Speech Writing

I stumbled across this article on the Time website about how Barrack Obama writes his speeches.

“When you’re working with Senator Obama the main player on a speech is Senator Obama,” Axelrod said. “He is the best speechwriter in the group and he knows what he wants to say and he generally says it better than anybody else would.”

I think this is a powerful way to view Obama, I’m not much for political talk but he is clearly an exceptionally literate person. If Obama does win the election it’s going to be a huge shock for American’s to go from President Bush, a figure head who most of us have taken to ignoring, to a well-spoken Barrack Obama.

Writing in Style

For those of us archaic folk who still employ the paper and pen as a primary writing space, it is imperative to have the proper supplies.  I took some time to browse the web and found a few sites that combine two of my favorite things: writing and shopping. Visit the below sites for ideas on customary writing tools.

So Many Movies

     I had posted a few weeks back stating that I was in the middle of reading Stephen King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.  There, I admitted to not always being the biggest fan.  Now finished with the book, not only do I have a greater understanding of what King is all about, but I also discovered that, to my oblibvion, he has written the stories for so many motion pictures.  Some of the movies have been favorites of mine for a while, making me a bigger Stephen King fan all along.  I have decided to include a YouTube video that showcases each movie written by Stephen King from Carrie to 1408.

Writing Comfort

I used to think that I did my best writing in controlled conditions: by myself, with my music, in my room. This was a gross misconception.

I write best in the middle of a crowded room; in a coffee shop; in the student center; in the family room. I write best with one ear bud in my left ear as my right ear listens in on the conversations around me. I write best with the television going in front of me as I listen to 80′s music during the commercials and my sister’s iTunes playing in the next room with the dogs barking and pans slamming in the kitchen.

I write best with a headache, with a stuffy nose and a cup of Earl Grey tea with two Splendas. I write best on my bed, curled up in my pink chair, sitting properly at a desk, balancing my laptop on my knees.

I write best in a dorm room with two computers, two laptops, and a video game system playing Guitar Hero.

I write best when internally I am inspired. When the writer in me decides that this is the final plot, when I can sit and just let the words out.

I write best when no one tells me what to write, in every situation, with all sounds and sights around me. So long as I have my imagination, I will be able to write.

Videogames

A recent reading that I did, “Semiotic Domains: Is Playing Videogames A ‘Waste of Time?’” discussed the literacy value of videogames when compared to other such literary values as books. Frankly, I never considered the nortion that games could have a literature value because one does not ‘read’ a videogame as much as one does so for a book: one plays, interacts, or immerses oneself in a videogame

However, we were discussing the notions of first-person shooters in class. In our discussion, we asserted that to a degree, videogames do have a literacy value in a sense that the player must keep track of a multitude of information at any given time. Take, for example, Command & Conquer, a military strategy game. I, as the unit commander of an assembly of soldiers on the screen, must be aware of a multitude of factors, including how many units I possess, the location of my base and its weak points, my power level and financial holdings, the location of the enemy, his assets, his capabilities, and his weaknesses. At any given time, I have enough time to process this information at a slower and more calm pace compared to first-person shooters. FPS, as they are so called, are more fast-paced, and the player must be aware of his health and armor levels, radar system, locations of friends and enemies, his weaponry and ammunition, and if he throws a headset into the mix, he must be prepared to interact with his teammates and relays commands, responses, or instructions in order to better defeat the enemy.

The point is that while videogames do not necessarily envelop the idea of literacy in the same manner as a book, there is a still a requirement to involve oneself in the information intake and processing procedures of the videogames if one hopes to better learn how to operate and survive in the field of electronic gaming.

Additionally, the idea of real-world videogame applications were discussed in the forms of the game controllers. Aside from games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero, which allow you to play musical instruments as controllers, the U.S. military is utilizing X-Box 360 and Wii controllers in order to pilot their Unmanned Ground Vehicles and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, as today’s soldiers are familiar with such controls. It is the videogame controller which has revolutionized the manner in which we play videogames and operate today’s futuristic robot combat systems.

See, Jack Thompson? Videogames can’t be all that bad!

Fantasy

If you look at my other posts, you’ll notice that I tend to deal in the realm of fantasy over anything else. Within fantasy I can deal with urban or obviously fantasic settings and characters, but everything I write is not likely to happen in reality.

If you look at my bookshelf, everything on it is fantasy. I love dealing with vampires, elves, mages, wizards, goblins, magic and everything else that shouldn’t be real. If it doesn’t exist, I want it to.

I think that I write fantasy because I live reality. I see it everyday, know what it’s like; I don’t need or want to write slice-of-life books when I’ve experienced it. I can’t experience fantasy in everyday life, so that’s what I want to write about.

However, in fantasy there are many subgenres and those are fun to explore. I prefer either modern/urban fantasy with modern settings and fantasic characters, like in Holly Black’s Tithe or what is called high fantasy, with the basic magic and sword-fighting. If I’m creating a magical world, chances are it’s a more medieval setting, with the fancy dresses and swords and everything.

What’s fun with fantasy is trying to find ways that other people haven’t done yet. There are only so many plots and most have already used; today’s writers are recycling the old ones established long ago. So I try to make it different. Tolkien’s elves were a dying race; mine are a dominant one that hunts humans for sport. Dragons are powerful, wise, and great lizards; mine perfer to function in their human form, thank you very much.

Fantasy opens up so many different paths that I don’t see in reality. Now, you’re welcome to disagree with me and challenge this, but reality and writing about doesn’t interest me. Fantasy… well, which path do I travel first?

