The Writer War

When you're a teenager, and a writer, you are faced with many stereotypes and obstacles. Several of these include having to endure the fact that you are young and your style has not matured, fighting the generalization that teenage writers compose only bad poetry, and reading the bad poetry of your less than accomplished friends.

But for an online writer, your problems are bigger than this. If you are any good at all, you will enter... the Writer Wars.



The Writer Wars begin when you find that you are not the only person to reach outstanding success and to accumulate a set group of readers. There are others. They are even better than you, with more addictive stories and a larger group of fans. And then some person comes up with the idea to host a website where people can vote for which story they like best.

The nominations come in. You see your name. You smile smugly. You see the other names. You recognize most of them. Some are newer at this than you, but worse, some are older, more experienced.

You have seen these names many times. People mention and recommend them to you. You've read their stories, studied their profiles, tried to track them down on myspace... you look at the voting sheet and you know that somewhere out there... the other competitors are looking at your name, at your story, and wondering if they'll be able to beat you in this popularity competition.

If you hadn't guessed already, it's that time of year again. I was contacted by the originator of the competition idea, who has recently started up her site again, and I am once again thrust into this authoric war.

I always lose. It's because I don't have as many fans (I honestly believe this, because as a writer, I am vain and arrogant, and believe my story to be the best, and there is therefore no reason for my continuing losage except that the other stories must have managed to garner more attention).

And thus the stage has been set. When the voting is open, the actual battles shall begin. It will be a tangled and stressful time, where you debate morals and cheating and reconaissance and in the end it doesn't matter, because there is always a clear favorite.

But this year... this year I rewrote my book four times. It's excellent. It's fabulous. And thus I have only two words for the competition:

Bring it.

Not even the rain has such small hands

In celebration of one of the most beautiful phrases ever, here is a poem by E. E. Cummings:

somehwere i have never travelled, gladly beyond
any experience, your eyes have their silence:
in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,
or which i cannot touch because they are too near

your slightest look easily will unclose me
though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skilfully, mysteriously) her first rose

or if your wish be to close me, i and
my life will shut very beautifully, suddenly,
as when the heart of this flower imagines
the snow carefully everywhere descending;

nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals
the power of your intense fragility: whose texture
compels me with the colour of its countries,
rendering death and forever with each breathing

(i do not know what it is about you that closes
and opens; only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands
--e.e. cummings

Thoughts on the Mental Life of Writers

From brilliant science fiction writer William Gibson:

"I became so frustrated with my inability to physically move the characters through the imaginary narrative space, that I actually developed an early form of imaginary VR technology that sort of covered my ass... all they had to do was switch tapes and be in a different place, and I was spared the embarrassment of demonstrating that I didn't know how to get them up and down the stairs."



Gibson is obviously a Possessed writer, though his literary skill implies he is an Obsessed writer. Perhaps he is a rare, lucky halfbreed. More on this later.

Insurrection ramblings

Working on Insurrection (the third installment in the WW trilogy) is thankfully progressing much the same way WW and Apostasy did.

It's like the plot of the book is set on a long sidewalk at night. I've got a lantern, so I can see a few feet in front of me, but the rest is in darkness, lit up only occasionally by a streetlamp.

That's how working with it is. I take one step and another get's illuminated, with the ultimate goal being the next streetlight, which leads to the next and the next and in the distance is the blazing destination.

It makes one want to believe in the duende.

Interrobang ‽ ‽

While perusing the livejournal of a very mislead young man, I found mention of an "Interrobang." His only explanation of the word was to, "google it", so I did, and this is what I found:

FINALLY! AN ANSWER TO OUR PRAYERS! THE INTERROBANG: ‽
(Lifted from Wikipedia)

The interrobang (‽) is a rarely used, nonstandard English-language punctuation mark intended to combine the functions of a question mark and an exclamation point. The typographical character resembles those marks superimposed one over the other. In informal writing, the same effect is achieved by placing the exclamation point after or before the question mark, e.g. "What?!".

Examples:

* How much did you spend on those shoes‽
* You're going out with Marika‽
* You traveled to Paris in a submarine‽
* You slipped on a banana peel‽

The code for the interrobang is, in html (with no spaces) &# 8253

The entire wikipedia article can be found here.
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It's a brilliant marriage, and as a writer, I am enthused. At last there is a justification for my computer's grammar check always being annoying with the squiggly green line...
‽ ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽ ‽
(I'm excited)


Also of interest to note is the "irony mark". The article for it can be found here.

On Plot

Often, in writing, I will come up with a story idea and not have any idea how the entire plot will go, I just have one small tidbit. But one sentence leads to another, and one idea leads to another, and soon I have a whole plot line set out ahead of me. The hard part is just trusting yourself to be able to develop these ideas, and having the courage to proceed into the unknown.

