Young Writers Society

An Interview With cleverclogs:
How cleverclogs Joined YWS

Written by Sunshine1113

This week I interviewed @cleverclogs on how she became a YWSer.

Sunshine1113: Hello cleverclogs! May I take a few minutes out of your time to interview you for the Weekly Writer, Writer of the Week's e-zine?

cleverclogs: Sure!

S: Wonderful! So how did you find YWS? Did a friend tell you about it? Or were you just searching the internet and came across it?

cc: I was looking for a website to post my story on. One that wasn't Wattpad.

S: YWS is so much better than Wattpad. What made you choose and stay with YWS?

cc: It seemed really friendly and active. When I posted a story, I actually got reviews.

S:Well, I'm glad you decided to join YWS (otherwise we wouldn't be having this interview lol). What's your favorite genre to read or write about?

cc: My favorite genre to read is science fiction, and my favorite genre to write is realistic fiction.

S: So I take it you like fiction?

cc: Yes. Creating a whole world that doesn't exist that can bend and twist however you like it is just so amazing to me.

S: What is your favorite work that you have posted here?

cc: Oooh, tough one. I'd say Cotton Candy, because it's based on my own fears, and it really strikes a chord with me.

S:Yum! Cotton Candy! Food!! Delish title choice there. Well this concludes the interview, thank you for your time!

cc: No problem! I'm glad to help!

This concludes this week's interview. If you want to check out cleverclogs story click this link.

~Sunshine1113

Description For a Story--Not Poem

Writing poetically is a trap that many of us fall into during our writing endeavers. While beautiful descriptions that enrapture the mind are quite beautiful, they can muddle your story and the message you want to give your readers. Because, in the end, do you want to leave your reader with a beautiful image—nothing else—or with a story that they will remember?

Now this does not mean that description is bad—something to avoid. On the contrary, description is the tying bond that secures your work together. It gives the story its touch that just makes it shine. Without description, where would your reader be? Completely lost.
Description gives the reader something to grasp hold of. Gives their imagination some raw code that they can decipher and come up with a beautiful scene. Gives them a picture so that they can see the environment where your character is.

But remember that when you are describing something, your story has stopped.

A feeble example of what I am referring to is something as simple as this:

The tall, small-boned girl floated down the spiral stairs with an angelic air, her eyes like midnight stars. Her hair falling around her shoulders like sun-beams, filled with radiant light from the smile on her soft lips. Songs seemed to fill the atmosphere, birds beginning to sing to the light of the new day they had just found.

Well, that does paint a pretty picture, doesn’t it? But your story has just stopped completely, your reader now focusing on developing this complicated image.

What the writer was trying to tell you was:

A beautiful girl walked down the stairs, while the birds sang around her.

A simpler way of describing it, and conveys the same message. Now description isn’t a bad thing, like I said earlier. It is merely something that must be used in small dosages. It isn’t a good idea to go through an entire scene, handing your reader a huge amount of description at one big dump, and expecting them to gather it all in—meanwhile, continuing to read on. But it is also a bad idea to not put any description in. Merely dialogue, thought—whatever the case. Dialogue is extremely important, but like anything else, it must be used with caution. Overloads can bore your reader, give them too much information all at once—a host of issue.

So to avoid over-flowering description in a story, you have to remind yourself that it is not poetry. And you have to disconnect yourself from whatever poetry you may be writing, and plug in to the story world. Because you need an entirely different kind of description for each kind of writing, some demanding more visual, some less.

But however you write, and whatever style you have adopted over the years, just remember one small thing. You have beautiful girls in your story, not graceful girls that have eyes like midnight stars and hair like sunbeams.

~Timmyjake

Yah, we all have them. At least, I hope so. I know a few people who don't seem to have an opinion, but then, they are very opinionated about not having an opinion, so I guess it counts. In any case, our opinions are what drive us to say and do nearly everything we do or say. It's a never ending cycle.

But sometimes, our opinions step across a few lines and cross into enemy territory, where they are not welcome. For instance, let's say I hate chocolate, (which is most definitely not true!) Perhaps I got sick from it, or am allergic to it, but whatever the reason, I don't like it.

One of my good friends, though, loves chocolate. They eat it all the time. Which makes it not shocking that they are a bit over weight, and it gives me some ammunition.

"See, you eat so much chocolate, it's making you fat!"

This may be true, or it may not be. I eat a lot of chocolate. I still weigh less than 150 lbs. Of course, my friend will probably agree, because it happens.

"Chocolate is bad for you, because it makes you fat."

Well, I haven't exactly crossed the line here. I mean, it's a commonly accepted fact that sugar and sweets are not so good for the health.

"People who eat chocolate have issues."

Now I've definitely crossed it.

"And they have no self control."

I think it's apparent without me hashing it that what I've just said is going to offend my friend, but I'm going to say it anyways. What I just said is going to offend my friend. Why wouldn't it? I just told him he was fat, has mental issues, and can't control his wants and feelings. I would be upset too.

Of course, I would't say something like that, but then, it has happened before. I don't consider myself a rude or impertinent person that jumps to conclusions and speaks out of turn. We all have our days, but I'm not generally like that. But while reading through my recent reviews here on YWS, I found several moments where I may have crossed that line and offended someone. I was actually surprised at myself.

