The
Zen of Writing is Part I of a three part series by PerforatedxHearts.
Making
It Write
As
a young boy of a British politician, you’d think that he’d be adept at the
instruction of the finest boarding schools with their competent professors.
However, Winston Churchill, who grew up to be one of Britain’s most prized
prime ministers, often struggled with grammar, spelling, and just the concept
of writing in general- the failure of his teachers. And yet he grew up to
become an addition- a successful addition, to say the least- to the writer’s
Hall of Fame, known for his poignant and cunning way with words.
So
what? A lot of writers start out this very way- as an underling in the cruel
and alien world of writing. This essay targets many of the stumbling blocks in
the life of an average, as well as growing writer, such as correct grammatical
objectives, plots in the typical fiction novel, dialogue, and why the heck
you’re writing.
When
it comes down to grammar, you either know it or you don’t. Grammar is
essentially the logic of writing: being able to organize your ideas in such a way
that the reader is able to grasp the meaning of what you are trying to say. You
want to be able to let each word settle snugly in its little nest, yes, but you
also want the sentence as a whole make sense- which is why your old English
teachers toiled for so long, drilling the anatomy of sentence structure,
subordinate conjunctions, etc. into your little head. It really is important to
be able to know or be familiar with these objectives so that [a] you can
express yourself to the clearest ability possible – “[Robert] Lowth declares
why it is important to know the rules of grammar: "every person of a
liberal education . . . should be able to express himself with propriety and
accuracy.” And grammar is essential when filling out a resume (Oops, you forgot
that glaring mistake about your major accomplishments!) or a research report
(When one such as myself just ain’t bothering with this…) (“Writing
Science”, 1)
“I” before “E” except after “C”
Grammar
and spelling are two hands closely linked together. You have sentence structure
and the rule such as the title above on one hand, and then you have…spelling.
With grammar, you can memorize simple little acronyms such as the famous “I”
before “E”, except after “C”. But what about spelling?
“I can’t spell.”
“The word’s too
big.”
“How do you spell ‘hieroglyphics’?”
When
one is faced in such a ‘terrible’ situation, the best and often-used way to
improve your spelling is to just practice with a dictionary. Oftentimes you
find yourself browsing through so many pages, and your eyes just glance past a
few words that you needed help with anyways…
If
you don’t know how to figure out the first 3 letters or so of the word, then
maybe you shouldn’t be using it in the first place. There are few
ridiculously-hard words that don’t give a hint of a vowel or a consonant in the
beginning, and if you are using a word such as that, maybe you shouldn’t be
using it in the first place.
Easy-to-read
dictionaries such as the popular “Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary” make
it even easier to browse through that thick book you dread.
Practice
really does makes perfect.
According to Christopher Paolini [Eragon, Eldest],
[professional] editing is basically a person “tearing apart your manuscript
with a big smile and telling you all the while it’s good for you”. (“Writer’s
Digest,” 1)
But
he’s right. Editing and revising, even if it’s not your most favorite thing in
the world, is good for your story or essay. Why?
Number
1: It gets rid of silly little mistakes on your rough draft, grammatical or
spelling. Some people write as they are thinking, so there’s not enough time
for them to pay attention for correct spelling or grammar. When you go back to
reread over your piece, then usually the mistakes come up. It’s helpful to read
backwards for spelling mistakes so you can concentrate more on each specific
word. When you are scanning over your story from left to right, you’re so
accustomed to all the words you wrote down, so familiar to the flow of your
story- whether it’s lurching and halting along, or whether it flows smoother
than yogurt- that everything just passes by you quickly. But reading backwards
helps pick out certain spelling and grammatical mistakes that you wouldn’t have
found out otherwise.
Number
2: Most of the reason for revising and editing is because of number one,
but when you have a fictional or narrative story, whether it’s on the TAKS
writing test or on your own time, it’s vital to go back through your story and
really edit. By editing, I mean by tightening plot lines, going back and making
sure your characters stay within their personality, etc. Most writers just stay
within safe, shallow revision: changing a few words here and there…maybe even
changing a whole sentence or so.
