December 13

Book review (The full throttle saga of NASCAR’s first family.)

 

By. Ralph A.

 

In my last blog post I talked about a famous formula one driver and also author Niki Lauda. In this post i’m kind of keeping along those lines except the author is Jay Busbee. You may ask what does he have to do with auto racing, well nothing actually only that he wrote an awesome book entitled, Earnhardt Nation: The Full-Throttle Saga of NASCAR’s First Family.

It’s about the earnhardt family, who is one of the biggest names in NASCAR history. It goes from Ralph Earnhardt who raced from 1956 to 1964, to his son Dale Earnhardt Sr. who raced from 1975 to 2001 when he died after his fatal crash at daytona.The book then goes on to talk about Dale’s son, Dale Earnhardt Jr. who is still currently racing today. Overall i really did enjoy this book it was a good read and i would recommend it to anybody who loves auto racing, or just loves nascar.

November 3

The Importance of Setting

by: Charlotte

 

If the mind of a professional writer is a finely-tuned machine, then mine is a malfunctioning lawnmower. Organizing is not my strong suit when it comes to a story or plot. I have an ending before a conflict. Goals before I have characters to possess them. Relationships blossom before unwitting characters even know each other exist. The concept of writing a story even in vague chronological order is a completely alien concept. Snippets of characterization and plot flutter into my mind at the most arbitrary times and leave me clamoring for a pen and pad to write them down on.

Regardless of the order that a story’s traits come in, I always find that the two most basic elements of a story, and are necessary in creating a situation, are the characters and the setting.

The creation of the things I write are sometimes outside moving in, and sometimes it’s inside moving out. Characters lead to situations which lead to the world, or ideas for worlds lead to situations, which leads to characters. It’s not always one way. Both characters and setting require care and detail to coexist effectively and create a coherent story. Today, let’s discuss the worlds.

Even if all your characters are existing in a void, there is still a setting for the story. A place where they carry out their activities, where they eat and sleep and meet up to chat. In many cases, with nonfictions and realistic fictions, the default for a setting is the real world, with its standard limitation of what is and isn’t possible, both in terms of laws and the limitations of physics and the like. With those limitations of a world are limitations on what the story’s conflict can be about and what can happen. There is no concern for a character to suddenly sprout wings and fly off into the sunset in a nonfiction.

Personally, I focus more on fiction, largely due to the more open-ended possibilities when it comes to the limitations of a world. The more fantastical limitations of fiction allow for a larger variance in conflict. While a nonfiction character may fret over their school woes, a fiction character struggles to gather an assemblage of parts for a mech suit in a steampunk epic, or to gather an army of warriors to combat an oppressive kingdom in a feudal dystopia. In a story, the setting will always influence characters in some way, but those ways can be far more limited when comparing a realistic fiction to a fully fictional story.

While a fictional story does give a wider scope for potential scenarios, it still must have its limitations. If there is a scenario but it is too open ended (and sometimes, even if it isn’t) it allows for one of the most hackneyed and despised contrivances of a plot, a deus ex machina. Literally meaning ‘God from the machine,’ it is an instance in plot where a seemingly hopeless scenario is solved suddenly by a new character, ability, or object. It acts as one of the most boring and arguably lazy ways to resolve an issue or conflict, and because of the sudden introduction, usually ignores the conventions of the world set in place. Giant army in the way? So what, they’re now all miraculously dead. It kills all tension and effectively nullifies the world for a time and breaks suspension of disbelief, showing that the physical laws set in place no longer apply and have the possibility of being broken again. The setting of a story can set up anything from the tone of a story to the stakes depending on how the author writes it, so it is essential to have a level of consistency through the scenarios that the characters face.

There isn’t really anything wrong with toying around with those conventions. It can be used to a positive effort, especially in a comedic or self-aware setting. However a setting and a world takes time to set up a suspension of disbelief in the reader, and ruining that can really ruin the experience of reading whatever it is that you wrote.

The story’s world is important, being the basis for the entire story itself. You take time to create it, so stick to it, unless, perhaps, that destroying that world was the point all along.

November 3

7 Deadly Sins of Writing

by Thracius

I have to thank a couple of my fellow writers for this idea. As a fairly pious Catholic I thought it was a clever and interesting idea, so I’m going to expand on it: what are the seven deadly sins of writing? Or, rather, how do the seven deadly sins apply to writing? These sins won’t send you to Hell, but they might send your book to the bottom of the bargain bin.

Pride

This is a big one, especially for new writers: you can’t be too prideful. If you spend a year or two writing a book and you publish it and get bad reviews, don’t go to the review and leave a nasty comment. It’s unprofessional, it’s petty, and it’s bad authorship. Chances are, the person has a point, even if you don’t want to hear it. No matter how experienced you are as a writer, keep in mind that you can always improve. Never think of your writing as perfect and unimpeachable and always be willing to accept criticism.