It just happens, people. Our opinions are strong, because we're human, and they're going to manifest themselves. The trick, though, is to control them. Here are a few ways, speaking specifically about reviewing, that we can be sure our opinions are in check;


1. Never start out a review with, "remember, this is just my opinion."

Okay, I've done this several times, and the review almost always turns out to be a bash and sash and hack and slash on the person's work. Not in a bad way, but I usually don't bring out the good parts of the writing. Just the bad.

The way I see it, by saying what I said, I pretty much gave myself license to run rampant. "Well, we're all entitled to our opinions, and everyone's is different, so this is just mine. Don't be upset, it's just an opinion."

That's like saying, "In my opinion, getting whacked in the head with a two by four doesn't hurt." And calling our friend a sissy because they cried when we did it to them.


2. Pre-read your review!

I bet that doesn't make sense to you. Am I right? Usually people read and re-read their works before submitting to be sure it's what they want it to be. But honestly, by the time you've written it you are often so wrapped up in your words and your ideas that you think it's good no matter what.

Pre-reading is very important. I'm not talking about reading your review before you've written. That would be pointless. What I am meaning is that it's always a good thing to stop before each review, and review what you would like to say in the review. Don't start typing and making a list of "do's" and "don'ts." Decide on a few main points you want to bring to light, being sure that they are logical. Perhaps you noticed a few grammar mistakes. Be sure to add in the moments where you enjoyed the story.

By Pre-reading, you'll often weed out those overly opinionated things simply because you'll recognize for what they are, before they're put on paper. Or screen.


3. Tell yourself, "I will not be opinionated."

You have to understand, there is a difference between having an opinion, and being opinionated. It's like the difference between taking pride in something you've accomplished, and being prideful. One's good and constructive, one's harmful and makes people upset.

As simple and odd as it sounds, I've found that the best way for me to avoid being opinionated is to tell myself I won't be. Once I've made that decision consciously, I unconsciously react as I'm writing my review, and shy away from it.


In the end, every opinion matters, whether you voice it or not. And the opinion you give of someone or something, could make or break it. So just decided which one you want to be. The Hero who saves the day. Or the Villain that everybody hates and dies in the end.

And happy reviewing!

THE WEEKLY WRITER

YWS's Unofficial Writing-Related Newsletter

Welcome to this week's edition of the Weekly Writer! Before we go further, shoutout to the cast and crew:



Now onto the articles!

This article isn't going to be like the previous BTS articles. In the past three I've mostly been explaining how things work inside WOTW. This time, instead, I'm going to dish out the cold hard truth.

To start off I want to tell you the truth about myself. I really love WOTW. I have put a lot of effort into it. Some of the things I do include voting, nominating, sending out newsletters, coming up with ideas for improvements, updating the clubs, co-managing TWW, motivating others to do their jobs, and looking for new members if I still have time.
I really enjoy being a part of the WOTW team. I want to see WOTW prosper and grow. I love seeing how happy people are when they get the title. Being named Employee Of The Month really helped me understand how that feels. But it wears me down. I don't know how long I can keep going at this pace before I need to pull out.
I really do love WOTW. Otherwise I would have already pulled out of the team. Because of all the stress it has been causing for me and several other members, I decided to sit down and think about how the team is working. I am disappointed with what I found.

Now I'm going to tell you the truth about the members of the WOTW team. We are largely divided into three categories. Ideally we'd all be in one category that would be a cross between type two and three. But no, we're in three different types.

Member Type One

These members hardly do anything. Most of them joined with good intentions. But stuff comes up. Now they're scraping the bare minimum. Doing just enough that they don't get asked to leave, but not enough to really support WOTW.

Member Type Two

These members are a little iffy. They are largely where we get our voters from, but you never know who will vote each week. They'll be on one week, and then gone the next.
Some of them are a little more consistent. Doing what they can when they can. But even then, it's not always very much.
They are probably what keeps WOTW from falling apart anytime someone has to take a break.

Member Type Three

There are very few of these members. They are the core of WOTW. They are the ones who usually nominate. They remind the Type Twos about their duties. And they are the reason that the Type Ones have to be concerned about being asked to leave.
They work extremely hard every week to make sure that at least two people get nominated, and we have at least three votes (normally we have quite a bit more than that, but those are the bare minimums). They make sure that WOTW gets announced. They will manage making any changes to WOTW that need to be made. They are the driving force of WOTW.
If we did not have these four or five members, we would not have WOTW at all.

I don't know about you, but I think that's a problem. WOTW cannot sustain itself like that. WOTW will fall apart if it keeps going like this. It will happen in just a few quick phases...

Phase One: The initial loss.

The Type Ones will begins to loose interest in WOTW. They will wonder why they are trying to stay on the team at all. And slowly, one by one, they will leave the team.
This won't really affect the Twos at all, because the Threes will pick up the slack.

Phase Two: The big loss.

Our Threes will feel too much pressure. As it is there is a lot of strain on the Threes. So much so that we've had one Three leave YWS, and another go on break for an uncertain amount of time.
With the extra work from the Ones the Threes will be overburdened. One by one they will pull back. Some of them will just get rid of responsibilities and become Twos, others will just leave the team.

Phase Three: The failed attempt.

