What If

I have been wanting to write something outstandingly epic ever since I’ve taken interest in literature. The frustrating part is knowing you can write something just as fantastically captivating as something you’ve read, something published. Your goal, at least my goal, might not necessarily be to get published, but it is to write something WORTHY of being published, something other people will want to read, not necessarily get to read. I like to believe that one day I’ll write something outrageously good but my ideas aren’t worth much when they’re still in my head. The hardest part about writing, and what puts doubt in all our minds, is the fear of transferring those ideas to paper. All those moments, feelings, and thoughts are sometimes not always relatable through the same event, so how can a writer produce a story without running off topic, back and forth from time to time and thought to thought the way our minds actually work. It’s unsettling to realize how cohesive and structured a story is because it seems so impossible to write one like it. The themes and the characters sometimes feel way too complex to be written by a mere human being. And that’s where writer’s self doubt comes in, that wretched disease we all have: The belief that my life isn't interesting enough, that my words aren’t technical enough, and that I’m just not smart enough. When did J.D Salinger know he was ready to write “The Catcher in the Rye”? What inspired J.K Rowling to write “Harry Potter”? These are two completely different novels, yet they have the same “classic” status. You can write fantasy, or fiction, or write personally through and autobiography but what is it that makes each of these genres just as good as the other? I won’t even try to answer that question but I will ask this one: How does a writer make something personal global? The truth is that there is no answer, that there isn’t a formula that will give you an absolute answer, but that honesty will find its relevance somewhere. I’ve been through a tough year, to say the least, and I’ve recently been hit again after just standing up straight for the first time in a long time, and it’s a year now that I’ve wanted to write about it all. I know I can write something moving, not only as a way to help me cope, but also something that can say more than just a retelling of a series of events. The problem is that I don’t know where to start and I’m scared it will go wrong if I do decide to just take the plunge and begin; something every writer goes through: the fear of failing. But you’ve got to ask yourself one question; what if J.D Salinger was afraid to fail? Where would Holden Caulfield be?

By: Sabrina Di Lonardo

Characters

Blog: Characters

A character is really important in a story. All of them are important. I love describing my characters I have a book full of them with their personal differences of age, status, powers, appearance, style, persona, talents, etc,. Describing the main characters is really relevant in the beginning of a piece because it lets the reader know about who he or she is reading about and what the story is going to be. I have learned from many books and by myself how to do that a long time ago. I have always read anything I could find since I am a young girl and I couldn’t stop reading at night even when I was going to have a big day. Some writers that I find are good in characters are Anne Robillard with her successful series ‘‘Les Chevaliers d’Émeraude’’ and ‘‘A.N.G.E’’. Those are French books but I really feel she captured the essence of a character. I love J.K Rowling too and the huge work she did on the Harry Potter series. And I am very interested in scripts for movies because that type of writing requires for the actor actress to know well who they will perform. I have done scriptwriting classes and it was quite interesting to learn about that different and direct form of writing. Characters must be described physically- for the reader to have some clues about the appearance-, mentally and its environment must be describe as well including his or her reactions to things. The personality is really important to deepen.  You will want your readers to be entertained, to be thrilled and to feel empathy for your characters. They have to be into it and not wanting to stop reading your art work. That is why characters are extremely important in any writing that exists. For novels, cinema, tv shows, theater, etc,. 

Leonie Philippe Beaudoin

Believe In Your Writing

    By Hannah Bartels      

          Writing.  It’s something we many of us take great pleasure in doing.  We use it to express ourselves, to escape, to share our lives with others; however, sharing our work with others is not always so easy.  Confidence is one thing many writers lack and one thing that is very important to have. 

          I don’t know about anyone else, but I often put very personal experiences on paper.  I use writing to get out my emotions, my feelings towards people or situations and to make sure I don’t forget certain experiences or feelings.  When I have to show these pieces of writing, these chunks of my life, to other people, I get very uncomfortable.  Nerves start to kick in, I get butterflies in my stomach and I automatically assume they are going to hate it.  When it comes time to hand it over to the reader, I start to criticize the work myself, saying things like: “It’s not my best work, don’t look too much into it, I wrote it really quickly.”  Getting people’s opinions about my work, something that I put so much hard work in, terrifies me.  One of my biggest fears is that they’ll put me down as a writer.  Personally, I don’t think anything I write is very impressive, but to have other people tell me that would probably crush me, and I can’t pinpoint why.

I am also horrified of showing my writing to my friends and family.  Peers are one thing, but people who actually know me, and what I've gone through, do not read my writing.  I always fear that they may send me to a psychiatrist or something because some of my writing topics are pretty deep and depressing.  This is something I, and other writers who have the same problem, need to get over.  Family and friends are probably the best critics, because they will (hopefully) always be willing to read whatever you hand them.  And they will realize and understand that you can’t always write about sunshine and rainbows. They will also realize that just because the topic of your writing is melancholic, it does not mean that you are actually depressed. 

