It is a measure that someone cared enough to invest paper in it. In my experience if something is printed, there's still the occasional godawful thing but it raises the 5th percentile substantially.
(also while I love the freedom that comes with writing a web novel, most of them would still benefit from an editor)
There is, of course, a lot of dreck on the web because it's so low-cost. But there's also the occasional gem that is not tainted by worldly concerns such as "having to appease a publisher".
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Why are you called The Motte?
A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently,
it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey",
originally identified by
philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial
but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens
this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for
the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired
propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."
On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.
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Notes -
It is a measure that someone cared enough to invest paper in it. In my experience if something is printed, there's still the occasional godawful thing but it raises the 5th percentile substantially.
(also while I love the freedom that comes with writing a web novel, most of them would still benefit from an editor)
There is, of course, a lot of dreck on the web because it's so low-cost. But there's also the occasional gem that is not tainted by worldly concerns such as "having to appease a publisher".
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