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1. TWO CENTS: CLARITY
2. QUIBBLES: Elucidating the Ellipsis
3. THE PLANETS ALIGN IN CHARACTER CREATION
4. ASK GRUNO
5. NEW ARRIVALS
6. SHAMELESS PLUGS
7. SUBSCRIBERS

TWO CENTS: CLARITYwritten by Aley  < PM: >

This is actually a pretty popular theme for me. In my writing I'm always trying to be clear, so I figured I'd spend a little time talking about what that actually meant this week for Two Cents.

Clarity, how I understand it, is the ability to translate a message from themselves to someone else without alteration. Clarity has levels of impurities, such as with the telephone game. One person says Hockey Stick, and it comes out Volley Fit on the other end. Somewhere from point A to point B there's a loss in translation. Usually, this is gradual and you can get from A, to A.1-A.3 without much trouble, but as soon as you transition beyond the first three people, the clarity decreases exponentially.

This is with a simple message, a two word message, just nouns. Clarity in writing is the ability to communicate complex, intricate ideas without alteration from one person to another. This becomes considerably harder when you consider that the ideas we're usually trying to share are emotional. We're not just trying to say that the sky is beautiful, we're trying to describe the sky as we experience it. These experiences can't easily be translated from ourselves to paper, let alone the connotations that each word might have from paper to person.

I'm going to attempt to break clarity down into different levels on a 1-5 scale so that people can see how that can relate to them and their writing when someone scores them on clarity. First, defining a 1 and a 5, the two extremes.

1 in clarity for me would be that there was no to little clarity. The piece's meaning/emotion/image was completely unintelligible, and/or skewed in the reading of the poem.

Likewise 5 is going to be that the piece's meaning/emotion/image was related exactly as the author intended it to be. The message was clear.

The tricky ground with clarity is that an author might have had a specific meaning in mind when writing the poem, but the poem actually comes out to mean something different. This is where 4 comes in. For me, a 4 is that the author got the meaning they wrote wrong. The piece's meaning/emotion/image is consistent among readers, but not with the author.

What this means is that if three people read the poem, they'll basically agree about what it is about. They might take a different thing away from the poem, but they'll agree that the poem is about one particular subject. Meanwhile, the poet is ignorant of what their poem actually said.

This can happen when perspectives change, which happens all the time, so the author might have been writing about something that they weren't in the right perspective to see what everyone else is going to see when they look at the poem.

Three is similar, except there's disagreement about what the poem is about among both author and audience. Sometimes this is exactly what the author wants to happen, however, and they're making the poem purposefully ambiguous. Poems such as "My Papa's Waltz" are a prime example of this. Half of the audience believes it's just harmless fun, while the other half believes it's a case of child abuse before that was a thing. The truth is unknown, however, there is evidence for both cases.

These poems can be fun, and clarity isn't always required, however, at it's core a poem should be understandable. Taking "My Papa's Waltz" as a poem, and grading it on clarity, I'd have to give it a 3 because of that, but, I could argue too that it's a 5 because the author wrote a poem about a boy's father coming home from work and putting him to bed. However he got there doesn't really matter despite it being the core of the debate. The fact remains that it is a poem about bedtime and everyone can agree on that.

For two, this is when there is a breakdown of communication. Most of the time, it is because the author doesn't communicate their point very well. They have a point, unlike 1, but they don't actually state it clearly, they hide it in an ambiguous idea, or weird phrasing, and no one really understands that, so they don't have anything to fight about, they just have a poem. Sometimes this happens in professional poems too because they're just doing something like writing about nature, however, they use ambiguous metaphors instead and don't actually get to the point.

So what makes a good clean, clear poem? Depending on the person, this answer is going to differ. The idea of a clear poem is a poem that translates it's message cleanly, but part of poetry is to include imagery and metaphor, and all of these fancy ways of saying things which doesn't always make a poem clear. These other parts of a poem are important too, it can't just be an essay after all, it has to be a creative, stylistic, melodic, well thought out poem.

