Novel The Hurricane Method

hi

I keep getting emails about the Hurricane Method which promises shortcuts to writing and publishing novels. Does anyone have any experience of this?

It sounds too good to be true but at £29 I wonder if I should give it a try.

Cheers

Phil

 

Very few things that don't have the merit of you finding them on your own AND which ask you for money are worth a lot. Besides... What possible shortcut to novel writing could there be? You still have to type or write every word at least once, but more likely half a dozen times.
The 29 pounds is usually a minimum price anyway, after which the upsells and back-end sells start.

 

Yes, I imagine it does.

 

Separating aspiring authors from their cash is a major industry.

 

Not specifically with that method, but I can tell you this:

There are no shortcuts. Be prepared to do the work or walk away.

I'm lazy by nature and it took me far too long to learn this lesson.

 

Ages ago I bought a software program called "Story Writer". I thought surely it would help me - step by step, fill in the blank, details the whole package, I thought. Still didn't work for me.

I just Googled it to see if it was still around & only found a program for screenwriters with that name.

It could've been just me - my lack of ambition or motivation, but I don't think so.

I think as with everything else you just have to get in there and do it. Of course, I've never written a novel but that's the feeling I get.

Just wanted to share my experience with writing software programs.

 

I'm not going to list all the complete cobblers on the Hurricane Method's website, but there is plenty to choose from.

"Because when you use it, your previously mediocre ideas become electrified like a rapidly rotating storm system, spilling outpages and pages of thrilling, heart-stopping content…"

Hmm that sounds good, because I would like to use all my mediocre ideas up before I get to the good ones. But does it involve work? That's always put me off writing before as I prefer generally watching Diners Drive Ins and Dives back to back on the Food Network in my spare time.

"Because when you use this method, it’s like the writer within you comes to life, and suddenly the ideas in your head flow effortlessly onto paper…"

OK effortless is good. Everything worthwhile takes no effort. But this prolly all takes a lot of time, right?

"So that in as little as two weeks, you can outline and create your own writing masterpiece… right from the brainstorming stage through to the shattering final climax…"

Phew, so you don't need any ideas, you will put in no effort, and it'll be done in two weeks. Why isn't everyone using it??

 

You and me both, brother. I too suffer from lassitude as regards my writing. I would love nothing better than a magic pill that I can take at night and wake up to find a manuscript next to me in bed held together by one of those big black office paper clip thingies, but alas....

I 3rd or 4th @CrusherBrooks. If they have to push it at you via spam, likelihood is that no one is exactly breaking their doors down to get at the product.

 

Too good to be true. I don't believe in short cuts to things that require hard work. Writing is one of those things. Does this mean you can't learn to write quicker? No, but getting to that point takes a lot of work and you have to do the work.

 

Products like that are hyped to high heaven, because they're not really aimed at writers; they're aimed at people who want to read about being writers, where reading how-to books is a proxy for actually writing something. Makes sense, since there's a lot more of them, and they're more likely to sign up to e-mail lists that talk about writing stuff.

That doesn't mean the ebook itself is bad, though. If you want to write the kind of stuff the author does, feel free to give it a shot. Just remember the 60-day guarantee exists. It will be honoured, because it's Clickbank themselves who manage the refunds, not the author or publisher.

 

Thanks for all the replies. I'm in agreement but part of me is tempted to buy the course if only out of curiosity. Hey, there may even be one or two useful nuggets lurking within the hype. Mayebe...

Cheers

Phil

 

There's nothing wrong with a little experimentation if you can afford it. A couple of years ago - on a lark - I bought the Dramatica Story Expert application. It set me back a C-note, and it was fun to play with for a while, had a pretty smooth GUI, all that. In the end it just proved to be a ridiculously overcomplicated distraction to my actual writing.

 

Oh, my. I never thought about magic pills. I keep picturing a coin-op dispenser.

 

Snake oil.
I particularly like the description of an almost religious awakening:
'And soon after, while driving my kids to school one morning, something hit me like bolt of lightning…'
and
'I still remember the magical feeling. Adrenalin surging through my veins and a sweet tingle of excitement rippling down my spine...'
I get that, but NOT when I'm writing.

 

The promotional stuff sounds a great work of fiction in itself.

 

I really, really wish this was not true. In this day and age of computer programs there should be something to make writing significantly easier but based on what I have read on this forum that doesn't seem to be the case. I have moaned about this before; many years ago, back in the late '80s (stone tablets, chisels, and mallets), I had a program called Grammatik IV that could find spelling and grammar errors, repetitive use of words, even some complex grammatical issues, so I expected the whole process to be many years advanced from there by now. It seems that the whole process of writing is stalled in the stone age, it has only advanced from typewriter to word processor programs, significant, but already forty years old. A simile would be carpenters using power tools compared to hand tools, even building a shop using a water wheel was a big step forward, but with writing it seems everyone is still at Walden Pond. Me thinks, computer programmers and writers don't get along.

 

big soft moose you have the cart before the horse, the computer program should help you polish your work not write the story. Having the story in your head is the easy part, at least IMO, but putting it to words is the real task. Programs should not only be able to handle the SPAG but also help check that characters are consistent, the story timeline works out, plot holes are pointed out, even give hints to give your characters depth, etc. If I wanted to put a British character in my story all I can think of is saying is "hey old chap ..." about as cliché as can be, but obviously there are thousands of idioms they use like "bob" for money, whatever value that is. As screwed up as the rules for English are there are actual rules, someone like Chickenfreak can peck out the grammar errors in a heartbeat, Wreybies has a mastery of the language that is amazing to me but these things can be programmed, it just seems that the interest is not truly there. I am not saying Michelangelo should have used a Dremel tool but it would be fine for us mere mortals to carve a bar of soap. I know you are not going for a carved "bar of soap" with your story but I really don't need much more than that to feel like I wrote something; it won't stand the test of time but not much really does anyway. Writing has not evolved - IMO.

I will get off my soap box now.

 

As everyone says, it sounds to good to be true. Moreover, if it did actually work, I think it would be priced much higher. Also, I think writing would lose some of its sense if it worked.

The year is 2057. Since the Hurricane drug has been discovered, the writing community drasticly changed. While some firmly decided to remain true to their values and take sometimes years to write a single book, others didn't even hesitate. It was the birth of a new era, the era of the Fortnight Litteracy. Suddenly, anyone could write anything in a matter of days, and the editors soon became overwhelmed. The value of effort is long lost now. Among the few true writers that remains, someone testified. "Aye, I finally finished the trilogy I've been working on for seven years. Let me tell you, it was worth it. I was capable of enduring every bit of it, because I know the real struggle wasn't between me and the words, it was between me and them. I had to prove myself. It was for me, but also for the others that are not as lucky. The feeling I got when I went through my final reading, there is nothing that can compare. They will never know how important that is, they can never write about it because they will never experience it. Sure, maybe they are richer than me - that's not very complicated, let me tell you. But, in a way, I also am more rich than they will ever be."

Ps : I hate Pay to win.

 

I think its because the hardest part of writing is sorting out whatever is in your head and getting what you are envisioning on paper. Unfortunately...or maybe fortunately? there isn't a computer program for that.