This lends credence to the following quote: "As you continue, which you will do, the way to proceed will become apparent." ~John Cage


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In other news: I broke through on a story I was having a problem with. I set one of my characters out on a date in a Poetry Shack, and although I have been to a Poetry Shack, I have never been on a date, so I was a little stumped as to how to proceed. However, I remembered this quote:

When in doubt, blow something up. ~J. Michael Straczynski

As this was not a blow-something-up type of book, I opted instead for a bar fight, which successfully ended the date to rousing, comedic success, and I am now back on track with my hilarious, heart-warming story, Of Coffee And People.

Random Phrases

A hobby of aspiring writers: Collecting random phrases, such as

"Window on my shoulder"

Base Human Fear

The advertisements for M. Night Shyamalon's new movie, "Lady in the Water" has got me thinking about basic human fear, and about the horror genre in general, which leads me to this conclusion:

One of the base human fears, I would say, is a fear of wolves. Rather, a fear of the idea of wolves. Most people have seen enough discovery channel documentaries or enough docile wolves in zoos to understand that they are just beautiful animals. But that still can't override a fear of them, of what we think they might do.



Take the classic 1946 Walt Disney version of Peter and the Wolf. If you've seen the very old movie version with the blonde-haired boy, Peter, Sasha the Bird, Sonya the Duck, and Ivan the cat, you've also seen the Wolf, a vicious, frightening carciature of the wolf (Click here for pictures). This wolf has haunted me ever since I saw this movie. And witnessing the new adverts for Lady in the Water has brought back these fears.

There's something about a dark, fanged shadow that is faster, smarter, and much more capable of killing than you, coming at you, and you can't stop it.

Or perhaps it is this lack of control that we fear (which would explain the phobias about the living dead, mummies, and vampires).


Doesn't that just creep you out?

Tips for writers seeking publishing

“There is no such thing as failure, only feedback”

“The first sign of a nervous breakdown is when you start thinking your work is terribly important.”

"This manuscript of yours that has just come back from another editor is a precious package. Don't consider it rejected. Consider that you've addressed it 'to the editor who can appreciate my work' and it has simply come back stamped 'Not at this address'. Just keep looking for the right address." -Barbara Kingsolver

"A good many young writers make the mistake of enclosing a stamped, self-addressed envelope, big enough for the manuscript to come back in. This is too much of a temptation to the editor." -Ring Lardner

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." -Albert Einstein

"Thank your readers and the critics who praise you, and then ignore them. Write for the most intelligent, wittiest, wisest audience in the universe: Write to please yourself." -Harlan Ellison

"The only time to believe any kind of rating is when it shows you at the top." -Bob Hope

"The novelist must be his own most harsh critic and also his own most loving admirer and about both he must say nothing." -Angus Wilson

"It is perfectly okay to write garbage – as long as you edit brilliantly." -C. J. Cherryh

"It's none of their business that you have to learn to write. Let them think you were born that way." -Ernest Hemingway

"You learn by writing short stories. Keep writing short stories. The money's in novels, but writing short stories keeps your writing lean and pointed." -Larry Niven

"Only self-educated is educated. Others are merely taught." -Erno Paasilinna

"It is my contention that a really great novel is made with a knife and not a pen. A novelist must have the intestinal fortitude to cut out even the most brilliant passage so long as it doesn't advance the story." -Frank Yerby

"Finishing a book is just like you took a child out in the yard and shot it." -Truman Capote

"Writing a book is a adventure. To begin with it is a toy and amusement. Then it becomes a mistress, then it becomes a master, then it becomes a tyrant. The last phase is that just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster and fling him out to the public." -Winston Churchill

The Abyss

“When you stare into an abyss for a long time, the abyss also stares into you.” – Nietzsche

This terrifies me. Can you imagine the abyss staring into you and knowing you? Terrifying...



That was the human in me speaking. The writer in me is going:

I have /got/ to work that into a horror story.

Sometimes... being a writer is the best thing in the world. You get to turn everything you feared or hated or were embarassed by into something you love.

Assignment #1

Create a visual journal.

Examples:


Taken from kitche at livejournal.com



Taken from jr__nal at livejournal.com

I am pleased to announce...

There is a special sadness in achievement, in the knowledge that a long-desired goal has been attained at last, and that life must now be shaped toward new ends. -Arthur C. Clarke

Finishing a book is just like you took a child out in the yard and shot it. -Truman Capote

I am pleased to announce, that after nearly a year-long pregnancy, on June 14, 2006, at 2:53 in the morning, my second book, Apostasy, was finished.

It is 362 pages and 55 chapters, and the second in a trilogy+prequel.

