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It has been a hot little issue,started by a a youth filled with angst no doubt. And like Dan Brown who probably never thought that that little conspiracy theory book of his would actually take off in the way that it did,she is now wondering why she took that stick and stirred that big hornets nest. Hiding under the covers in your room perhaps,clutching copies of The Outsiders and The Catcher in the Rye?
Life. Life is like a grape vine and the grapes that grow on it are well, grapes.
So I would say that 13-18 writers are like grape juice--even the best tasting grape juice is still just, grape juice--you could be Welch's which is a finer brand of juice or your neighborhood supermakret generic brand.
Adults writers are like wine--some of these adult writers are like the finest wines and some are like the cheap brand that bums like to drink.
And then you have the occasional raisin--writers who wrote in their youth and have never matured,I like raisins. Raisins are good.
They are tasty and small and come in little packages you can put into a jacket pocket or purse.
Now,you can put grape juice into a bottle of wine but,it will never taste the same will it?
It's an unfair race--and let's face it kids,you've already lost;we are way ahead of you and I will tell you why you will never catch up.
You don't have what it takes--you lack what you desire:Experience and Maturity.
We have live a very very long time--that has more to do with it than just numerical age--some of us way passed our expiration date. We have the experience that we can fall back on and the maturity to deal with what's ahead of us in life and not only survive it but transcend it and put it down on paper,we have thick skins--and sometimes,thick heads--we know how to lose the battles of life gracefully in order to win the wars.
You may rant and rave--pitch a hissy fit and throw a tantrum but it won't work. We are: The yodas. The Obi-wan Kanobes. The Zen Masters. You are: The padawans. The Jedis in-training. The Grasshoppers to the Kung Fu Masters.
Pack your gear and go home--learn the ways of the masters and live life--experience it and continue to write and to mature then join us in the fold,pay your dues and earn your place and then you'll never have to hear the words--you lose,deposit fifty cents and try again. Game Over. -
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<< reply to 'People like to be read. You usually have a wider audience if you're published. <' by KodyBoye
I had my palm read once, didn't agree with what she said and it turns out she was wrong. I like to have my stories read but I love enjoying things outside of the written word and money usually helps with that. I guess we're just trading one deadly sin for another.
We can start threads and polls; I wonder if there's a way to start a petition to ban this topic and any variation of it from ever popping up again. It's like trying to argue the best choice when playing 'rock,paper,scissors'.
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<< reply to 'And yet her books sell, while we're all sitting here. ' by Barbara
I don't know...I'm a bit scared to have kids reading again if they think that Meyer's going to be good literature...What Kody said is right - not only is the writing awful, but she's giving the hope of finding an Eddie to all the small children out there (no matter how creepy that would be...I know if some really hot guy told me he was a vampire and that he watched me while I was asleep, I'd call the mental asylum/police and tell him to stay away from my house).
My major point here, though, is that Meyer is an ADULT, and I know a lot of people under the age of even seventeen that can write better than she. Thus, this theory makes no sense to me. -
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I think the benefit of Meyer--despite thing she may or may not have noticed when writing Twilight and the rest of the quartet (a saga is NOT four books. I think it's at least six.)--is that people are reading because of it. And, like someone else in the thread noted, they read Twilight and went on to read Dracula, something I still haven't read.
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As I mentioned in the post, reading Twilight can lead to other books. Lure the kids in with
, then toss a clasic at them.
The same can be said for the kdis that started reading because of Harry Potter.... I've tried to read the books, but I find them to be badly written
... yet kids were devouring entire tomes, and moving on to the next one. Was it giving kids the hopes of becoming a wizard, or going to a 'special school'? Maybe... but hopefully the reader is smart enough to know it's fiction. If not, then any book they read, regardless, will make them pine away for the 'romantic lead'.
Stephen King is an adult, been writing for many years, and I know some teens that write better than he does. There will always be the exceptions in everything. -
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How far along in the Harry Potter series did you get, Barbara? Looking back on them, I don't think they really took off until the fifth one. The seventh book really shows how much Rowling has improved over the last few years.
I like King's writing, but I do agree with you--there are better writers than he is.
Edit: Oops. I just contributed to keeping this thread alive.
