Ruby Granger #47 Self Learning at the University of Roobs, Manor campus

[emmer_moans]

The funniest part for me is that for a Youtuber with her following, getting a publishing deal is way easier than it is for other people, because they come with a fanbase that is more likely to buy anything with her name on it just to support them. All sorts of Youtubers manage to publish books even without having a special interest in literature or writing. Some Youtubers who have published books, I wasn't even sure they could read and write.
So to me it's hilarious that she had all of these advantages, her whole identity is "being a writer/scholar", and she still can't get a publishing deal because she's so bad at it.

I bet secretly she's annoyed Jade came out with a crappy study guide before her. And Vee came out with her Empowerment book. I think Ruby should have come out with a non-fiction coffee-table book to get a deal/sales when there was more of a buzz around her, and then negotiate with the publishers to release her own novel afterwards. A missed opportunity. Now she is stuck flogging defective study planners.

The fiction market is quite over saturated at the moment, so anything she does write needs to compete, and I'm not sure it does. Unless she goes down the illustrated children's book route rather than YA. And I'm seeing a surge of romantasy and she's writing about schoolgirls instead...

 

[MsMadamSecretary]

One thing I genuinely wish for her is for her to take this year to get her license. She works part time and can easily take lessons at quieter hours. It doesn’t have to be stressful or panicked, just go at your own pace but start now and do it little and often. It’s not right to be having a teacher pick you up for work at your old school, or waiting around at 3pm for mum to collect you.

There will also likely come a point where she has to learn and then it’s stressful and rushed. It’s much better to take control of the situation yourself when you can.

Can't she walk or use public transport rather than get those weird lifts

 

[sunniva]

I’m pretty interested in what’s called gestalt language processing which is very common (even default) in autistic people but also can occur across the population. Whether she is autistic or not I’m convinced ruby is a gestalt processor. In short, gestalt processors learn and produce language as reproduced chunks or whole parts as opposed to a more typical process of understanding individual components and constructing them from scratch. Most of the research is in autistic children as they acquire their first language but it also plays a part in adult speech and writing, adult language learning etc.

I’m convinced Ruby’s gestalt relationship to language explains so much of her copycat vibe and failure to produce high quality language even though she is so educated;
1) The forced accent and explicit mimicking others. Her channel was initally dedicated to this mimicry and she doesn’t seem to have given it up.
2) her scripted and repetitive phrases in videos but also in her letter writing, face to face speech etc
3) her understanding of various styles of writing, eg academic or the absurd, don’t really seem to grasp the core intent/purpose of each styles. Instead they just replicates relevant words or phrases as whole ‘chunks’. She is less interested in authentic communication and more interested in surface level signalling via these reproduced chunks.
4) this shows up in her creative writing too. All have a source text they are (possibly unknowingly) knocking off. Somebody posted a passage of her unpublished novel and it is so obvious she has tried to use old fashioned literary grammar and prioritised that over what’s she is trying to describe.
5) i think it also explains her constant mispronunciations and spelling mistakes of simple works. The gestalt theory would say she has learned the word and its letters as a whole, but never stopped to break it down or sound it out. In this case the word / language chunk ‘’percent’’’ was misheard or misunderstood, but she continues to reproduce it incorrectly. Ironically this happens even when she is explaining etymology. She misses the entire fact words are broken into smaller segments.

Obviously some of this is a given in all adult speech and writing, as language is social and we pick things up from the world around us, but with Ruby it is only ever this, and it seems to be across all language aspects. Once you start to notice it you’ll see it everywhere.

 

[Griftwood]

”Please be brutally honest, how does this look?” Of course everyone is telling her it looks just wonderful. She has zero chance of developing any self-awareness or actually improving because no one will tell her she’s tit at most of the things she undertakes

 

[slamvs27]

The funniest part for me is that for a Youtuber with her following, getting a publishing deal is way easier than it is for other people, because they come with a fanbase that is more likely to buy anything with her name on it just to support them. All sorts of Youtubers manage to publish books even without having a special interest in literature or writing. Some Youtubers who have published books, I wasn't even sure they could read and write.
So to me it's hilarious that she had all of these advantages, her whole identity is "being a writer/scholar", and she still can't get a publishing deal because she's so bad at it.

Remember the whole WRITING IS MY IDONTITY thing? She vowed to not use her following to publish because that would undermine her identity as a REAL WROTER.

Years later and THREE failed "books" later, not even her following could save her.

