Bad Ebooks, Big Sisters and Plot Holes

    I was reading an ebook recently, whose title and author I have thankfully forgotten; the characters were complete crap and read like a fourteen year-old wannabe mean girl had developed them. The premise was vaguely interesting, hence me attempting to read it. Basically, the main guy character had been cursed and hadn't aged for around three hundred years. His pre-curse life was in the military or as a constable or something of that nature. Basically, the fact that he had arrested people who then languished in imprisonment came up (In his internal dialogue. This stuff wasn't even plot necessary!). However, this clearly uneducated person, and I mean that purely in the literal sense and not as an insult, said that he sent these people to "the gallows" before describing them wasting away in confinement and then finishing the paragraph with something to the effect of "and that didn't account for those that were hanged". I reread the whole paragraph just to make sure that I wasn't confusing their meaning. No, this individual legitimately thought that the gallows was some sort of era specific prison, perhaps like a stocks or pillory, instead of the actual structure used to hang people! There had already been a number of inconsistencies with the historical settings described in the character's reminiscing, but I had been overlooking those as slightly careless writing for the sake of the narrative. Not knowing what gallows are and then bringing them up when it clearly wasn't necessary to the plot just completely shattered my ability to read another word. If you don't know what something is look it up! We have the internet which you clearly know how to use as you published your shoddy writing using it! 

   I don't mean to tear this person's aspiration's down. If you want to write do it. But don't neglect necessary steps in the process. Research is important in every type of writing. Even if you are creating your own world you need to have a foundation for how things work in that world in order to properly immerse your readers.  Proofreading by yourself and others, including getting constructive feedback about what does and doesn't work in your piece is vital. The feedback that is hard to hear is especially necessary in attempting to write something worth reading. I know this as I have repeatedly been on the other side of these processes.

   The ability to receive constructive criticism is definitely an important part of life, regardless of whether or not one is a writer. Complacency, or perhaps just carelessness, in writing is something I actively seek to avoid in my own efforts, as it is something that genuinely frustrates me when reading the work of others. That is my biggest issue with ebooks and all the various online publishing forums. They make it so practically anyone can publish, while glossing over the fact that a lot of people probably shouldn't... or at least should wait and work on their stories. Don't publish your first draft, people! 

   Shortly after ending that distressing reading experience, my big sister came to visit for a few days and at one point we were talking over the plot of one of my stories and in the way of intelligent individuals she pointed out all the plot holes and plot armor I was unwittingly using. It was actually really helpful and I appreciated both her insight and just the whole conversation itself. However, I couldn't help but remember the first time I told her about any of the the characters from this series and what a contrasting experience that was...

   I came up with the original four characters in geometry the first semester of my sophomore year of high school. I was quite pleased with it. It involved espionage and magic and forbidden love. My older sister was in her freshman year of college. When she came back home for Thanksgiving I excitedly showed her my drawings (all my characters start as doodles) and told her my brilliant plot. 

   She said it was stupid. I was hurt and enraged. I journaled seven pages that night about how mean and awful and wrong she was. I literally finished one journal and started another ranting on paper about her cruelty. The thing is... she was totally right. My original plot was absolute garbage. 

   The real issue with that interaction was two fold: firstly her eighteen year-old complete lack of tact, and also my complete inability to handle creative criticism. She could have worded it in the gentlest way possible and I likely would have still been upset. Although admittedly it is a lot easier to handle criticism when the person giving it doesn't massacre your efforts! She has definitely improved in giving feedback, particularly constructive criticism. And I have improved in accepting such things. 

   For a long time, one of my biggest issues with accepting criticism on my writing is that I already put such deliberate effort into my word choices and flow that I become quite defensive of them. A lot of thought went into which words to use and how to place them and I didn't appreciate people coming in and trying to change my words to match their writing style. I still don't, but I am able to accept the fact that sometimes my phrasing runs a bit long and things might need rewording. However, if the feedback is based on personal preference of wording and not actually the clarity of the writing, I'm probably going to ignore it. 

   All of this is basically to say, if something matters to you don't be sloppy. To butcher the quote from Philip Stanhope, the Fourth Earl of Chesterfield, if you think it's worth doing, do it well. Don't be afraid to work for it and remember outside help is valuable in every worthwhile endeavor, but especially in writing.