Oh How Times Have Changed…

     In class, we discuss the technologies of writing and how they continuously change over time. Respectively, the technologies of how writing is produced for the masses has also undergone several changes. To demonstrate this idea, I have attached a YouTube video of a hectograph demonstration. The hectograph (also referred to as a gelatin duplicator or jellygraph) is an earlier process of printing that requires an original document, prepared with special inks, to be transferred to a gelatin pad pulled tight on a metal frame. In today’s high-tech society, hectography is considered archaic for printing on paper. However, it is still used for things such as temporary tattoos for human skin.

Poets for Peace

   

     Poets who attended the Split This Rock Poetry Festival have issued an Appeal to Creative Artists for a week of creative protest against war and social injustice to be held March 15-21, 2009 (marking the 6th anniversary of the present Iraq war). We propose Monday, March 16, as a specific day on which we will “Speak Art to Power”—that is, find creative ways to communicate our message, through art, directly to those in government (splitthisrock.org).  To join the cause or to simply learn more, visit the designated website.

Creating Characters

Everyone creates characters differently. Some ways work well for some people and fail for others. This is the way that I happen to create characters. After I go through my method, I’ll go through a sample character.

 

I make lists.

 

I start with physical characteristics, age and gender. I define hair and eye color, height, and sometimes weight. I don’t go into the physical too much because it is not what defines the characters. Just give them a few defining characteristics to recognize them by.

 

Since I usually write fantasy, the next thing I do is decide if a character is going to be elf, human, fairy, etc, and what magic he/she has, if any. Sometimes, I also assign them a title, King, Queen, etc.

 

Personality traits are next. Just a few major ones, such as is the character outgoing or reserved, commanding or a follower, calm or impulsive. A method I tend to use is Cattell’s Big Five: Openness to new experiences, Impulsiveness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. How much does each of these play a factor in the character’s personality?

 

Personality traits often bring into light likes and dislikes. I make lists of hobbies that they have, things that they like, what they would go to great lengths to avoid, including food. Although sometimes this doesn’t happen until much later.

 

Occasionally, defining the character’s personality also creates a trademark outfit that they wear. A female character that is more warrior-like might defy tradition and wear trousers instead of a skirt. A male who is very arrogant might wear a signet ring to try to boost his status. This doesn’t always happen though. Sometimes, the characters just wear regular clothing.

 

This is the stage where I give them a name, once the physical characteristics and personality traits are worked out. For me, once I give a character a name, he/she becomes more real. The name is not always meaningful, sometimes it is just pretty. Other times I search babynames.com to find a name that means something. And sometimes I find a name by accident and it just fits the character.

 

The name establishes the character. Once that happens, I develop the character beyond who he/she is and create relationships. Who is the character the child of? Any siblings? Other close family relations, such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins? Who are the character’s closest friends? Is he/she in a romantic relationship?

 

On occasion, the relationships have caused the character to change a bit. Maybe his/her parents cause the character to become more introverted because they are so overbearing. Perhaps a younger sibling brings out a fierce protective streak. The character doesn’t have to be set in stone. Like people, characters adapt and change to the environment and people around them.

 

This is generally where I stop the preliminary character development. More the character will be developed as I write. But this gives me a good base to start with so that I know who I am writing about. And this method isn’t set in stone. I skip steps while I’m making my list.

 

Now, for a sample character.

 

This character will be female, with sandy-brown hair and hazel eyes. She is almost 18 and about 5 ft. 4 in. And no, she isn’t going to tell you how much she weighs. She is a normal human, but she is the daughter of the town executioner, so most people avoid her. Since she is avoided, she in somewhat introverted; she is also disagreeable when it comes to people outside her family and even in her family she is very secretive. She is seen wearing black accessories- head scarf, belt, and boots- and sometimes a black top.

 

 Darcy (Dark one) is the oldest child of the town executioner. There is a large gap between her and her younger brothers, almost ten years. And her younger brothers have a different mother from her; her mother left when Darcy was about six. Her father didn’t marry until she was nearly ten and that was because the woman was pregnant. She’s avoided her step-mother and brothers since then, nearly eight years.

 

From here, I can either jump right into the story or go through and create more characters, like the father and step-mother.

Stuck

I finished a story recently- finished being handwritten and typed in the computer and edited over once. I finished it. So, usually, I already have another story that I dive right into, so that I am always writing.

The problem is this: I have the story. I know the main characters, her motivation, the plot, the setting, all the little details, but I can’t sit and write. Well, I can. I sit down with a pen and notebook, but nothing comes to mind. I’m really having trouble writing this one.

And it’s starting to bother me.

For a while, I thought I didn’t have enough details. So, I got out my Blue Book (is a sketchbook), and I wrote out a character list, defined my main character a bit more, drew a map of the reality and created the path she travels. I took time to sketch out some outfits, define relationships and really try to build up the backstory. And I still have nothing on the bigger picture.

I also took out my Moleskien (tiny journal about the size of my palm. Very convenient for traveling) because it had little segments that will make their way into the story eventually. There are bits of the story here and there in it.

And still, nothing.

This wouldn’t frustrate me so badly if it weren’t for the fact that it’s the second or third time that I’ve tried to write this story in four years. It’s been brewing in my head since I finished Garnet, and it’s somewhat of a continuation of that story. And normally, I would be content to set it aside for a while and move onto something else, as I’ve done in the past, but I don’t have anything else. I don’t have a back-up story to work on. I’ve used them!

I think, what I may have to do, is sit down and put together another story, and once again, set this one aside. Which kind of disappoints me. I know most of this one and really want to write it. But something is blocking me, mentally.

I guess that I’ll move on to Vampires. I want to do something with them and I think I’m going to make them spies. I’ll have to find my Moleskien again, because I had an idea sketched out in there, and it might work…

Oh, and everyone should go to Barnes and Noble and buy a Moleskien of their own. They’re very handy.