There's a big difference between giving would-be writers a realistic picture of the marketplace, and telling a would-be writer that he shouldn't even try. I'm in greatly in favor of the former, which Teresa's book, should she write it, would help accomplish. But I'm dead-set against the latter.
Encourage a dreamer to pursue his dreams, and the worst that can happen is he'll try and fail. Discourage him convincingly enough, and whatever potential he had in him will die unrealized.
When it comes to that yet-unrealized potential, I subscribe to the logic "you can't prove a negative." There may indeed be this mystical thing called talent without which the would-be writer is doomed to failure, but no one on this green Earth can point those doomed writers out. Sure, we can tell the difference between "talented writing" and incompetent writing, but there is no way we can say for sure that someone who is currently outputting dreck will never in his/her life produce writing that'll knock a nation's socks off. That "never" is the negative we simply can't prove.
In other words, there may well be people who shouldn't bother trying. But it isn't our place to say who they are. We don't have that kind of divine knowledge, and we have no right to pretend we do.
So I think a little more focus on improving our own craft, and less on identifying all those other "failed writers," would be a healthy thing.
Glen, your response is much more eloquent than what I was going to say, which would have been something along the lines of <SARCASM>"That's right, what we need are more cynics telling would-be writers to STFU, because there aren't enough stifled voices in the world"</SARCASM> which wouldn't really be adding much to the conversation.
I, personally, adore Cameron and Goldberg's books. They both go out of their way to give the reader permission to write. Not all of us were raised by parents who bought us typewriters and blank notebooks when they saw us scribbling; for some people, Natalie's "For the next ten minutes you're free to write the worst crap in Pennsylvania but just keep that pen moving" approach was the first encouragement they ever ran into. Until then, they were being told STFU by everyone in sight, which just ain't healthy.
Now, I also adore Chris Baty's book, but Miranda gives a rather skewed review of it, in my opinion. No Plot? No Problem! is A) the story of how NaNoWriMo got started, and B) a primer on how to go about taking the 50K-words-in-30-days dare yourself. The main focus isn't on writing crap, so much as it is on writing. Stop saying "I'm going to write that book someday," and start writing 1,667 words of it each day. Many of the November participants do it just as a dare, but many others of 'em (myself included) do it to produce an actual first draft which they mean to revise as much as necessary and then attempt to publish.
I lent my copy of No Plot? No Problem! to my husband, who read the whole thing in a night (he didn't stop cackling for hours) and then sat down and wrote his first 500 words. To which perhaps Miranda might say, "Keep it to yourself, you probably have nothing to say," but to which I say, "Go for it!"
Mary R: On a more serious note - my 15 yo niece is getting into Wicca. She is a serious type and fond of books. Can anyone suggest a good book on Wicca I could give her to help start her on her way? Thanks!
My faves:
Scott Cunningham's The Truth About Witchcraft Today and Wicca: A Guide For The Solitary Practitioner ... Good introductions to walking the path. Lightweight on history, but solid on ethics and spirituality.
Margot Adler's Drawing Down The Moon (whatever the latest edition is, get that one) ... An almost anthropological study of the Neopagan movement today. Debunks a lot of those pesky "Burning Times" and "Cult Of The Great Goddess" myths. A must-read for a solid grounding in fact.
And lastly, Isaac Bonewits's Real Magic ... Magic and the occult from a more-than-Wiccan point of view. Gets his snark on real good. Also a good read if you're looking for ideas on how to incorporate magic in a fantasy novel. This guy says so.
Mileage may, of course, vary. These are the books I found most helpful when I was in your niece's shoes. Wish her a happy Solstice for me! (And a merry happy blessed whatever to everyone else, as appropriate!)
Steve Eley:The animated Tick is second-and-a-halfth on my list of most quotable TV shows of all time.Which of course rather reminds me of a favorite line from Adult Swim's The Brak Show:
("Could you destroy the world?"
"Egad, I hope not! That's where I keep all my stuff!")
"Oh my God, he'll tear your arms off!"
"But I love my arms! That's where my hands live!"
The whole transcript, in all its bizarre glory, can be found here.
Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Seconding the recommendation of Barker's Abarat - I adored it, and when I finished the first book, I turned right back to the first page and started over. It reminds me sort of The Wizard Of Oz, but a version in which Kansas remains relevant and Auntie Em eventually gets invited along for the ride.
Funny thing was, it had been staring at me from across the Boulder Bookstore's children's book section (fave hangout) but from a distance the painting of Candy on the front cover I kept mistaking for Alice Cooper. Go fig.
It so made my day when I discovered the second book was out! I'm afraid that what the previous commenter had to say about the writing being clunky at times holds doubly true for the second book, though, and there's a bit of repetition to sit through where bits of backstory get relayed character-to-character multiple times... but the story itself, and the world it's set in, keep me in a forgiveable mood for these sorts of quibbles. I mean, I wanna go there. You know Disney's got the movie rights already? Release date in 2005, supposedly? Yeah. Crossing my fingers that they do a decent job. I'll be sitting there watching through my fingers with apprehension.
Oh, and has anyone mentioned Michael Ende's Neverending Story or Momo? These also get pride of place on my bookshelf.
Glad also to see Z. K. Snyder mentioned - she made a huge impression on me, growing up. I still prefer her supernaturals, like Black and Blue Magic and Season of Ponies (and "almost supernaturals," like The Headless Cupid and the very creepy Witches of Worm where the Magic Thing is never quite explained away entirely) over her more mainstream content books. This is an author who never forgot what it was like to be 11-13, and the results are gorgeous.
If Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy is a little deep for the target age, you might try some of his "younger" books. I picked up a copy of Clockwork last year, and it's the perfect little YA horror story. *shivers*
Someone mentioned Patricia Wrede's "Enchanted Forest" books - are those the same as what I know as her "Dragon" books, starring the uppity, smart princess who went looking for a dragon to kidnap her? Those are AWESOME.
Another young reader friendly Robin McKinley book is Beauty (not to be confused with Sheri Tepper's book of the same name, which is a bit more adult). It's a lovely retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" that made me laugh for pages at a time.
My husband and I are starting on Garth Nix's "Mister Monday" for our sporadic spousal read-aloud nights. I find it a little on the deliberately-written-for-younger-readers side myself... Are the Sabriel books similar in tone?
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