 

[gossip_guy]

Remember the whole WRITING IS MY IDONTITY thing? She vowed to not use her following to publish because that would undermine her identity as a REAL WROTER.

Years later and THREE failed "books" later, not even her following could save her.

Still hilarious that immediately after that unhinged rant at herself, she eagerly slapped the Ruby Granger name on everything she wrote in hopes of it being a shortcut to getting a book deal for her copy-and-paste ripoffs of existing works. When she printed a Penguin Classics vanity copy of her His Dark Materials clone, it had 'Ruby Granger' on the cover. She won't even put her real name on things that are supposedly meant just for her.

The funny thing is that doesn't seem to realise that if she ditched her unrealistic trophy-chasing dream of being handed a traditional book deal and went all-in on self-publishing, she'd have the 'get out of adulthood free' card she desperately wants.

She could self-publish whatever nonsensical drivel she wants on whatever schedule she wants, she already has a platform to market a book from (and she'd be expected to do just as much self-marketing anyway if she got a book deal), and she'd likely get more money out of self-publishing since she wouldn't be splitting the profits of what little she sells with agents and publishers.

She'd be in a position to keep the numbers close to the vest and claim each book was HOIGHLY SOCKSASSFOL, could brag about publishing 3 books a year to appear VARRY PRODOCKTIVE, and would get to rot in her childhood room living out her AMILY DICKINSON fantasy for another decade while holding up her writing career and YEECHEEB WAAAHRK as full-time jobs. She'd get to play the toxic productivity numbers game she loves so much, constantly bragging that she wrote "FWORE HONDRAD AND TWANTEE-NOINE MILLION-BILLION WAAHRDS TYEUDAYYYY!".

None of her writing would be any good, naturally, but there's no risk of that anyway and she doesn't seem to care. With how much her fans heap blind praise on her, she could simply choose to churn out a plagiarised, incoherent, barely-edited, self-insert mess and believe she's an incredible writer (and she'd be insulated from wider criticism if her book's not being put in the hands of professional critics by publishers to get decimated). She's already rich, so the little money she'd get as a writer wouldn't be a factor for her. She'd still be doing YouTube alongside it and she'd have more time to do her usual fake bullshit there. It's a win-win for her.

Instead she's just too delusionally fixated on the external validation and trophy appeal of having Penguin Publishing eventually tell her she's good enough, despite knowing that she has zero talent or passion for it, won't get anything meaningful out of it and will do anything possible to avoid doing the work for herself.

 

[StatusWoe]

This is genuinely completely unintelligible…I read it multiple times and I still cannot understand what the duck it means

Highly Unusual Illnesses:

• A total eclipse of the heart
• An inconsequential concussion of the eye

 

[gossip_guy]

”Please be brutally honest, how does this look?” Of course everyone is telling her it looks just wonderful. She has zero chance of developing any self-awareness or actually improving because no one will tell her she’s tit at most of the things she undertakes

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That lie-squint when she says her family saw her spend two hours on it.

She clearly spent 10 minutes on this and given how the end result looks, she doesn't appear to have opened her eyes at any point in the process.

 

[leah99]

The funniest part for me is that for a Youtuber with her following, getting a publishing deal is way easier than it is for other people, because they come with a fanbase that is more likely to buy anything with her name on it just to support them. All sorts of Youtubers manage to publish books even without having a special interest in literature or writing. Some Youtubers who have published books, I wasn't even sure they could read and write.
So to me it's hilarious that she had all of these advantages, her whole identity is "being a writer/scholar", and she still can't get a publishing deal because she's so bad at it.

As someone who is trying to get their foot in the door of publishing, she's in a very enviable position. I agree, just something to get her name out there and have a history of representation would allow her to begin to publish things that she wants like this, maybe not all of the time and without some strong edits but for someone without that following, it's going to be a lot more work trying to find an agent or even have anyone look at your work so posting something like a guide to "acadaymia" or whatever would both be on brand and stand her in good stead to be able to then begin to publish (middle-grade) fiction works.

 

[FolderDuvet]

Still hilarious that immediately after that unhinged rant at herself, she eagerly slapped the Ruby Granger name on everything she wrote in hopes of it being a shortcut to getting a book deal for her copy-and-paste ripoffs of existing works. When she printed a Penguin Classics vanity copy of her His Dark Materials clone, it had 'Ruby Granger' on the cover. She won't even put her real name on things that are supposedly meant just for her.

