Metal Reviews

Writing's like anything else where if you do it more it gets easier and you get better at it.

Not if you're self-sabotaging with incessant fretting, which also doesn't mix well with my perfectionism.

Perhaps for some writing gets easier and easier. But for me, as the chapters begin to accumulate, I always start to become self-conscious of things. Certain words which I used to use without care are suddenly scrutinized and done away with; some I feel the need to use for the sake of making the newer chapters palpable to the old. To make things more plain: I crash. Hard. I still haven't recovered from the last time (which was two years ago, pathetically enough).

I'm hoping by putting aside literature completely, that time will heal this ever annoying wound. But being the pessimist I am, I doubt that this will ever occur. For starters, since I've not much to do around here (outside of my shitty job, of course), I'm usually forced to write in order to just do something. Besides finding a new hobby, I've obviously got to learn to control myself, but it's so very difficult and aggravating.

I'd suggest trying to start with smaller works than something of multiple chapters because then you can actually finish it before you think of editing it, and you can edit over and over again to the point of feeling fairly happy with the whole thing. I always found editing really hard because whenever I read something, it seems like the author just sat down and wrote it, not that the author sat down and wrote it and went over it X times, then rewrote it then went over it 20 times. So when I reread my writing it was like "holy shit this sucks," but after actually practicing at making it better I can get the "holy shit this sucks" voice to shut up and instead think "how can I make this better?"

But yeah, it's a good idea to think of writing as any other skill that you're trying to practice. And it takes roughly 10,000 hours of practice to become great at something. Do it every day, do different styles of writing (fiction, journalism, simple, elaborate, whatever), read other writing carefully (picking out things you like, dislike, would change, how you would change it etc).

On the subject of writing I was reading Infinite Jest last night and I noticed that he included the phrase "because of what" (direct translation of "pourquoi") when the story was focused on a French character. In the context of how big the rest of the book is, that small detail kind of blew my mind @___@;;

Well, Noodles; you have completely redeemed yourself in my mind. I shall heed your advice... though I still feel that a nice, long break from writing is the best course of action.

Infinite Jest is, like, my favorite book ever. It's so huge and dense, but incredibly rewarding.

Oprah is sexist. "How could you be vice president if you have five kids, Sarah? Presidents have their wives to take care of their children. Wouldn't you be bogged down by being a mother?"

I hope she does run. She's a real maverick and would shake up Washington plenty. Plus, she makes Margaret Thatcher look like Ulrike Meinhof.

One side of me wants her to run thinking it would guarantee Obama's re-election but then I fear that she'd beat him and I'd cry for days.

Same here. I don't trust America that far.

Palin is a highly conservative, ignorant, bible beating, media whore who has zero credentials to be president let alone a mother. I find her to be an absolute disgrace and I abhor everything about her.

Yeah basically.

Whoa check out the hateful liberal sexists, being all hateful and sexist.

Lawl. Elections are rigged, thilly.

I can't support a 'potential' political candidate who thinks that dinosaurs and man coexisted. A candidate who supports banning literature or at least censoring it. The woman said that Africa was a country. Plus, she still will not make a statement about what she reads. Oprah made reference to the interview with Katie Couric and the question that Couric asked Palin in regards to what newspapers, periodicals, and books she reads. She still side-stepped the question. Does this woman read? Does she have any real sense of what's going on in this country let alone around the world? She's an intellectual buffoon who has an opportunity to now make easy cash from idiots who will buy her book and use the book and it's promotion to further her own celebrity. America has enough issues to deal with without adding this harpie into the mix. She needs to keep her ass in a snow drift up in Alaska. Perhaps an icy vagina will keep her from pumping out kid #6 who will be named acorn, bark, or mooseshit!

But you can support a man that thinks there are 57 states? One that seems to be confused whether he is a christian or a muslim?

http://politicalhumor.about.com/gi/o.ht ... MUgNg7aD8M

How about that church he attended for twenty some odd years, under the Rev. Wright? I guess that is better than palin's belief system, no?
He himself claims to be a Christian (?), so, that would mean he has basically trhe same faith that Palin has... why is one considered "backwards" and the other not? Same bible, same religion, or am I missing something?

One that thinks "Austrian" is a language?
One that says things like:

"On this Memorial Day, as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes -- and I see many of them in the audience here today -- our sense of patriotism is particularly strong"

"In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died -- an entire town destroyed." -- referring to a Kansas tornado that killed 12 people.

One that thinks giving the PM of England a couple dozen or so DVD's is proper ettiquette?
Didn't he also give the Queen an ipod? Haha, she already had one.
And my favorite: someone that burns 9,000 gallons of jet fuel to plant a single tree on Earth day...


http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/04/22 ... 2384.shtml

err, good job, sir.
I'm in no way shape or form a Palin fan, but liberal hypocrisy (like when NOW and all those feminists kept quite about Clinton's shenanigans) is, frankly, astounding.

Well, if you had to choose between Palin and Obama, I think most people would go for Obama. Trying to ban books is worse than giving DVDs to the British PM, I'd say. But liberals are often hypocritical due to their very centrist natures. Now, socialists, they're awesome. I present to you for consideration Clement Atlee, the best Prime Minister England ever had:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clement_Attlee

Stupid, stupid voting system.

Indeed. A different system could have produced much different results and changed history... we can only dream. Aneuryn Bevan as PM instead of Anthony Eden?

Also, has anyone read World War Z, and if so do they remember the shameful slandering of Attlee contained within it?

I was all like "here's a cool book about zombies, and all tha- WAIT LET'S BRUTALLY MANGLE BRITISH HISTORY AND BUTCHER OUR COOLEST PM"