If it is true that language represents thought, what then could we possibly mean by the word success? There are so many ways and paths such a word could be reached as a goal, but in writing, quintessentially, one must ask themselves what this warrants.
A piece in its time could have as many as an infinite number of views to as few as none apart from the author.
It may be subject to a thousand opinions and standards; but ultimately the piece will stand apart from all these. No matter the opine, the writing will always be the writing. It is the author’s view which matters most, then; for without it, this contentedness and peace with the piece, it could never be released and ready for the public and others to read.
So if we are to call a written work successful, the first step is to be satisfied with it ourself. After all, has anyone ever heard of an author with a best-selling piece, or great literary work who wasn’t satisfied with it first before even thinking to let others see it?
It is said that the greatest works ever written have yet to be; the future a place of infinite possibilities that we each elect. Against such a daunting standard of time and progress itself, an author could never find themself successful in comparison that which has yet to come, a shadow to a brilliant light. But does the worn candle worry of the shine of the moon as its wick dwindles? So should we not worry of what others think to the degree of it being detrimental to our writing.
The words on the page are produced by a soul of souls for writing. We are creators of our own world’s, God’s to the blank pages that lie beneath our pens. And if I may ask, where in the Bible does God rely upon the opinion of others?
It is true that nowhere in life can one achieve by themself. This is why editors exist, as well as parents, friends, and family. What defines us defines our writing, and every person who has influenced us in life, no matter how small a part, has also had a hand in what we put on paper.
So it almost seems paradoxical to say one should be satisfied with their work, when that satisfaction is all too often derived from that of others. But while it is true we write for others, we write just as much and more so for ourself.
I once lamented that the curse all writers share is that they never get to appreciate their writing in the same sense as their readers. It is from this that I draw my goal in creative writing; to step outside of my sphere, so to speak, and distance myself from the personal bias that tints my glasses rose red when I edit. In this way perhaps I might improve my ability to correct the mistakes I have made in my writing, something essential to producing self-satisfaction in my own work.
There are times when my writing can seem messy, directionless, and dare I say even boring. All these things are that which I hope to fix through this class, finding my way blindly through the dark cave of ignorance that we all meander through in our pursuit of betterment and progress. I am glad, though, that I am not alone in this endeavor; and that the burden I face is shared by all those around me, to help me, as I will help them. For while the cave is dark, the hand on each other’s shoulder will guide better than any sole person’s eyesight can.
-Alex
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
A Path to Successful Creative Writing
What is success? Success is an accomplishment that one has achieved in his/her own mind. Success is sometimes measured by the amount of victorious wins set by an individual. Or success could be the breaking someone else’s’ standing record.
A piece of creative writing is successful if you have an audience that is enjoying it. That audience can consist of just the individual author or a cast of a thousand. The audience would be someone who understands, relates, shares or is compelled by the vision in your writing.
I was once told by an instructor, that one should always write to address but not write to impress. Now even though I love this line, it will be a little hard for me to accomplish the task successful creative writing. The reason may be that some success comes in the form of entertainment. There are some times that writers want to draw their audience in by being witty, shocking, controversial and suspenseful. Even in times of complete truthfulness the ultimate goal is to keep their audience engaged. But by willing choosing this method, we in theory are writing to impress!
My hope is to have a novel written by the fall of 2011. My plan is ultimately find my comfort zone to have my instructor and classmates read my writing. This will be a huge task to accomplish and easier said than done. I write a lot but my writing is only viewed, judged and criticized by the author himself.
I wrote a total of four versions of this assignment and chose (in my opinion) the weakest to post on the blog. Why? In my writing, I usually over think the process and when I have to share, the overall product suffers. My plan for success in creative writing will depend on my growth in the course. That growth will develop by the way the class is set up. The class is currently assigned to peer response groups in class. That will allow me to share openly with others my writing as well as listen to the criticism of others of that writing.
Craig Joseph Fontenot
A piece of creative writing is successful if you have an audience that is enjoying it. That audience can consist of just the individual author or a cast of a thousand. The audience would be someone who understands, relates, shares or is compelled by the vision in your writing.
I was once told by an instructor, that one should always write to address but not write to impress. Now even though I love this line, it will be a little hard for me to accomplish the task successful creative writing. The reason may be that some success comes in the form of entertainment. There are some times that writers want to draw their audience in by being witty, shocking, controversial and suspenseful. Even in times of complete truthfulness the ultimate goal is to keep their audience engaged. But by willing choosing this method, we in theory are writing to impress!
