Drama: November 09, 2010 Issue [#4073] |
Drama
This week: Using the Invisible You Edited by: Fyn-elf More Newsletters By This Editor
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 7. Removal instructions
"What is uttered from the heart alone, Will win the hearts of others to your own."~~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom."~~Thomas Jefferson
"Integrity is telling myself the truth. And honesty is telling the truth to other people."~~Spencer Johnson
"To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; credible we must be truthful."~~Edward R. Murrow |
ASIN: 0910355479 |
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Amazon's Price: $ 13.99
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I'm deep in the Nano-ing mode and after getting some done, (I am SO behind at this point)
I read some to a friend or three. The best responses I got and some feedback about;'a bit of me' in
last months Romance newsletter have prompted this one.
The comments that I received were that 'the inherent honesty in the piece made the characters so very believable.'
That made me smile. The old adage: Write what you know proves itself yet once again. Personally, there is
a piece of the intrinsic me in everything I write: poetry, fiction, non-fiction and so forth. I take bits and pieces of
who and what I am, toss them in a blender and use what floats to the top. When I am writing about things outside my realm of
experience, I immerse myself in research about it. I watch movies, I read, I listen to music.I talk to people.
I once wrote a poem about a heart transplant; written from the recipient's point of view. One reply said that
they 'knew I had had one because no one who hadn't would or could possibly have had the understanding, mindset
or feelings that were expressed. Um, no, I have not had a heart transplant. But I researched and talked to folks who had.
I thought long and hard about what my reactions would be knowing someone else's heart was beating in my chest;
keeping me alive. I tried my best to wrap my head around the fact that that person was now dead and how that
would make me feel towards them, their family and how I'd live my life from then on. It was humbling to focus
on, to contemplate. But I did and it was reflected within the writing every bit as much as my earlier thoughts and
suppositions were. The results were that people who had had organ transplants--who really KNEW were convinced that I did, too.
My husband once made two comments after reading something I wrote that was way outside our combined experiences.
One, he said that he wasn't totally sure that my ability to create such characters and story lines shouldn't scare him
and two, that I was a magnificent liar. Nothing like a little bit of damning with faint praise! *grin*
I wrote a poem once after years of listening to him talk about bow hunting and all of what goes into a true bow hunter.
His hunter friends have read it and the common theme to their responses is that a) I nailed it and b) they can't believe I've never hunted.
But the point is, is that we, as writers, create new tales from bits and pieces of existing 'stuff' added to
and mixed with our imaginations and then spewed forth as a 'truth' for others to read. It isn't just research
that can lend an honesty and truth to a piece, but that AND a healthy dose of the writer's soul.
Otherwise, it is just words.
This is why places like Narnia and Pern are real. This is why we can suspend the everyday world to sidestep into
one where dragons fly, we can beam ourselves to alternate dimensions and be in a world that hasn't, couldn't possibly exist. . . yet.
It is why we can read of a character who existed 10,000 years ago or revel in one set in the world of tomorrow
because people are people and as humans we all have had, do and will have those characteristics that make us who we are.
Using that which makes you the uniquely conglomerated individual that you are is what gives credibility to your characters.
Drawing upon real emotions, fears and joys give dimension to characters who otherwise would be viewed as flat, depth-less, or empty.
The most valuable resource you have, as a writer, is you, yourself. |
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any bow hunters out there? Let me know...did I get it right? |
Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter! https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
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ASIN: B085272J6B |
Product Type: Kindle Store
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Amazon's Price: $ 9.99
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Can you write about something of which you know nothing? Write something short--poetry or fiction which will convince me that you know of what you write! Do the research, insert you into the equation and convince me! Must be new, must be something you've never written about before. Walking on Mars or waking inside a flower, the viewpoint of an ant, or a falling leaf/snowflake, walking along a street in a place you've never been....get the idea? Merit badges in the offering. Send me the item in email as a bitem so I can use it in my next newsletter in the beginning of December. |
ASIN: 0910355479 |
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Amazon's Price: $ 13.99
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