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Category: writing

  • Puppy Wars

    George-Martin-Wolf

    In the publishing and literary world, there always seems to be some sort of scandal and today is no different. Right now, the biggest talk around town has to do with what some call Puppygate or the Puppy Wars. Whatever you call it, it is a fascinating war of words.

    This post will try to do something that others have not, try not to take a side but mainly catch people up as to what the heck is going on.

    First, some background.

    All this talk of puppies and infighting has to do with the Hugo Awards. The Hugo is an award for Science Fiction and Fantasy (SF&F) given to the previous year’s work. There are various versions of this award ranging from novels to short stories to art. It is one of the most prestigious awards in literature and the fight as to what is and isn’t SF&F is at the core of this very hostile debate.

    Voting for the Hugo is a somewhat public affair as all that is needed is a forty dollar membership to World Science Fiction Society. Once you have that, you have a vote.

    Okay, so you get that there’s this award for writing and that there’s voting involved with the public. What the heck does this have to do with cute little puppies and the guy who wrote Game of Thrones?

    Everything really.

    You see, for the last several years, the Hugo has been going to, what the Sad Puppies feel are, left leaning writers and writings.

    I know, I need to stop again. What is a Sad Puppy? Well, that’s the self given name of the grass roots group who is trying to shakeup the current system and succeeding. Sad Puppies is a slight towards liberals and their fondness for animals. The original name was Sad Puppies Think of the Children and there’s even another group called Rabid Puppies. For the sake of clarity and brevity we’ll just call the two main factions the Sad Puppies versus the Blue Team.

    (By the way, coming up for a name for those on the other side of the Sad Puppies debate was a task unto itself because, as you’ll see, one of the biggest problems with this debate is the name calling. I’ll go for Blue Team since in fake battle simulations there is usually a Blue Team and a Red Team, and since both sides don’t argue that the non-Sad Puppies are more liberal in their views, I’m going with the Americancentric color of blue for them.)

    Okay, so where were we? Ah, yes, puppies, and more acurately, sad ones.

    So the Sad Puppies feel that the Hugo Award has been given to, not the best writng in SF&F, but to those that are pushing a social agenda. On the other side, the Blue Team, they claim that they are just moving the genre forward and giving it to the best writing as well.

    So who’s in the right? Depends on who you ask and what side you’re on. Let’s go over the pros and cons of each side, first starting with, what I call, Blue Team.

    Blue Team is the current clique of writers, editors and publishers that have had significant say into who wins and doesn’t win the Hugo. Blue Team’s cause is just, they believe, because before they took over the mantle, SF&F was awarded to low-brow writing and writers. The SF&F landscape was awash with straight white men and their views of what SF&F is.

    Since the Hugo has now been in their care, they have given it to a more diverse crowd who is pushing, changing, and challenging what is commonly believed to be the norms of SF&F.

    On the other side we have the Sad Puppies. They feel that the world of SF&F has become too academic and trying to push across social agendas instead of doing what the Hugo was meant for; to award the best writing. They feel that they are the Rebellion trying to take on the mighty Empire and bring justice back to the galaxy and the Force.

    But even that isn’t a good analogy since Blue Team feels they’re the Rebels who knocked down the Dark Side and are only trying to stop it from coming back. With me so far?

    So that’s how both sides see themselves. They both think that their cause is good. But before we get into the cons of each group, let’s go back again to the culture and world that made this infighting possible.

    No one on either side will deny that there hasn’t always been some sort of politicking and cliques that have pushed their agendas and writings for the Hugo. It has been going on for a long time and, as we can see with the Puppy Wars, is still continuing. The only difference from days past to now is the Internet. What was once whisper campaigns has now bled out into the public forum that is the World Wide Web.

    One of the larger problems I see here is, the name calling and both sides are guilty of it.

    If you’re a supporter of the Sad Puppies, there are tons of examples of acronym name calling that I won’t even get into. But even their stance is insulting to the Blue Team. The Sad Puppies paint themselves as rebels fighting for a just cause. That in itself is implying that Blue Team is just a bunch of status quo pushers.