My hope is to have a novel written by the fall of 2011. My plan is ultimately find my comfort zone to have my instructor and classmates read my writing. This will be a huge task to accomplish and easier said than done. I write a lot but my writing is only viewed, judged and criticized by the author himself.
I wrote a total of four versions of this assignment and chose (in my opinion) the weakest to post on the blog. Why? In my writing, I usually over think the process and when I have to share, the overall product suffers. My plan for success in creative writing will depend on my growth in the course. That growth will develop by the way the class is set up. The class is currently assigned to peer response groups in class. That will allow me to share openly with others my writing as well as listen to the criticism of others of that writing.
Craig Joseph Fontenot
Something Something Creativity
In many ways we overwhelm ourselves as writers to actually construct something readable from our chaotic, disparate thought processes. We occasionally tie ourselves down to tried-and-true tropes and themes or writing structure, whether it’s the 5 paragraph essay or the infamous rising action-climax-falling action dramatic story structure, in order to somehow cosmically appease our instructors who forced the idea that this was the way to write into our fragile young minds. Other times we attempt to do away with all of that and let our id take over our writing in the attempt to create something completely inventive and imaginative, ignoring those silly concepts of cohesion and common sense in the process.
Obviously neither of those extremes are particularly appealing, as a reader or as a writer, so how do we express our thoughts in an original manner, without falling prey to overdone, clichéd concepts or utterly nonsensical “original” ideas that seemed great when first thought up but didn’t quite work on paper? We’re all coming into this class with our own developed philosophies, ideals and inspirations for our work, but sometimes the desperation to create something truly creative can paralyze us and make us question our own perfectly decent work simply because it shares similarities with someone else’s writing.
Those seemingly overused themes, plot structures and elements and what have you aren’t just there to rip off completely. They’re taught not just because they work, but also because anyone who writes needs to have an understanding of -why- they work in order to grow past them. “Pulp Fiction” works because all of those seemingly overused crime movie tropes and pop culture references it utilizes are carefully twisted and subverted to serve the creation of an entirely new, original product out of those products, with Tarantino’s strange but entrancing vision made clear and evident throughout the movie. Charlie Kaufman in the meta-fictional “Adaptation.”, which should be made essential viewing for anyone who calls themselves a writer, ultimately utilizes the very same movie clichés (car chases, gratuitous sex scenes, violence, etc.) he despises in order to finally complete his movie adaptation of a borderline unfilmable book.
As much as we hate to admit it, writing well begins with knowing and using the basic ideas that were taught to us in high school. Writing truly great work however requires an intense enough knowledge of how those same basic structures and themes function in order to be able to subvert or even ignore them entirely. Only by mastering the basics can you produce an enjoyable, effective, and imaginative piece without obscuring your own personal vision and intent. This is something I'm still learning, having turned in some completely stream-of-consciousness rants and by-the-books boring essays in my other classes, and am still working on in order to truly grasp that idea and improve my writing in the process.
-Tomas F.
Obviously neither of those extremes are particularly appealing, as a reader or as a writer, so how do we express our thoughts in an original manner, without falling prey to overdone, clichéd concepts or utterly nonsensical “original” ideas that seemed great when first thought up but didn’t quite work on paper? We’re all coming into this class with our own developed philosophies, ideals and inspirations for our work, but sometimes the desperation to create something truly creative can paralyze us and make us question our own perfectly decent work simply because it shares similarities with someone else’s writing.
Those seemingly overused themes, plot structures and elements and what have you aren’t just there to rip off completely. They’re taught not just because they work, but also because anyone who writes needs to have an understanding of -why- they work in order to grow past them. “Pulp Fiction” works because all of those seemingly overused crime movie tropes and pop culture references it utilizes are carefully twisted and subverted to serve the creation of an entirely new, original product out of those products, with Tarantino’s strange but entrancing vision made clear and evident throughout the movie. Charlie Kaufman in the meta-fictional “Adaptation.”, which should be made essential viewing for anyone who calls themselves a writer, ultimately utilizes the very same movie clichés (car chases, gratuitous sex scenes, violence, etc.) he despises in order to finally complete his movie adaptation of a borderline unfilmable book.
As much as we hate to admit it, writing well begins with knowing and using the basic ideas that were taught to us in high school. Writing truly great work however requires an intense enough knowledge of how those same basic structures and themes function in order to be able to subvert or even ignore them entirely. Only by mastering the basics can you produce an enjoyable, effective, and imaginative piece without obscuring your own personal vision and intent. This is something I'm still learning, having turned in some completely stream-of-consciousness rants and by-the-books boring essays in my other classes, and am still working on in order to truly grasp that idea and improve my writing in the process.