As we lose Threes the other Threes will feel more pressure because they will pick up the extra work from the Threes that have left.
If we are lucky there will be a Two who is willing to step up and become a Three. But because the other Threes are already falling apart, the Two will have a hard time becoming used to the new amount of work. Eventually that person will feel just as overburdened as the rest of the Threes.
There won't be that many Twos willing to take on Type Three responsibilities. So very quickly we won't have Twos to replace the Threes that leave.

Phase Four: The last Threes.

Soon enough there will be so few Threes left that they can't keep WOTW going. At which point they will become so frustrated with the fact that their work isn't making a difference, they will follow in the footsteps of the other Threes.

Phase Five: Lack of support.

Without any Threes the Twos won't be able to support WOTW anymore. At which point we will begin to miss weeks. Slowly the frequency at which weeks are missed will increase, until WOTW just stops completely.

I want a show of hands, who wants that to happen?

Right now that isn't really a problem. The only problem is that we are divided like that. And if we don't do something about it, we will end up following that path.
So how do we avoid that path?
We need to change over to where each member has a set amount of duties that they get done when they should, and that's it. All members doing an equal amount of work. All the work getting done when it should.
So how do we make that happen? It's kind of like a garden. We have to take all the plants that won't help the garden and get rid of them. We have to be careful to not pull up the plants that will help the garden. And we have to get new plants to put in the garden.

So, how to go about weeding the garden?

Step One, Part One

The Type Ones have to go. We have recently done some activity checks, so those who are completely inactive are gone.
We will have to ask the people who are almost inactive to leave. We can't do that by itself though, or we'll just be starting down the path to self-destruction. We need to do both parts of Step One at the same time.

Step One, Part Two

New excitement. We need to get new members who are excited about WOTW. They will have to take up the slack from the Ones that are leaving.

Step Two

We will then have to evenly distribute the workload. Which means taking some responsibilities from Threes and giving them to the new members and the Twos.
There will be some members who won't take on more responsibilities. It is okay to have a few of them (particularly if they will one day be able to do more), but we can't have very many of them. So some of them will be asked to leave.

Step Three

We have to set things up so that we don't get divided like this again. It was nice having such ana easy going team, but we were too easy going. We have to be a little more strict about getting your work done. This doesn't mean we have to be really strict about it, just more-so then we have been.

Right now the Threes are the only people commited enough to WOTW to look for new members. But they have so many other duties they hardly have any time to look for new members. At this slow rate by the time they find enough new members that they can get rid of some of the old members the new members will have already gotten into our faulted system. That means the new members might be some of the ones we have to get rid of!

What we really need is volunteers. People who love WOTW and are willing to vote every week, nominate at least once a month, and hopefully help find a new member or two.
But if we don't get the volunteers we won't be able to make the change. Which means that WOTW is headed straight into the ground (however slowly that might be).
It will probably die once the school year start up again. That gives us just over two months. That means nine more WOTWs. Then we fall apart. So maybe you'll get a total of fourteen more WOTWs before we stop completely, maybe?
We need you now. We have less than two months to fix the faulted system in the WOTW team.

I've talked to the team about this, and they have started picking up some. We have a few Twos who have really improved some. But I still don't think it's enough, not yet anyway. We still need more new members. There is only so much that the existing members can do.

If WOTW doesn't get help it will die.


~WW
~lostthought
~RavenMoonStone
-Sunshine1113

WOTW was born from a desire to acknowledge good writers, as a way of showing them not to stop, to give them some encouragement. So that begs the question, how important is encouragement? Should you encourage other writers?
I've asked several members of YWS about this, so as to get wider opinion on the subject.

I think that especially on a website for young writers, it's really important to be encouraging about at least some element of the writing because writers of all ages run the risk of being easily turned off of their hobby based on lack of support. I mean, people of all ages run the risk of being turned off of anything because of lack of support, and the effect of having support behind you in whatever you choose to pursue is clear and pretty tangible. You feel better. You feel like even though you may have made some mistakes, you have something to keep working toward, and that keeps you on the path.

@Hannah seems to be a supporter of giving encouragement. I understand what she is saying, and to some extent I agree with her. I know I never would have continued with writing poetry had I not gotten some very kind reviews here on YWS. And one of the big reasons I'm still writing for The Weekly Writer is because the encouraging things she has said to me.
It is still important to consider other effects of your encouragement though. @Zolen has put a lot of thought into that...

Important or not, being a writer is HARD, you need to focus, you need to be disciplined, and beyond all else you have to have fun doing it. If you don't enjoy what you're writing than dear gods its going to be a nightmare when you have to write at least 200 pages worth over a period of a month. That's the kind of life you would have, every day words, every night words, if you want a job in anything to do with writing, if you don't like it, it's going to be horrible, a nightmare. Encouragement is fine and dandy, but if you keep needing it, you might have picked the worst kind of job.

I then asked how often he goes out of his way to encourage other writers and got an equally interesting response...

Never really, how often do you go out of your way to encourage fire fighters? Once in a blue moon when you stumble across them doing their job. I don't really stumble across many people doing their job, and when I do I rather worry about the job at hand (critiquing their work in most cases) over sugary words.

To much encouragement may turn into a trap, making it so that the writer can't (or doesn't want to) keep writing unless they get more encouragement. In that regard, avoiding encouraging writers sounds like it would be a lot better for the writer because it would make them learn to want to write because they want to write, not because they want to hear fond words. But then you hear about when a single piece of encouragement keeps a writer going for quite some time afterward, like what Hannah said happened to her...