          I really lose confidence when I read my classmates’ and peers’ writing.  I feel that everyone is so much more talented than I am.  When I go on the class forum and read people’s posts, I immediately read my entries and tear them apart until I think they’re at least a little decent.  I picture them reading my posts or texts and laughing at how terrible of a writer I am.  I don’t think I am alone on this one.  What I’ve discovered is there will always be someone better: a better athlete, better dancer, better musician, and, of course, a better writer.  Even though someone will be better than you, it does not mean you lack talent.  If we are confident in our writing, then it will show; but, if we are self-conscious and continuously pick at a sentence or paragraph until we think other people will like it, it will show and people will know you’re trying too hard.

          I am not the best writer and that’s a fact, but what I know is that we need to write for ourselves and just let the words flow out onto the paper (or the computer screen) without worrying what people will think about it.  In the world of literature and writing, confidence really is key.

Sorry about being late...

By: Jillian Brodner

I couldn't for the longest time think of something to write for this blog entry. I think that’s the worst time to have writers block, when you know you have to meet a deadline, but your brain won’t let you think of something interesting or relevant to write. I think that one of the worst things, that I have to get over, is being afraid of people reading your writing.

I don’t think I am the only person who has this problem. At least, I hope I’m not the only person with this problem, because that would be awkward. Anyways, in my searches of the internet, I have found that this is called “Scriptophobia” (http://www.fearofstuff.com/places/fear-of-writing-in-public/). I found it interesting that there was actually a name for this, I thought it was just me being weird (which wouldn't be something new).

                The weird thing is that once a paper is handed in, or any sort of writing is handed in this seems to disappear. It doesn't bother me if I’m not there when someone reads it, only when people read it in front of me. I guess I could just tell people to submit all questions and comments to me in writing, and I wouldn't have that much of an issue with people reading it. Right now as you are reading this, it doesn't bother me as much, because I can’t see your face. I also can’t hear the all of the comments about how much better all of the other entries are and that you would rather be checking Facebook.

                I found this interesting website that I found amusing, it’s called Men with Pens (http://menwithpens.ca/). They one part where they were talking about the 7 deadly fears of writing. I found it really interesting that some people have the “fear of success” which to me, doesn't make much sense. But who am I to judge.

                In some other articles, it also said that the fear of writing can also manifest itself as procrastination (which makes sense about why I am only submitting this a day late). I can’t really say that I have done that until now.

                I guess what I am trying to say is that it really doesn't matter, and you shouldn't be afraid of what people will say, and what people might think when they read your writing. Most people can actually help you improve your writing, which can help you in the long run. It always helps to get someone else’s input, because not everyone is going to say something mean about your work.  

Writing: Style

By Sarine Moumdjian

When I think about John Green and the amazing work that he has put out there, I can not help but let the jealousy rush over me. He has a way of putting words together that can grab me by my shoulders and shake me to the core, but he also has the ability of making me feel exactly what the character is feeling. The way he does this is what experts in writing call "style". 

When we usually think about writing, we all want to follow this absolute road to perfectionism that we feel will get us to where we want, but sometimes we overlook the little intricate unintentional detail we create that set a certain style to the way we pick out our words and form them into an image. 

John Green, who is an American author of young adult fiction, started off his career as a novelist with Looking For Alaska, a novel about a teenage boy who leaves his town, off to high school to "seek a great perhaps". He meets a group of friends who accept him for who he is, one of them being Alaska Young. His plots never usually include a very dramatic turn of events, but he is known for a lot of quotes that come from this specific novel. He also wrote An Abundance of Katherines, Paper Town, the Fault in Our Stars, and collaborated on Will Grayson, Will Grayson and Let It Snow. He has not written a great amount of books, but nonetheless has proven to have a style of writing that is entirely his own: when I personally read his work, I can automatically know that he's had a hand in creating it. 

Usually, this develops with time and practice. Some people think that words need to be carefully picked out and bundled up together to spark something in the reader. But the same result can be achieved without going all out, but rather writing with a true passion, because no one wants to read something that has already been put out there. 

When asked about how he goes on to write for adolescents rather than adults, he said:

"When I write, I'm trying to imagine what it's like to be someone else more than I'm trying to express what it's like to be me". 

Writing is also about having a voice which is a factor that contributes to that style. When John Green is writing, his target audience is ranging from 15-25 year olds. Being 35 years old himself, he needs to put himself in place of his character's age. His style becomes much more different then if he were writing from a 30-year old's perspective. 

The ability of forming a train of thought on a paper in an organized matter is what makes up a person's style and what sets his or her originality into place. The only way this can be achieved is through writing as much as humanly possible, and discovering what style fits you best. This way, not only can you please yourself, your readers will appreciate the way you have found your own unique voice. 

The Art of Keeping and Recycling Your Crap

by Gabriel Proulx

Have you ever written a sentence, a paragraph, a page, or even a complete story, to then only realize that it is worth nothing and that it only deserves to be cut to pieces, spat on, burned and thrown away, suppressed from your memory, hidden from other human beings who could discover – O calamity! – how bad and worthless you are as a writer, for ever erased from Earth like some kind of radioactive junk or an incurable, deadly disease? 

