Tag: National Post

  • Frankenstein 200 Years Later

    Tomorrow, 11 Mar 1818 the novel Frankenstein will be 200 years old! An interesting milestone to say the least.

    The problem with Frankenstein: 200-year-old novel is a cobbled-together monster featured on the National Post

    This National Post article goes into detail on how the story has been interpreted over the years. Some argue on its genre, others claim it to be a feminist work and some claim its autobiographical.

    What I learned from this article? Once you release a work into the wild, readers will form their own impression. That means the end effect your work has on the hearts and minds of readers is entirely out of your control.

    What will people think of your work in two centuries? Who knows, but it’s important to note that even the author’s views changed over time!


  • Blank Page Syndrome

    There are tons of articles on the Internet which talk about getting rid of writer’s block. Some offer a series of steps to follow, others provide a quick and easy trick and some even guarantee results.

    I tend to avoid any article which covers this topic since there are no one-size-fits-all solutions in life. However, this an article by Robert Fulford of the National Post covers various opinions and solutions throughout literary history. This twist to the age old topic struck me as interesting.

    Block of Ages by Robert Fulford on the National Post
    Block of Ages by Robert Fulford on the National Post

    It does mention some solutions authors and journalists found. However like anything, what works for them may not work for someone else.


  • Upcoming Book Titles Use the Word Girl

    I came across an article on the National Post today.  Seems language is shifting away from woman and lady due to associated baggage.  Instead, girl is used and there are a LOT of novels of late using that term.

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    Girls! Girls! Girls! Why so many new and upcoming book titles use the word ‘girl’ featured on the National Post.

    Here is a quote from the article:

    The word “girl” has become as practical as “guy,” its male equivalent — an all-purpose term that doesn’t carry the baggage of “woman” or “lady.”

    While this is likely a marketing ploy now.  It is interesting to see how the language has changed in use in a short period of time.

    Though I have to ask, what is the baggage associated with woman or lady?  Did I miss something?


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  • Not yet Time to Pull out the Bubbly

    I came across an article on the National Post by Colby Cosh titled Books gain a surprise victory in the war against bits.  To me, this seems to be an unexpected turn of events; print books have sold more this year than last year whereas eBooks have levelled off.  There are a few points I noticed.

    A lot of the new sales have to do with new markets.  Adult colouring books being a prime example.

    Related to the above, there appears to be a backlash by some groups against new technology.  Books have people who need to feel the grain of paper and apparently younger people are more likely to go retro.  See the National Post article by Andrew Coyne titled Making sense of the analog counter-revolution for more information.

    Publishers spend more time making covers look better to get more attention.  This may raise the bar dramatically for Indie authors.

    Also, publishers are moving away from discounting hard covers.  Instead, they aim to create the perception of their books being worth the full price.  Much of this is related to the physical nature of books making them ideal for collections.

    Some books also do not work well on a KindleThe Thing Explainer by Randall Munroe, the author of the XKCD comic is a good example.  This book is built on a series of large detailed diagrams that are hard to reproduce on dedicated eBook readers.

    This article implies that at least some publishing companies are not incompetent.  So we will need to wait a few more years before breaking out the bubbly.


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