Just as I was graduating from college and in the last class of my last semester, a teacher told me in teacher-student conferences that I needed to keep writing. It wasn't anything specific, just a general encouragement to not stop. If you don't stop, you inevitably end up changing, and if you keep working that change tends to be improvement. So it wasn't her telling me, "You're so good! You should get published!" it was more like "I don't want your writing to not be in this world, so keep doing it." I remember that every time I think about how I haven't written in a while, and it reminds me that I will write again some day.

In that regard providing encouragement can be what keeps a great writer going.
So when you encourage someone either you will keep them writing, or make them dependant on encouragement? That sounds a bit more like a gamble then an act of good will. So how do you make sure that you are in fact helping the writer and not holding them back?

First of all, you have to think about who the writer is and why they write. If they're just writing for the fun of it, then it doesn't matter if they get stuck in your encouraging words, because they're only writing for fun. Knowing that what they did was good will just make them consider doing it more seriously. But if the writer is already serious and knows that writing is or will be their career, they need to write for themself. If they get caught up in your encouragement and can't write without it they will have a hard time meeting deadlines. The more serious the writer is the more careful you have to be.
If a writer writes as a way of venting about life and such, then they will only write as long as they have something to vent about, unless something else comes up to keep them writing. So in that case, it is very important to encourage a writer. But if the writer writes because they want to be good at something, they need to learn to love writing on their own. If you encourage them too much they won't write without it. If you don't encourage them, they'll either decide writing isn't for them, or they'll realize that they genuinely love writing regardless of what others think.

If you don't know the writer (and aren't capable of getting to know them), then what do you do? You be careful.
You should still encourage them. In the words of @Aley "we all deserve that chance to pull our heads out of the sand and look at the sky again." But you don't want to gush. If you give too much then there's no way they won't crave more kind words, and that craving is the first step towards being focused on it. Aley has several things you should think about when giving encouragement...

Always consider the personalizing your message. Don't just say "You can do it because I can do it" or "you can do it because giving up isn't human nature" say "You can do it because your x is really amazing already, and if you work on a-w, y, and z, you'd really be amazing in total."


Don't mislead with your encouragement. If you lie to someone and say that they're good at something they're not, then that is not only going to injure the trust they have in you telling them the truth, but it won't help them improve everything they need to improve.

Encouragement needs to be personal.

So be encouraging, just don't go overboard. Simply pointing out what they did a good job at is enough, you don't have to go on and on about how much you loved it and think it's amazing.

I find here on YWS the "like" button is very useful. Because that's all it says, you like it. It feels good to know that someone likes your writing. And when using the "like" button you don't have to worry about going overboard. It also has the benefit of if the piece is really good, it will get a lot of likes, and then it will get in the LIterary Spotlight. But that only happens if you actually click the "like" button.
Most of the time you still should leave a comment about what you liked, because it sounds a lot more sincere. But if you don't have time, or if you think you'll gush too much, or if they have already gotten a lot of positive comments, the "like" button is always wonderful.


I had a lot of help with this article from...



So thanks guys! I'm glad you took the time to give me a hand with this.
'Till next time!

~WW

You each have five senses— sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. But when many of us writers jot down our stories, we forget that our characters have all of these senses too. We forget that we can create a scene using our character’s senses, making a fully rounded picture. Descriptions that our readers can not only see, but also taste. Tasting a description is rare, but that sensation really brings us into the story, rather than as a bystander.


Sight

Sight is probably the most important of all of our senses. We use it wherever we go, and even if we were robbed of each other sense, we could still function with just this one. It is also used the most in our writing, used the most to portray a scene. Description is always centered on our sight, with the other senses playing as sideline characters—coming in for brief moments before fading away.

We will be using this sentence throughout the article, building onto it as we go through the five senses—but without relying on sight for you to visualize a picture.

The long, air-beaten train halts in the station.

Hearing

Most of us incorporate hearing into our descriptions, use it to bring our readers own ears to the ready, listening to these sounds that you have just fabricated for them. But many scenes lack what they need to really bring the picture out.

Focus on the sounds your reader knows--sometimes even as simple as a coffee pot finishing percolating. Those familiar sounds can bring your description to life, and give it some gravity so that your reader can fully grasp the scene.

What I added to the old sentence will be in italics—as it will always be as we progress.

The long, air-beaten train screeches to a halt in the station, blowing its whistle in a high-pitched squeal for all to hear.

Smell

Smell is another one of the senses we forget to add to a scene. We always remember when describing a Christmas dinner, but in normal day-to-day scenes that don't involve food, it often escapes us.

Smell is very important to a scene. It can turn milk sour, make the road smell of burnt rubber, the beach of salty ocean, and hot chocolate like, well, chocolate! There are so many things you can do with smell—besides sniffing the flowers growing in the gardens.

To add to our sentences…

The long, air beaten train screeches to a halt in the station, blowing its whistle in a high-pitched squeal for all to hear. Smoke billows from the stacks overhead, filling the air with the pungent smell of burnt coal.

