Hey guys! It’s been a while. School has been crazy, and so has my writing! I’m a bit behind on my million word challenge right now due to, well, finals, and projects, and a depressing thanksgiving break, but thankfully I have a lot of time right now.
My new years resolution is to post more and get back into this. Since right now I’m stuck on a couch with ice packs (had an emergency appendectomy on Saturday), that should be much easier. Though we’ll see. I’ve also been editing a lot and I’m 7/22 chapters in to the second to last draft of The First Nine. I say second to last because I refuse to edit any more after this. No more big changes or anything. Just small things. Cutting, small rewordings, and so on. I’m going to publish this year. I can feel it.
Anyway! While I was in the ER waiting for them to tell me why I was in pain, the only thing I had with me was my kindle, and the only book on there I hadn’t read was Veronica Roth’s, Divergent. Now, I’d heard good things about this book, so I was kind of excited to read it, but then I became confused instead. I’m wondering what happened to people and modern readers that they are so okay with the disjointed mess that was this book. It was popular enough to get a movie, and yet I couldn’t figure out why.
Let me explain. So I started out reading it and I was thrown into a world with an interesting concept, which I was okay with, but it moved so slowly I was bored. The only reason I continued passed the first chapter was because I was sitting in an ER with an IV in my arm and nothing else to do. So I figured I’d go on, and as the pages went by, I realized something; the book didn’t know what it wanted to be about.
Now, I don’t like the Hunger Games, but I have to give Collins credit. Her story knew what it wanted to be from page one and it stuck to it. It was about a dystopian world, and the story is about the girl who broke it down. Divergent tried to be that, but it also kept going on about a love story, and all these secrets and corruption and trying to find oneself. It’s about the nature of humans, while focusing almost entirely on a part of the story that was passed over so quickly. When reading about Tris’ training, I thought it was going to lead to something in the same way The Game lead to something in The Hunger Games. But instead, the training happened, was passed over, and then the climax happened during an different time.
I felt like this book lacked focus. I wasn’t a big fan of the writing either, and the narrator bored me to death, but my biggest thing was the lacking in what the book wanted to be. I’m afraid to read any more of the books in the series and I wouldn’t recommend it.
Anyone disagree with me? Feel free to comment! I’d talk about more, but my meds are kicking in. Hopefully I’ll post something else tomorrow too!
Ciao,
~Linnea
A Writer's Garden 
I hope this isn’t weird, creepy, or anything of the sort, but I read your Elephant when it was just a fanfiction (because I recently have gone back and read old fics out of nostalgia), and I was so excited to see the updates and author’s notes added on!! I was really excited to hear about your aspiring writing career; it was so uplifting to read.
So I after I reread Elephant I googled the title with “Dustin” and “Novel” at the end and I found your NaNoWriMo and saw your much deserved award, and found your wordpress, and then your twitter. It’s so amazing to see how old writers are doing, and it’s, honestly, inspiring. I thought Elephant has been novel worthy ever since you first mentioned it in the fic version, and I would love to see it out one day. I’d definitely purchase it. Hopefully this isn’t too weird. I just have been wanting to tell authors how much their writing, even as fanfics, meant a lot to me. I read yours when (I think?) I was 12? (Sorry, that meant you dealt with my really embarrassing anime obsessed stage.) It’s been 5 years then. I’ve been thinking about your Elephant for 5 years.
Other than that ramble, it seems you are really busy. I hope you are feeling okay after your appendectomy. I haven’t read Divergent (because I am slightly presumptuous and assumed it’s only mediocre), but I heartily agree with you about the Hunger Games (people constantly say my standards are too high and I’m too critical. Eh.). Everyone I knew who adored the Hunger Games recommended me Divergent, so I didn’t feel obliged to read it. I’m glad my assumptions are, in some way, validated.
Hope this makes sense in the morning. It’s 2am and I’m sick, haha…Love your writing. I’ll be sure to be checking your wordpress and twitter from now on.
Oh wow! No, it’s not creepy at all, I’m just surprised! Thank you for commenting! I didn’t know how many of the old readers still kept up on it or were still interested! I’m still working on it, but it’s being handwritten so it’s slow going. I’m planning to post about it on here soon.
12?!?!?! Wow. That’s young O.o I mean, I guess I was reading fanfiction in the M range when I was that age but it’s still surprising. But thanks for sticking with it all these years! It means a lot to me 🙂
I am feeling better, thank you 🙂 Lots of free time to write and all that. Divergent wasn’t… horrible. I’ve read worse, but it wasn’t good either. It just had nothing to offer. So yeah, I’d continue avoiding it if I were you ^.^
I update here sometimes. School keeps me super busy, but I’m going to try and be better this year. Thanks again for the comment! It made my morning 🙂 Hope to see you around!
~Lin