-Tomas F.
Writing Creative Fiction Well
Careful consideration must be taken when writing to create compelling art because most compelling art inspires a contradictory feeling. The contradiction begins as the free, independent voice of an author bends to the limits of his audience. Brilliance is a hard enough object to come to freely, let alone adding restrictions. Most authors attempt to reach that sublime thought by divulging themselves in grueling hours of independent research to achieve anonymity between their idea and audience. Even if that sensation of brilliance occurs, communicating with a nonexistent or unknown reader could see the brilliance go to waste. Hell, even Moby Dick was ignored until the 1920’s. I believe great writing maneuvers around the inability to telepathically and effortlessly connect with one another by searching for the perfect connection that forces awe. It never happens, but along the way humanity has been lucky enough to find new foundations to try.
The invigorating excitation of story can be focused into a determined genre after gulping down pride and accepting not everyone is going to enjoy what you write. Creative fiction is also at the mercy of these laws of rhetoric and applies them to high concept ideas— good fiction anyways. High concept ideas are the interesting and invested stories involving an on going issue surrounding the development of characters, usually separated into a five act dramatic structure. You know… the beginning, rising action, climax, falling action, and conclusion. It is very annoying, though sometimes admittedly refreshing, to see begin with no exposition and expect a reader to be entertained just because they agreed to read the first few pages. Likewise, a story with a great beginning and unsatisfactory ending may cause a reader to fling the book skyward off a bridge into a sewage run off.
Above all, creative writing must be brutally simple. There can be no drudge work to be done by the reader to achieve an author’s vision. Healthy interpretation is fine if it helps broaden a lesson into multiple reactions, but it must be controlled and deliberate. Attention, tedium, and sacrifice make great fiction. It may be brutal to face that fact, but it’s a lot simpler than math.
David J. Darner
The invigorating excitation of story can be focused into a determined genre after gulping down pride and accepting not everyone is going to enjoy what you write. Creative fiction is also at the mercy of these laws of rhetoric and applies them to high concept ideas— good fiction anyways. High concept ideas are the interesting and invested stories involving an on going issue surrounding the development of characters, usually separated into a five act dramatic structure. You know… the beginning, rising action, climax, falling action, and conclusion. It is very annoying, though sometimes admittedly refreshing, to see begin with no exposition and expect a reader to be entertained just because they agreed to read the first few pages. Likewise, a story with a great beginning and unsatisfactory ending may cause a reader to fling the book skyward off a bridge into a sewage run off.
Above all, creative writing must be brutally simple. There can be no drudge work to be done by the reader to achieve an author’s vision. Healthy interpretation is fine if it helps broaden a lesson into multiple reactions, but it must be controlled and deliberate. Attention, tedium, and sacrifice make great fiction. It may be brutal to face that fact, but it’s a lot simpler than math.
David J. Darner
...the least successful writer I know.
At this point, coming in so close to deadline, there is not much reason to attempt to answer this question; anything I could say, no matter how demonstrative of my opinion, would appear mere parrot. Besides, the word success, by the very nature of its modern usage, is ambiguous at best. If I look to its origin, then simply performing the act of writing becomes all that is necessary for it to be judged a ‘success’.
Indeed, this alone would allow me to ‘succeed’ at writing.
You see, writing has never been difficult for me. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t deny I could benefit from greater craftsmanship, but my writing suffers most from a lack of action. I don’t write; though I feel a compulsion to do so, I almost never put pen to paper.
This is just a roundabout way of saying that I am the least successful writer I know.
– Dennis Fitzgerald
Indeed, this alone would allow me to ‘succeed’ at writing.
You see, writing has never been difficult for me. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t deny I could benefit from greater craftsmanship, but my writing suffers most from a lack of action. I don’t write; though I feel a compulsion to do so, I almost never put pen to paper.
This is just a roundabout way of saying that I am the least successful writer I know.
– Dennis Fitzgerald
Successful writing- Ashley Sumpter
Successful writing is not only writing that has to have correct spelling and be grammatically correct but also something that flows, and that the reader can understand. When there are many spelling and grammatical errors it distracts and takes away from what the author is trying to tell. If a story does not flow with a beginning, middle, and end this too can affect the writing in a negative way. With out a successful plot and character development writing can not be very successful. It is also important with your writing to remember audience, if your audience can not understand or relate then writing will not be successful. To have successful writing the author needs to be equipped with spelling and grammar understanding, have a story that the reader can understand, and ultimately the writing flows with a climatic beginning, middle, and end, with character development.
