Sunday, July 30, 2006

Hitting nerves with hammers.
So, I just read Adam's post for today. I'm going to be blunt: It pissed me the hell off. I left as civil a comment I could and decided that I'd vent here instead.

If you haven't read the post yet, it basically says that he's thinking of retiring the articles and reviews sections because they don't get enough traffic (please read his post if you can-- I am super biased and I'd rather you form your own opinions about this matter). What really overcooked my ramen was that he implied that only visual artists are considered artists. Few people know this, but that has always been a very touchy subject for me.

I am frikkin tired of writers being looked down upon. "Gee, I could be a writer if I like." Yeah, because throwing words on paper like a monkey is totally comparable to carefully picking and choosing words, playing with style and mood, and developing your own voice. I recall (very vaguely) a quote by Isabelle Allende, I think, that went something like this: "You're a writer? I'm a writer too. I dabble in it from time to time." "Oh really? I'm a lawyer like you too. I dabble in it from time to time."

But, that's not all! The reason we might lose the articles section is because it doesn't generate enough traffic. This, of course, sparked an angry tirade in my head about the steadily falling standards at theO in terms of users. I'm all for new members and young 'uns, but for the love of God, would it kill you to CAPITALIZE? PUNCTUATE? GIVE A DAMN ABOUT ENGLISH GRAMMAR? This isn't a frikkin chatroom. There's no earthly reason to rush and write "lol that wuz funy i thnik u shuld rite mor". Clearly, the majority of myO is inhaibited by people with absolutely no appreciation for the written word, seeing as how they maul their own. Also, I don't see how managing the fanart site is much easier than managing the articles section, especially because of all the plagarism. Sure, you can glance at it and say "Oh it's appropriate." But, then you get reports that it's plagarized and you have to go out and investigate and figure out who's lying and such. Way too much drama. As far as I can tell, you don't have the plagarism issue with articles.

You know, I had a really cute post planned involving a cute narrative. But, hey, no one gives a rat's ass about writing, especially since everyone's a writer. So, I guess I'll just express myself in the truest art there is:





-MC