the ramble

.One.
I was disappointed to discover that the finalists in this blog-to-magazine contest that I self-nominated for are not good. Said magazine sent me a list of finalists and encouraged everyone to check out their blogs. I only got through the first ten of them, but I am severely unimpressed.

Now, to be fair, this may be because writing fiction on a blog totally weirds me out. And maybe it doesn’t freak other people the way it freaks me.

I just find it bizarre. And not fun to read.

Also, wordy. When I go to a blog, I want a snippet, not a ten page paper with approximately 6,000 adjectives. Stop that.

.Two.
Speaking of writers, I am also shocked and dismayed by the number of aspiring ones who can’t spell. If you would like a taste of this, visit Nathan Bransford’s blog and scroll through the comments. Grammar, spelling, the need to express an opinion that sixty-three other people before you just expressed: it’s all there.

People, listen, if you want to be a writer, learn how to write. I know that you’ve seen people who can’t write making it big (thanks, stupid Di Vinci Code and stupid Marley and Me), but it’s unlikely to be you. Please, please, take a short jaunt through dictionary.com. Or stop cluttering up agents’ inboxes and let someone else get representation.

.Three.
Speaking of Nathan Bransford, read this post.