I have a huge fear of writing because I feel as if my writing is not very strong, I have a very hard time with spelling and grammar, and I am very intimidated when it comes to others opinions of my writing. Knowing I have these fears I decided to take this course to get over them and improve my writing. The only way to improve is to keep practicing and face my fears. I hope to improve my writing in so many levels. I hope to learn how to make a story flow. I hope to learn how to make characters come to life as I put them on paper. I hope to create spelling and grammatical error free writing that is appealing to the audience. Ultimately I hope to become more confident in my writing and the only way to do this is with practice and guidance.
I have a huge fear of writing because I feel as if my writing is not very strong, I have a very hard time with spelling and grammar, and I am very intimidated when it comes to others opinions of my writing. Knowing I have these fears I decided to take this course to get over them and improve my writing. The only way to improve is to keep practicing and face my fears. I hope to improve my writing in so many levels. I hope to learn how to make a story flow. I hope to learn how to make characters come to life as I put them on paper. I hope to create spelling and grammatical error free writing that is appealing to the audience. Ultimately I hope to become more confident in my writing and the only way to do this is with practice and guidance.
Successful Creative Writing
When I think of success in writing I think of what is important to ME as the reader and it would go something like this:
I believe what makes a piece of creative writing successful are primarily three things; 1) A subject matter that is interesting and makes sense, 2)whether the plot can be derived from the body of the piece and 3) a grammatically error-free piece. I have often found it difficult to get into a piece of writing if it doesn’t grab my attention. The use of humor and imagery right off the bat can really garner someone’s attention. I have often had to struggle through what seems to be a boring story, until I get to the “good part.” Why not start out with the more interesting parts of the work and work backwards to the parts that may not be so attention grabbing?
Further, if I walk away from the piece of writing wondering what the plot or main idea was, it can leave a bad taste in my mouth in reference to the writer or the writer’s style. It is also difficult to read a piece that is full of grammatical errors; I will usually try to stick with it, unless it gives me a headache which is sometimes the case.
In order to become a more successful writer, throughout the semester I will take the feedback and cues from the instructor and my fellow students to heart. In the past, it has really helped me come up with not just more interesting topics, but the overall approach of how to make a topic interesting. Feedback is also helpful when I need to decide which direction to go in when I’m stuck, whether at the beginning, middle or end of writing a particular piece.
I will challenge myself to consider other genres that may not be my favorites in order to become a well-rounded writer. The biggest obstacle to improving my writing is time. I plan to spend adequate quiet time (the type of atmosphere I need to allow my juices to flow) reading and completing my writing assignments. I will also get over my apprehension of having multiple drafts. Usually after the first through third drafts I want to bail out, but I realize now that I must continue with subsequent drafts in order to get to my best piece of writing.
Cindy Davis
I believe what makes a piece of creative writing successful are primarily three things; 1) A subject matter that is interesting and makes sense, 2)whether the plot can be derived from the body of the piece and 3) a grammatically error-free piece. I have often found it difficult to get into a piece of writing if it doesn’t grab my attention. The use of humor and imagery right off the bat can really garner someone’s attention. I have often had to struggle through what seems to be a boring story, until I get to the “good part.” Why not start out with the more interesting parts of the work and work backwards to the parts that may not be so attention grabbing?
Further, if I walk away from the piece of writing wondering what the plot or main idea was, it can leave a bad taste in my mouth in reference to the writer or the writer’s style. It is also difficult to read a piece that is full of grammatical errors; I will usually try to stick with it, unless it gives me a headache which is sometimes the case.
In order to become a more successful writer, throughout the semester I will take the feedback and cues from the instructor and my fellow students to heart. In the past, it has really helped me come up with not just more interesting topics, but the overall approach of how to make a topic interesting. Feedback is also helpful when I need to decide which direction to go in when I’m stuck, whether at the beginning, middle or end of writing a particular piece.
I will challenge myself to consider other genres that may not be my favorites in order to become a well-rounded writer. The biggest obstacle to improving my writing is time. I plan to spend adequate quiet time (the type of atmosphere I need to allow my juices to flow) reading and completing my writing assignments. I will also get over my apprehension of having multiple drafts. Usually after the first through third drafts I want to bail out, but I realize now that I must continue with subsequent drafts in order to get to my best piece of writing.
Cindy Davis
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