by Fragon Calfbreaker
I'd like to discuss another common argument made by many Inheritance fans--in that Paolini's writing is excuseable because of his age, and/or it's amazing because of his age. Their usual starting points are these
Eragon is so good, I mean he was only fifteen when he wrote it!
Eldest is so good, show me another fifteen-year-old who can write like that!
Whether you think his work is good or bad, you have to admit it's pretty good for a fifteen-year-old.
Pardon me--minus the good grammar and spelling, of course.
Well, the first thing I have to say is--it's amazing how Paolini doesn't age! From Eragon to Eldest, a span of 6 years, Christopher Paolini remained 15! Wow! If he's discovered the fountain of youth, I want in. I don't know how long my genetics will hold out.
Sarcasm aside...
Paolini himself quotes, at various times, that Eragon was a book he started when he was fifteen (you know, right after he graduated from high school). He has also quoted less times that it took him about three years to finish the book. The first year to write the first draft, the second and third years to make the final drafts. So the version of Eragon you're reading, at the very least, was written by a seventeen-year-old.
Some fans refuse to see the obvious facts in that statement alone. And frankly, my only explanation is that they don't know the writing process. You see, you start out with an idea. And then you maybe make outlines, plan and/or draw out characters, and think on it a lot. And then you start writing. And then you go back somewhere along the line or when you finish it, and you may or may not rewrite it again. The rewriting part is particularly important--you're not just editing grammar and spelling, you're often removing whole chunks of story line or scenes and well, rewriting them. So that the actual physical prose the reader would be reading at that point would have been written at your age now, rather than your age two years ago.
Not that it should matter, but it does have a bearing on the fifteen-year-old argument. There's a big difference between fifteen and seventeen. Not only do most guys suddenly magically enter puberty at last, but mentally, you grow, too. It doesn't seem that all amazing when someone is being touted for something he made at a certain young age when in fact he did it when he was a bit older.
Don't even let me get started on Eldest. At the very least, Eldest was started when Paolini was finished with Eragon, which as he quoted, took three years (after he graduated from high school at fifteen, you know...just in case you forgot). That means he was at least eighteen--when he started it. Paolini was almost 22 when Eldest was released to the public. Yeah, that's right, close your mouths little kiddies--he was an adult when he wrote Eldest.
Not so amazing anymore, huh?
After all, I can easily show you prose less mind-numbing and plots more intricate made by people 20 or less. There are a number of fifteen-ish people in my writing group, and most of them write at a level more superior than Paolini. Do they deserve to be published now? No. But then, neither does Paolini.