Oh well. At least it hasn't devolved to name-calling like the other one has (though I do admit I took some part in that, lol.) -
JK Rowling is a story-teller more than she is a writer. You couldn't exactly call her an Oscar Wilde with her words. But I personally think she develops her plots well and is able to tie back to them. She also isn't afraid to take risks, unlike Meyer. I doubt Meyer would have killed Sirius.
I also find her characters... how do I say this? Better role models(?) for children. When I was little, I used to want to be smart and well read like Hermione. Now look at me--I'm sitting her discussing literature, dreaming of becoming a writer and striving for knowledge.
Now, on the other hand, girls today want to be clumsy like Bella. Well.
And, I knew Harry Potter was fiction. Sure, I wanted it to be real, but because it wasn't I made up my own Harry Potter stories and wrote them down and acted them out, both probably leading up to my current love for acting and creative writing.
Like KodyBoye said, the books development-wise begin improving around book five (personally I'm not a big fan of book four), but in the mean time it's still interesting and enticing. And Rowling does have a talent for coming up with details in her wizarding world.
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Just a couple points --
I'm not on here often due to work, but when I am here, I like to go through the forum area. I'm not ashamed to say that I don't read many stories, since I do that all day long with work. See, I'm a copy editor. That would be a person that reads submissions and changes errors, and so on. After a day of work, I really don't feel like doing it in my spare time... nor do I like going over my own work for errors.
But...
(point one)
I'd like to mention that there are a lot of wonderful teen writers out there. I get some fairly good work from them - along with a lot of poorly written things. Same with adults. I feel I can safely say this because I see it daily (well, the days I work at editing, that is... other days I'm too busy being a 'go-fer'.)
(point two)
If you're going to complain about the writing style or techniques of a groups of people, you may want to make sure that your own post it correct. Most times (ie, every time), there is a space after a common or a period, as well as after any -- . And 'some of us way passed our expiration date' should be 'some of us way past our expiration date'. I realize that at times it's easier to find fault in other's work than it is to find it in our own, which is the norm, really... but, hey...
And now, I'm off to read and comment on some stories from the feature list-- I need the points. ☺ ♪ ♫ ☼
on, people....
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Damn. I was so close to pushing this thread to the second page, but the replies just keep coming.
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I totally understand what you're getting at. But... it sounds like you are saying that teenagers shouldn't bother writing at all. Or, that just because we (yes, "we". I am thirteen.) are not as mature and experienced as adults, that our writing is going to suck. That is not necessarily true. Young people can write about experiences in their lives, and it doesn't have to be adult content to be good. My best friend can write better than a hand-full of adult writers I know, so it's useless saying that age is the main component to well written stories.
But I'm getting way off track.
I agree that younger people cannot write as well as adults. I think adults are smarter (more mature is the better word) than teenagers, so of course it's going to look better on page. And a fifteen's story plot isn't going to be as in-depth as a 40-year-old's, that much is true.
I believe that writing isn't something you completely inherit, although. To be a extraordinary adult writer, you have to have been a writer from a young age, so that your writing can progress over the years.
That's pretty much all I have to say about it.
(oops, I didn't read your last paragraph... *delete that*) -
It depends on the story doesn't it? As far as I'm concerned, I haven't met an adult so far who enjoys reading about werewolves. It's better for a kid to write about kids stuff for kids to read isn't it?
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<< reply to 'LOL Barbara. Did you go o.O like I did? I'm sorry, but yo do not say 'is' then '' by KodyBoye
Edward wouldn't teach girls to like pedophiles, because Edward looks seventeen. But he is an abusive jerk who is constantly putting Bella down, being better than her, laughing at her, and denying her of certain given rights. If anything, it's teaching girls that, no, it's cute when he calls you stupid.
And, as much as I can't stand Meyer and I think she's a hack, the money is her earnings, and she has the right to donate it to whatever cause she feels necessary. -
<< reply to 'People like to be read. You usually have a wider audience if you're published. <' by KodyBoye
That's certainly how I feel. I don't really care about making a ridiculous amount of cash, I just want people to read my books. -
Age does not matter.
It's the writing. The age does not reflect on it.
There are many adults who write like children. And, you may refuse to believe it, there are children who may write like adults.
They're young. So WHAT?
There was this girl who wrote several stories at the age of 7. She wrote amazingly.
My point is, children can be young and still be able to write magnificent stories.