    If you’re a supporter of the Blue Team, the name calling has been fierce there too. Everything from homophobic to racist has been thrown at those who are trying to disrupt the system.

    So what does this have to do with Game of Thrones guy? A lot since he has publicly come out, time and again, in support of Blue Team.

    So that’s Puppy Wars in a nutshell.

    What do I think about it? Well, I think that this has been going on for years, with control going from the Sad Puppies (historically) to now Blue Team who are afraid of losing what they thought was theirs.

    I understand both side’s arguments and see validity in both their cases. At the end, however, this is about narrative control and more importantly, what is art.

    And that’s what’s so strange to me. You can’t define art. Maybe that’s the only real definition of art, it’s undefinable.

    The main problem with the Hugo Awards is the way it’s designed. It is done in a well meaning spirit, open to fans of the genre and gives them the right to vote. The problem is, it has become too political. There are now cliques and parties that smear and slander just so they could win.

    What needs to be done? I’m not sure but all this infighting needs to stop. So far the only thing that has been resolved by the two sides is that the Hugo’s importance and validity has come into question. And that is something neither side wants.

  • Ghostwriting

    ghostwriter-cartoon

    In the near future, there will be a scandal in literature, I predict. I’m not sure if that’s in fifty years or in two hundred, but I feel it will happen one day. So far, I have zero proof that it is happening on a major scale but I do think it is happening now as we speak.

    What is this conspiracy theory that has me wearing tinfoil on my head? Ghostwriting, and to be more exact, that major, blockbuster writers are actually frauds.

    First, what is a ghostwriter?

    As the name implies, it’s a phantom force that does the writing for someone. No, not a literal ghost that floats in a white sheet but someone else who writes for you.

    Ghostwriting has been around for a long time. And as long as it’s out in the open, I see nothing wrong with ghost writing, as long as the reader is made aware.

    Most biographies are co-written, meaning they were ghost written by another author. I’m sorry, but that reality star from Jersey Shore probably really didn’t sit down and write down their autobiography and was, more likely, just a recorded interview that was then later written by a ghostwriter. Sorry to break your heart.

    But as I stated earlier, as long as the ghostwriter is acknowledged, usually following the non-writer’s name with a “with” I think there is nothing wrong with that. What I am suggesting is something more sinister. I’m suggesting that full on authors are not writing their books and are not who they claim to be.

    I first came across ghost writing as a Tom Clancy fan. He had a new book out, Op-Center, and I couldn’t wait to get my teeth into it. After the first chapter or so, the book felt weird. It just didn’t seem like Mr. Clancy. It was as if his writing was…off.

    I then see that it was co-written with another gentleman and upon reading the notes, it became clear the Mr. Clancy was more of an adviser than a writer on the project. I felt had at the time, but in retrospect, Mr. Clancy did nothing wrong. The co-author was right there, on the front of the book. Clancy fans would later dub these “asterisk books” since they weren’t really written entirely by Tom Clancy. And that’s fine. I think its great for an author to brand him or herself and become their own little empire. If a director can produce poor sequels and have the money come in by not doing any of the actual work, why can’t a writer?

    However, later on I saw that Glenn Beck had written a book of fiction. This had me floored. How could a man, with a radio and television show be able to write a bestselling book? I looked right there, right on the cover, and Mr. Beck’s name and his alone was on the cover. My spidey-sense tingled that something wasn’t right.

    As I did a little bit of research I found out, yet again, that there was no secret. Mr. Beck openly talked about that he didn’t actually physically write the books but they were written for him, based on his ideas. He even credits them inside the acknowledgments.

    So I was wrong to assume that Glenn Beck was a phony, trying to pass himself off as a fiction writer. But that still got my wheels turning.

    Doing an Internet search, however, one does come across plenty of ghostwriters who make small fortunes deceiving readers. These writers, write some of the bestselling stuff out there and have someone else’s name on the cover. This is what I’m talking about. And this is what bothers me.

