live up to your impression of James fucking Joyce?

You’re like someone who plays iRacing giving Estebon Ocon shit because he’s no Michael Schumacher.

for Michigan > DipodomysDeserti 09/28/2016 at 12:14

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Yes. Think Hunger Games, Divergent, Twilight, etc.

DipodomysDeserti > for Michigan 09/28/2016 at 12:29

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I don’t want to think about people being paid to write that stuff. Whoever wrote Hunger Games should be forced to enter a real life version of Battle Royale in order to pay for their sins.

for Michigan > DipodomysDeserti 09/28/2016 at 12:49

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Having read the books, I think there’s some interesting stuff there. But it’s still just modern pulp fiction.

DipodomysDeserti > for Michigan 09/28/2016 at 13:53

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When my SIL first told me the plot of Hunger Games, I was like, yeah, they made that movie over ten years ago, it’s called Battle Royale. Then I saw Hunger Games and ws like, that was just a PG version of Battle Royale.

for Michigan > DipodomysDeserti 09/28/2016 at 13:57

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Just repackaged and cleaned up for teenage girls.

What made the books interesting was the first person stream of consciousness perspective, not the originality of the Hunger Games idea. That didn’t really transfer to the movies, though.

And book three was just as much of a trainwreck as the movies based on it.