Stephanie Meyer stops work on 'Midnight Sun'

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Daffy, I refuse to believe that someone as intelligent as you can possibly be jealous of a no talent, brainless, gutter mentality like Paris Hilton who has nothing to offer except her name, and money. THIS is what is looked up to these day? I think not. And as for sports figures......please. The ability to shoot a ball into a basket, or run down a field with a football or hit/pitc

It is very easy to be jealous of someone who has made it without having to do anything. She's got lots of money, doesn't really need to ever work, & can retire now if she wants. And the fact is, she really doesn't deserve it.

[JSWolf]

Please don't use the word crap to describe someone's work. There are other words that can be chosne that don't sound so bad.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

Exactly. You can sometimes stare at a screen forever and not get anywhere (the equivalent of writers block, I guess). But when your "muse" strikes you can code for hours and hours on end and write an enormous volume, more than you could normally ever achieve. It's very similar to composing. I think a lot of people who don't code tend to think it's just plugging things into formulas or following well established steps to put things together. It's not really like that. Producing an application from scratch involves the same creative processes as more traditional "artistic" professions. Your tools are different, but the mental process is very similar.

A lot of writers keep tape records, paper & pen. laptops/computers in the bedroom near the bed so if inspiration hits and the writer wakes up, it can be taken down and sorted later.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by suzannesumida

I loved Twilight the most and so I was really looking forward to reading Midnight Sun in full. I just got done reading the rough draft of 264 pages and loved it even more than Twilight itself. Please Stephenie, don't make us pay for someone else's carelessness!

have you reader her SF book Host? if so, was it any good?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by SpiderMatt

Oh, thank god. It's frightening to think how close we were to having another one of that woman's books out on the market. Whoever put that manuscript on the net deserves a medal.

That was not nice at all. What's it to you if she puts out more books? If you don't like them, then don't read them. But don't say it in such a way that makes you seem hateful.

[Elsi]

Originally Posted by RickyMaveety

As for whether this Meyer person can write. I have no idea. I've never read one of her books, but based on comments from people whose opinions I respect, I would tend to think that I would probably not enjoy them. So, I can honestly say that if she chooses to stop writing ... even completely ... it's not going to impact much on my life.

It's fluff. It's fluff that appeals to a VERY BIG market. I enjoyed the books, but I went into them knowing that they are fluff.

Originally Posted by RickyMaveety

I do remember reading some statistics that indicated that artistically creative people are more prone to over reaction to stressors. However, I do not think that computer programming is considered artistically creative, although the programmer certainly does create something by his/her efforts. As I recall the statistics tended to demonstrate that there is such a creature as the otherwise stereotypical "high strung artist." Or ... perhaps it really has more to do with people who are otherwise high strung being attracted to the creative arts.

As many other have said, computer programming can be very creative.

There are differences between someone who is competent, maybe even proficient, and the one who is an artist. That applies to programmers, musicians (vocal and instrumental), painters, sculptors, actors, and so forth.

Originally Posted by Taylor514ce

That describes most of the best programmers I've met, pshrynk. You can push and prod and cajole and threaten deadlines, and they'll shrug, browse, and play first-person shooters all day. Then they'll code for 48 hours straight.

Or, they'll threaten mutiny when you force them to work on NEW stuff rather than rewrite something that's just fine because to them, it isn't elegant enough.

Also, every great programmer I've known or trained has also been a musician, or a bonsai tree hobbyist or a pointillist or designed their own house...

Originally Posted by Taylor514ce

I am a very good programmer. Also modest, but that's another topic.

Aye -- I suspect that there are quite a few of those around here. That "in the zone" aspect is one reason why I am not making my living as a programmer. I couldn't manage to leave the office at the end of the day and return the next day and resume coding. It took me *hours* to get back into the zone again. I create excellent code, but I have to do it in intense coding sessions which are extremely wearing on the system. Easy enough when I was younger, but it takes me a lot longer to recover from an all-nighter these days.

So today I design, I teach, I consult, and I write the occasional snippet of code to keep my hands in and to confirm that I've mastered a concept.

[rixte]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Can you tel the difference between being an awful writer and a write you just don't happen to care for? I recently gave up on reading Jacqueline Carey. I don't think she's a poor writer. I just think they style of storytelling used in her series did not fit well with me. So is it that you think she is awful or just not a good fit with what you care to read?

I do think it had to be someone close to Meyer who had to either leaked the draft or was sloppy enough to allow it to be stolen.

Oh, it's definitely not the genre - I have a fondness for YA lit at times, and I'm a big genre fan in general. She's fond of overwrought, melodramatic sentences and purple prose on the one hand - and that can be a matter of taste. But beyond that, her stories and her characters aren't internally consistent - and that's bad writing, imo.

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Please don't use the word crap to describe someone's work. There are other words that can be chosne that don't sound so bad.

Thou shalt not use the word "crap" to describe the work of thy neighbor, unless they neighbor is in the fertilizer business.

I'm keeping a list of these ... they are golden.

[SpiderMatt]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

That was not nice at all. What's it to you if she puts out more books? If you don't like them, then don't read them. But don't say it in such a way that makes you seem hateful.

Haha... I'm sure our good friend Stephanie won't mind. I just like to say things that get the devotees spun up. You know, the people who think their favorite author (usually the JK Rowling fanatics) is god's gift to literature. Ugh. But seriously, I'm nearing the end of Twilight right now and I will admit that I think Meyer is a good writer (which is much more than I can say for Dan Brown). Unfortunately, I think her story is just stupid. Yeah, I said it. But hey, I know I'm not the target audience. I've considered giving Host a try but I'm going to need a lot of time to recoup from this literary detour of uninteresting, unstimulating fluff.

[nekokami]

Originally Posted by SpiderMatt

I just like to say things that get the devotees spun up.

It's a common enough hobby on the internet, but not so appreciated in these forums.... Saying there are specific things you don't like about a book is fine, of course, but deliberately trying to provoke others is... well... rude.

[MaggieScratch]

I heard that she gave the ms. to some of the actors in the Twilight film (the new novel is a retelling of the first novel from another character's point of view--in other words, she's writing her own fanfic) to help them in their characterizations and there is some speculation that is the source of the leak.

[Donnageddon]

So, I can assume SM will not be releasing her next book via a creative commons license?

* I have never read a Stephanie Meyer book, so I cannot pass judgment on their crappiness.

[Over]

What's up with this vampire-stories-for-the-ladies-with-half-naked-males-in-the-cover genre? I just got aware of this now! And it seems really a whole genre! :O

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Over

What's up with this vampire-stories-for-the-ladies-with-half-naked-males-in-the-cover genre? I just got aware of this now! And it seems really a whole genre! :O

Well, I think it is a new genre, or perhaps a sub-genre.

One of the things that irks me about Categories over at Fictionwise -- and I feel Fictionwise is an excellent company - is their use of the category Dark Fantasy to convey exactly what you describe in your post.

When I think Dark Fantasy, I think on the lines of Karl Edward Waggoner's work which I thoroughly enjoy.

I think Dark Fantasy is writing that has a dark texture to the writing regarding subject matter. I certanly do NOT think of Romance when I'm looking for Dark Fantasy reading material. I rarely now even look at the new releases from Fictionwise from within that category.


Don

[Elsi]

Originally Posted by Over

What's up with this vampire-stories-for-the-ladies-with-half-naked-males-in-the-cover genre? I just got aware of this now! And it seems really a whole genre! :O

My bookswapping group calls this PUF -- Paranormal and Urban Fiction. Since it's also a bit of fluff, the rhyme seems appropriate.