With these other edges of poetry cutting in to the idea of clarity, poetry can become something of a mess. The way we organize this division of chaos and order is through clarity. With each metaphor, we make sure it's easily understood in our given language, and that it conveys the right meaning. Aside from that, we use language that is modern and understood, and used, today. These tools help us create a poem that isn't just pretty, but also understandable, and relating an idea that is something we all agree on, or at least, a set of actions that we all agree on.

The difference between poetry now and poetry a while ago is that today, a poem is more likely to talk to the audience than before. Back when "My Papa's Waltz" was written, poetry was more about showing a scene rather than talking to the audience. This change to conversational poetry is one of the ways which clarity has changed in poetry in general. The more conversational a poem gets, the more likely it is to be clear about a meaning rather than a scene. Before, a poem could be very clear about a scene but the author's point had to be inferred by what happened in the poem and the language used to describe what happened.

This change has made it easier to write, read, and relate to poetry, however, it also has changed the subjects of poetry dramatically and hazards towards making poems more like essays than poetry. To keep that poetic touch these conversational poems will often center their discussion around a subject and use a metaphor to describe that subject. This improves the clarity by allowing a metaphor to exist that people can explore to it's fullest rather than making the entire poem a metaphor for something that happens or that they're trying to talk about.

Whichever way you choose to write your poetry today, clarity is a major part of the audience we attract. The clearer a poem is, the easier it is to attract people who do not typically enjoy poetry. Most people will assume poetry is usually a rhyme or a mystery of some sort that needs to be solved rather than enjoyed and the movement towards clear, exact poems which say exactly what they mean is the deciphering of the prophecy.

I hope this helped give you a new perspective on clarity and how it impacts your writing. If you have a subject you want to see me write about, send me a note and your subject may be featured on my next Two Cents!

QUIBBLES
Elucidating the Ellipsis
written by Lavvie  < PM: >

There are two types of people in the world: the ones who loathe the ellipsis in informal writing and the ones who don’t. On the one hand, it’s true that the three little dots all in a row can look clunky and almost appear to break up the flow of writing. On the other hand, it’s a nifty technique to build suspense and develop a plot or character.

First, what is an ellipsis?

An ellipsis, or ellipses when plural, is a set of three periods:



The spacing of the periods of the ellipsis need to evenly spaced, however the correct spacing remains somewhat of a controversy within the world of grammar. A lot of people say the most typical way is to type space-period-space-period-space-period and it’s true – that is the formal, traditional way. However, with the evolution of grammar and speech, the following spacing methods have started to be more accepted in the written world:

1. @Steggy loves stegosauruses . . . most of the time.
2. ”Beware of @Rydia...,” whispered @Sins.
3. I stared at the math placement exam. “I ... don’t know this.”
4. Everything went black....

The first example uses the traditional space and period ellipsis. There are a few more correct methods, including no spaces except after the third and final period or no spaces except before the first period, but the examples above are the most common and also address the issue of using an ellipsis in conjunction with other punctuation.

Believe it or not, the use of an ellipsis in writing does not mean you eradicate all other punctuation. The best way to look at an ellipsis is as if it were just another word – meaning you don’t forget other crucial, demanded things, like commas or full-stop periods. If you take a peek at example #2, you’ll notice that even though I used an ellipsis within the dialogue, I didn’t forget to properly punctuate. Thus, I remembered the comma that is important when it comes to punctuating dialogue. It might look a bit strange, but what’s stranger is forgetting normal and very important rules of writing. Now look at the fourth example. Why are there four periods? Well, what you see is not really four periods but in fact an ellipsis (which we know consists of three) and a period, to end the sentence. If you ever use an ellipsis at the end of a sentence, do not forget the full-stop period or else you’ll have a floating sentence in your story.

A major reason why there are quite a few people who despise ellipses in creative writing is that too many of them create inefficiencies. It is common for writers to use an ellipsis to point out when a character pauses or loses their train of thought in dialogue. Of course, this is perfectly fine and normal, but if this happens frequently, not much is going to happen and the pacing of the story is slowed right down. The most irritating thing is to have a spacey character who speaks in ellipses the entire time. If that’s your situation, consider changing the character a bit or sacrificing the series of dots for something more efficient and effective.

