A couple of evenings ago I was invited to attend a local writers group: The Sheppey Scribblers, and I was amazed by how talented some of the members work was. It made me question - not for the first time in my life - just how much undiscovered talent there is 'out there' in the big blue yonder...and whenever I start to think along these lines, I start to wonder how publishers actually decide what they publish and what they toss aside.
Many a time I have bought a book on the strength of its eye-catching front cover, its enticing blurb, and even its gripping hook of a first line, only to get it home and discover that the writer can't write for toffee! The plot is wafer thin, the characters unformed, the dialogue stilted and the prose uninspiring. And I'm not talking just the self-published novels, but also the ones taken on by mainstream publishing houses.
It is so disheartening. There seems to be no rhyme or reason.
I've lost count of the times I have sent off my short stories to this magazine or that one, only to have them rejected with no explanation, then the next month to read a weak tale with no proper plot or satisfying storyline in these selfsame publications.
It's enough to make a saint swear!
I know just what you mean, Akasha. Good luck with your next short story.
ReplyDeleteI'm actually trying to concentrate on my novel for a while...or at the rate I'm going it will never get finished! :D
ReplyDeleteIt does seem like kind of a goat rodeo, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteIt's so frustrating, isn't it? There are so many untalented writers that are published. I think it has to do with the public demand. Maybe the general public has become one big mass of readers with low expectations.
ReplyDeleteNevine
Rick ~ A goat rodeo...I like that! :D
ReplyDeleteNevine ~ I think you may be right. Chick Lit has become such a big thing over the last few years...and these watered down vampire novels!! :)
Very, very true.
ReplyDeleteI was recently reading a fairly well-known horror magazine and found a story that just stunk. I mean, I'm usually not so critical, but really...it was bad. And it made me furious to think that this tale (written by someone "in the industry") was picked up when there are so many better stories out there.
Onipar ~ it is so very, very frustrating...it sometimes makes me wonder why we bother.
ReplyDeleteIt's surprising sometimes to see someone's writing. Kind of makes you see them in a different light. I remember reading a couple of things--just journal entries--my father had written years and years ago. The guy could have done that for a living if he'd had a mind to.
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