    As for the actual ghostwriter, I don’t feel that they are to blame. I completely understand creating something, getting a check, and then passing along the glory to someone else, someone more marketable. But the real villain is the person acting like they wrote the book.

    No one has been outed, yet, but it’s just a matter of time before they are.

    Sure the faux-writer has made the ghostwriter sign a million pieces of paper that he or she can’t disclose the fraud. It may even last a hundred years until everyone who is involved is outed. By then the ghostwriter and phony writer would be dead is dead. But what then? What happens when the years past and the truth comes out? Why aren’t these fake writers afraid of that?

    Think about your favorite author (if it’s me, thanks for reading mom) and now imagine that you found out that he or she is a complete fraud, that they had someone else do the work for them. How would you feel? Deceived? Angry? All of thee above?

    And that’s what I just don’t get. Why do it if you’re gonna get caught? And trust me, you will get caught. Maybe not now, but eventually you will.

    Don’t worry. I don’t think it’s any one of the major writers like JK Rowling or Stephen King. These guys have written extensively about their writing habit. But I do see that some more, less famous writers will be made out.

    And that’s what stuns me. When you and I are dead, do you want the world to look back on you as a fraud? I mean, sure, during your lifetime you had the fortune and honors of being a writer but what then? What about your legacy? All the work you may have done, either big or small, will be tossed to the trash bin of history, just another fake who wanted fame and fortune in their lifetime.

    So that’s my fear. One day these writer’s will be found out. The public will cry out (as well they should) and then it will make all writers suspect. And that’s what burns me the most. Here I am, year four, five, or six, (I’m not sure) of slaving away and learning the craft and then some bozo is gonna through me and everyone else who worked hard into a shadow of doubt.

    I guess the only solace that any writer and reader can have is that these people will be outed one day and with it, their legacy shamed. And there’s nothing worse than that, in this lifetime at least.

  • I Turned Pro

    Saint Philip Neri

    This is an open letter to two people. Author Steven Pressfield and, more importantly, to myself.

    I turned pro.

    Those three words, not I love you, have been the hardest to say. Honestly, I thought they’d never come. Mister Pressfield always talks about how you will know the moment you turn pro. It hits you. I never believed him, until today, until a few moments ago.

    I have been a dilettante on a lot of things, and in particular, my writing. I have finally finished a rough draft but that has been through wishy washy commitment at best.

    Then today happened.

    Someone in my family just lost their job. The reality of life, money, and all that just hit me. I asked if there was anything I could do. She asked that I pray for her.

    I consider myself a man of faith, but I know, in my heart of hearts, I would not share her faith in the same time of need. I would ask God why He would repay for all my faith by cutting me off. But I did as she asked, and I prayed.

    Every morning and evening I try to bookend my day with prayer. In the morning, I try to read about the day’s Saint. Today, May 26th 2015, was Philip Neri’s Feast Day.

    As I read his autobiography, I wasn’t even paying attention. My mind was in another place, obviously. My heart was aching for my loved one but I continued on reading about the Saint. He was a good, pious man who received lots of attention from everyone around him. Like many Saints, this story is told several times over. Basically what I’m trying to say is, coupled that story with my mind on other matters, I wasn’t really paying attention to the biography.

    As I got to the end, there was a quote from the Saint, “Let me get through today, and I shall not fear tomorrow.”

    And that’s when it hit me, God has been listening. This Saint’s story that I didn’t think was different, was. Every Saint’s story is particular if you know how to look. I wanted to stop reading, I wanted to give up. Out of respect for the Saint since I was not giving his life’s story the proper attention it deserved. And then finally, that quote.

    I prayed to the Saint to pray for my loved one and myself. I looked out the window and smiled. In a rush it all came to me. If she was on the chopping block, I could be next. I had to do something. Something not just for me, but for her, but for all my family.

    May 26th 2015. That’s the day I turned pro.

    Now you’ll have to excuse me, I have work to do.