Overall, using an ellipsis in informal writing is not wrong, although you are very welcome to find it irritating. What is wrong is how the ellipsis is used or how it might be formatted. What is also wrong is using the ellipsis serially, to the extent where it might even detract from the creative writing. My advice to you is to write, read, and review with caution and definitely don’t get carried away. . . .

THE PLANETS ALIGN IN CHARACTER CREATIONwritten by Morrigan  < PM: >

When creating a character, it is inevitable that an author will hit a wall sometimes, especially when it comes to smaller details. Would it be too common for her favorite food to be pizza? Everyone likes pizza! Call it writer's’ block, or say the muses aren’t speaking anymore. Whatever it is, it can be frustrating. Whether participating in storybooks or working on a novel, any writer can come across this problem.

There is a solution, however, to filling in those pesky little character details. Look no further than the popular Zodiac Meme! Whether it’s figuring out a minor character’s favorite music genre, or what city a main character would be, the Zodiac Meme has it all.

Officially known as “The Signs As…” Meme, this meme is a template that includes all twelve Zodiac signs along with whimsical descriptions of them. One of the funniest Zodiac Memes is “THE SIGNS AS POTATOES.” The template describes the various Zodiac signs as different ways to prepare potatoes. Everyone is a potato on the inside, though only Libras become potato salads.

The rise of “The Signs As…” Meme started in 2014, though it is only now reaching the non-tumblr-verse. While it only started to gain momentum in 2014, the meme has been around as early as 2011. Using this old meme for writing is a good way to freshen it up.

One might protest that the positions of stars and planets have no real affect on people’s lives. That is the fun part. What are authors but gods of their created universes? Whether or not one believes the Zodiac signs are accurate in the real world, they can definitely be real in an imaginary world. Just determine the character’s birthday, and a simple Google search will bring prefabricated details for that Scorpio or Sagittarius.

A good example of the Zodiac Meme is “The Signs as Criminals .” If one is hankering to write a crime story, this is a good way to get the brain going. What kind of crime is it? Consult the Zodiac.

One Zodiac Meme suggests what each sign might say on a date. Try starting a short story with a line from one of the signs in “What the 12 Zodiac Signs Would Say on a Date . Some of them are cringe inducing, and perfect for an antagonist. The signs can take a story on quite a roller coaster of a date, it seems.

It might seem silly to glean details from preset templates one can find in Google Images, but inspiration comes from the unlikeliest places. Any author should take a gander at “The Signs As…” Meme whenever they’re feeling low on creativity. The positions of the planets might just have an impact on writing.

ASKGRUNOwritten by Gruno  < PM: >


Dear Gruno,

I have been experiencing problems of the feline variety. Every night, two cats--one a typical alley cat, all brown with white, speckled paws, and the other-a beautiful persian-insisted on crashing into my window. I always end up spilling ink on my schoolwork and it is extremely bothersome considering I should have gotten used to the cats a long time ago. Should I hire an exterminator, or take a different course of action?

Please help
-WhonderWhooper


Dear WW,

Obviously, the best course of action is for you to use pencils on your homework or pens that don't require you to have an open container of ink. Then, you invite all the kitties into your house/apartment/castle and make them your children. You can then use them to devise an evil plot so they will rule the world. MUAHAHAHAHA!

Love,
Gruno

Dear Thing 1 and Thing 2,

How much Pruno could a Pruno prune if a Pruno could prune Pruno?

-Anonymous Riddler


Dear Mr. Riddler,
Pruno could pick a peck of pickled- wait. That's not right.

Pruno sold sea shells- no, I dont think that's right.

A woodchuck could chuck a- no. Not that one either.

Pruno could prune as much pruno as can be if a pruno could prune a pruno.

There we go!

Love,
Gruno

Sadly, that is all this Runian has for this week! We need your questions to keep this column going so if you're interested in submitting, click here.

NEW ARRIVALS
written by Lavvie  < PM: >

Take a moment to welcome this week’s newest members to the site!

@Nick is new... sort of! She made an account a long time ago and recently decided to come back. Click here to welcome them back to the site.

@RippleGylf posted a poem! Leave a review on I Have Learned to Hate the Dark .

SHAMELESS PLUGS

written by SquillsBot  < PM:  >

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