Experience

That oh so wonderful word that can catapult you ahead of everyone else around you, or leave you stuck in first gear for life.

Experience.

"I'm sorry, but we just can't hire someone with your lack of experience."
"Don't worry, just follow my lead, I have experience in these matters."

It's a two-edged sword. One moment it saves your butt, the next it throws you to the ground.

I know for me, experience has been a frustrating thing to deal with. For example, I have lots of experience being told I have no experience in anything. Until this year, I had no experience working a till, I had no experience in retail, or fast-food, or any 9 to 5 job of any kind except summer camp.

And really, does anyone count that as work?

Besides the people who've put that on their resumes?

Just about the only thing I could say that I had experience with was working with kids. I had six years of volunteering in a kid's program under my belt going off to University, as well as working and going to summer camps most of my junior high/high school years.

It got to the point where when I actually tried to get a job in grade 12, because of the work environment of the town I grew up in, I got rejected from every place I applied. Even McDonalds. Yes. I stooped that low. The funny part, was no matter what the outcome I knew I would be relieved. If I did get the job, then I'd finally have some extra money going towards University. If I didn't get it, then Huzzah! No greasy disgusting working conditions!


But this post isn't about fast-food, or about my lack of employment for the majority of my life. It's about how experience affects writing, and why this facet of writing is one of the reasons why I love it so much.

Writing requires no experience.

None.


Inherently, writing (fiction) is all about describing things and feelings that you may have never, nor never will experience yourself. Sure, many stories may be rooted in some experience you may have had, but in the end, few people write fictional stories where they've actually experienced every single thing their viewpoint characters, or even their protagonists, go through.

I may not have time-travelled, and I may have to wait a long time before that happens (don't judge me I can dream), but that doesn't mean I can't write about a character who does just such a thing! I also have exactly 0 experience being a girl. But guess what!? I can write from the perspective of a girl, and sometimes it actually comes across as natural (or so I'd like to think).

Now, when it comes to writing accurately, there does need to be a bit of research done on the topic that's discussed or explored, but I think that's still different than most other jobs. Because, I can have lots of knowledge of how to make hamburgers, and how to count change, but that knowledge doesn't translate to a job hire.

I have never said that it takes no experience to be an author. I think it either takes a great deal of luck and in-born talent to get contracted your first try with your first agent with your first book and be successful. I personally have heard of very few stories similar to this. Most people have to work for many years at the craft of writing to get good, to build up experience, and develop as writers.

At the end of the day though, I can still do what I love without anyone holding me back. The only thing stopping me from writing is getting the time to do it. If I wanted to be a video game designer, I'd have to do a LOT of studying, practicing, and working under others before I could just do whatever I wanted with my own video games. With most careers, you have to spend a long time on the bottom rungs of the corporate ladder before you can rise to the position you actually long for.

As writers, I think a lot of us overlook this immense gift we have. So many people complain about the life of a writer saying how sad it is that they can't just be a writer full-time, or how they still haven't been published after so long wading in anonymity. Seriously, I think a lot of these people need to just wake up and see the amazing gift they've been given with this desire to write.

We don't have to wait all those long arduous years to start doing what we want! We can do it TODAY! No experience required!

I know for me, getting published is a great dream to aspire to, and having other people read my stuff would be tremendous. But I get a great deal of satisfaction just from putting pen to paper and telling a story. Even if I'm the only one to read it.

And no one can ever tell me to stop because I don't have enough experience.

That, my friends, is incredibly freeing.


How has the issue of experience affected your life? Does it frustrate you that people are so picky about it? Or are you more frustrated by the clueless employee who was obviously not hired for his/her expertise?

The Mushy Stuff

You all know exactly what I'm talking about.

Whether you want to admit it or not, we've all seen them. Books that have romantic plot-lines shoved into them just because "they're supposed to" and "everyone expects it".

WHY?! In heaven's name WHY?!!?

I can't tell you how many times I've read a book and thought "This love story was completely unnecessary. Why are these people getting together? It doesn't add to the plot, it doesn't make me like either of these characters more, it doesn't hammer home the theme, it just beefs up the word count and makes me mad at the author."

Some of you are rolling your eyes at this point I'm sure.

"But Seth!" You whine. "Don't you realize that everyone wants to see the boy and girl fall in love with each other? That's what EVERYONE wants!"

Restraining my anger, I respond "No. Actually it is NOT what everyone wants."

Sometimes I feel like Shrek in the first movie where he's trying to explain to Donkey that Ogres are like onions because they have layers. Donkey says something about cakes having layers, and that everyone loves cakes. Honestly, to all those people who say romance is what everyone wants in a novel, I just want to say

"I don't CARE what everybody likes!! Romance is not a necessary ingredient in making a successful book!"

This is an issue I'm kinda passionate about in case you haven't noticed. It's something I've had people ask me about several times, and to be honest, I can't usually give an answer that will satisfy them. Basically, I'm fine with the whole "boy meets girl" storyline, as long as it makes sense within the confines of the story world, and what the author is trying to get across with the book.

