I just came here after watching your video The Absolute Degeneracy of Modern Writing. You made such fantastic points and were so fun to watch. Your pauses and reactions to some of the points you were making matched my thoughts and I share your sentiment about the subject. I am happy to have found a fellow writer that would like to restore integrity literature. A strong story does not require the word starting with p and ending with n. 😊
Your video of how fanfiction has destroyed writing showed up in my YouTube feed and I was delighted by what you had to say. While I have indulged in fanfiction myself in the past, I could never get completely into it. It seemed the more prurient and bizarre the struggle sessions were in the stories, the more popular they were and I just wanted to enjoy the character/world. Anyway, I am working on a novel myself so the fact that someone has so intelligently and humorously put into words what has been going through my mind has inspired me!
I find it not only refreshing but hopeful to find someone of your age that comprehends literary intent rather than extolling novels following the socio-political "feelings" of the moment.
The great literary work of Cervantes, Shakespeare, Lawrence Sterne, Dostoevsky, or the 20th century brilliance of The Great Gatsby, 1984, Lolita, Catch 22, Slaughter House Five, have been diminished in favor of current, fleeting group-think for the social issue of the moment as a novel.
Please continue your educational crusade to save ignorant readers from themselves!
Hello Hilary, I have watched some of your videos on YouTube and very much like your depth of analysis and sense of humour. Qurstion: do you do book editor work? If so and have time for a new assignment, please contact me at Patricklynch700@gmail.com
I came from your youtube channel. it's nice to hear a female voice saying no to porn in women's lit. I had kinda given up without realizing, and only had a couple authors left that I liked but the way you talk is giving me hope. I stopped writing when I felt pressured to add certain scenes, as I don't prefer to. I honestly don't think I'm the only one.
I'm a somewhat aspiring writer. I really can't stand fan fics at all, and as a result it has discouraged me from finishing three stories I want to expand into novels. Three different genres. One of the sources of my frustration is the lack of good writing communities. I was in one for 2 years on Discord and now that I'm locked out of my own user account for some reason, I can't seem to find a place to learn and get feedback from. Do you have any pointers?
I've only just encountered your YouTube channel and I am impressed and will be listening carefully to your literary analyses and opinions.
I watched your video entitled ""The Absolute Degeneracy of Modern Writing"
And woah! You name check Paul Auster and cite "Travels in a Scriptorium"? That's taking that passage way, way, way out of context. You choose to represent that scene as though it were salacious or prurient? And pick out Auster for an example? Absolutely not, Auster’s novels might be described as metafictional humanism. He isn’t interested in eroticism, sex or chasing sales. In his fiction Auster explores identity, the ethics of storytelling, and often his stories enfold the creation of fiction into the plot line itself. Auster is closer to Beckett than to Fifty Shades of Grey.
I'll have a good ponder over the various points and arguments that you make in the video (they were very interesting and insightful) and comment on them when I have had a reasonable time to understand them properly! But as you'd singled out Paul Auster for criticism (one of my many favourite authors) I had to respond to that immediately - you touched a nerve there!
