This year is the first time I decided not to get the NanoWrite Story Bundle. It took me a while to figure out why. Turned out the reason showed up in a comment on the blog:
I’ve got to where I don’t take any more writing workshops or courses (same with marketing, etc.) because they all have the same information slightly rehashed and dressed up in different styles – but it’s all the same stuff! I’m even passing up free courses/workshops for this reason.
Pearl R. Meaker ‘s comment from a post last week.
Yup. There were lots of books on the craft of writing. It didn’t look like anything new.
Death of Information Flow
Writing Muse thinks it started with the 24 hour news cycle.
I remember when the first 24 hour news station came online. I remember because I was headed for war, during the first Persian Gulf War.
The 24 hour news was a novelty so everyone had it on. I heard several times a day some version of “Soldiers are going to die!”
Yeah, that made me feel really good.
Now it’s dress up the information, put a different spin on it.
Give it a marketing phrase. Pretend like it’s new.
Shhh. No one will notice.
Critical Thinking Cat
Since cats are really good at critical thinking….I think that’s their normal state.
What’s in it for the person selling? Helping people out? Or getting another name on the mailing list?
Critical Thinking Cat is rolling his eyes. Knocks stuff off because he’s annoyed.
Whap! Tell me something that’s actually new. Dressing up the same writing tips (or time management tips or eating tips) doesn’t add any value.
Whap! Stop urgently repeating. If I’m not paying attention to it the first time, I probably won’t the second or third times, or tenth times.
Whap! Be authentic. I think that’s a tough thing for a lot of people. They have to get the dollars rolling in and spin makes that happen faster–but also doesn’t last.
Spin gets the shiny but doesn’t keep people around.
Additional Reading
- What is Fear of Missing Out? Items 3 and 5 are worth a look.
- Mark Manson calls FOMO “objectification our ourselves.”
- Since I mentioned Desert Storm, check out my war memoir, Soldier, Storyteller: A Woman Soldier Goes to War. If you ever wanted to know what war was like, this book talks about it.
Linda Maye Adams 
Great point. That’s exactly why I’m very selective in whom I listen to for writing advice. If it’s the same old regurgitated crap, I don’t bother. It’s Heinlein’s Rules and trusting in my own subconcsious for me, all the way. And of all the thousands (millions?) out there handing out writing advice, I know of only four or five not regurgitating the same tired, worn-out advice.
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For me, even Heinlein’s Rules have become too repetitive. Maybe this is harking back to the old days of having craft books. I read through the book and absorb some of the information. I go off and practice some of the skills, and then I revisit the book to reflect on what I learned with what I’m reading. You can’t do that with the internet. It just becomes rote.
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