I can think of two examples that illustrate what I mean. First, is a book idea that I LOVED when I heard about it, but didn't love quite so much when I actually read it because of a love triangle that in my opinion did not need to be there.

The Hunger Games.

Yes, I went there.

When I first heard about this, (before the movie was even on the radar) I thought it sounded great. Gladiator was one of my favourite movies growing up, and I figured this would be basically that, only more intense because it's a book, so you can really get inside the person's head and everything. I especially liked the family dynamics and loyalty threads I saw in the first chapter or so. It was all really promising. I could see it all working out wonderfully with Katniss volunteering and Gale getting picked from the ballot. They would be two friends pitted against each other till the bitter end, and then one would die, and the other would have to go back alone. Very touching. Very sad. Awesome story.

Then HE showed up. The bread guy. (Facepalm)

This was a classic example of "I hate you. No, I love you. No actually, I hate you, because I love this other guy! Who I now hate." On and on it went. Seriously, the whole thing just sickened me. I don't know if this guy was in Mrs. Collins' plans to begin with or something, but for me, he just made the whole thing a lot less enjoyable. I would have much preferred just reading a gripping tale of survival, loyalty, and friendship. At the end of the day, what did you walk away with from this story? Was it "Wow, that was a really cool post-apocalyptic landscape with intense action, and great characters!" or did your response sound more like "TEAM PEETA! No! TEAM GALE!!"

I honestly loved the story throughout the first book, and the first three quarters of the second, but for me, she took a great idea and made it a lot more shallow by pandering to what 'everybody' wants, and putting love in where it really didn't have to be.


Now for my second example, which will be Ender's Game. This was a book that I really really enjoyed, and guess what? The hero doesn't fall in love with ANYBODY!! Gasp! It can't be! Say it ain't so!

But it is.

This is a prime example of a book that really nailed it in pretty much every way. The characters were really awesome, I felt so connected and sympathetic toward Ender, and at the same time the villains were evil, but not so evil as to become caricatures. The plot was tight, with a twist that I personally never saw coming. The only complaint being that it almost felt like he ended one book and went into the prologue of a second near the end. And the theme was really powerful. I felt like there wasn't a lot of added fluff with this. It all felt right.

Ender did not have to have a love interest to be interesting. He didn't need someone back home to be fighting for to make him motivated. He didn't need some girl swooning over him to make his dangerous situations seem somehow more perilous because he needed to be able to see her face again. He was perfectly capable of carrying the story on his own. For me, this was a much needed breath of fresh air.

Too many times I think we get stuck in our rules of convention. We seem to think that books should be a certain way simply because everyone expects them to be as such, and because it's always been like that. I say that you shouldn't have anything happen in a novel that doesn't have a purpose. That goes for unnecessary explosions and car chases too! Sometimes, you just have to take a good hard look at it all and ask yourself "If I took this aspect of the book out, would it really be worse off?"


When I write any kind of love story into a book I'm working on, I never do it simply because I think fans will like it. I do it if it will demonstrate a point, or if it will enhance my themes, or deepen my characters. It's not something flippant for me, and I don't think it should be treated so carelessly by writers these days. It seems like people think that no matter how bad your writing is, if you can make a good love story out of it you'll sell millions.

Sadly enough, this almost seems to be the case.


Do you agree? Disagree? Let your voice be heard! Is there anything wrong with romance in novels? When and why? Or why not?

P.S. Don't worry, not all my posts will sound like rants. These were simply the first posts to get finished. The next post will not be a rant, I promise! :P

"I've been doing this since I was..."

Oh how I loathe those words.

I'm admittedly a fan of shows like America/Britain/Canada's Got Talent, and it's many other variations, and I watch it because I really enjoy seeing people sharing their gifts and talents with the whole world. I think it's just awesome when someone comes on stage in front of thousands and just blows them away. I try to imagine what that would feel like, and it's thrilling.

What I don't enjoy, is when you get someone on a show like this who says they started singing/dancing/doing-something-absolutely-ridiculous since they were two or three years old... and they're embarrassingly bad. And I'm not just talking about the people who can't sing to save their lives, I saw one act where this girl was talking about some mystery talent that she'd been working on seemingly since birth, and she gets on stage and starts burping. Albeit it's very loud, and she can burp much better than I can, but seriously, this is a TALENT SHOW, where you get LARGE AMOUNTS OF CASH if you win. Do you honestly believe something like that is better than all the competition out there?

I find that there are only two kinds of people that say this particular phrase, and it's really quite obvious. Some of them were simply born with an innate talent to do something incredible. Others have been led to believe that they are much more talented than they are. How does that happen?

It seems to me that either they've deceived themselves to the point where no matter what other people say they still think they're amazing, or no one close to them has the guts to tell them the truth. And that's sad. Honestly, if I was completely tone deaf, I would not want to find out from Simon Cowell in front of an audience of thousands. Wouldn't you rather be told by a friend what your level of talent was rather than a hyper-critical stranger? You may think it's more loving to hold back all your criticism, but all you're doing is giving them a false image of themselves that's just going to end up hurting them later. When criticism comes from a friend, or family member, it can be given in a gentle way. The person receiving the criticism can actually know that it's not a personal attack against them because it's coming from a friend they trust, and love.