In grade school, your teachers may have forced you to do
trifle, shallow revisions. In many ways, this is a waste of time and map color,
but if you think that marking up your story gleefully to check for grammatical
errors or “Proving-It!” (which works about…40% of the time), then so be it.
Hello there YWS! With
the biggest book of our lifetime, and probably for generations to come, Harry
Potter 7 will soon be zooming to long-awaited outstretched hands and we will
finally find out the ending to a series that we, as readers and writers of
fanfic, have grown up with over our teenager years. Of course, adults and
younger children read the books too and have been following them for just as
long as we have, but will they as older and younger viewers, feel the same
heartache that we emotion-crazed teenagers feel?
We’ve always come to
expect that the last book of Harry Potter will contain lots of deaths and
tragedies, not only expect it but we also know it, due to the fantastic genius
that is JKR who has said so herself. There will be deaths on both the good side
and the bad side, but how are you going to cope, when let’s say, your favourite
character dies? You’ve probably gone over in your head that you will just turn
the page and be brave, but will you really?
I remember reading
Half-Blood prince and when learning that Dumbledore dies, it was and still is,
a real shock. Not to mention that it was Severus Snape who killed him. And I can
remember clearly, re-reading the same page over and over again wondering
whether he did actually kill him. And I sat back, the book held loosely in my
hands, feeling quite deflated.
Now Dumbledore isn’t my
favourite character and Book 7 being the last and final book in the series, my
favourite character this time round has a bigger chance of being killed off,
right? (For the record, my favourite has to be Hermione- mostly inspired by
Emma Watson) So, I’ve decided to put some thoughts together of how you can deal
with the anxiety of losing one of your favourite characters that you have grown
up with over the last ten years or so.
1)
Once you have finished the book, take a moment to let it all sink in.
Remember, this is probably going to be the last time you see your character in
a story, so you want to make the moment count. When he or she dies, you need to
let it sink in. You need to tell yourself that your character has died,
otherwise you will have this huge emotional gap inside of you- where you know
your character has died, but you haven’t really taken it into account.
2)
Crying- Okay, most people will laugh at me for writing this, but
when reading Harry Potter 7, it is okay to cry. Some people, including myself,
will feel reluctant to cry because they are surrounded by family and friends
when reading and it would be quite embarrassing. But really, crying is a great
way to let go of something. It helps your body come to turns with what has
happened and allows you to express the way you feel, without it being kept
bundled up inside of you.
3)
Take your time- I know, I shouldn’t be telling fans to take their time
when reading the book they have been waiting for at least a good two years, but
take your time. Reading Harry Potter 7 may seem like a race to know what
happens and what is going on, but think of
it this way: You will
never, ever read a Harry Potter series like this again. JKR has said so herself
that there will be no prequel of Harry Potter so take your time reading it. If
you read it too fast, you won’t be able to let it all sink in.
4)
Forums- Message boards are a great way to talk about how you feel with
other similar fans. Especially after reading Harry Potter 7, I’m sure there are
going to be thousands of fans out there who will share the same emotions and
feelings as you, and talking about them is a great way to let go of them. You
can also find comfort in what other people say, so interacting and talking
about the death of a character is great, staying in your room all day reliving
the moments to yourself is not good.
5)
Re-reading- Once it’s all over, you’re going to feel empty. You’re going
to feel like it is all over and that you have nothing to live for anymore. I
remember after finishing Half-Blood Prince that I felt like I had nothing to
look forward to anymore, at least not until another two years or so. But one of
the nicest things was that I could re-read the book. And believe me, re-reading
the book is so much better. At first read, you are inclined to read really fast
and not take things in as you would if you took your time, so I suggest
re-reading, maybe a week or so after you first read it.
So, there are your five
tips to dealing with the heartache. I’d also suggest that your mom and dad take
away all pills and sharp objects, in case you feel like suicidal. I hope that
isn’t that case. If it is, please re-read what I’ve said until it has sunk in!
I also think there is
going to be a number of hotlines set-up to help teenagers deal with the loss of
a character, so you should try looking for those if you feel this article didn’t
really help.