Taste

Taste is often the hardest sense to obtain. It is often hard to sneak taste into your description without confusing the reader, making them think that he’s eating popcorn during a battle. But your character can taste in battle. They can taste the blood that seeped into their mouth, the salty sweat that trickled down his nose. The possibilities with taste are endless.

Adding to our sentences…

The long, air-beaten train screeches to a halt in the station, blowing its whistle in a high-pitched squeal for all to hear. Smoke billows from the stacks overhead, filling the air with the pungent smell of burnt coal. The soot filters into mouths, taste-buds rebelling against the ashy flavor.

Touch

Touch is the one sense that really grounds your reader—many times, literally. It gives something a soft feeling, or a sharp edge. Fully rounds a scene to give your reader something they can touch. Something they can feel.

We touch things so often throughout the day, and without thinking about it as touching something—without taking notice. When writing a story, you must allow your character to notice what they touch, or you lose an important element.

Adding for the last time…

The long, air-beaten train screeches to a halt in the station, blowing its whistle in a high-pitched squeal for all to hear. Smoke billows from the stacks overhead, filling the air with the pungent smell of burnt coal. The smoke filters into mouths, taste-buds rebelling against the ashy flavor. Hands beat against the passenger-cars, fingernails scraping against the coarse, steel sides, flecks of paint being rubbed away by persistent hands.

To me, that is a concise description of a scene. The five senses have been implanted into your reader’s mind, and now they can see, hear, smell, taste and touch—all in one paragraph. So many sensations explode around them at one time!

How to put all five senses in a description is rather simple. Put yourself in your characters shoes. Become your character. In order to be bombarded by all of these sensations, you must know what your character is being put through. Sure, you always know what is going on inside your character’s mind, but putting that same idea into a reader’s mind is an entirely different matter. Become part of the scene, and then you can describe these senses flawlessly.

-timmy

Hello once again everyone! Last week you had to sit through a horrendous interview with JC the privilege of seeing @JayeCShore do the article. I hope you laughed as much as I did when I read it, because it was very well done!

But alas, I'm back this week, and I got to sit down with the Writer Of The Week, @TheRobster1991, who was chosen for his script-writing skills! Here's what we talked about:

Messenger: Hey Robster, what's up! If you don't mind, I'd like to do a little interview with you, seeing as you are this week's Writer Of The Week!

TheRobster1991: Sure thing - I don't know how you want to do this.

You can PM me questions and I will answer them

M: Yup, that's the idea! Well, how did it feel to be alerted that you got the WOTW title?

TR1991: I was surprised. It was a nice surprise. I didn't expect that when I put my latest screenplay up that I would be nominated for WOTW. I think that's very awesome

M: Well i think this is one of the funnest weeks to do with WOTW. The miscellaneous week. It CAN sound just like the hodge podge week for all the random weird writers, but I think it's a very fun week. My brother wants to get into filming, so I know scripts can be hard, but you are pretty good at them, so it's cool for you to get the honor. How long have you been writing scripts, and what are your plans for the future with this skill?

TR1991: I have been writing Scripts since about year 7, or in American terms I think that's the sixth grade? I had this particular story that I was trying to write. I spent years of polishing it. I picked up tips among the way, and even got some good advice from my aunt's friend who writes scripts.

Well, my plan is to write Christian films. I've been writing Christian film scripts for about 3 years now.

I believe that there is a lack of adventure like Christian films. Most of them are dramas and I wish to expand the genre called 'Christian film.' And of course I wish use it as a medium to speak to people but not try and "convert people."

My skill is mostly because I really like watching films and when I write it I write it as if I'm watching it. If I start to get bored I will cut to another location with another character, or I would add an unexpected event. I usually have a general idea of where I want to go and I try to nudge the stories in that direction.

M: I agree with you as far as having more adventure in Christian films! And it sounds like there is a lot of work involved, just as there is in writing a novel. But at the same time, there are a lot of differences. In scripts not as much detail is needed, correct? More is left up for the producers and directors. Correct me if I'm wrong, but do you think it is easier to write scripts, or is it just as hard?

TR1991: Most certainly easier. When you write a book you have to in a way be perfect in your writing. There's the way you write, use of words etc...

When writing a script you have to focus primarily on what is seen. One thing that I was told, 'Don't try to explain everything to the audience. They aren't dumb. Show them and they will figure it out. Instead of having a narrator say "This man lost his wife and son two years ago" have the man sitting on his bed holding a photograph of his wife and son with tears forming in his eyes.'

As far as not so much detail, that is true to an extent. If you are writing a book you describe the thoughts of the characters as well as intricate details of the surrounding backgrounds. But it also depends upon the style of the author.

You can go into some detail when writing a script but you can leave a lot of it up to the director and producer and whoever.

M: Those were my thoughts exactly One last question: do you think that it is easier to show inner thoughts and feelings in books, than it is in movies? For instance, if someone thinks a very inner thought that can't really be expressed through a facial expression, what would you do? Use a certain music tone perhaps?

TR1991: Not really. Apart from facial expressions, you can hint at it with dialogue and such. Quite a bit of it is down to the Actors.

However, telling the audience plainly is cringe worthy and amateur.

But character thoughts can come out in dialogue, facial expressions and even sometimes with narration. Music will not be something that the script writer will really have any control over. But inner thoughts are more hinted at rather than told in movies.