Envy

With the smashing success of A Song of Ice and Fire and its TV series, Game of Thrones, it seems like everybody wants to be George R.R. Martin. The “realistic fantasy” schtick, where there’s some magic and other fantasy bits but people’s motivations and character are grim and realistic, seems to be becoming more common in recent years. The same goes for the “wizards in real life” gimmick of Harry Potter, and it seems like every YA author copies the same basic idea as every other YA author: angsty teens who live in a reality that is like ours, but slightly different. The point is, don’t look at others’ work and think that you have to copy their ideas to be as successful as they are.

Wrath

Don’t write anything, whether a short piece or a book, out of spite. J.K. Rowling admits that she nearly killed Ron Weasley, the beloved ginger, out of spite for fans. Can you imagine the fan’s outcry if that had happened? The fans cried when Ron’s lesser-known brother Fred died, and Fred had an identical twin with an identical personality, so it was hardly even a loss. Doing anything in a book out of spite will just make people angry, it won’t be entertaining or satisfying, and it might hurt your reputation.


But even worse is putting out a book as a hit on a particular person. For example: “The Anti-Obama Book – The Straight Facts to Why Obama Sucks” is hardly a magnum opus. The same goes for Imposter: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy”.  Putting out a book to slander someone, regardless of who it is or the content, is petty, it makes you look bad, and it’s a waste of your creative talent.

Gluttony

This one lies beyond the realm of authorship. To be gluttonous is to use what is, in the industry, called purple prose. Good writing, or prose, flows well and, while eloquent, isn’t excessive. It’s modest. Purple prose is prose that is excessively ornate and flowery, calls attention to itself, and can water down the point of your passage by being far too dramatic. The reason it’s so bad is perhaps that, while reading, the reader shouldn’t be aware that the author exists. They should imagine being able to see all these things, not imagine them being described. With purple prose, it’s so excessive that you can’t not imagine someone narrating it. Here’s an example of purple prose from The Eye of Argon, an awfully written book:

“The disemboweled mercenary crumpled from his saddle and sank to the clouded sward, sprinkling the parched dust with crimson droplets of escaping life fluid.”

Just avoid that.

Lust

Don’t write obscene scenes for their own sake. (Unless it’s a Nora Roberts kind of book, because that’s the point of those books.) If you’re going to write a scene that is obscene in some way, whether it’s lewd or gory, make sure the scene has some kind of meaning; otherwise you’ll end up with an excessive and decadent book or story.

Sloth

Write, write, and write some more. If you’re feeling lazy and don’t want to write, too bad, do it anyway. Try to write at least a few hundred words a day. It doesn’t have to be good – you can make it better with editing. But never give up writing.

Greed

Don’t write books for the sake of making money, because that’s when you start to publish drivel. Write books that are good, that people will enjoy, that tell a good story, and money will follow. J.K. Rowling was homeless when she wrote the first Harry Potter book. Don’t let money get in the way of good writing: if you’re writing something just for the money, you’re not making a story; you’re making a product.

The TL;DR version of all this: be modest as an author, don’t try to emulate others, don’t write anything out of spite, be modest with your prose, don’t make your book excessively explicit for its own sake, don’t be lazy, and don’t let money get in the way of good writing. If you avoid these seven sins, you’ll avoid many of the mistakes that plague writers both experienced and new.

October 27

One of my favorite writers.

When i was asked to write another blog post i was honestly kind of lost on what i wanted to write about. I thought about it for a while and then i got this idea, that maybe i should write about a writer with a history in something else besides writing. So i began to look around at some interesting people and then i came across a few books written by the professional formula one driver Niki Lauda. This made me extremely excited because i am a car enthusiast thru and thru, And with me also having a background in road course kart racing i was particularly happy to read something written by such a legend. Not only was Lauda one of the best formula drivers of all time but he also is remembered for having one of the worst accidents in formula one history.Which i do believe he references in his book to hell and back which you can find on amazon.

I really like that someone like Niki Lauda who was famous and know for racing could turn around and also have a writing career as well. As a young writer with an interest in all things automotive, It inspires me to write more and put a lot of my effort into my writing. By writing this post i wanted to show people that writers come from all different walks of life and that’s ok, but all in all with all those differences the one thing we all have in common is we are all writers.

