fictioneer
[ fik-shuh-neer ]
noun
a writer of fiction, especially a prolific one whose works are of mediocre quality.
***********************************
The
silence of the room was broken by the loud bang of a door being opened with too
much force. Dan winced at the sound. He had just gotten to a good part, and now his
roommate would inevitably come and interrupt him. Sure enough, Henry strode into the room and
collapsed on the couch. From there, it
was only a matter of time before the TV was turned on.
“Excuse
me, would you mind not turning that on right now?” Dan asked. “I’m trying to read.”
Henry
looked up from searching for the remote and looked at Dan like he didn’t know
he was there.
“Why not
read in your room or something, if you’re so into it.” Henry asked.
“It’s
more comfortable out here. My bed isn’t
a good reading bed. No good headboard.”
Henry
shrugged and stopped his search for the remote.
He instead took out his phone and started fiddling with it. The silence allowed Dan to resume
reading. It lasted for barely a minute.
“What
are you reading, anyway?”
Dan
sighed and raised the book so that his roommate could see it.
“Oh,
yeah, I’ve heard of that guy.”
Dan cocked
his head to one side. Henry had heard of
an author? The guy never read anything
that took more than five minutes to read.
How could he know about an author, even a moderately popular one?
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. My sister likes him, so I’ve gotten her a few
of his books before.”
“Ah.” That made sense. Henry’s sister loved reading just as much as
he did, among other things. If it was
not for her being in a steady relationship, he probably would have asked her
out for that very reason.
“He any
good?” Henry asked.
Dan
shrugged. “He’s decent. Not great, but not bad. He mostly writes filler, really?”
“Filler?”
“Yeah,
filler.” Dan said. He placed a finger in
his book and lowered it. He had some
explaining to do. “You know how when a
show has just finished one plot line, but isn’t ready for another, they show a
filler episode? Just a nice, fluffy
thing that doesn’t really impact anything.
Well, books aren’t quite the same, but the idea is similar.”
Henry
thought for a moment before saying anything.
“I don’t get it.”
“He’s
what you read between the really good, heavy stuff. A nice, quick, fluffy read that doesn’t take
a lot of brain power or time. You pretty
much know what’s going to happen, but that’s the point. You don’t read this guy’s works to be
challenged, but to sort of reset your mind for the next big thing.”
“Ah, I
think I get it now. Wait, doesn’t that
mean he’s a bad writer?”
“Not
bad, exactly.” Dan said as he leaned back in his chair. “Not good, but definitely not bad. Pretty average, really. He does good dialogue, and his descriptions
can be really creative. Fluff and filler
isn’t necessarily bad, you know. Same
with this guy.”
“Got it.”
Henry said, throwing a thumbs up sign. “I
guess that’s why my sister recommended him for me to start, huh?”
“Probably. He does make a good starting author for the
genre, that’s for sure.” Dan shifted to
put himself in a better position to look at Henry. “You know, if you want, I can point you to one
of his books that’s perfect for someone who hasn’t touched a book since high
school.”
Henry
picked his phone up and flicked the screen on.
“Maybe someday, sure. But for
now, I’ll stick to this.”
**********************************
Everyone needs a semi-good filler book every now and then. If you only read big, heavy stuff, you'll overwork your brain, you know?
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