The reviews are in

By Anonymous - 23/04/2014 07:17 - United States - Rapid City

Today, my teenage son gave me the completed manuscript of the novel he's been working on for 4 years. Surprised and excited that he showed so much dedication to something, I volunteered to read it. I'm only on page 16 and it's absolute drivel, with grammar that makes my eyes bleed. Only 281 pages to go. FML
I agree, your life sucks 44 493
You deserved it 6 661
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Top comments

Awes0meperson 10

You could just be honest with him and maybe help him fix it instead of torturing yourself

302 3
hamzor 5

At least he's into writing and not drugs, you should be happy!

226 6

Comments

copydude 7

Wow your complete lack of sensitivity is astounding!.. you TEENAGE son even if he is now 19 given 4 years that means he started writing this at 15! I have a 19 year old daughter and a 22 your old son and would love and proud of the fact that she or he had taken the time, energy and fortitude to write a 300 page book! You should be ashamed of yourself for criticizing him on this type of format. I can only hope my grammar isn't making your eyes bleed.

3 7
Axel5238 29

Still doesn't mean it's any good. Look at most of the fanfics on the net or what passes for original on deviant art. Even Eragorn which is well known is well criticized for being cliche and huge rip off.

3 1
Ryodin 11

Your son may need to learn the value of revision. 100 pages into anything I'll be proud of the last twenty and mortified at the first half. Revise, revise, revise. The best author I've ever known revised his work for literally years and it paid off.

1 1
tj4234 35

by any chance, is that J. R. R. Tolkien?

0 1
tj4234 35

I just want to put something into perspective for you OP. (watch out though, my maths can be sketchy at best xD). 10 pages is around 5,000 words (sized twelve font, a4 paper)S so 300 pages is around 150,000 words. Quite a sizeable work in other words. There are 365 days in a year, so in 4 years there are 1460. This means that on average, your son has written 102 words a day. This of course does not factor in the prep work involved... character mapping, brainstorming, whatever else, which can take several days/weeks to do in themselves. On those days of course, he probably never wrote anything at all. For someone who has never written a novel before, it is a lot of work. Heck... even for people who have it is STILL a lot of work. You should be very proud of him completing it. The majority of people would have given up long before.

5 3
doglover100 28

That's what editors are for. He took the time to write a 300 page book, that is dedication. Maybe he can take a writing class.

2 2
DalekSec 6

Well, he is your son, so be supportive. Offer advice, of course, but he needs you to be there for him.

1 1
MissMegan711 5

He writes a book and that is what you are concerned about? Parents these days!

2 4
funkybee 8

It's great that you're so supportive of him! I know I never had such encouraging parents when writing a novel. Instead of putting youself through the pain, gently give him some constructive feedback and help him when he asks for it. At least he's not doing drugs! :)

2 1
Axel5238 29

We don't know it could be an adventure time novel on finding the most delicious twinkie. In that case I'd be fairly sure the son was on drugs.

2 2
yumetoyuki 2

Keep with positive comments, be patient, and ask him if he doesn't mind you correcting what you know is incorrect. Or you could ask him if he doesn't mind having it looked at by someone with better grammar. I do it for my sister and brother, since I'm more efficient at correcting mistakes than they are; and sometimes I do it for anyone that asks because it helps them get noticed and helps me stay on top of my editing skills.

5 0