On Writing, another view.

[Chevalier des Poissons]

I would like to start this by apologizing to my dear friend butterflykiss. She made another blog post using this title and this theme, and I am using the same title, because I will talk about the same thing.

Well, first things first. Her post was very good. So good that inspired me to write about it. I won't say the same things, but I will keep the perspective. At first, let's take a look by the opening sentence, shall we?

Everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise.  The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.  ~Sylvia Plath

Dear Sylvia Plath,

Sorry, I disagree. The right touch of improvisation is formidable in order to build a good story. However, as I like to say, courage is worthless without self-confidence. Of course, excessive self-confidence can ruin anyone.

I am not trying to say that you, newcomer, should not try to write anything on here. Au contraire, I say go ahead and try us with your skills. The thing is: during your life, you will do something wrong, you won't notice and no one will tell you. It is up to the writer to use his sense and his self-confidence to know if his story is good or not. If he has doubts, he could try and show people to get opinions. If he is sure about what he wrote, then go ahead and show the world. Remember the golden rule: You make the story, you are the god of your own words.

Did you all get the point? Then I will tell you: let it flow. Every art comes from inside, and to write is to make art. I will take the heideggerian conception of art. If this is a happening, then let it happen from inside you. The competition here is friendly, no one wants to take anyone down, no matter if they look like they want. Not only that, the competition has a specific meaning, everyone wants to improve and to grow as writers.

So, we already know how to play and dance with someone. Now, as all newcomers, you are probably a little shy. It is alright, everyone feels that way. Not only on E, but in most parts of their lives, I guess. So, let's try to build a story together here, alright? What do you like, fantasy, realistic? Both? Well, I guess I can live with that.

Now, what kind of story are you looking for? Romance, random affairs, mistery, curse, the old story about heros or a quest for redemption? The average man/woman that finds him/herself with something special, or the character simply found by accident something everyone is looking for?

Do you like vampires? Werewolves? Do you want to run from the obvious and use the old Jekyl and Hide formula? Did you watch the movie "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" and decided to create a character conception based on one of the characters?

See how much options do we have so far now? And we are just getting random ideas here. I guess that, by now, you already feel confident enough and you want to try something for your own, based on those options. But, what would the story be about? Well, you can just let it flow, right?

Otherwise you can just mix all those factors up and create a man that, after watching his own brother getting killed, decided that he would be more than just a redneck and tried to gather an ancient artifact to give him supernatural powers, only to get cursed by a second form that, under the light of the full moon, would turn him into a monster that would seek nothing but preys, like an animal. Then, trying to control his curse he becomes a local hero, loved by the women and admired by the men around. While he has his own aftermath fun, the old owner of the artifact comes for him.

See how I have mixed all those elements in one thing? How did I do that? I trust myself and my skills, and improvised a little, yes.

And if you want to make something beautiful, remember, you don't need fancy words, you just need to know how to tell a story. Anyone can write about a monster that slaughtered five people, but only the finesse can tell how much the freakish creature let his rage dance with his arms while the silver moon was tainted by the red pain of those who just made their last choice.

By the way, notice that this reading took you no more but 5 minutes and 45 seconds.

[Butterflykiss]

No apology necessary~ It is a pleasure to have an exchange of words with you~

Write what you love, and love what you write. An excellent message~

Smooches,
butterflykiss

[Jag]

A nice read, Shambler. A good message.

Not sure how long that took me to read though...