Wiiiidgets!

Yep.  That is this year's Nanowrimo theme.  8-bit.  They have all sorts of neat little things like this for people to post on blogs and wherever, and they also have little word count widgets.

This one is mine, specifically.  And at the moment it says I've written no words because Nanowrimo hasn't officially started yet.

A few weeks ago, before they wiped the forums and such in preparation for this year, I was surfing several of the forums.  I was looking at the 'Plot Surgery' section in particular, the area of the site where people go to get help.  In one of the threads, somebody posted how they needed help on a particular part of their story where a person goes from our world and finds themselves in another one.
Most of the people hated the idea.  They said it was yet another one of those 'self-fulfillment' stories where all the author is doing is showing us how much they want to go and wish themselves away to a magical world where they can have an epic adventure.

After a few posts, the original poster agreed and abandoned their story.  Like that.

I seriously dislike those 'haters'.  When I read the premise, I was sitting on my chair and trying to think of a way to help the person.  The idea was fine.  I had no problem with that as I have a few stories of my own where the MC (main character) gets transported from our world to another.  The story that the person had could've been a bestselling novel if they--and I am laying a little bit of blame on them--had stuck to their idea and defended it.

And I can't even count on both hands how many authors have taken this idea themselves and ran with it.  Brandon Mull and Terry Brooks are only two of them.

So I guess there are two points to this blog.  For one thing, be thoughtful.  Don't bash, flame, or bury someone elses' idea six feet under the ground.  And if you critique someone elses' story, be considerate and watch your wording.  I'd rather have someone question why the bad guy chose a particular person to be his advisor/minion than have them tell me my villain is a complete idiot.

(a lot of people probably thought they were dumb characters too, at first, but now look at them)