I and my beta are very happy.



It's disappointing, in a way. I've lived with this book for one year (it would have been one year exactly on the 17th or somewhat), and it was three times as long as the first one, and I expected that when I was done with it I would feel some sense of accomplishment.

I guess nothing equals that first high.

Colored Videos

Very entertaining videos focusing on color. These are the only ones from this website that I recommend:

Blue
Pink
Mentos and Coke Symphony

High Pitched

Taken from the news reel on Comcast.net

Students Find Ring Tone Adults Can't Hear
By Associated Press
4 hours agoUPDATED 3 HOURS 44 MINUTES AGO

NEW YORK - Students are using a new ring tone to receive messages in class -- and many teachers can't even hear the ring.

Some students are downloading a ring tone off the Internet that is too high-pitched to be heard by most adults. With it, high schoolers can receive text message alerts on their cell phones without the teacher knowing.

As people age, many develop what's known as aging ear -- a loss of the ability to hear higher-frequency sounds.

The ring tone is a spin-off of technology that was originally meant to repel teenagers -- not help them. A Welsh security company developed the tone to help shopkeepers disperse young people loitering in front of their stores while leaving adults unaffected. The company called their product the "Mosquito."

Donna Lewis, a teacher in Manhattan, says her colleague played the ring for a classroom of first-graders -- and all of them could hear it, while the adults couldn't hear anything.

Every Teen Writer Needs...

I had the idea for this list, and got several of my friends to contribute to it.

To be a successful teen writer, you will need:

1) A favorite pen, preferably customized with an engraved name, or an animal sticker
2) A very elegant notebook you are too afraid to write in
3) A notebook you /aren't/ afraid to use. And have open. Near the computer and phone.
Gum. Lot’s of gum. Oodles of gum.
4) A Beta. Someone to confide in.
5) Your beta's phone number on speed dial. Or memorized. Whichever is fastest.
6) Some type of fuzzy animal, cat preferably, to whom you can whine when your characters are being annoying
7) Hidden chocolate bars
8) A Magic 8 Ball, to help answer such questions as, “Should I kill off Bob the Sub-Character?”
9) A slinky
10) A good, worn pair of sneakers that can be slipped on in a hurry to go out walking
11) A typewriter. You don’t necessarily have to use it, but it’s something fun to contemplate.
12) A book of art for inspiration, preferably one of people
13) A dictionary (Good for random flipping)
14) An elaborate thesaurus, to come up with synonyms for ‘said’. Also useful to alleviate boredom in trying to find a synonym for ‘synonym’.
15) A Baby Name book, for naming characters
16) The Book, “Lanterns and Lances”
17) Post-It notes, for writing down such trivial things as plot details, grocery lists, and agent’s phone numbers
18) A CD player with a mix-tape of inspirational music.
19) A bookshelf, stocked with favorite stories and authors
20) A digital camera, so you can have a low-traffic blog like this one.
21) A list of people you know who look like your favorite book characters.
22) Someone to tell you you’re a good writer when the reviews are bad, and someone to deflate your head when the reviews are good.
23) Straws, because you’re too young to buy cigarettes
24) Numerous half-drunk (or half-un-drunk) room-temperature water bottles
25) A window with a view of something. Anything. Brick walls to cemeteries to skies. Anything.
26) Tragedy. Yours or others. Random gossip will work, too.
27) A Library Card (Who will trust a writer without a library card?)
28) A calendar
29) A subscription to word-a-day (this tends to really make you think)
30) A secret stash of Jelly Bellies, particularly the nasty-ass coffee flavored ones, because they make you feel special and cool and avant-garde, which makes you want to write more (but you have to have all the other flavors handy to wash out the nasty-ass coffee taste afterwards)
31) Something that smells like lavender. Doesn't matter what.
32) An addiction. It doesn't matter what it is--Zoo Tycoon, 24, potatoes, some video game... anything that makes you feel really good when you say, "Know what, I think I'll write instead of indulging in my addiction today," because that always makes your writing better, and you're more likely to write if it means you're spiting yourself by doing it.

(All of these requirements are currently in use by my fellow writer friends and I, and we're awfully successful, don't you think?)

My Writing Style

Time for a little introduction.

You may have noticed my "Influenced By" list to the menu on your right. I thought I'd take a moment to explain it:

1) David Sedaris -the first book of his I read was Naked , followed by Me Talk Pretty One Day, which I originally thought was a Harlem Renaissance book (nothing could be further from the truth).

Sedaris is original and a true comedian, in the sense that he does not do funny things, he does things funny. From him I learned how to comedically question 'normal' life, poke fun at people, and a particular writing style where I make myself the protagonist while operating in a very antagonistic fashion.

