You Love Her Coz She's Dead- Dead End

Another song that must be shared. Writing due on Tuesday, perhaps dancing at some point after that. You dance now.


Now.

Sookie Stackhouse Galore

This is just a quick note that, amid finishing up my scholarly article on Kerouac, which, if I can find someway to shorten, may end up on here, I've taken some much needed break time with wonderful plot-twisters. I recommend the Sookie Stackhouse series, whether you have HBO (where you'll find Trueblood) or not.

They are fun and have bred the idea of the south in this Yank who never considers the bottom states of the country. There are many of them, feels like a dozen by now. Oh, and of course are full of vampires, werewolves, fairies, yes I said fairies, goblins, etc. And some cat fights. Both literal and slaptastic. They are my new unwind tool of choice, jsut finished re-reading All Together Dead and wishing I had the foresight to bring the next to the beach with me. Do yourself a happy and start with Dead Until Dark.

Idle thoughts on the writing process

I had an assignment to describe my writing process a few semesters ago at the tail end of my Masters. This was within a creative writing course. It could be considered an obvious project, but I found it extremely useful to look at how it is I work when I"m actually getting ideas onto the page. As opposed to all that time sitting, thinking, frowning at the screen while sifting through my thoughts. Since this is my writing blog I thought I'd share it, partially so that I can look at it myself and remember that eventually words will leak out of me, even if it feels like I'm more of a blank-paper-looker than a pen-on-paper-writer from time to time.

When I a piece of narrative non-fiction I always begin with a general idea that, though vague, seems to have potential. It may center on a poignant moment, when my concept of a part of the world was altered or clarified. When the idea occurs to me it is amorphous, it could be pulled in this or that direction. For example I may have a moment in my life in mind, and I could write about it from so many different perspectives, all of which are still my own. I experienced and then remembered every moment on many different levels, and I have to choose the ones to include. At this point I also have to focus on the audience of this piece. This is what I call the So What? factor. Interesting to me does not automatically mean interesting to anyone else. The story has to be a message, to have a point, to have an end that is more substantial then the chronological end. Whatever I decide is for the audience, that element becomes one of many filters I put my thoughts through before I decide what qualifies to go into my paper. It is also handwritten, boxed, and there to remind me that as much as I enjoy a thorough exploration of this particular feeling, if it has no relation to the message then it is self-serving and should be cut.

After coming up with a general concentration, and why it can be entertaining and engaging, I quickly jot down facets of the experience. This is always in freehand, and includes people that were there, and the elements of their character to include. I also focus on the physicality of the experience, the internal dialogue during the scene, and the exposition that I will include that branches out before the experience. These are points that prove or focus my narrative. Many of this points end up getting crossed out as it is through the process of writing them down that I can tell their validity and relevance. Occasionally a whole side of my final paper emerges while writing these notes, the sort of “fell out of the sky” idea and I block out a phrase or sentence followed by a few words that will hopefully remind me of my thoughts on it. I feel like during this whole stage I am chasing my thoughts, and if they are not down on paper fast enough the clarity and certainty that I fleetingly grasp will escape before I can nail it down.

Other times while I write out points I am surprised by when I have written, and unimportant exposition reveals a whole new idea to me. I look at the words on the page and realize that they could say much more than I intended, and through them I can find a much more complex and interesting argument. Then I’m back to chasing the thoughts with my pen before the words can revert back to their original unremarkable meaning.

After my handwritten notes are completed I mark up the page with all sorts of corrections and clarifications. I decide on the order of the different subtopics, figure out if they fit, and if so, where. When I transcribe my notes on the computer the rush is all out of the process. I start with my briefly scribbled note and type it out into my word processor, referring to the bare frame of the content on my page and fleshing it out so that the articulation of that point has some style and voice. Inevitably some of my “brilliant” moments of handwriting fall to pieces when I try to expand them in this process, and I cannot put together why I felt that they said so much.

This is the process I go through when working on my first draft. I need a bare bones handwritten outline that is completely structural before I can begin to add style and tone at a computer. If I try to bypass that step then I have style, voice, but no content of interest beneath it. After the first draft I must take a step back from the piece to revise it. I know that a revision may include a rejection of a whole area of my piece’s foundation, so the first time around I want to be sure that the draft of my work is strong and that any shortcomings of style will not sabotage a solid foundation and trick me into questioning the core of the piece.

Playing with I Write Like

There's a fun new site that I've seen all over facebook, twitter, and linked in. I am impressed, first of all, that it has come up among completely different social networks, sent to me by people from entirely remote spheres of life. It is called I Write Like at http://iwl.me/.

You copy and paste your writing in and it tells you that based on word choice and writing style, what author you resemble. The fascinating part lies in if it truly analyzes writing style. Word choice is a much less complex, and less interesting tool for amateur authors. If it was JUST word choice, you write about space you get a sci-fi author, you write about sports and get a sports author.

Well I have been playing with the page and it does not just go on word choice. I know this, partially because I pasted my Gliding blog post below (all about ice hockey) and got a sci-fi author as my style guru. Also because of an idle experiment I jsut completed, trying to prompt the site to return a certain author. Using a few choice words that one very very popular author repeats, I kept getting Vladimir Nabokov. Pushing further the site told me that my words were reminiscent of Mary Shelley. Frustrated I added more and more words that I recalled from the most popular book series of the past five years. The generator reverted back to James Joyce. It analyzes writing style! So a random collection of words will eventually only resemble Joyce's stream of consciousness page long sentences in Ulysses. I came at my quarry again, this time attempting to venerate the style and finesse, as well as some of the content, of this millionare author. Success! Click through to enlarge

Uffie- Pop The Glock

Wow wow wow.... Listen on Loud

(I'm still writing but want to suggest some music while I'm on this kickin pop techno jonez!!)