March Highlights

101 Reasons has reached some unexpected point of critical mass: where the number of readers continues to climb, yet the number of comments has decreased. Could it be I'm getting to you, and subconsciously you're on your way to stopping writing? Or am I just not pissing you off anymore?

These posts generated a ripple of interest during March:

• Misography #5
• Reason #13: You Are Not Dan Brown
• The Grand Tradition
• Weekend Update #11

And I shouldn't exclude Interlude: An Open Thread, although I asked for comments on that one. My thanks to everyone who left their thoughts. Soon I'll post a more detailed response to the questions raised in that thread.

(See January/February Highlights.)

January/February Highlights

101 Reasons has been a little quiet so far this year, for reasons I've explained. Unfortunately, once the momentum from last year was broken, the reader commentary dried up like a sober poet. Only a die-hard band of compulsive commenters kept me from thinking I'd accidentally switched comments off.

Still, here are the posts which generated a tiny ripple of buzz in January and February:

• Your January Demotivator
• New Year's Irresolutions
• Monday Misography #1
• Reason #12: You Think Grammar is the Amish Word for Your Mom's Mom
• Poll Dancing #1: The Results
• A Rare Personal Interlude
• Aside: On The Importance of Backups

(See December's Highlights.)

December Highlights

My thanks to most of the people who commented on 101 Reasons during December. We attracted our first truly mind-bogglingly wrongheaded nitwits last month, but hey, it's not a show without a couple of stoned hecklers with bad haircuts.

Much* discussion was provoked in December by these posts:

• Reason #10 Addendum: Now With Even More Sex!
• Guest Post: The Aspie Dilemma, by Paul Riddell
• Aside: Would You Like Me To Slow Down ...
• Reason #11: You Think Web 2.0 Will Change Publishing
• Guest Post: Turds, Remainders, And Other End-Products, by Paul Riddell
• Critical: a Claim
• Axiom #2: Howe's Law

* Again, 'much' is a relative term.

(Read the November Highlights.)

The Reasons

[Updated to Reason #15.]

101 Reasons to Stop Writing is a work in progress. Yes, there will be 101 reasons. No, they are not all here yet. No, they're not in any specific order. Yes, I really do know what I'm doing. Kinda.

This post will be linked from the sidebar, so new readers can read the list without being troubled to browse the archives. The list may not always be up to date, as I'm really lazy.

The Reasons:

1. You Don't Buy Books
2. You Are Not Stephen King (Addendum)
3. You Think Anyone Can Be A Writer
4. That's a Lot of Words
5. I'll Just Pad This Out
6. You Don't Read What You're Writing
7. Publishing is Dying
8. What's Your Exit Strategy? (Addendum: Stay the Course vs Cut and Run)
9. Put the Thesaurus Down
10. You're Not Doing It Right (Addendum: Now With Even More Sex!)
11. You Think Web 2.0 Will Change Publishing (Addendum: You Think You Can Fix Publishing)
12. You think Grammar is the Amish Word for Your Mom's Mom
13. You Are Not Dan Brown
14. Youre Speling is Atrowshus
15. You're a Cliché Abuser

Reasons 16-101 to come. When the list is complete, if you haven't stopped writing, then God help you.

November Highlights

My thanks to everyone who has posted comments on 101 Reasons. You are all ... wrong, almost without exception.

Here are the posts which generated the most* buzz in November:

• National No Writing Month
• Reason #4: That's a Lot of Words
• More on Padding
• The Ninety Percent Rule, Applied
• Interview: Simon Haynes on NaNoWriMo
• Interview: Daniel Hatadi on NaNoWriMo
• 10 Reasons to Link to 101 Reasons

* 'Most' is a relative term.