In 79AD, historian Pliny the Elder stopped writing the hard way. He suffered a heart attack while researching a book on the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, sailing towards the mountain as it erupted.
In 1215, Pope Innocent III rejects the first draft of the Magna Carta, citing a repetitive plot, an unfair and possibly libellous portrayal of King John of England, and several unnecessary scenes involving dragons.
In 1456, the first Gutenberg Bible was printed, using Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of the vanity press. It wasn’t the first book Gutenberg printed: but the world wasn’t ready for his fictionalised revelations about a secret society protecting a truth to explosive it would rock the very foundations of oh you get the idea. 545 years later a copy was unearthed, and plagiarised used as research material by Dan Brown.
In 1549, England’s Act of Uniformity took the fist legal step in banning religious fanfic.
In 1891, Thomas Edison patented his design for a motion picture camera, and the Downfall of Literature began.
In 1890, Jean Rhys, one of the world’s most successful fanfic writers, was born. She at least had the decency to wait over a hundred years after the publication of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre before publishing her prequel, Wide Sargasso Sea.
In 1915, Alice Sheldon was born. She never did anything worth a damn, but her alter-ego, Hugo, Nebula, Locus and World Fantasy Award-winning James Tiptree Jr., proved that women could make up shit just as well as men.
In 1936, author A.S. Byatt was born. She is locked in a perpetual struggle with her sister, author Margaret Drabble, to see who can become the “most famous author out of us”. Byatt leads, with two feature films based on her novels, versus one feature and one TV movie for Drabble. She was also awarded a DBE in 1999, beating Drabble’s CBE.
In 1951, Orson Scott Card was born. A deeply Moral Man (he shortens this to “Mormon”), he chooses to explore issues of modern morality through that powerful vehicle of social change, the science fiction novel. His best work is his Swiftian satirical essay “The Hypocrites of Homosexuality“, in which he argues that laws against homosexual sex should remain, in order to “encourage” homosexuals to engage in sex “discreetly”. Brilliant satire.
In 1957, writer, comedian, actor and man whom Orson Scott Card would like to be force to engage in his preferred sexual activity “discreetly”, Stephen Fry, was born, promptly turning toward his mother’s vagina and declaring, “That’s the last time I’m going up one of those”. He reached the zenith and nadir of his career in the same year, portraying Oscar Wilde (the role he was “born to play”) in a biopic, and appearing in Spiceworld. Having finished his regular gig as the narrator of the audiobook edition of the Harry Potter novels, he is now unemployed.
In 1962, former Daily Show host Craig Kilborn was, um, born, not killed. Frequently described in bullet-point biographies as a “comedian”, he is now frequently cast as “that asshole” in lowbrow comedy movies.
Anon., I’ve altered the backgrounds on the posts and on the sidebar to increase the contrast. If you (or anyone else) still have problems reading, please let me know. There are other options.
Josephine, I have an inkling about who Anon. is (someone else known to say “yanno”), but I’m not telling.
Funny post, but I agree that the font is a little cramped and anemic against the grey. Actually doesn’t seem so bad against the green, for some reason.
Excellent new site, but I have to agree with the above and say that the font is really difficult to read on the background – is it Tahoma? Have you tried Verdana, instead? I find that one’s spaced out a little better and is more regular in character size. It is possible that it’s just my eyes swimming, instead of the text, of course…
I’ve eliminated the font hassles — in the sense that the site now displays in your browser’s default sans-serif font, whatever that may be. Thanks to Penless for the nudge.
I’m not sure Borges is a good demotivator: we all know we’ll never be that good. You should use other, less impressive examples. Eg: if you tell me I’ll never be better than Dan Brown, I might just quit, but Borges… I already knew that.
![[Logo]](/images/101ReasonsLogo.png "101 Reasons to Stop Writing")
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Yanno, this font is a pain in the ass to read against the gray background.
Yanno who’s known to say “Yanno?” I do. And her initials are PW.
Anon., I’ve altered the backgrounds on the posts and on the sidebar to increase the contrast. If you (or anyone else) still have problems reading, please let me know. There are other options.
Josephine, I have an inkling about who Anon. is (someone else known to say “yanno”), but I’m not telling.
Funny post, but I agree that the font is a little cramped and anemic against the grey. Actually doesn’t seem so bad against the green, for some reason.
It does seem to be a little easier, though I agree with the individual voice that it looks pretty good against the green of your response.
Oh, and I know who you’re talking about, Sean, and I’m not her. Not sure who PW is. I’m going to be wracking my brain trying to figure that one out.
Excellent new site, but I have to agree with the above and say that the font is really difficult to read on the background – is it Tahoma? Have you tried Verdana, instead? I find that one’s spaced out a little better and is more regular in character size. It is possible that it’s just my eyes swimming, instead of the text, of course…
I’ve eliminated the font hassles — in the sense that the site now displays in your browser’s default sans-serif font, whatever that may be. Thanks to Penless for the nudge.
Much better! Thanks, Sean.
I’m not sure Borges is a good demotivator: we all know we’ll never be that good. You should use other, less impressive examples. Eg: if you tell me I’ll never be better than Dan Brown, I might just quit, but Borges… I already knew that.