So you think you're a writer

 

 

We were going on today about Marxism and life in the Soviet Union.

 

Yeah, there you go.

In case your wondering, I have crazy Russian neighbors and they vouch for everything in that video.

Anyway, we got to talking about Mao and China, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution.

A student finally asked, 'How come communists can never admit their mistakes?'

So I laughed.

I went on to use a personal example. I've been writing for a long time, and I learned early on if the audience doesn't like your product the audience isn't wrong, you are wrong. Marxists, of course reverse the equation, hence after the failure of the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution.

From there I got side tracked, as I often, just check my reviews on Rate My Professor, about the profession of writing.

I said one of my pet peeves is writers who just 'write for themselves'. What's the point of writing and not being read? 'Just stop!' I thundered, and I assure you, I thundered. A student who went to the bathroom said she could hear me all the way down the hall (thank you Mr. Ryan. If you went to Blue Mountain Middle School in the 80's you'd understand). This I explained is only surpassed in worseness by 'writing what you know'.

Dear god, was a worse piece of advance ever offered to an aspiring writer?

No. There was never a worse peace of advice given to an aspiring writer.

Who am I to say that, you may ask?



 

Yeah that's right. At the moment I'm #10 in Amazon in my category. Just behind Harry goddamn Turtledove and just ahead of Robert Freakin' Conroy. That is not easy to do.



So yeah, I know what the hell I'm talking about.