I've dedicated 2025 to reading women authors only (often in translation, and mostly contemporary, because my interest in reading leans toward learning about other cultures - I'm a 69 year old, white, male, straight, Brit from Wolverhampton, now living in Darlington) and, during my reading year, I have encountered plenty of differing critiques of patriarchy and the burdens and guilt that society lays upon women as opposed to men. I suppose I am fairly untypical in not reading for "story" as such, or really even for "entertainment", but to be informed, to have my mind and awareness of the world expanded, my prejudices and beliefs challenged. I read in order to think. Anyway, here's the list of books I've read this year if you are interested (I am currently reading the first four):
Time of the Flies by Claudia Pineiro
A Manual for Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin
Twelve Moons by Caro Giles
Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami
---
Clear by Nicola Barker
Little Eyes by Samanta Schweblin
Misinterpretation by Ledia Xhoga
Minor Detail by Adania Shibli
Die, My Love by Ariana Harwicz
Autocracy, Inc. by Anne Applebaum
The Children of the Dead (dnf) by Elfriede Jelinek
Elmet by Fiona Mozley
Nesting by Roisin O'Donnell
I am Homeless if this is not my Home by Lorrie Moore
Ultramarine by Mariette Navarro
The Voyage of the Narwhal by Andrea Barrett
Revenge by Yoko Ogawa
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
We Do Not Part by Han Kang
In the Ditch by Buchi Emecheta
Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq
Parade by Rachel Cusk
Frankenstein: or the Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley
The Wall by Marlen Houshofer
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
On the Edges of Vision by Helen McClory
Vista Chinesa by Tatiana Salem Levy
Things We Say in the Dark by Kirsty Logan
The Book of Disappearance by Iptisam Azem
Earthlings by Sayaka Murata
Under The Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami
Where I End by Sophie White
Homesick for Another World by Ottessa Mossfegh
Hot Milk by Deborah Levy
I Hold a Wolf by the Ears by Laura Van der Berg
The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk
Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
What I'd Rather Not Think About by Jente Posthuma
A Sunny Place for Shady People by Mariana Enriquez
By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept by Elizabeth Smart
Sex is not ignored in these works, but I can't say I ever marked it as salacious or included for commercial purposes, even in instances where sexual acts are described explicitly. I know you are focusing on what I would call "massfic" (populist, fiercely-marketed, undemanding fiction aimed at the casual or light reader) rather than what I would term "highfic", but I do rail at your implicit suggestion that the literary canon has been "getting away" with sexual content as a means of boosting sales or indulging in approval of patriarchal dominance of men over women.
Hi Hilary :) I wanted to share a recent fun read you might like and I'd love to hear your take on: Orconomics by J. Zachary Pike Mind you, I'm only in Chapter 1, but I like the clever way the author has played with the whole fantasy genre.
I just came here after watching your video The Absolute Degeneracy of Modern Writing. You made such fantastic points and were so fun to watch. Your pauses and reactions to some of the points you were making matched my thoughts and I share your sentiment about the subject. I am happy to have found a fellow writer that would like to restore integrity literature. A strong story does not require the word starting with p and ending with n. 😊
My sentiments exactly!
You've mentioned Chesterton, so I am here.
Here for my share of Enlo Cakes and intrigue! Thank you for sharing your story.
Your video of how fanfiction has destroyed writing showed up in my YouTube feed and I was delighted by what you had to say. While I have indulged in fanfiction myself in the past, I could never get completely into it. It seemed the more prurient and bizarre the struggle sessions were in the stories, the more popular they were and I just wanted to enjoy the character/world. Anyway, I am working on a novel myself so the fact that someone has so intelligently and humorously put into words what has been going through my mind has inspired me!
I watch your videos and they always make me think deeper about writing. Thank you for that.
Your YouTube discussions are exemplary.
I find it not only refreshing but hopeful to find someone of your age that comprehends literary intent rather than extolling novels following the socio-political "feelings" of the moment.
The great literary work of Cervantes, Shakespeare, Lawrence Sterne, Dostoevsky, or the 20th century brilliance of The Great Gatsby, 1984, Lolita, Catch 22, Slaughter House Five, have been diminished in favor of current, fleeting group-think for the social issue of the moment as a novel.
Please continue your educational crusade to save ignorant readers from themselves!
Thanks for your enjoyable and reliable videos on writing stories.
I’ve watched videos of yours but was pleasantly surprised to find you on Substack.
Hello Hilary, I have watched some of your videos on YouTube and very much like your depth of analysis and sense of humour. Qurstion: do you do book editor work? If so and have time for a new assignment, please contact me at Patricklynch700@gmail.com
I want to read your book but I can only see later chapters
You can see a table of contents here: https://www.hilarylayne.com/p/the-blue-prince
Thanks I look forward to checking it out.
I came from your youtube channel. it's nice to hear a female voice saying no to porn in women's lit. I had kinda given up without realizing, and only had a couple authors left that I liked but the way you talk is giving me hope. I stopped writing when I felt pressured to add certain scenes, as I don't prefer to. I honestly don't think I'm the only one.
