Current Writing Playlist

--- to remedy the apathy ---

--- to aid the apathy ---

--- subterfuge during the sophisticated dinner party ---

--- for introducing the antagonist ---

--- pure grief  ---

--- when you're the only one who is not changing ---

--- for the romantic betrayal ---

--- final words ---

--- for all the technical writing ---

--- when you need to condescend life ---

--- naughty self ---

--- when coffee shop musing ---

Write on!

Clove

A word from David Foster Wallace

"Utilize" - this is a puff-word.  Since it does nothing that good old use doesn't do, its extra letters and syllables don't make a writer seem smarter.  I tell my students that using utilize makes you seem either pompous or so insecure that you'll use pointlessly big words in an attempt to look smart.  The same is true for the noun utilization, and for vehicle as used for car, for residence as used for home, for indicate as used for say, for presently, at present, at this time, and at the present time as used for now, and so on.  What's worth remembering about puff-words is something that good writing teachers spend a lot of time drumming into undergrads: 'Formal writing' does not mean gratuitously fancy writing; it means clean, clear, maximally considerate writing. 

-- David Foster Wallace

Excellent point, Mr. Wallace.  Please explain to me why, then, do we have a word minimum for essays in high school?  Hrngph.  Welcome to one of the countless double-standards in life.

Write on!

Clove

Dealing with writing failures

College Application: What have you done with your sixteen years of life thus far?  Specifically explain where you have worked, what you've done over the summer, and how you've participated in academic clubs, athletics, and extracurricular activities.  Please list specific examples of leadership and benefits, recognitions and awards, and growth and acquired skills.

Once you are done with that, we will need to know if you are allergic to kryptonite, your preference for peanuts, and why your dog is special to you.  (If you don't have a dog, then please explain to us your weirdest dream using only kennings and Homeric similes.)  We would also like to know whether you are Team Edward or Team Jacob, your favorite summer experience, and how you like your eggs and potatoes: scrambled, fried, poached, raw, sunny-side-up, sunny-side-down, and/or boiled and mashed, fried, baked, roasted, herbed, and/or boiled respectively.

Oh.  Also.  Explain all of the above in no more than ten words.

Me: *internal screaming*

~ ~ ~

Anyway, welcome back, kids.

I'm here today to procrastinate submitting one of my college applications discuss a rather unpopular topic, namely How to Deal With Writing Failures.  Most authors could give you plenty of tips and tricks on how to write well, but I've found via experience that no one wants to explain what to do when your writing has hit rock bottom.

First of all, let me explain what I mean when I say "writing failure."  I'm talking about when you pour your life blood and soul and emotion into a document, polish it until it's positively shining with rigorous editing, and then hand it over to another person.  Then, that person begins to obliterate your writing by pointing out all the errors and inconsistencies in your work.  Suddenly, you realize that you're not as fantastic of an author as you originally thought you were, and, perhaps, actually, you should give up writing altogether.  So what do you do?

STEP 1.) Don't try to fix your failure document!
The whole time you attempt to edit your failure, you'll be confronting inspiration-draining criticisms with a high-expectation mindset, e.g. "This time, I have to make it perfect!"  With that thinking, you yourself will become a stronger critic than your editors, and nothing you put down will make the cut, leading to a cycle of frustrated despair.

STEP 2.) Even though you shouldn't try to fix your failure, take a step back for a little while to assess the problem with it.
Why did you fail?  What went wrong?  What is different between this particular failure and your other successful documents?  If you were writing an academic paper, you might notice that you're approaching your topic from an angle that you dislike, that you're trying to stuff too much emotion into an analytical paper, or that you couldn't organize your ideas coherently.  If you were writing a fictional novel, you might find that you didn't have an end in mind, that your characters' motivation had not been clear, or that you're attempting to draw too many plot arcs together at one time.

STEP 3.) Outline specifically what you want to write about when you try again.
Brainstorm (which means: create and write down ideas without hampering or deleting "bad" ideas), make a mental map, and craft a simple framework.  Yes, this often cuts your ego a little.  ("I don't need a stupid outline!  Those are for novices!")  However, in my experience, using an outline as a crutch is typically the only way I have ever been able to get out of a writing rut.

With these three steps and a boatload of chocolate, hopefully, you will have more success getting back at it.  :)  Good luck!

Write on!
Clove

More Than Just A Character

When I wrote Eriana in The Chronicles, I wasn't writing as the queen of an ancient kingdom, fending off evil forces.  I was writing as an inexperienced, twelve-year-old ENTJ, learning how to deal with the natural leadership capabilities I realized I had been given.  I was struggling to leave my childhood behind, to act with the dignity and diplomacy of a queen, to live in the interest of those who were influenced by my words and deeds.

When I wrote Mariel in The Tragedy, I wasn't writing as the moonlight girl with memory loss and a ghostly suitor.  I was writing, terrified, because I felt so fragile and useless too.  The bullying that Mariel endured was the bullying that I endured: being dragged powerless by both hands through a church and, even younger, feeling my fingers thrust into a flame.  When I wrote, I was trying to reconcile my own experiences.  I was scared, and I was begging for my own Toshiro to always protect me, to always stay by my side, no matter what happened.

When I wrote Kayzen in The Rebellion, I wasn't writing a rational-minded assassin set out to train her young student to control his wild, uncontrollable Rager abilities.  I was teaching myself patience and restraint, remembering when, in Korea, he threw me down against the floor again and again until I controlled myself.  I was making a written choice to always have self-control, even if I tore myself apart in the process.  At thirteen, I wouldn't let anything master me.

When I wrote Jewel in The Immortals, I wasn't writing an emotionless antihero who was trying to reconcile what was morally right in her world.  I was me, learning why I shouldn't stifle or cage my heart.  I was me, retraining myself to view emotions as mandatory for interdependence.  I was me, scared to open up my heart to another human and show vulnerability and show weakness.

Now, I'm writing Skain in my DWBSN rework, and I'm not writing an emotionally-exploited male who is threatened with his sister's death.  I'm writing me and the past year and a half of war.  I'm writing about the depression that I went through, the cutting, the empty pain that broke me, screaming until I lost my voice and crying until my chest hurt.  I'm writing about the emotional abuse in December: bowing my head in the empty nursery room and subjugating my will to save peace with those in authority over me.  I'm exactly piecing together the details of my quiet dream: to run away from this old, too-familiar town and to make myself better with time and distance and to come back with only a desperate hope of being forgiven for what I never apologized for earlier.  I'm not writing Skain.  I'm writing myself.  The only difference is: I know he gets a happy ending; how I end is up to Fate and my own skill.

~ ~ ~

So, what's the point?
Guys, look.  You can edit peoples' stories: grammar, plot, flow.  But don't you dare critique the motivation behind an author's writing.  Because there's more.  There are nightmares that you've never seen; there's crap that haunts me still that I've never publicized; there's a whole load of denial and expression and fear involved in writing.

It's not just a hero and a villain.

There's always more than just a character.

Write on!
Clove