If not, well you are either completely full of yourself and you think that your writing is soon going to trigger an international cultural revolution because it is absolute perfection in the purest and most beautiful sense of the word, or you just haven’t ever written anything. If you are of the first type, you should just stop reading this post since you already know better about writing than us mortals and there is no writing other than your own that is worth taking your time to read. If you are part of the second category, but that you are reading this blog anyways because writing interests you, please just click on the little “x” sign in the corner of this page, turn your computer off, take a piece of paper and a pen out and jot down at least one sentence, one line of a poem, even two or three words, for God’s sake!

Now, if you answered yes to this question, and that you actually like writing, welcome to the club of what we call typical writers. In fact, there is a reason why so many (read: all) of us write crap at least once in a while: because it is normal! However, the place writers tend to disagree is to whether this crap can be of any use or if it should be kept, despite all the disgust that we have for it. I, myself, must admit that, when I write an awful line, a depthless and dry poem, or a story that has the flavour of raw, unseasoned tofu, I normally feel like destroying it by all means. However, with time, I have come to realize that keeping even my worst work sometimes happens to be extremely useful.

Actually, when we write, it’s because we feel the need to express something that we have in our mind, something that we have lived or imagined, a narrative or an idea that we think is interesting, important, unique, or at least that represents us in one way or another. Therefore, even the texts that suck – and God knows how many of these are written each day all around the world, and sometimes even published – still have at least one element that is worth keeping and that could be modified and recycled later. Sometimes, it is just an unusual word that has a fascinating and remarkable meaning or sound. It can be a whole paragraph in the middle of a 9-page story that you wrote when you were twelve that just happens to have the power to expand into a complex and poignant passage of another, completely different story that you are working on later in your life. 

For instance, last week, I found an old poem that I wrote when I was in eighth grade and I almost laughed when I read it; the tone is so melodramatic, most of the images are cliché, the subject matter is very serious but is explored in a puerile manner. However, guess what! In the middle of the text, there were two lines that caught my attention: “Your body’s a field of numb flowers / Frozen to the core, petals like prayers of frost”. Even though I will probably never use those lines as they are, they have some character, which makes me want to sculpt them in the future, and then reuse them in a brand new poem that I will actually like. Had I thrown that bad poem away, I would simply not remember that my brain once thought those two lines. 

So really, keep as much of your writing as you can, because you never know when you’ll return to your old, hidden crap and maybe find, under the layers of literary incompetence, that one word you’ve been looking for to finish, say, the first chapter of your novel.

Take My Advice- Or Don’t

Take My Advice- Or Don’t

by: Kelsey Watt

“Don't follow any advice, no matter how good, until you feel as deeply in your spirit as you think in your mind that the counsel is wise.” –Joan Rivers

There is a lot of advice out there about writing and how to write and the best way to write and blah, blah, blah. Advice is good and it’s important to listen to what people say to you but at the end of the day it is your decision whether or not you will listen to it. Sometimes, or maybe a lot of the time, you will get advice that doesn't really concern you or what you wrote. Everyone in the world, writers and non-writers, seem to have some sort of advice regarding writing. So what I'm trying to say here is take the advice - or don't. Take it if makes you realize something or if it changes something about the way you viewed writing but please don't try and analyze what someone said or wrote about your work and convince yourself that you've been doing it wrong this whole time. You’re probably doing just fine. And please disagree with the critics if you want to. In fact, I encourage you to disagree with them because whether you agree or disagree, you’re thinking.

   

If you've just re-read one of your stories or poems and are trying to find out where that one critic though you could improve upon- stop. Put the story down and just breathe. I'm sure that whatever that critic said was awesome and super intelligent and sounded as if he really knew what he was talking about but maybe he’s wrong. Maybe he doesn't understand why you added that one little detail. The important part is that you do. Maybe you added a bunny in the field because your favorite stuffed animal when you were younger was a bunny or maybe you had a bunny and it died but in your story it’s alive again. Or maybe you just wanted to add a fucking bunny for no reason whatsoever. That's all fine. In fact, it’s what makes literature so interesting, why art in general is so interesting. You can have ten people read the same story and you will most likely get ten different interpretations. You can't get the same results if ten people watch a hockey game.

Critics are always going to compare you to some really amazing author and you’ll probably compare yourself to them- don't. I know it sucks but we’ll never be able to write what Jane Austen did. But here is the good news; that's a good thing. You shouldn't want to be like Jane Austen or Stephen King. You can wish to have the same success as them but don't ever try and compare yourself to them. What you have to say is just as important as what they had to say. And it doesn't matter if you get published and 5 million people read your book or if the only people who ever read it are the people in your creative writing class. What you have to say is important and you never know who it might touch or affect. The words you write may change someone’s life. So really it’d be selfish of you to keep those words to yourself.

I understand that my advice to you is to not take advice (irony for the win) but I hope that you take my advice to heart. Or don't. But I kind of hope you do.