Writing Groups (Unwritten Post #2)

Unwritten Post #2: Writing about your experiences of sharing your written work with others. Have you been in a writing group before? Would you deem that experience a success—or not? Under what conditions is sharing your writing with others a positive experience? When has sharing your writing with others proved to be miserable—and what made it so?

I experienced the joy of writing groups several times throughout my college career. I still don’t know if I really enjoy them. Under the constraints of a college class and with only a short span of time in which to read and edit a paper, I never feel like I do it well enough. Of course, there isn’t much choice in the matter. Overall, I’ve come away from writing groups frazzled, but grateful for the help… Provided I don’t feel beaten up by my editors for the hour.

It’s really difficult to accept criticism. But, when it comes to writing groups, it’s all about attitude. When you go into a writing group, it’s best to bring something you know you’ve put time into; it’s best if you bring a good sense of humor about your mistakes; and it’s best if you’re ready to learn. Because if you don’t bring at least the last two, chances are you’re going to have a bad time.

I’ve learned from my writing groups that it’s great when someone affirms your work, but even better when they get invested enough to really pick your writing apart so that you can make it even better. Because that’s the point of the writing groups anyway. If you’re a writer, you would be foolish not to have people checking your craft and helping you hone it into something amazing.

Rambling (Unwritten Post #3)

Unwritten Post #3: Write a reflection on the blogging life this semester. Did you find blogging challenging? A good outlet? Is this a practice you hope to continue? Take your reflection any way you wish.

Sometimes blogging was fun, but it often took much thought to make something interesting, and that takes time. There’s something in me as a writer that desperately wants to avoid posting straight up rants onto the internet. Even though that’s sort of what I’m doing now with this post. I really have no plan. I’m just rambling.

That being said, I think part of the reason why it was difficult to write this blog is because I was never really sure what I wanted to say. I attempted to think of interesting topics, but anticipating what people will respond to proved more difficult than anything else. Perhaps I thought about it too much. Maybe I shouldn’t care. Maybe I should just rant and rave until the cows come home.

To be honest, I could probably ramble on forever if given the chance and a topic I like. I’m one of those people. If you see me in the streets, run. I mean, after you know me well enough. Because I won’t talk much until I know you well, and then you get to drown in a flood of words… Yeah. Just best to avoid me altogether I reckon. I’m doing you a favor.

Anywho, back to the topic at hand… Perhaps the most valuable aspect of this experience has been finding out what I like to write. I like to write about people and humor and connections. I think this experience has been more revealing than I expected. I didn’t exactly know what it was I wanted to write about. I got a little glimpse into what other people enjoy reading, but also what I like to say. So, that was fun. I recommend trying out a blog sometime, if you haven’t yet. It’s quite fun.

Relationship Noodles (Unwritten Post #1)

Unwritten Post #1: Consider the essays you’ve read this week about the potential influence of something like gender on writing. Does your gender in any way influence what you write? In what ways?

Apparently I write like a female. My brain is all spaghetti. By that I mean, it’s composed of connections, overlapping lives, a nest of loopy relationship noodles.

I guess that’s not a bad thing. It sounds like a bad thing when you attach it to a specific gender and say that all women think like that. But, I really don’t care if I write like a man, in a compartmentalized fashion, a more achievement based, box-like way of saying things. There’s value in both. In fact, I don’t wonder if there are some people who can alternate between the two or who combine relational and achievement based writing.

But, I lean on the side of relationship noodles. I like to talk about people, what people have done, how I relate to them, the lessons I learn from them. Supposedly this is linked to gender because women have been expected to be more relationally based creatures than men, and men are expected to be more focused on work and such.

I’m not sure if this is an accurate way of determining it. I tend to believe that if men and women were free from social biases, especially the ones we have at the moment, our ways of writing would be diverse and fairly unrelated to gender. I believe that our social environments affect the way we write greatly, and so attributing writing biases to gender only reveals cultural perspectives on gender. But, I digress.

Another thing female writers tend to do, apparently, is use more adjectives. Men write using more action based adverbs.

I believe I use both.

A Studio Ghibli Soul (Unwritten Post #4)

I’m in love with a Japanese movie making company called Studio Ghibli. This is a quote from The Cat Returns. Anyway, part of the reason I love these movies so much is because they all have a soul. This is what I love so much about art and writing and movies and any form of creativity. When people love what they’re making, it takes on a piece of themselves.

