Simplicity can be nuanced.
There is a lot to be said for simplicity. Some of my favorite pieces of art have been what many would call minimalist. That said, I have noticed a disturbing trend of articles that regurgitate material that serious writers put a lot of time on. Slate, Consequence of Sound, HuffPo you name it.
A minimum of relevant information, perfect for reading on cell phone. Hyperlinks to the original article, or not. Designed to be read by people around the world, who may not have a firm grasp of the nuances of English.
I am part of this trend in a way through my ubiquitous SEO pieces––the only way I have found to make full-time writing pay. Just wrote150 word pieces on Monet's water garden at Giverny and Eben Alexander's Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife. (The litmus for any article subject I take on is that learn something new). Fortunately, these are client-driven ghost pieces, not claiming any specific authority beyond that of the amateur blogger, and I can write without guilt. I am not purporting to be an authoritative news source and my name is not attached.
The reason I do this type of SEO mill writing is that I do not want any confusion as an artist: the hack writing truly is hack, the creative stuff I put intensive thought and revision into. My creative work is in a sense free from the pressure that I perceive warps so many current writers, with their Internet-driven rinse and repeat approach.
I do believe that my slow, unforced approach will pay off eventually, as there are still those who enjoy poking around, separating wheat from chafe. As my agent said, all the editors at publishing houses are dying to discover original voices. (They are not necessarily the ones who will discover my writing, because I do not write to their particular experience, or what they perceive as a marketable audience. I am intimately familiar with and dead bored by those of suburban literary aspiration).
What I am getting around to is an excuse for not posting a new episode of Cowachunga for over a month. Quality writing takes time, particularly at critical plot junctures that will define how the rest of the narrative runs its course. Also, I have been doing quite a bit of living, in a real place where one cannot avoid it––
Which is not to say I do not feel guilty, readership has been increasing. Weebly stats now indicate nearly 1,500 views per week, which surpasses anything I accomplished in the past. One blog piece in particular A Single Lifetime To Move a Few has attracted a flurry of interest. Which I suppose means I have to get my ass in gear and flesh in the Fabric concept.
A minimum of relevant information, perfect for reading on cell phone. Hyperlinks to the original article, or not. Designed to be read by people around the world, who may not have a firm grasp of the nuances of English.
I am part of this trend in a way through my ubiquitous SEO pieces––the only way I have found to make full-time writing pay. Just wrote150 word pieces on Monet's water garden at Giverny and Eben Alexander's Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife. (The litmus for any article subject I take on is that learn something new). Fortunately, these are client-driven ghost pieces, not claiming any specific authority beyond that of the amateur blogger, and I can write without guilt. I am not purporting to be an authoritative news source and my name is not attached.
The reason I do this type of SEO mill writing is that I do not want any confusion as an artist: the hack writing truly is hack, the creative stuff I put intensive thought and revision into. My creative work is in a sense free from the pressure that I perceive warps so many current writers, with their Internet-driven rinse and repeat approach.
I do believe that my slow, unforced approach will pay off eventually, as there are still those who enjoy poking around, separating wheat from chafe. As my agent said, all the editors at publishing houses are dying to discover original voices. (They are not necessarily the ones who will discover my writing, because I do not write to their particular experience, or what they perceive as a marketable audience. I am intimately familiar with and dead bored by those of suburban literary aspiration).
What I am getting around to is an excuse for not posting a new episode of Cowachunga for over a month. Quality writing takes time, particularly at critical plot junctures that will define how the rest of the narrative runs its course. Also, I have been doing quite a bit of living, in a real place where one cannot avoid it––
Which is not to say I do not feel guilty, readership has been increasing. Weebly stats now indicate nearly 1,500 views per week, which surpasses anything I accomplished in the past. One blog piece in particular A Single Lifetime To Move a Few has attracted a flurry of interest. Which I suppose means I have to get my ass in gear and flesh in the Fabric concept.
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