 

post by Ralph

October 26

Creativity Isn’t Everybody’s Strong Suit

Sometimes, writers block hits you. And sometimes, the block lasts for years. For me, it’s been about 17 years, go figure. Really, I’ve never written anything worthwhile in my entire life. I’ve always been fascinated by people’s imaginations. Huge monsters that have spindly legs and blue eyes, impossible sea creatures. Sharks living in volcanoes. These are all things my little sisters tells me about in her dreams. Sometimes, the things she talks about are things she should never even know about. She told me the other day that her Orange Juice killed his wife and they didn’t have enough evidence to convict him. (There’s a reference in there somewhere, I’m sure)

But really, I’ve never been able to sit down, and write a decent story. So when other people do, it’s amazing to me. One novel I have loved since the day I read it, is Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman. I’ve heard that there have been additions to the book, and it has been made into a series, but I have never been able to get my hands on them. And that really makes me upset.

The book was wonderful, it’s got a love story in it that made me roll my eyes a little bit, but the idea was insane. Division of people based on race, and about the Liberation group that wanted to eradicate the divide. Simple, I know. But the way Blackman writes was so beautiful, I fell in love with the characters and the story. Even the love part of it wasn’t nauseating like I figured it would be when my 8th grade English teacher threw it at me for a book report.

Maybe that’s how you grow as a reader, finding something you are uncomfortable with, and reading about it. Maybe that’s why teachers like to choose books for us during our classes and force us to read it. It could be just to open our eyes to something deeper, or get us to see something that was right in front of us all along. Who knows. I really hate when teachers choose books for us, but some kids like it for some reason. I do have to say, that there have been more times I have loved the books I’ve read, rather than hated them. But one book I have always hated, I read back in primary school. It was called Muggie Maggie, all about this girl who couldn’t write in cursive correctly so her name looked like “Muggie” instead of “Maggie”. Absolutely dreadful, I do not recommend. I even went to my teacher and asked if I could get a different book, because I was not interested in Muggie one little bit. She laughed and said to go back to my desk.

I still have the book. I figured since it was so important to her that I read the book, I might as well keep it forever. You know, so I could finish it. It’s been 11 years, I don’t think I’m ever going to finish it. And frankly, I am quite alright with that.

So not every time Ive read something has it been interesting or a good story. Especially not in primary school, I swear the library only had books that were at max, 30 pages long. The only good thing about reading in primary was that I learned to read, and that I could check out Mary Kate and Ashley Passport to Paris over and over again. Lord, I do not miss elementary school.

I think I have grown a lot as a reader over the years. And you would think at this point I would have at least some remnants of an imagination, but it looks like I have never picked that up. It seems that the kids who hated school in elementary and middle school, are the ones with the most active imaginations.

I wonder if there is a correlation?

-Sophisticated

October 26

Call To Cans

by AKA

Writers are not vandals. When a teenage kid goes out and writes “F*** The Pigs” on a bridge in black paint just because he wants to feel the rush or because he’s angry at the world, he’s not a writer. When a soccer mom with little Jimmy in the back seat drives by and reads it and he asks his mom what those words mean, he’s not a writer. It’s these graffiti “artists” that go out and tag for years on end, without doing any burners or pieces that actually mean anything, that give the entire community of writers a bad name. Writer do murals, pieces, burners, stencils, and yes even throw-ups and tags. But it’s still art. Even if a writer does just throw-up their name, they’ve still done pieces in the past that make them worth something. The thing that bridges the gap between graffiti “artists” and writers is meaning. If your work means something that will positively impact someone, something, or hell even start a revolution, you are a writer. If you use your paint to degrade, insult, and criticize, or if you want to  “feel the rush” or “do something bad”, you are not an artist. If someone does not look at your piece and feel inspired or even smile, you are not a writer. Go out and make a change and make people think, see and feel. When you are finally a writer you mean something in the world of graffiti. You are changing the stigma that “all graffiti is done by punk kids who were raised wrong.” You are making a change not only with the message that your work conveys but you are making a change in the minds of the people. You are making a change about the entire ideology of all writers. When you tag, you’re starting your name in the world of writers. You better do something with that name, or you’ll be the step back in the progress of the world of writers that nobody wants around.

October 6

Writing and Music

By Ralph Accornero

Being a writer doesn’t mean you have to write stories, novels, or biographies , A writer can be someone who just posts his or her thoughts on Facebook. My preferred style of writing is through music. Sometimes i write rap music and sometimes i prefer to sit with my guitar and write country music. Music speaks to the soul and can move even the stiffest person. Some songs can even make you feel emotion An upbeat country song can put you in a wonderful mood but an emotional country song can comfort someone’s heart after a breakup. My point with this whole thing is writing is a pure form of writing and honestly is one of the most overlooked styles of writing in the world. (For my first blog post i figured i would relate writing to something i love so i related it to music.)

October 3

The Nontraditional About Me

by Khloe

We all grow up and leave high school thinking we are oh so mature now, we seem to have forgotten the joy we had playing with dolls, rolling around in the snow, and even chasing after the ice cream truck.

I now log into my old edublog from freshman year that I had paid no attention to at the time to give it another try. Well, maybe forced. Forced to try.