The funny thing is that doesn't seem to realise that if she ditched her unrealistic trophy-chasing dream of being handed a traditional book deal and went all-in on self-publishing, she'd have the 'get out of adulthood free' card she desperately wants.

She could self-publish whatever nonsensical drivel she wants on whatever schedule she wants, she already has a platform to market a book from (and she'd be expected to do just as much self-marketing anyway if she got a book deal), and she'd likely get more money out of self-publishing since she wouldn't be splitting the profits of what little she sells with agents and publishers.

She'd be in a position to keep the numbers close to the vest and claim each book was HOIGHLY SOCKSASSFOL, could brag about publishing 3 books a year to appear VARRY PRODOCKTIVE, and would get to rot in her childhood room living out her AMILY DICKINSON fantasy for another decade while holding up her writing career and YEECHEEB WAAAHRK as full-time jobs. She'd get to play the toxic productivity numbers game she loves so much, constantly bragging that she wrote "FWORE HONDRAD AND TWANTEE-NOINE MILLION-BILLION WAAHRDS TYEUDAYYYY!".

None of her writing would be any good, naturally, but there's no risk of that anyway and she doesn't seem to care. With how much her fans heap blind praise on her, she could simply choose to churn out a plagiarised, incoherent, barely-edited, self-insert mess and believe she's an incredible writer (and she'd be insulated from wider criticism if her book's not being put in the hands of professional critics by publishers to get decimated). She's already rich, so the little money she'd get as a writer wouldn't be a factor for her. She'd still be doing YouTube alongside it and she'd have more time to do her usual fake bullshit there. It's a win-win for her.

Instead she's just too delusionally fixated on the external validation and trophy appeal of having Penguin Publishing eventually tell her she's good enough, despite knowing that she has zero talent or passion for it, won't get anything meaningful out of it and will do anything possible to avoid doing the work for herself.

Ruby could probably do with cutting her teeth on fanfiction if she hasn't already. She shouldn't and wouldn't need to do it openly, but the space is good for short, amateurish writing, and for getting constructive criticism if you want.

She doesn't even need to invite the constructive criticism bit of it, some of the shite I've written gets a nice little bit of praise but I can see where it is weak and where I can improve for the next time. If you embark upon a longer fanfiction, there's a lot it can teach you about longform storytelling (as I am learning from my current fic that I hope to be a longfic but is currently sitting at circa 15K words.) Its also helpful for beginner characterisation, as you don't need to go through the rigmarole of characterising your main characters and can just work on keeping them in voice, while introducing side characters who you create yourself.

If she really has a passion for writing as she claims, fanfiction could provide a good stepping off point for producing actually good writing. After all, it's all practice and iteration, really.

That said, does she actually have a passion for the writing craft, or does she just desire the prestige that comes with the title author?

 

[kuzo]

Ruby could probably do with cutting her teeth on fanfiction if she hasn't already. She shouldn't and wouldn't need to do it openly, but the space is good for short, amateurish writing, and for getting constructive criticism if you want.

I've always thought there's no way she hasn't dabbled in writing ff before, esp as the hp fandom is so massive!

 

[StatusWoe]

I don't know why Ruby hasn't done something like this. Only 3 weeks out of her endless gap year, more time spent at Oxford, and it has a seminar option for middle-grade/YA fiction.

I remember her doing a writers' retreat, I think? The main point of a writing retreat is that the attendees are usually busy people who need a break from their daily lives and a tranquil setting for writing. Ruby already had that at home so it was a strange choice. She just sat alone at a different desk iirc.

 

[gossip_guy]

That said, does she actually have a passion for the writing craft, or does she just desire the prestige that comes with the title author?

There's definitely no genuine interest in writing with her that I can see.

She's moaned before that she hates editing and revising her work and considers it boring and mindless, even though that's a massive, crucial part of the writing process. She's always treated writing as a box-ticking activity slotted into rigid 20 minute to 1 hour slots on a timetable to make herself look busy in vlogs rather than something that she passionately does whenever and for as long as the desire to write grabs her. All of her writing has been transparently lifted from other places with herself inserted as the main character and she's openly admitted to just trying to reverse-engineer plots and structure from existing works when writing her novels before.

It seems like she just clings to the fake dream of being an author because it's a career that fits the Frankensteined-together 'choyld genioss bockwaaahrm' persona she's built over the years and it would be a career that would allow her to sit around her childhood bedroom forever and never have to grow up. This is the same person who kept intentionally spilling ink all over her hands because she thought people would compare her to Jo March if she did - she loves the appearance of being a bookish young creative genius, but doesn't have the slightest bit of talent, drive or interest in doing the thing's she pretends to love.

