I'm the first to admit sometimes my words are just about as stirring as an Ambien and a glass of red wine. At the same time there's the struggle between putting your reader to sleep with dry prose, and pummeling them with in-your-face infomercial speak, or coming off as so ridiculously left field that while you might have their attention, you haven't gained their respect... And maybe you don't always need that, but the point is, the balance between blah and bam is challenging.
In the days of my youth there was a show that captivated masses of sticky-fingered ankle-biters whose parents were stupid enough to buy them all the associated paraphernalia. The show I'm talking about was Pokemon. However you--or PETA--feel about locking powerful animals in red and white balls and forcing them to fight for you, Pokemon highlighted a character that made my inner chibi gush: Jigglypuff. He was fat, he was flawed, and he put every damn person in the room to sleep... and then enacted his wrath with a squeaky sharpie that made me cackle like a moron. If the thing had existed, I would have purchased a Jigglypuff brand of sharpie based on pure sympathy alone. Every writer has a little bit of Jigglypuff in them, inflating indignantly when our readers don't connect or quite literally, fall asleep on us. While we might want to rampage on the fumes of permanent marker, its important to note when we're selling a snooze fest.
If I'm not wrong, Jigglypuff evolves into a more dazzling and equipped performer, Igglybuff (and then if you want to enter serious nerd territory it evolves into Wigglytuff). Point is, with time and a dedication to craft, understanding the plight of bored readers and giving them the pow, zam, bada-bing they need to stay awake, you too can evolve into something worthy of attention. Here's speaking to myself and to anyone else out there suffering from the Jigglypuff effect: admit when your writing stinks and don't be afraid to explore a world of unorthodox style.
Peace.
-Amalynne
In the days of my youth there was a show that captivated masses of sticky-fingered ankle-biters whose parents were stupid enough to buy them all the associated paraphernalia. The show I'm talking about was Pokemon. However you--or PETA--feel about locking powerful animals in red and white balls and forcing them to fight for you, Pokemon highlighted a character that made my inner chibi gush: Jigglypuff. He was fat, he was flawed, and he put every damn person in the room to sleep... and then enacted his wrath with a squeaky sharpie that made me cackle like a moron. If the thing had existed, I would have purchased a Jigglypuff brand of sharpie based on pure sympathy alone. Every writer has a little bit of Jigglypuff in them, inflating indignantly when our readers don't connect or quite literally, fall asleep on us. While we might want to rampage on the fumes of permanent marker, its important to note when we're selling a snooze fest.
If I'm not wrong, Jigglypuff evolves into a more dazzling and equipped performer, Igglybuff (and then if you want to enter serious nerd territory it evolves into Wigglytuff). Point is, with time and a dedication to craft, understanding the plight of bored readers and giving them the pow, zam, bada-bing they need to stay awake, you too can evolve into something worthy of attention. Here's speaking to myself and to anyone else out there suffering from the Jigglypuff effect: admit when your writing stinks and don't be afraid to explore a world of unorthodox style.
Peace.
-Amalynne
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