I got stuck in the same class.

With the same teacher.

Now, i’m on the same blog site…. Wasting time.

He doesn’t think of it that way so I guess if I would like to pass this class I will suck it up and write.

Write about what? Anything actually. Who starts a blog with a definite answer of what will be on it? We all stray from the usual and even change our minds to get something out. So I have no idea what will happen.

I don’t even think I will care if someone reads it.

So let me start off strong starting…Now.

I am currently a senior at Tech Valley High School. I am taking creative writing with my fantastic favorite teacher Mr. O’Brien. I know it sounds sarcastic and maybe that’s just my way to handle this class but he is actually a very good teacher.  Not saying he’s a big ball of inspiration, but on occasions he makes me feel as if I need to write.

What will I write about? Heaven knows, but I will never forget to write a post with this man around.

Yes, I will never miss a post but I will also never take his advice of having text the traditional way which is aligned on the left. Can you really love a piece of writing when the set up irks you beyond belief?

Maybe I do want to look like a Hallmark card.

October 3

A Good Writer is, First, a Voracious Reader

 

by Thracius

A good writer is, first, a voracious reader.

I think it’s fair to say that never in history has someone picked up a pen and wrote down a great story unless they’ve first read a ton of great stories. Reading other people’s stories is the single most informative thing you can do to become a better writer: you learn what a good story is and what it looks like, how to make good plot hooks, how to write likeable (or unlikeable) characters, and most importantly, you learn how not to do those things. People may sneer at the horrific purple prose and convoluted storylines of Twilight and some other YA books, but those things are great manuals on how not to write.

And to be clear, anyone saying you have to read Crime and Punishment or Anna Karenina is a snob and you shouldn’t listen to what they have to say. To be well-read, you have to read all sorts of things. You have to read things you don’t enjoy, because those books have important things to teach you as well. You have to read things that aren’t masterfully written, that aren’t considered classics, even books that really suck. Because if you only read books that are “great”, you’re no better than some chump off the street who only knows the most famous books out there. Not to mention that you’re discounting less well-known books, many of which are excellent.

I’ve read in immense quantities since I was young. And reading isn’t solely relegated to books. Newspapers, magazines, video games, online articles; pretty much anything with text can teach you to be a better writer in some way. You’d probably be surprised how much influence Pokemon has had on me; it taught me to be a more proficient reader when I was young. Of course, it’s also important to learn how to structure a story, because technical writing ability is less than half the formula. You can learn a lot about how to structure a story from video games, movies or TV shows, especially in creative ways that you wouldn’t find in books. Movies and TV shows especially have to be creative because they don’t have as much time to fit in the plot, and their special effects budget is somewhat less impressive than the nearly-infinite budget of the imagination. You could probably learn more from an Akira Kurosawa or Stanley Kubrick movie than you could from a John Green or Stephanie Meyer.

So what’s the moral of the story? I guess I’ve rambled on a bit now, but the moral of the story is that to write good stories, you need to experience them, preferably a lot of them. You can’t lock yourself in an ivory tower and devote yourself to writing good books; you need to read and you need to experience life first to be any good. I mean, you technically can do that, but then you’ll turn into Stephen King or David Patterson, where you’re cranking out huge quantities of books and a lot of them turn out to be shit because you forget what it’s like not to be a revenue-making book-writing robot.

So if your writing sucks and you want to get better, go out and read something or watch something. That may not be profound and secret advice, but if anyone tells you they know a secret way to make you a great writer, they’re scamming you.

October 3

First, Let Me Start Off . . .

by RU1722

First, let me start off by saying that I have trouble reading. After reading a few pages of a novel, the words start to blur together and I lose a lot of interest. If you don’t have that struggle, you’re very lucky! It’s not that I don’t like reading, I just can’t read a lot and I get discouraged. With that being said, I’ll will post poems that I have written for the most part, and maybe a few I have read. I’ll probably include songs that I like, and treat them like the poems I’ve read

I bet you are wondering who I am at this point, so let me introduce myself as Ru1722. Don’t worry about the meaning of that, and that’s not important. I am 17 years old, and I have Asperger’s Syndrome. I’ll probably be writing about that too, it’ll be in a poem or something though.

So, as I wrote down earlier, I have trouble reading. I do more writing than reading, which I have only read short informational pieces that get to the point quickly. I’ve only read one novel on my own, and books I was required to read for school. I have never published anything, although I’ve thought of publishing a collection of poems I’ve written.

Since this blog requires me to give some information helpful to the literary community grow. Along with posting what I have written, I’ll be posting tips and tricks that will help the reader become a better writer.

I hope this blog helps out people who have a problem with reading, and aspiring writers out there. This blog should be a lot of fun, and I am really looking forward to it!