2) Chris Crutcher -Crutcher resembes David Sedaris very muchly, in both life and writing style. His more famous books are "Stotan!" and "Staying Fat for Sara Byrnes".

I first read his autobiography (which was how I got turned on to him), King of the Mild Frontier. I loved his view on things and his hilarious personal experiences, of which it pleased me muchly to see woven, word for word, into his fictional stories. From him I learned how true life experience can be turned into money and fame, following the old quote "Writing allows you to turn the worst moments of your life into cash."

3) KA Applegate. I owe so much to her. She is the author of the Animorph series, which I was obsessed with for four years.
<--- The first Animorph book I ever read.

The Animorph series turned me onto fan fiction, which is where I got my real start with writing. The Animorphs also taught me drama, romance, and angst. Applegate herself influenced my writing style by making me want to turn every sentence into its own paragraph (I'm still struggling to overrule that first impressional training).

4) Tanuja Desai Hidier -Just a general inspiration to young women everywhere. She is beautiful and talented and successful. Who could want for a greater role model? (You can see her pictures on an author expose below)

5) James Thurber -One of the most brilliant writers I've ever met (literarily). His book "Lanterns and Lances" changed my life.
<---One of his drawings about himself and his wife, who never believes anything he says (This seal bit never actually happened).

It is an exploration of literature and assonance and dissonance and the curse/blessing of being a writer, particularly being a writer among ordinary people. He taught me the Letter Game, that it's okay to be paranoid cats will come back as humans to try and kill you, and never to invite more than one writer to a dinner party. Cheers, James.

6) Ray Bradbury -I was introduced to him through his famous book, Fahrenheit 451, which is very 1984ish, but better, I think.

The book was alright, but what I loved most was the interview he had in the back. Ray is the first author I ever encountered who sympathized with me on the vividness and realness of characters. I owe many great quotes and reassurances to him. He is an inspiration on possessed writing.


The WW series employs a mix of Ray Bradbury, KA Applegate, and James Thurber. My personal narratives emply David Sedaris and Christ Crutcher and James Thurber. OCAP is mainly David Sedaris.

Quotes by Walt Whitman

I see in you the estuary that enlarges and spreads itself grandly as it
pours in the great sea.



For my enemy is dead, a man divine as myself is dead,
I look where he lies white-faced and still in the
coffin—I draw near,
Bend down and touch lightly with my lips the white face in the
coffin.

I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars.

-Walt Whitman

Tanuja Desai Hidier

I read this book several weeks ago, and I wanted to share it with you, not so much because of the story (Which was okay), but because of it's author.



Tanuja Desai Hidier is not only an accomplished author and filmmaker, but also a musician, and lead singer in an English rock band.

Her first novel, "Born Confused" features the cultural concerns of an Indian girl (Dimple Lala) raised in America. I originally thought this novel was going to be a true story, but instead it turned out to be a work of fiction, which diminished its value in my eyes, but it was a good story nevertheless. "Born Confused", published in 2002, won the Larry King pick of the week, an American Library Association BBYA book of the year, and a Sunday Times (Times of London) book of the week.

Tanuja's first short film, The Test, which she wrote and directed, deals with many of the same issues as "Born Confused", and was screened at the 19th Asian American International Film Festival, the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. and the Toronto's Desh Pardesh festival, receiving the Award of Merit from the 1996 Sinking Creek Film & Video Festival at Vanderbilt University. She is currently turning "Born Confused" into a screenplay.

She is the lead singer and songwriter in the London band Tanu & Marie

She was a finalist for the 2006 Asian Women of Achievement Awards for the United Kingdom and was recently voted one of the 50 Coolest Desis in the world by Desiclub.com.

(Information paraphrased from her website)

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I feel that Tanuja is an inspiration to any female interested in the arts. She is only in her midtwenties, and has already accomplished so much (And some of her accomplishments I didn't even include!)

To read more about her, including an overview of her musical career, and a Q&A, click on the link above.

Télépopmusik

I found a very inspirational and mind-blowing music group.



Their name is Télépopmusik. If you've heard of them, good for you. If you haven't, don't laugh at the name.

Their most popular song at this point is, I believe 'Breathe'. You can look up the lyrics if you want, but I don't think they'll make you want to go out and buy their CD. What makes them great is a combination of the words with technopop music.

If you have Limewire or any downloading program, take a minute and download 'Breathe'. You won't regret it.

A few sample CD covers:



Click Here to visit their website
Click Here to visit their myspace and sample 'Breathe'.

My favorite songs of theirs so far are 'Breathe', 'Love Can Damage Your Health', 'Genetic World', and 'Don't Look Back'.

Afflatus

Afflatus: (Uh-flay-tus) A strong creative impulse, especially as a result of divine inspiration.