This movie in particular acts as a sort of sequel to another of my favorite Studio Ghibli films, Whisper of the Heart. Mind you, these two movies in particular aren’t as popular as ones like Spirited Away or My Neighbor Totoro, but they still hold incredible merit and are super cute.

The Cat Returns is about a girl named Haru who saves a cat. After doing so she falls into a strange situation with talking cats, a Cat King, and a magical cat realm. This movie is about finding value in yourself, standing up for what you want, and taking each day of life with enthusiasm. It’s beautiful and funny and full of cats. What more could you ask for?

Whisper of the Heart has always been near and dear to my heart. It’s about a young writer finding her way. It’s about being challenged by the ones you love, discovering strange and interesting stories, and knowing that there are little gems in every story. Once you find those gems, you have to polish them, and it’s a lot of work, but every story is filled with some kind of magic.

From a young age, I loved reading and watching stories about writers and other creative minds. They inspired me. I will always hold a soft spot for these movies, as well as the other Studio Ghibli movies, because they’ve taught me valuable lessons about life and love and what it means to be an artist.

Publishing Problems

This week’s prompt: What are your thoughts on the predicted demise of traditional book publication? Do these seismic changes make you despair as a writer, or do you see changes in publication as a boon for new writers?

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I want to believe that traditional book publishing will still be a thing 100 years from now. With most technological advances, we as humans tend to cling to certain traditions of bygone eras, and paper books are something I can’t imagine fading away entirely. Still, now that people constantly self-publish, the marketplace is filling with literature and potentially making it difficult for writers in our time to make any sort of impression on the world.

But this doesn’t really matter to me. Good books have always found a way to survive through time. Whether it is on the screens of Kindles or in hardcover, the books that make a difference will live on.

Personally, as a writer, I always knew that being known as such would be difficult. There are so many amazing people out there who deserve to be seen by the world for their talents as writers and never actually make it. With changes in publishing, marketing and being involved in social media is incredibly important in getting our names out there. We have to make our audience almost before we write our books. This can be intimidating for me, since social interaction isn’t my forte.

For me, what ultimately reconciles the publication problem is how writers often make a difference with smaller communities. Our voices still matter even if they don’t become bestselling books or viral blog posts. I hold out the hope that if I can’t reach most people, I can make a difference with some. And maybe our writing will so directly change someone’s life for the better it will be even better than being known across continents and affecting many. That’s what really matters.

I Want to Throw My Phone at People

I sat in the cafeteria eating lunch with some friends. Students at other tables chatted with each other between bites of cheeseburgers and fries. Everything was peaceful. A normal school day.

During a lull in the conversation at my table, I took out my phone and aimlessly poked at it (like any normal 21st century college student would). But, staring down at the little screen was suddenly unbearable. I couldn’t focus, not even on something that required zero brain work.

That’s when I looked up. A girl with long brown hair and a bubbly personality sat a few feet away, chatting happily, oblivious to the thoughts running through my head.

I could throw my phone at her. And it would hurt. I’d just have to lift up my hand and toss it at this angle and it would hit her.

Somehow I felt it would be incredibly satisfying.

What.

In.

The.

World.

Of course, I would never do that.

I find these urges to perform violent acts has increased with my level of stress. Senior year has been a conglomeration of overwhelming levels of homework, uneasy relationships, fear of the future, and lack of sleep.

So, as the stress builds, the desire to kick squirrels and break windows has drastically increased.

That’s normal, isn’t it?

I wondered if anyone else experienced these random urges, so I admitted this desire to a friend. She said, “You should watch PSYCHO THOUGHTS by danisnotonfire. He talks about this.”

Dan talks about how he frequently conjures morbid or otherwise destructive situations with his imagination, such as a bears getting into his house and mauling everyone, him pushing strangers off subway platforms, and him tossing his Game Boy into a lake. Dan says because these are the strongest choices you could make in the moment (excluding the bear example), they’re incredibly appealing. Even if you don’t really want to do them.

I mean, why would I want to throw my laptop like a Frisbee?

Seriously.

That’s a terrible idea.

I don’t want to do that.

…

…

…

I kind of want to do it.

Point being, I have thoughts like these all the time. And they’re perfectly normal.

…

How would I murder you? What if I pushed you down a flight of stairs? What would I do with your body?

Uh.

I mean, I don’t think like that.

Never.

Feel free to leave your traumatizing scenarios in the comments below.