M: Well thanks for your time Robster, I've really enjoyed this conversation! Hopefully if there are any future filmmakers reading this, you've learned something from Rob! Enjoy the rest of your time Rob.

TR1991: Thank you. It was very fun and interesting to answer your questions


Well, there you have it! I'm no expert on filming (I write novel ya know ) but I hope that any of those of you who DO write scripts, will have learned something from this interview, and hopefully all of you have enjoyed it. Till next week!

~Messenger

Sometimes, you sit down and think. Suddenly, a weird thought appears.

I need to write.

Well, I going to you how to clear up sometime to actually write.

Some of you might have a busy life, always on you feet, scurrying around about. Just trying to get a break. Finally, you have an hour or so of precious free time. What do you do first? Now, you might say: “Oh, I’ll open my novel/short story/poem/article up and write for a bit.”

Don’t kid yourself. Most likely some of you will get on a social media site and surf the web for fifty minutes. Then, as you look at the glowing screen, you realize that you haven’t written anything yet. So, in a tizy, you open up what you need to write. Just. As. You. Start. The. Line. You’re informed that you have another activity you have to go to.

If something is distracting you from writing, shut it off.

Yup, you heard me.

If browsing FaceBook statuses is throwing your attention off writing. Shut it down. Tumblr gifs making you laugh, while your character has not been written about in forever. Close the tab. I’m sorry to say this, but. If YWS is distracting you from writing a review, or typing something out. Get off the distracting part of this wonderful website.

You see my point?

I’m not saying quit your job/school to write. That’d be drastic, and I guarantee you will be moping around the first few months. Not accomplishing writing.

The overall message is: If you want to write, you’ll make time for it.

Try and set up a maybe thirty minutes to an hour per day to, just, write.

Raven,

Stick With What You Know

People are always telling me how I can be a greater writer, and one major point they always seem to make is this one: “Write what you know!” “Incorporate past experiences.” “Add your own knowledge of things to your stories.” I always wondered how important that was as I progressed throughout the years. After all, J.K. Rowling never had encountered a real wizard a day in her life. Veronica Roth claims she is not the adventurous or super daring type, yet her main character appears to be.

So how were they able to do this in order for a story to not fall flat? How were they able to include depth to their stories when they’ve never encountered such things? As I continued to learn I realized I was only looking at the big picture. The said authors had not only smartly written about things they made up, they also included knowledge of other things from everyday life. Of course J.K Rowling hadn’t ever performed the killing curse and Miss Roth probably hasn’t jumped off of a speeding train. But they included simple things like everyday life in their stories to keep a balance of reality and fantasy.

Don’t try to write something you have no idea about or have never experienced. The feelings and emotions of the piece will fall flat and be missing, thus creating a fake story. Write about something you have experienced and then you will be able to include emotions you have felt. You will be able to describe every detail, therefore formulating a more realistic story. The authentic piece will keep the reader intrigued throughout the entire story, since the emotions are real and very true. This also allows readers to connect to the story in different way. Because of this, the piece is more interesting and people can visualize what is happening easily.

However, like the mentioned authors above with Harry Potter and Divergent, you can write about something you haven’t experienced. This means, in order to keep the story more realistic rather than fake, you must integrate something you know or have encountered.

According to my creative writing instructor, this will keep the depth of the piece. For example, say a writer wants to create a poem about the Everglades. Though the writer knows it is a swampy area, they’ve never been there. They don’t know how it feels or what it looks like in real life. Writing is all about emotions and sensory detail and imagery. In order for the piece to be intriguing is for it to feel real. How can someone write about a swamp in the most descriptive way possible if they’ve never experienced a swamp? That is why it is important to write what you know. One can still write about a swamp but they must include real feelings to it. That can still be done without going to the swamp.

This leads me to research. Conduct a good amount of research for things you haven’t experienced. Obviously J.K. Rowling took a lot of time constructing the World of Harry Potter, researching specific things that contributed to a world that, though was fake, felt very much real. Veronica Roth probably took countless hours out of her time to research society, government, and the background for each faction for her to create a very realistic society in Divergent. Roth had mentioned she was taking a course in Psychology, which helped her with formulating the factions.

In conclusion, write what you know. Always include your own experiences in your pieces to spice up your writing. Don’t write something you’ve never encountered because it won’t have any emotion to it (unless you’re a VERY knowledgeable person).

And always keep writing!

~Thewriter13

THE WEEKLY WRITER

YWS's Unofficial Writing-Related Newsletter

Welcome to this week's edition of the Weekly Writer! Before we go further, a shoutout to the cast and crew:



Now onto the articles!