I'm a somewhat aspiring writer. I really can't stand fan fics at all, and as a result it has discouraged me from finishing three stories I want to expand into novels. Three different genres. One of the sources of my frustration is the lack of good writing communities. I was in one for 2 years on Discord and now that I'm locked out of my own user account for some reason, I can't seem to find a place to learn and get feedback from. Do you have any pointers?
Hi Hilary,
I've only just encountered your YouTube channel and I am impressed and will be listening carefully to your literary analyses and opinions.
I watched your video entitled ""The Absolute Degeneracy of Modern Writing"
And woah! You name check Paul Auster and cite "Travels in a Scriptorium"? That's taking that passage way, way, way out of context. You choose to represent that scene as though it were salacious or prurient? And pick out Auster for an example? Absolutely not, Auster’s novels might be described as metafictional humanism. He isn’t interested in eroticism, sex or chasing sales. In his fiction Auster explores identity, the ethics of storytelling, and often his stories enfold the creation of fiction into the plot line itself. Auster is closer to Beckett than to Fifty Shades of Grey.
I'll have a good ponder over the various points and arguments that you make in the video (they were very interesting and insightful) and comment on them when I have had a reasonable time to understand them properly! But as you'd singled out Paul Auster for criticism (one of my many favourite authors) I had to respond to that immediately - you touched a nerve there!
I've dedicated 2025 to reading women authors only (often in translation, and mostly contemporary, because my interest in reading leans toward learning about other cultures - I'm a 69 year old, white, male, straight, Brit from Wolverhampton, now living in Darlington) and, during my reading year, I have encountered plenty of differing critiques of patriarchy and the burdens and guilt that society lays upon women as opposed to men. I suppose I am fairly untypical in not reading for "story" as such, or really even for "entertainment", but to be informed, to have my mind and awareness of the world expanded, my prejudices and beliefs challenged. I read in order to think. Anyway, here's the list of books I've read this year if you are interested (I am currently reading the first four):
Time of the Flies by Claudia Pineiro
A Manual for Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin
Twelve Moons by Caro Giles
Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami
---
Clear by Nicola Barker
Little Eyes by Samanta Schweblin
Misinterpretation by Ledia Xhoga
Minor Detail by Adania Shibli
Die, My Love by Ariana Harwicz
Autocracy, Inc. by Anne Applebaum
The Children of the Dead (dnf) by Elfriede Jelinek
Elmet by Fiona Mozley
Nesting by Roisin O'Donnell
I am Homeless if this is not my Home by Lorrie Moore
Ultramarine by Mariette Navarro
The Voyage of the Narwhal by Andrea Barrett
Revenge by Yoko Ogawa
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
We Do Not Part by Han Kang
In the Ditch by Buchi Emecheta
Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq
Parade by Rachel Cusk
Frankenstein: or the Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley
The Wall by Marlen Houshofer
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
On the Edges of Vision by Helen McClory
Vista Chinesa by Tatiana Salem Levy
Things We Say in the Dark by Kirsty Logan
The Book of Disappearance by Iptisam Azem
Earthlings by Sayaka Murata
Under The Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami
Where I End by Sophie White
Homesick for Another World by Ottessa Mossfegh
Hot Milk by Deborah Levy
I Hold a Wolf by the Ears by Laura Van der Berg
The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk
Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
What I'd Rather Not Think About by Jente Posthuma
A Sunny Place for Shady People by Mariana Enriquez
By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept by Elizabeth Smart
Sex is not ignored in these works, but I can't say I ever marked it as salacious or included for commercial purposes, even in instances where sexual acts are described explicitly. I know you are focusing on what I would call "massfic" (populist, fiercely-marketed, undemanding fiction aimed at the casual or light reader) rather than what I would term "highfic", but I do rail at your implicit suggestion that the literary canon has been "getting away" with sexual content as a means of boosting sales or indulging in approval of patriarchal dominance of men over women.
Happy Reading to you, Kevin,
Hi Hilary :) I wanted to share a recent fun read you might like and I'd love to hear your take on: Orconomics by J. Zachary Pike Mind you, I'm only in Chapter 1, but I like the clever way the author has played with the whole fantasy genre.