Her chasing a traditional publishing deal and the way she's doing it isn't much different than her Oxford situation - she wants a book deal just to be able to shout "OIY GWOT AYYY BOCK DEAL FROM PANGWIN POBLISHING", but she's just cynically and joylessly trying to cobble together a commercially successful novel from existing works as a shortcut to success and doesn't appear to have any genuine love of writing any more than she does for studying.

I remember her doing a writers' retreat, I think? The main point of a writing retreat is that the attendees are usually busy people who need a break from their daily lives and a tranquil setting for writing. Ruby already had that at home so it was a strange choice. She just sat alone at a different desk iirc.

Yup! Below is her at home and her at her writing retreat.

She blew £1,000 to get the same experience she gets every day in her back yard.

 

[FolderDuvet]

I've always thought there's no way she hasn't dabbled in writing ff before, esp as the hp fandom is so massive!

See, there are those of us for whom the fanfiction bug bites and we can't do anything about it, and others who just have no interest in it at all. One my my closest friends (who loves coming up with DnD adventures, so it's not like he's not creative) doesn't quite get the fanfiction impulse and was slightly surprised when everyone in his DnD group were fanfic authors.

I've met a few people who just don't "get it" when it comes to fanfiction, but then they don't tend to be people who try and make a go at being an author. Ann Rice being an obvious exception to this. Obviously.

It's possible Ruby is as gossip_guy posits (and given her stance on editing I am inclined to agree), and that she has never had the fanfic impulse. If her prose were better I would take it as given that she had been a fanfic author at one point.

 

[kuzo]

It's possible Ruby is as gossip_guy posits (and given her stance on editing I am inclined to agree), and that she has never had the fanfic impulse. If her prose were better I would take it as given that she had been a fanfic author at one point.

I do think it's somewhat impossible to ever know, but for her sake I hope she's had a crack at it (or at least read some of what's out there), it seems right up her street. She doesn't really seem to connect with a lot of the stories she reads, maybe the language & vocabulary but not the story. I think she'd connect and engage better with something written in a world she's already captivated by.
And I agree, her prose is so janky that I doubt she does much writing outside of what she does performatively tbh

 

[blmrqslm]

What the???

 

[duchess_wallis]

Looks like she's trying to go viral (for all the wrong reasons)

 

[Sibyl Vane]

View attachment 3243696 q

What the???

Alright Dwight Schrute.

 

[Whisper2Me]

I started watching her latest vlog and just ended closing it out about 2 minutes in. Just no. Not interested in another of her stupid absurd videos. I cannot believe she has a Masters from Oxford. They must be rolling their eyes, wondering what her mental state is. I know I am. This family just has way too much time on their hands and very little purpose in life. Another speed talking nonsense foolery. No thank you. Her desperate desire to imitate Alice in the latest Alice in Wonderland movies is just yet another role-playing game to pacify her constant need to identify with still being a child, at 24 1/2. Lovely.

 

[FolderDuvet]

I did lol at the idea of Blakeney opening up the greasy envelope to just a mass of crumbs and smashed cake (admittedly I was knitting so just saw her drop something that looked like an unwrapped cake into the envelope).

At least this video is... Something? It's different. Vaguely original. She definitely has some influences that shine through, though those are hampered by the perennial amateurishness of the camera work. The line at 8:54 is particularly odd. It sounds like she's done multiple takes. It should never sound like you've done multiple takes, just as it should never sound like you did only one.

It really suffers from what I usually like well enough about Ruby's content. It's usually really amateur, and while you'd expect some improvement in camera skill beyond adding filters that wash literally everything out, I don't so much mind it.

The problem here is that she's pretty clearly trying to do a bit of a Wes Anderson thing, but his film making relies upon the precise staging of shots, and very intentional breaks with that precise staging for effect. His language of film is precision. It cannot be half arsed, or it becomes really jarring. This video is jarring. It's not amateur enough to read as a nice little home film (which a lot of her stuff tbh does) but it is not professional enough to capture the aesthetic and whimsy she's chasing.

It's a shame. With a bit more effort put into staging and specifically camera work (she could have shot this better with a few tripods of different sizes and still shots, without whoever was "helping". The parts at the beginning that she shot herself are ok.) it could have been a weird, charming, and interesting video.