It comes back to that age old question. What's better? A lie that brings a smile or a truth that brings a tear? In my experience, the lie that brings a smile now, will only bring more tears later.


In the end what matters isn't how long you've been doing something, it's how much you've improved over the course of that time, and what kind of results have come out of it. In the case of those people who haven't had to do much work to be amazing, (you've all seen them, these are the ones who actually ENJOYED junior high) the results speak for themselves. I really don't care how long you've been doing it, what I care about is how good you are. You've been singing since you were three? Cool! So have I! I could sing Mary Had a Little Lamb when I was that age, and it probably sounded awful! Does that mean that I'm all of the sudden a super star now because I've had fifteen years of experience? Of course not!

I've been writing stories since I was in elementary school, but that doesn't mean anything at this point in the game. In grade four (If memory serves) I was writing a story about a meerkat, a scientist and who knows what else going on an adventure. Of course my mom said it was great, and I'm sure she could find it somewhere if she wanted to. But really, it wasn't all that great. I wrote something else when I was in junior high, and this story had a little bit more substance - I even made it past 100 pages with that one - but in the end I never actually finished it. I didn't really start writing with the express purpose of being published until grade 11, but even that age isn't very old compared to some writers starting in their senior years.

The difference with this time I think, was I was really determined to get better at this point. I wanted to progress with this hobby, and make it something more than just a pastime. There was also the aspect of perseverance. I was determined to keep going despite how bad I was. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to say that now I'm a genius writer and you would be a fool not to like my stories, I'm just saying there's a difference between doing something for a long time, and investing yourself in something for a long time. I've been able to sing for a long time, but I haven't poured my time and energy into improving myself in this area for any substantial period of time. Conversely, I haven't really been writing seriously for long, but I've put in a lot of work reading books on writing and practicing my skills to the point where I'm going to try to get published soon.

I'm not even close to being done my journey of becoming a better writer, but I feel like I'm on the right track. (Did you notice how I didn't use a pun there? Do you realize how hard it was for me not to say the write track? :P)

What about you? What have you been doing since you were 'x' number of years old? Do you think it matters how long you've been doing something? What's that one thing you love that's eaten up most of your time over the years?

General Target Audience

For my first post, I thought it would be good to clarify who I'm writing for when I come up with an idea. If you're like me, there are times when an idea comes to you that you just have to share, and for me, I share through novels, and sometimes short stories and poetry. But who do I write for? Most of the time, it's something that's just for me. Something I need to get out or I'll burst. Other times it's something that I want to show my close friends and family. Finally there are some ideas that I want as many people as possible to hear about. These ideas are the ones that take a while to explain. They're the ones that need time to progress, and sink into your head. Those ideas are often my favourite kind, and take thousands of words to express. So who do I write for when I want to get these ideas out?

My ideal reader is someone who’s not afraid to think. Think about the way society works, about how we treat other people, about morality, and about themselves. They like to see the advancement of technology, and are curious as to the possibilities of that advancement. They want a hero who starts out afraid, weak and unwillingly, but becomes something more for the good of others. Someone who will sacrifice their own life in the end because they know it’s the right thing to do. My readers want to feel, strongly. They may laugh once in a while, but it’s not really why they’re reading my book. When they read my book they’re on the verge of tears, or they’re shouting at my main character to stay alive. They want a thrill, they want passion, they want love. But not as the central focus. If there’s any love you can keep that in the side story. Love story plot lines are so predictable and cliché that it would be criminal to spotlight them in my stories.

My reader wants to be shocked, they want blood and guts. They want a twist that makes them stop reading to recover from the blow to the head. They want a book that they could not possibly know what will happen next, and they want to be completely engulfed in the story. Drowning in it. They want to be able to miss a fire drill because they can’t hear the alarm over the sound of my character running from assassins, or jumping out of a building, or going back in time to save a loved one.

My reader wants more. They want more of everything, technology, conflict, war, conspiracy... they want to see the nasty underbelly of the people we respect and love. They want to know the gruesome truth no matter what the cost. They want to hear the unadulterated facts, and then sift through the waters to find the meaning. They want to make choices for themselves. They want to see the main character break the rules, push harder, and dive deeper than anyone thought they could. They want a main character who defies expectations. One that changes as a result of the story. They want someone that they might not have even liked in the first few chapters to become the person they are most desperate not to lose. They want to hear about the tough choices in life. The live or die questions. The ones that dictate who we are, and what others think of us. They want to know why their bad guy’s so mean. They don’t just want to be told that he’s awful and then leave it at that. They want to see it happen. See him fall from the Light Side and creep down slowly into the abyss of darkness. They want to see his heart break, twist, and turn to hatred. They want to see it all, and wish it wasn’t happening, because suddenly they realize that they love this bad guy, and they can’t bear to see him end up like that.

My ideal reader is the person who wants the nitty gritty truth of everything no matter what.

Is that you?