1. Great writers don't cheat, they steal.
In Journal Entry, The fortune cookie, I created a story about an arrogant man who gets knocked back down to his level after a walk in with a gypsy and a fortune cookie that brings bad luck. Any Stephen King fan would instantly draw a connection to his own novel, Thinner, where a man similarly faces the wrath of a gypsy and is punished. In no way are the two stories the same, but both have similarities to the other. 2. Listen to the voice in your head.
When our class began to wright poetry, I was at a loss. A few original ideas danced around in my head, but I pushed them out of the way and tried to find a topic with more meaning, or words that made more sense. When I finally forced something out, I realized how awful it was and started over. I finally gave up trying to force out the fraudulence, and let myself actually wright. "...mocking faces and judging frowns weigh me down like concrete balloons..." 3.Show, don't tell.
One of my favorites, my journal entry My Ride Home perfectly portrays the show don't tell concept. " I get in the car with anticipation clouding my senses. Weariness has settled into my bones from the yearlong day at school... the driver turns on radio on and symphonies swirl through my ears and into my thoughts, plucking me from the tiresome reality of my first day." 4. Never kill of all your characters at the end or reveal that all was just a dream.
Although it is easy to do or it may make you laugh, 9 times out of 10 it will simply ruin the story. As humans, we want to believe the impossible and be taken away on that adventure, but when a story ends like that, it is like the adventure you just went on is snatched away from you. It is simply just another thing that we cannot do. Having read a book that ended like this before, and having become extremely angry because of it, I avoided this type of writing. 5. Murder your Darlings
When writing the six word memoir, the first one I wrote seemed like gold. Nothing could change it or make it better than it was. As I continually read it though, I found this to hold true in a negative light. It was never going to get any better and I could really make something more. So, I continued working, with an open mind, and created my final six word memoir. 6. Know the Purpose of Poetry
Poetry is meant to be an open minded writing that conveys a message of any choice to the reader. Writing Poetry scared me at first, but once I knew that poetry didn't need a specific subject or type, it came to me a whole lot easier. I no longer felt like I needed to reach a standard, but felt like I made the standard in my writing. 7. Don't choose the subject, let the subject choose you
Trying to choose a subject is one of the hardest things you can do to yourself when writing. As soon as you try, your mind will literally go blank. You will force an idea out, and that almost always ends in poor writing or failure. When I had to write my 55 Fiction Story, their were infinite possibilities on what to write, but I didn't sit down and choose. I sat down and let the ideas in my mind swirl around until one in particular settled down. It wasn't what I would have chosen if I had chosen, but it ended up making the perfect short story. 8. Typeface is important
When writing my six word memoir, the words were the easiest part. Coming up with a typeface that was easy to read, portrayed the perfect message, enticed the reader, had the right kerning, and was placed in the correct place in the correct color was the hard part. Still, all that work pays off because when you choose the right typeface, it can blow your reader away. 9. Write what you want
If I wrote because I thought other people were going to judge it, I would limit myself more than I even know. When I write, I take chances, think outside of the box, and either create a masterpiece or fail epically. If I wrote for others, self-conscienceless would keep me from taking chances. My journal entries are thought up in a matter of minutes. They are my ideas and no one else's. If no one wrote what they thought or wanted, we would never read or hear about anything new. 10. Don't let failures control you
I have written both good and bad pieces of writing. If failures controlled me, I would probably have given up writing. Sometimes certain subjects just don't work for certain people. This is perfectly fine and normal. For me, most of the time, I cannot write just from sound alone. I need words or visuals to spur the ideas in my head. If you let failures control you, then you will never discover your success stories.
Ten Commandments
1. Great writers don't cheat, they steal.In Journal Entry, The fortune cookie, I created a story about an arrogant man who gets knocked back down to his level after a walk in with a gypsy and a fortune cookie that brings bad luck. Any Stephen King fan would instantly draw a connection to his own novel, Thinner, where a man similarly faces the wrath of a gypsy and is punished. In no way are the two stories the same, but both have similarities to the other.
2. Listen to the voice in your head.
When our class began to wright poetry, I was at a loss. A few original ideas danced around in my head, but I pushed them out of the way and tried to find a topic with more meaning, or words that made more sense. When I finally forced something out, I realized how awful it was and started over. I finally gave up trying to force out the fraudulence, and let myself actually wright. "...mocking faces and judging frowns weigh me down like concrete balloons..."
3.Show, don't tell.
One of my favorites, my journal entry My Ride Home perfectly portrays the show don't tell concept. " I get in the car with anticipation clouding my senses. Weariness has settled into my bones from the yearlong day at school... the driver turns on radio on and symphonies swirl through my ears and into my thoughts, plucking me from the tiresome reality of my first day."
4. Never kill of all your characters at the end or reveal that all was just a dream.
Although it is easy to do or it may make you laugh, 9 times out of 10 it will simply ruin the story. As humans, we want to believe the impossible and be taken away on that adventure, but when a story ends like that, it is like the adventure you just went on is snatched away from you. It is simply just another thing that we cannot do. Having read a book that ended like this before, and having become extremely angry because of it, I avoided this type of writing.
5. Murder your Darlings
When writing the six word memoir, the first one I wrote seemed like gold. Nothing could change it or make it better than it was. As I continually read it though, I found this to hold true in a negative light. It was never going to get any better and I could really make something more. So, I continued working, with an open mind, and created my final six word memoir.
6. Know the Purpose of Poetry
Poetry is meant to be an open minded writing that conveys a message of any choice to the reader. Writing Poetry scared me at first, but once I knew that poetry didn't need a specific subject or type, it came to me a whole lot easier. I no longer felt like I needed to reach a standard, but felt like I made the standard in my writing.
7. Don't choose the subject, let the subject choose you
Trying to choose a subject is one of the hardest things you can do to yourself when writing. As soon as you try, your mind will literally go blank. You will force an idea out, and that almost always ends in poor writing or failure. When I had to write my 55 Fiction Story, their were infinite possibilities on what to write, but I didn't sit down and choose. I sat down and let the ideas in my mind swirl around until one in particular settled down. It wasn't what I would have chosen if I had chosen, but it ended up making the perfect short story.
8. Typeface is important
When writing my six word memoir, the words were the easiest part. Coming up with a typeface that was easy to read, portrayed the perfect message, enticed the reader, had the right kerning, and was placed in the correct place in the correct color was the hard part. Still, all that work pays off because when you choose the right typeface, it can blow your reader away.
9. Write what you want
If I wrote because I thought other people were going to judge it, I would limit myself more than I even know. When I write, I take chances, think outside of the box, and either create a masterpiece or fail epically. If I wrote for others, self-conscienceless would keep me from taking chances. My journal entries are thought up in a matter of minutes. They are my ideas and no one else's. If no one wrote what they thought or wanted, we would never read or hear about anything new.
10. Don't let failures control you
I have written both good and bad pieces of writing. If failures controlled me, I would probably have given up writing. Sometimes certain subjects just don't work for certain people. This is perfectly fine and normal. For me, most of the time, I cannot write just from sound alone. I need words or visuals to spur the ideas in my head. If you let failures control you, then you will never discover your success stories.