| Rank | Most active authors |
 | 1 |
|
|
| 2 |
|
|
| 3 |
|
|
| 4 |
|
|
| 5 |
|
|
 | 6 |
|
|
 | 7 |
|
|
| 8 |
|
|
| 9 |
|
|
| 10 |
|
|
| 11 |
|
|
| 12 |
|
|
| 13 |
|
|
| 14 |
|
|
| 15 |
|
|
| 16 |
|
|
| 17 |
|
|
| 18 |
|
|
| 19 |
|
|
| 20 |
|
|
| 21 |
|
|
| 22 |
|
|
| 23 |
|
|
| 24 |
|
|
| 25 |
|
|
|
Originality?
By
Alec NW
| Posted:
25 March 2010
|
|
It seems hypocritical of me to say this and I'm aware I would not be the first, but it's because I can that I do, but it seems to me that presently we, as a society, lack imagination. Feel free to fight back and justly defend your cherished writing; I'll be the first to admit I'm currently as imaginative as a raisin, but the evidence is there, right in front of our eyes. Everywhere we go; The internet is used, like this website, to help any and every person who's a writer at heart get noticed in some way. The littlest of praise from someone we barely know can make us feel better about ourselves, no? But if we were to take an impartial view on our own work and indeed others (though impartially looking at others work is near impossible; jealousy or scorn will somehow come about), it seems to present us with an image of an unimaginative, lazy world. Endless themes that are currently so popular, such as, an obvious example, supernatural love stories (I'm sure I don't have to name the current most popular romance/'vampire' novel series I'm thinking of) or even fantasy. Sure, books are a means of escapism, but it's depressing to think of current literature as 'comfort food'. An example I recently saw was someone comparing it to fast food; it's there, we want it, it's cheap and easy, it satisfies us but there's always that nagging feeling that it's shit. The quality of work these days is diminishing. Established, published authors aren't in their prime anymore, churning out renewed but established ideas. Younger, eager authors are growing up on these writers work and it affects the future of literature. Another example is that we only need to look as far as the American film culture, with Hollywood producing more and more remakes of old films, which are perfectly fine, and....err....making them shit. So, do we currently lack imagination?
All articles on this website by
Alec NW are copyright ©Alec NW and should not be reproduced
without the author's prior written consent. All opinions are the opinions of their
respective authors and are not necessarily the opinions of The Writers' Circle.
| Comments | |
|
|
While agreeing with you, I'm, not going to lose much sleep over it. These things seem to go in cycles, and at the moment publishers and film companies are churning out similar or regurgitated stuff because they know that it will sell and is a safe bet. Every now and again something new, whether it be a theme or a genre will come along and be a runaway success and the whole circus will change direction.
The wizard/fantasy stuff (Which I have never had much time for) was dormant until an unemployed writer called Rowling picked it up. Because it was successful everyone jumped on the bandwagon.
Keep walking your own path, and one day it may lead to the yellow brick road, or sell out and become another hack. Unfortunately the hack will be paid while you may not, but then again the hack will never be the next big thing.
|
|
|
Showtime Alec!
You've proven your point only because you didn't choose to write something with a lot of imagination instead
You see yourself "as imaginative as a raisin" (hmmm . . . there's some imagination in that phrase)
You could be seeing the world as you see yourself
Then you say "(though impartially looking at others work is near impossible; jealousy or scorn will somehow come about)"
How could we be jealous of other work that's lacking imagination?
GIGO
Garbage In Garbage Out
It's all in your head
I know you've got talent
Why don't you comment on some real work written in WC in the meantime?
Most of the writers in the WC are quite original
And I see a lot of young talents like you who are very original
Make use of what you've got
Can you imagine if Milton wasn't blind?
Can you imagine Shakespeare with the internet?
And if you still think we currently lack imagination and originality
Showtime, Alec!
|
|
|
I might point out that tremendous variance in music occurs within a simple 8 note scale...writing has so much more potential to draw from thanks to the nuances of the English language. If Beethoven could create symphonies from a choice of 8 simple notes played in various orders, how much more should we be able to create with the written word? It humbles me.....
|
|
|
"The artist is of no importance. Only what he creates is important, since there is nothing new to be said."
William Faulkner, Paris Review, Issue 12, Spring 1956
His thoughts on defending his work...
"The good artist believes that nobody is good enough to give him advice. He has supreme vanity." same source
|
|
Kudos
|
|
|
From 2 votes
|
|
|
|
|
Total posts: 7
|
|
Roles:
Writer
|
|
|
|
Saffron Walden, UNITED KINGDOM
|
|
|
I'm 17 and it's easier for me to come on here once every few months, have a laugh, have a ponder and possibly write something. More stuff will come, though A levels take up a conisderable amount of my ... (Read more)
|
|
|
|