In America on July 4, burgers and hot dogs will be grilled, lemonade will be drunk, and fireworks will light the night sky. Independence Day is important to Americans because it signifies the country’s freedom and its birth date. To people of the United States, it’s a celebration. However, other countries in the world view it as another holiday on a calendar. They wouldn't celebrate it in their home country, nor would they show any interest in it.
But what happens if a person, say from Britain, wants to come over to the US? How would they react to Independence Day? Would they first check out the history of America? Or would they join in on the festivities? For a writer constructing a story based on these things, one must draw inspiration from themselves. How would they react if they were in a foreign country? For me, I would be confused and curious as to what was happening around me. I would want to jump into the action and start learning quickly. In reality, however, that's not how it would work.
I recently interviewed a person whose parents came from another country. She told me they felt awkward at first due to the fact they did not understand the language. After almost a decade they became adjusted to the country and the language. This helps a writer understand that celebrating a foreign holiday won't always be embraced wholeheartedly. On the other hand, a few users I asked did say they would enjoy it. One said they would prefer sticking to a holiday they're more familiar with, but would have fun nonetheless. There are many different reactions, but pick one that suits you.
When an author wants to write about a foreign person experiencing Independence Day, one must first think of themselves. Putting themselves in the situation, they would write how they would feel or react. This will help them create a more realistic scenario. If they were foreign and came to America, how would they participate in the 4th of July? I think I would also want to know what I am celebrating. I would look at the history of the event, which would make it less confusing. Using this, my story could be about any kind of foreigner: Japanese, Russian, German, etc. It all just comes down to the reaction.
In conclusion, this ties back into my Stick With What You Know article. Whether you've gone to another country and participated in their holidays or not, use how you would react to create your story.

There are still other things you should consider when attempting to write this. Not everyone will have the exact same reaction. So while starting from what you would do is a good idea, it may not always be enough. Some other things to consider...
-History. What is the holiday about? To stick with our example, Independence Day is about, well, independence (and freedom). Now what is your character's, or your character's country's, experience with said topic? Would an African man feel bitter towards Americans for celebrating freedom when they had once enslaved his brethren? Or would be happy to join in on the festivities, because his brethren are now free in America? That depends on the specific character. Is he the type to stew on the past, or to enjoy the glories of the present?
-Time. When does your story take place? Once you've decided on the historic events that could affect your character's reactions and feelings, you have to decide on where the story takes place in comparison to those events. I'm sure that if the story of the African man took place just a few years after the Civil War his feelings about Independence Day would be a lot more intence. So he would either be quite bitter towards American's who celebrate the holiday, or he would completely adore the holiday.
-Reason. You also have to consider why your character is in that country to begin with. Did they go because they wanted to enjoy the holiday (in which case they would probably try to get as involved in the holiday as possible)? Did they go because of business/work (in which case they are probably too busy to really enjoy the holiday to its fullest, but may still have some time for it, depending on the specific job they're there for)? Are they immigrants (in which case they probably want to join in on the festivities, but may feel awkward and out of place to the point that they don't join in, depending on the specific character)? If the African man is in America visiting relatives, then his views on Independence Day will probably closely match his relative's (so how do African Americans view Independence Day? As far as I know to them it's just a nice holiday that's a lot of fun with games and barbeques and fireworks). But if he's there because he is traveling the world and it is just coincidence that he's there on July 4th, then he will probably try to relate Independence Day back to the other foreign holidays he has seen in his travels.

So when trying to write about a character experiencing a new holiday, the best place to start is with your own reaction (and possibly ask the people around you how they would react). From there build it up using those three points, history, time, and reason. Once you've got that you should be capable of accurately writing about your character's experience.


Wherever you're from, enjoy the 4th of July! If you're from America, enjoy Independence Day! Don't eat too many burgers. And always keep writing!
Until next time!

~Thewriter13
~WW

Redundancy Versus Repetition

Two things that we always encounter in our writing—whether by accident or purposely—are redundancy and repetition. While many people don't realize this, they are different. Much different. One builds up to something, while the other just repeats the same word or phrase over and over, not noticing their mistake.


What is Redundancy?

A excerpt using redundancy, from some of my own work—not edited.

Protected by the tree’s roots that coiled around and above her, Steilla felt nothing. The glassy slivers bounced off her protective roots—only to fall to her enemies below.

With one swift movement, the root propelled her up and out. For a brief moment, her hair streamed out behind her with the wind. But then she was out of the auditorium, past the remains of the skylight—reflective icicles dangling horizontally, daring her to reach out and break them off.

The root delicately set her down on the rooftop, having used all of its length to lift her up and away from the scrolv’s grasp. It had reached its limitations. The root could carry her no farther.

That is an example of redundancy, an accident where I never noticed the accidental repeat of words until someone else read it for me—finding the mistakes I didn't see. While the repeating of the word root doesn't seem like that big of an issue, it makes you seem inexperienced and naïve, not knowing how to write correctly. And you don't want to give your reader that image of yourself.


How do I Avoid Redundancy?

Redundancy is that snake in the grass, the serpent that sneaks up when you aren't looking, seeking to corrupt your work. But I have news for you. The snake is inside yourself. The tendency is to automatically use the same word to express or describe something, and that natural inclination is always one to avoid.

So what needs to be done?

The only thing you can do is keep an eye out for the redundancy as you write, finding synonyms for words that seem to repeat themselves. After a while, doing this will be an automatic thing, almost like the writing of the words themselves. You will just remember that little process, just one more that you need to keep in mind for your writing. Just one more.

Even with you using precaution and watching for redundancy as you write, you will still have some—no matter how hard you tried while you typed the work up. Paying attention and doing the work ahead of editing while you type always helps, but there will be those that lurk in the quiet until you shake them out. In my experience—what little there is, anyway—reading your work out-loud works best for pulling redundancy out. When you speak your writing, your voice seems to remember things better than your eyes, and your ears are a fresh sense to put to the test.


What is Repetition?