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Okay, I am a fourteen years old, and proud of it, so most of you will, most likely ignore this comment entirely, I don't care. I beleive that children, if they set their minds to it, can very well write better that the majority of adults in the world. Age is only a number. Age is a form of discrimination that the average person tends to overlook. Now, If a person can only write based on their own experiances does it really make them good at writing? No, good writers should be able to feel things that they've never experianced and put these feelings into words that make it sound like they have. True writers can use figurative language, poetry, quotations, sophistacated vocabulary, and their imagination to make up for some things that they may not have done yet in life. So, if you only write based on things that have happened to you I think there are myriads of children who can write better, more well rounded, and sophisticated things that you. If you really beleive that age determines writing skill than I would think you are a very close-minded person. How do you explain all the authors out there in the real world that are waiting to get published while the eighteen-year-old next door is working on their fouth novel? Writing ability is not determined by the amount of years that you've lived on this earth, only by creativity, pure skill, and the determination to, even is you've been shot down countless times, keep writing.
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this fucking thread was so close to sinking forever
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And you have a valid point somewhat but, you should watch the spelling. This post seems to have brought out the worse in some people..it won't die out anytime soon. I didn't expect such a feedback, really. Thank you all for your comments both pro and con.
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New Rule
Only add to this thread if you're going to say something that hasn't already been stated.
Seriously people, we get it. You'll get some adults that write like a dyslexic four year old with ADHD using his feet to type and you'll get some 12 year olds that write like Charles Dickens.
How about we have a write-off; a team of old farts...I mean aged wine, against a team of snot-nosed little...the grape juice group. A random topic is chosen and you could even get a panel of mixed aged judges to score the whole thing. The top three stories will decide the 'age' factor once and for all. That is if anyone actually cares about this anymore.
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Really, I have only one thing to say about this tiresome thread. I REGRET EVER HAVING POSTED IT. I may never post anything ever again--no, really. It was an opinion that's all--I feel like Pandora. I opened a little box and out flew all the nasties and are wrecking havoc here--honestly. For all the ranters and angry people I only have one thing to say to you:
SHOW DON'T TELL. I will be happy to read anyone's work who has been ranting about their ability as a writer, whether you are in the 13-18 age group or otherwise. Just write it and let me know and I will read it and review it; but, mind you I will be honest and, if you don't write as well as you claim that you can I will let you know. I will give you CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM
and even award you some of my points. Then maybe, you all can let this post die a good death...any takers? -
J.K proved that children should not write. Rowling. J.K. Rowling. Oh damn. Now you're all going to run off and read her baby books, aren't you?
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Agreed.
Anyway, I don't think that kids can't write as well as adults. being a child myself, of course I'd say that, but it's true. Beach-bum(note BUM >:3), this just proves that you are bored and want to start an arguement, or you're just a retard. Of course age doesn't matter! My friend is only ten and she wrote something that surprasses that of some of the books written by people over thirty I've read. So, let's just stab the arguement repeatedly as if it's Julius Ceaser.
*stabs repeatedly*
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I disagree completely. I think it doesn't matter how much 'experience' you have of the world itself. What matters is the time you have been writing/reading and perfecting your own craft. What you said in the post hardly makes sense - and I believe it's simply biased [ no flame intended Marta, I like your writing, just not in this thread! ]. I can name and compare dozens of writers that are between 13 - 18 and can write not as good as, but sometimes BETTER than most of the adults on THIS site.
Although you may be actually right in the general case. I still think the way your argued your point is inexcusably prejudiced and downright rude! You sound almost discouraging. And I don't think you should start a thread claiming 'that I'm better' directed at 13 - 18 year olds and then try to prove your point by the flaming your get via IM's. They're kids, what do you think they're going to do!
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Oh. This thread was dying. Let it die. Ignore me!
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I can't see how age has anything to do with writing skill. look at the guy who wrote eragon. he was, what? fifteen? that's an awesome story.
imagination, skill with language, ability at storytelling... these things play a part in the value of a writer, not age. -
Topic locked upon request of the original poster.
Barbara
Moderator Manager -
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New comments cannot be added. Moderators may lock topics when they get too out of hand or too long.Please feel free to start a new topic if you wish to continue discussion in a friendly manner.
I even have written about them. I've also written children's stories that kids have enjoyed. 
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Marta
Jun 3 6:15 AM
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