Comments

1
Right?! Like when that asshole James Pitkin does his annual "some college students take drugs" story.
2
God, ugh, that whole WW article made me cringe. No wonder some people write alone -- they're antisocial assholes.

Great read, Ben & Mystery Editor X-37!
3
Good on you guys for doing this.

I thought the writing in the chariot story excerpt was particularly good.
4
FREE THE NEW ADVENTURES OF BOAT COP, IDEALLY IN SERIALIZED INSTALLMENTS IN THE MERCURY.

VILLAINS SHOULD BE THINLY-VEILED* ALLUSIONS TO WWEEK STAFFERS/EDITORS/FREELANCERS.


* WRITING TIP: THERE IS NO OTHER KIND OF VEIL. JUST SAY "VEILED ALLUSIONS."
5
Thank you for this! I enjoyed reading those excerpts. Notaro's article was an exploitative piece of elitist sneering and really pissed me off when it appeared.

I, for one, would like to see the rest of the Boat Cop adventure.
6
Hell, I'd enjoy reading the rest of all of the stories.
7
Thanks guys! This was a fun one to write.

@Melogna: Well we all are, but some of us are trying to keep that on the dl, you know?

@bluespdx: When I talked to the author via email he said his piece was an attempt to see if he could write something other than hard-ish sci-fi. I'd say mission accomplished.

@CC: BOAT COP WILL RETURN IN: TEARS OF A WEEKLY
8
Go, Boat Cop! Kinda funny how life works. Ben sets out to give a fairer presentation of budding writers and ends up garnering acclaim for his own fiction! Karma +1!
9
Boat Cop=WIN
10
On behalf of the 30 co-workers on mine that partook in the joy and laughter of the original Boat Cop comment thread. PLEASE PLEASE continue to write Boat Cop fiction
11
BOAT COP FOR MAYOR
12
Dunno Coleman. I disagree with Max: I think you need to give up on writing forever. That apostrophe fuck-up demonstrates that you just aren't pro material, and you never will be. Best of luck, ROM.
13
Well ROM, I had a good run. Thank you for calling it straight.
14
I get the feeling that Boat Cop is not the kinda guy that worries much about apostrophes. On reflection, I realize that Ben was writing Boat Cop authentically in character.
15
By the time we get to 'Boat Cop: The Legendary Journeys,' I will have had more reading satisfaction than anyone should ever ask for.
16
I don't understand the point of this. It didn't act as a counterpoint to the WW article, as it only made passive mention of finding it distasteful while never even putting the writing of the author under the microscope as she was wont to do. All you really did was examine the writings of others as the author of the original article did (an act you perhaps rightly vilified) but with a snide irony that says that you are disgusted by what she did and will show it by doing the exact same thing but LOL IRONY and interject your own pre-approved-by-your-readers-as-ironic-enjoyment-based-on-nothing-but-a-title story fragment ostensibly to gather more blind approval without even taking the effort to come up with an original LOL IRONIC concept for a LOL IRONIC story fragment in your LOL IRONIC review of the work of amateur writers which itself is a response to the OMG REPREHENSIBLE act of reviewing the exact same works in a non LOL IRONIC manner.
17
PDXCurmudgeon,

Lighten up, Francis.
18
Well PDXCurmudgeon, I suppose the point I was trying to make is that reviewing unpublished work without consent is kind of a dick move. It happens to leaked scripts and things like that from time to time, but these are not big Hollywood players.

The distinction that I would make is that I talked to all of the authors beforehand, and they sent me their work with the knowledge that I was going to present it in a public forum like this.

I also made the decision to state my issues with the WW as clearly as I could in a few paragraphs and then move on to the actual writing, as my intent was mostly to focus on the written work and not sling (too much) mud or aggrandize my burgeoning fiction career.

That said, I worked really hard on that Boat Cop story, jerk.
19
Thanks, Ben! :) This was such a classy move on your part (and on the Mercury's part, actually.) We were treated with honesty and respect in this article, and it's a great feeling after what happened with Laurie Notaro and the WW. I will read every word of the *Boat Cop* saga! :)

For everyone else's edification, I am indeed one of the writers in that article. We don't really need to say which one, do we? ;)
20
Lesson learned here: don't join any professional groups in Portland.
21
I worked as a freelance magazine writer for ten years for major publications, and I crafted screenplays, novellas, short stories on the side. For money or fun, writing is hard and often lonely work. Writing groups are a wonderful way to socialize, make friends, and develop the confidence you need to forge ahead when few around understand the struggle.

I have mentored one of those writers for some time, and the struggles require that you give it your all. Small steps move you forward, and you learn your voice in the process. The last thing you need is someone like the infiltrative author to make you feel picked on.

For someone to misrepresent themselves in that manner is beyond low. It violates an unwritten rule: thou shalt not fuck over your fellow writers. A pro posing as a beginner in a writing group to do a story is everything that a pro is not. At least in your article, you guys gave fair and honest reviews.
22
I actually don't really get what all the outrage is about the original article in the WW. It did not mention any author names or locations and only offered generic descriptions of a a few writing samples. And it wasn't all that biting in its critique of the excerpted works. The main complaint I would have is that it is not all that informative on what its like to be a newcomer to a writing group, which is something in which I'd be interested to learn.

I think its irrelevant whether the original author is a professional non-journalistic writer. If a paper or journal wanted to do a piece on a writing group, they'd send in a reporter to participate. Same thing here. If you go into the group stating you are writing an article, you alter the experience. Is it that WW went ahead and published without a follow up disclosure that the new member was a professional writer? I seriously don't get why this warrants 20+ responses here and 30+ responses in the original article (except for the pimping that the Potter fan fic writer gets to do to expose her work to way more people than if the WW article (and her follow up comments injecting her previous anonymous into the discussion) did not exist.
23
It's always so nice to see kind, thoughtful, charitable comments.

But what people like this author need to think about is what the main problem was: Laurie Notaro contacted us, joined the meetup group under false pretences, and lied
about her name, her background, her writing experience, and everything else. (I have every original email and can prove what I say 100%.) We were deceived and conned when we took someone into our group pretending to be an amateur wanting honest critique. She behaved exactly like a con artist, in fact. And for anyone who judges this as perfectly okay, I really think they need to step back and consider what actually goes into moral and ethical behavior.
24
She technically acted like a undercover investigative reporter on an assignment. Are all undercover investigative reporters are immoral and unethical? Admittedly, the original article is pretty shitty as a report of an undercover investigation, but that's what it was. That the subject matter was lighthearted shouldn't matter.

Please wait...

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