...my younger brother - curious, little engineer that he is - popped out the right arrow key on our keyboard, and now it won't go back in. o.o
... *clear throat* ...
Well, hi, guys.
I've another serious post for you all. Ready?
Worldview digestion and practical literary application (here, have a dictionary) begins now~!
I've noticed that just about everyone I know is also talking about "independency", "forging their own path", and "making their own truths". "Haters will hate," they say, "and I can live how I want without regret." The strongest and most courageous of our current world are - let's face it - those who can defy their consciences and abort their babies, marry the same gender, or claim outright that they don't believe in God.
Many are blindly pushing towards some illusive ideal called "individualism", but so many hordes are pushing that "individualism" means practically nothing now. Really, in an effort to be "different", everyone is bunched into similar communities where they are made to run the same life under the same authority with the blurry illusion that we're all really headed to self-change.
Many are blindly pushing towards some illusive ideal called "individualism", but so many hordes are pushing that "individualism" means practically nothing now. Really, in an effort to be "different", everyone is bunched into similar communities where they are made to run the same life under the same authority with the blurry illusion that we're all really headed to self-change.
...but...wait a second. Why on earth were people even pressing for "individualism" in the first place? Even if they were, how did they know to mesh into these "communities"? Did everyone just get the idea to do the same thing all at once?
Enter:
Media.
Specifically:
Writing.
As much as out-of-the-box thinking is high on my priority list, I also think that the ability to take an idea from someone else, twist it until its unrecognizable from its original source, then use that and claim it your own is a beautiful (and totally legitimate) thing. In fact, many other authors do too. Some writing instruction books even teach you to do that. Consequently, when a star hit comes out, Billy Bob Joe is racing to take that hit, break it down into pieces, and mush those already-developed, already-successful pieces into his own brilliant ideas. (Want an example of this? The Hunger Games. Hoooooooow many books have come out that are birthed from the Hunger Games in the last decade? Philosophy books, lookalike books, commentary books, all about/like the Hunger Games.)
Now, before I go on, disclaimer:
I'm not saying that this technique is at all bad for the writing world, guys.
Ideas must be built on ideas that have been given to you from somewhere else.
Do it.
However, BE DISCERNING WITH WHAT YOU IMITATE.
If you're tempted to remake someone else's concept because it's a "good" concept, think about WHY you think the concept is "good". Sure, your writing, birthed from a certain concept, might be excellent. But, if that certain concept isn't Biblical, you'll still have to owe up to the fact that you're helping outline the worlds of backwood masculine/dominant girls, vampire seducers, or whatever other community or fanbase you're helping create. On the other hand, if the concepts you take from are modified to be entirely original, full of integrity, or helpful in anyway that could make the world a more Biblical place, yes yes yes and a hundred times yes.
Write on!
Clove
Enter:
Media.
Specifically:
Writing.
As much as out-of-the-box thinking is high on my priority list, I also think that the ability to take an idea from someone else, twist it until its unrecognizable from its original source, then use that and claim it your own is a beautiful (and totally legitimate) thing. In fact, many other authors do too. Some writing instruction books even teach you to do that. Consequently, when a star hit comes out, Billy Bob Joe is racing to take that hit, break it down into pieces, and mush those already-developed, already-successful pieces into his own brilliant ideas. (Want an example of this? The Hunger Games. Hoooooooow many books have come out that are birthed from the Hunger Games in the last decade? Philosophy books, lookalike books, commentary books, all about/like the Hunger Games.)
Now, before I go on, disclaimer:
I'm not saying that this technique is at all bad for the writing world, guys.
Ideas must be built on ideas that have been given to you from somewhere else.
Do it.
However, BE DISCERNING WITH WHAT YOU IMITATE.
If you're tempted to remake someone else's concept because it's a "good" concept, think about WHY you think the concept is "good". Sure, your writing, birthed from a certain concept, might be excellent. But, if that certain concept isn't Biblical, you'll still have to owe up to the fact that you're helping outline the worlds of backwood masculine/dominant girls, vampire seducers, or whatever other community or fanbase you're helping create. On the other hand, if the concepts you take from are modified to be entirely original, full of integrity, or helpful in anyway that could make the world a more Biblical place, yes yes yes and a hundred times yes.
Write on!
Clove
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