MOAR STUFF!

The more I look at all the gimmicks and gewgaws that are out there to enhance electronic books, the more I believe that less is more.

If the story is good, we don’t need the fancy added-on bits, of which I’ve written before, like this, where people have a service to add music and sound effects to your book. Or this, where you get the sound effects and such along with tactile stimulation.

Part of it, I think, is overentertaining – succumbing to the demands of fans for MOAR STUFF.

I think authors (and filmmakers) do their audience a disservice when they give in.

Certainly, we should create more stuff. But for the sake of creation, not for the sake of feeding the maw of those who want more nuances and kitsch and goop.

Almost every budding author I encounter is writing a series. I’m not sure that’s a good thing. Stories that sprawl all over the literature landscape like a Phoenix (Arizona, not the flaming bird) ought to be borne of good, sustained storytelling, not a desire to squeeze every last drop out of those insolent -- musical --peasants. Maybe I’ll change my mind if I ever come up with a series, but maybe I won’t.

So why am I writing about this today? Finally found an excellent visual explanation of how I feel about the topic, thanks to cartoonist Richard Thompson.