A short paragraph from the same work to give you an example:

Because of her, the entire school was destroyed, torn to pieces by creatures of death and chaos. Because of her, dead bodies were being carried out on stretchers, white sheets being thrown carelessly over their pale faces.

Because she was alive.

And another example from another work—still mine, though.

The steep castle walls on the edge of the sea. Searching for him. Waiting for him. Beckoning to him.

Using repetitive words or phrase is very helpful for many reasons, and for many things. The biggest reason to use repetition is building up a part of your work to gain suspense, and fuel your reader’s interest in your story. To avoid the monotony in a narration of a story, without any variations in style. There are hoards of reasons why and how to use repetition, and the examples I showed only begin to show you ways to use it to your own benefit.


So how do I do Repetition?

Repetition is a simple arrow in your literary quiver, but one that can be hard to obtain if you have never tried to find it. An easy way to look at it is to find words or phrases in your writing that are just really powerful. Words that snag your attention, those are the ones you want to use. Take those powerful words and use them to your advantage. Fashion your sentence around that word—or phrase—to give you the desired affect.

Now there are some instances where using words in a repetitive manner can be as bad as redundancy. There are times when using repetition is a big no, no and those occasions are usually pretty easy to avoid, as long as you abide by one vital rule of writing—one I invented.

Drama doesn't belong in the mud.

What does that mean? It means that you shouldn’t dramatize or add suspense to something that just shouldn't be accentuated. Mud isn't dramatic, and usually writers don’t focus entire works on frivolous and unimportant things—circumstances that your reader will forget as soon as they turn the page. So don't bring their focus to the little, unimportant aspects of your work, but bring it up to the powerful parts of the writing, where their attention and imagination belongs.



Writing is an art with many tools, some of which take time and can be difficult to obtain. It is also a craft that demands meticulous attention to the details, watching out for the little mistakes that creep into your writing. Redundancy and Repetition are two of those, a few of the many things you can have inside you quiver to further you in writing, and make your work seem like an art, and make your story more enjoyable to read.

-Timmy

The What-Huh?

The Weekly Writer is now officially starting its Guest Writer Program. The goal of this program is to give writers a chance to have an article in TWW without having to become an official staff member. Anyone can send in an article, but not all articles will be accepted


Submitting Articles

Articles should be sent in a PM to TheWeeklyWriter. The title should be "Guest Writer Program Submission."

If you have any requests, comments, or suggestions about your article (concerning when it comes out, or something to tell the editors about your formatting, or anything like that) it should go at the beginning of the PM.

You should then have the article in a spoiler.

Code: Select all

[spoiler]Article Here![/spoiler]

And underneath that you should have the article again, only this time in code tags...

Code: Select all

[code]Article Here Again[/code]

Requirements

There are, of course, a few requirements for your articles. The first and most important is that it is about writing. This is a writing-related e-zine, so everything in it should tie into that theme.
You should also already have the article in the appropriate formatting. The title should be like this...

Code: Select all

[center][color=#00734B][size=200]Title Here[/size]

[img]YourAvatarURLHere[/img]

written by @YourScreenNameHere[/color][/center]

You should also sign it. So put this at the end of your article...

Code: Select all

[color=#00734B]-YourUsernameHere[/color]

If you want to spiffy up your signature with things like bold, italic, underline, and what-not then go ahead. Just keep it that color and don't make it too eye catching (the focus is the article, not the signature).

There are also a few other formatting requirements that you may or may not run into, depending on your article.



How Many Articles?

You can submit however many you like. But if you submit a lot of articles we may not publish them all.

Usually guest writers should submit single pieces. But if they have a short series of articles we will accept that. There is a clause though. All article in a series have to be submitted together. Because of this we recommend having no more than three articles in a series (this is not a firm requirement, just a recommendation). When submitting a series please do keep in mind...
-The more articles you have in the series the more slots it will take up in the upcoming editions. This means there will be less slots for other writers. So the more articles in your series the less likely we are to publish it.
-It is up to the staff at TWW to decide when/how often the articles in the series will be published (feel free to provide a suggestion or request, but ultimately it is the team's decision). We might post them all in one edition, or have one come out every week until we run out, or maybe every other week, or once a month. You will be notified about whatever is decided.


Hearing Back

Whatever the team decides about your article, you will hear back. TheWeeklyWriter will send you a PM letting you know their decision.

If you are accepted they will have an estimated date for when it will come out (this is just an estimate, so it might not be right). You will be tagged in the article, so when it does come out you will know.

If you are not accepted don't feel bad. It might just be because we have too many articles, and adding in your article would make the edition way too long. You should always try for another article.


Keep In Mind

If we decide to publish your article we will have our editors look through it. They will only make small changes. Mostly just grammar, spelling, and formatting.

Also, we get to decide when it comes out. If you have a request, include that in your PM. But ultimately the decision is up to the team.

We are always open to suggestions, comments, and any sort of feedback. So if you have any to give us concerning the Guest Writer Program just shoot me (WritingWolf) a PM!



Thank you for your time, and I hope you consider submitting an article! We'd love to have you.

~WW

THE WEEKLY WRITER

YWS's Unofficial Writing-Related Newsletter

Welcome to this week's edition of the Weekly Writer! I apologize for the delay.

Before we go further, a shoutout to the cast and crew:



Now onto the articles!