 For Authors: July 19, 2006 Issue [#1160] |
  For Authors
This week: Edited by: archgargoyle
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1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
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Every artist has to grow, and has to challenge themselves with a new form of expression. ~ Terrence Howard
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968)
The greatest challenge to writing in someone else's world is abiding by their rules. I like playing by my rules in my own world. ~ Laurell K. Hamilton
As a child our dreams got scattered all about and all our future prospects got scattered to so many places, and we spend our lives trying to find the little pieces that make up our lives and make up the dreams that we had as a child that got blown away in the windstorm. ~ Terrence Howard
As a painter who's used acrylics, you can easily learn how to use oils, but you have to know the rules of using oils. ~ Terrence Howard
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Today, the Writing.Com Convention will be starting. Members will start showing up for the event, meeting previously faceless friends, and setting themselves up for a weekend of fun. The weekend will be full of spontaneous writing exercises and improv comedy. There will be many events to fill up the time over the weekend and then the late nights left to converse with friends. Although I won’t be able to be there this year, I remember fondly the past two conventions.
The first creative event is the live campfire. Now, if you don’t know, a campfire creative is set up so that several people can contribute to a story. It allows multiple and unforeseen twists to develop, making some pretty crazy stories. It’s just like telling a story around a campfire, just with everyone giving their piece of the plot. Unlike the online version, each person playing has to come up with something fast. This alone mixed with sitting in front of all the other Convention-goers can be a bit intimidating. But it’s that quick thinking that can be the most fun.
Most of us as writers like to think over our plot and word usage before we call it finished. But it’s in these improv moments when we’re challenged. So, in our own writing, what makes us feel challenged? Who gives that challenge?
My wife, Love is a Mommy (no foolin)  , is the person who usually challenges me within my writing. It’s when we both sit down and work on a piece of poetry together, or ask each other for ideas that I feel challenged as a writer. Granted, I haven’t written much in awhile, but part of that is due to a busy life outside of our own writing world. In Writing.Com, a member can be challenged easily if they just look a little. Any contest, groups, forums, reviews given, reviews received, and even just each other provide areas where we can increase our exposure to creating. All of these avenues help tone our skill and help us become better at our craft as long as we pay attention.
For those going to the Writing.Com Convention 2006, good luck, have a blast and be safe. I know you’ll be challenged one way or another. Even if it’s just opening up to people you don’t know.
So, to you my readers; who challenges you to become a better writer? What areas of your writing do you feel you could be challenged in better?
~ archgargoyle |
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Last month: How do you tell stories and why do you tell them? Is it to pass on information or maybe to entertain?
Voxxylady  - Why do I tell stories? So the many characters living inside my brain don't all gather together and start pounding on me for not allowing them to come out and play.
"How?" is a harder question. I use much reality, but it's a fictional reality. I use certain facts but I don't manipulate them. They are background for the "reality" of the deep inner thoughts of my characters.
dizzyduck - In answer to your questions I would like to say this: First of all, I'm young, so I'm still trying to find my "how do you tell stories" niche. So far all I've discovered is, I tell too much and show too little. Of course, I only heard of the concept when I joined WDC three months ago, so I'm still trying to wean myself of a bad habit I’ve had for years.
As for why I write, it's purely to entertain. I rarely ever write to pass on information, unless it's exposition. I've always found informative non-fiction to be mostly boring, unless it has a touch of comedy or sarcasm in it to keep it interesting (Dave Barry's my favorite); or if it's a subject I like, like fantasy or animals. But things like the news and most popular magazines? Depressing and ridiculously gossipy, respectively. I avoid them like the plague, if I can.
So, I write to entertain, but I'm still learning how, exactly, to do that. A long but fun process.
Victoria Earle  - The stories I've written (and am writing) are based on inspiration that I believe came from God. My characters go through crises that reveal their beliefs, try their faith, and force them to rethink how they live. It's hard to put the people in my books through such trials, but conflict is what makes a good story. And I am still learning to show, not tell.
I love this newsletter!
outlander - Hello Sir Duck, regarding the June 22nd, 2006 author's newsletter. I usually tell stories in the first or third person. I tell stories to explore social situations, and answer "what if" and "why" questions. I do it in an attempt to satisfy my curiosity and to entertain.
Outlander
LovelyOne  - Interesting questions you pose to the reader in this newsletter. Personally, yes, I use my stories to entertain. But, more importantly I tell them in order to affect the reader, to elicit an emotional response, to encourage them to examine life in general, and maybe how it is reflected in their own natures. I want to get the reader involved in the story, until they see, hear, touch, smell, and taste it, as if the story is alive and confronting them in their own living room. In short, I want to leave the reader a bit more emotionally aware at the end of my story, than they were at the beginning.
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