Hey TL this is going to be an all over the place blog, but that's ok, I just need some community help. This is going to be a rather long blog, so read whichever parts you want of it, it's split into 3 pieces.
Piece 1: Writing a Novel
The first thing that I'd like to talk about is starting off a book. I've written down about half of what I'm formulating as the plot. I have the general plot down, but I'm sure I'll be changing that while I interweave in subplots that I want. I have a name for the work in progress. I'm calling it Sunshowers, partly because I find that particular phenomenon not only one of the most beautiful expressions of nature, but also one that could be seen as a melancholy display of tears falling from heaven. Banal or not, pathetic fallacy is aesthetically pleasing, at least I think so.
I find it funny that no matter how creative I'd like to be, I seem to be drawn to the ideas set forth by authors I respect and whose books I enjoyed most. I constantly seem to want to make my characters in the same form of those I read about in Malraux's works or Wallace's works. Whenever I want to make a plotline, it takes the form of one I think Murakami would write, Wallace would approve of, or at least a plot that several of the other french modernist's I've read wouldn't be too angry at me writing. When I get creative, it's a tidal wave of thought rushing into the notebook I keep - I should write a blog on that, now that I think about it - just for this book. Some of the thoughts I'll toss out, some I'll keep, the point being that the creativity side is not my weak point.
What is my weak point then, if I seem so sure of myself, already having a title and a plot, is the writing style. I can't tell how I should write the book. Post-modernism is apparentlydead and the future of the modern novel is apparently quite old (good thing Tropisms is on my list of books to read). When I asked my father what he thought, he told me, "Just make your own style." Damn I wish I could dream up my own style, and I've started thinking about how to do just that, but every piece I create needs another piece to fit.
Piece 2: Wordpress and Blogging
I created a wordpress recently, but I'm unsure of how to use it. All of my blogging goes here, on TL. I love this community, even if I suck at general forum debates (T.T), but at the same time the blogging community here is rather small. Other than the dude(s) who auto 1 star posts, the blog section on TL is one of the smallest, but most amazing communities on the website. People make hilarious posts, sad posts, depression posts, help-me posts, fuck X unit/X team/X Player posts, and the ever amazing [girlblog] posts.
I can't tell if I should use the wordpress as a more professional writing area, a place to not just work on my writing (which is a big part of blogging on TL, an excuse to write) but to present myself formally, or if I should be using it to practice writing for the novel I want to produce. Wordpress is an asset to be used, but I'm unsure of how to use it. If I want to use it as a place specifically for writing polished work for a portfolio, then I can't necessarily use it as a place to spam out work inspired by the writer's help-desk my college runs or the similar help-desks on the internet. By the same token, I don't want to spam posts (I'm looking at you StateofReverie) in the TL blog section; spamming the blog section is a big no-no, unless of course it's a daily ladder or a daily battle report or something daily in that likeness.
I just don't really know what to do with the wordpress, I want to use it, but I don't know what I should be using it for. I bet I'm just overthinking the whole ordeal though. Afterall, it's a tool to be used, and I'm letting it sit around idly.
Piece 3: Improving My Blog
I'm stuck when it comes to my blogs here on TL. I want to know how I can improve them, other than of course being a better writer. I see there are several types of blogs: the JWD, the Mani, the Shady Sands, the Puba, and the It'sjustatank type. All of those have people that fall into those categories and exist as pretty much a gradient of the picture-to-text ratio, the topics-covered-to-blog-number ratio, and the new-to-old ratio. Of course there are other great bloggers here that fall into the gradient, but these guys seem to be the ones who typify the different blog styles in my head.
Puba writes nearly all text blogs as does Shady, the difference being Puba's are usually true-to-life and Shady's fluctuate between true-to-life and his fiction. JWD and Mani tend to write diverse blogs with a multitude of photos over a variety of subjects, but only write their blogs within a span of 1 per month or 1 per half year depending on how busy they are in their lives. It'sjustatank's blogs tend to be all beautiful pictures (a bit different from Glider, who draws and makes an incredible sped-up sketch video) but little text.
I'd most likely put myself in a grey area between Puba and Shady. I don't write fiction on TL like Shady, but my blogs don't tend to be about life stories written in a manner that get's the point across so vividly that the reader just get's it, like Puba. I'm confused whether or not I should simply improve my writing, or if I should change the aesthetic of my blogs along with said writing improvement, or add XYZ that would make my blogs a better experience. I'd rather have my blogs be fun to read, and an excersize in writing, but at the same time I don't want creating a blog to be a 3 hour affair. Any input on the matter would be awesome . Also, I realize that there are other great blog writers on TL, those are just the ones that really come to mind when I think of the different blog styles on TL, and either way, I pretty much read every blog that comes out because I live in the blogs section lol.
Could you just create two wordpress blogs, and then have each of them follow a different style. That might be too much work and if you don't write everyday it seems pointless.
I think you should just start writing and see what form/flow your words end up taking. I've never written anything that long, but I'm sure it will be hard to stay in a consistent style throughout the whole novel.
I'm pretty sure most writers don't choose a style, their experiences and beliefs (and other books they've read) define it. You should just write something and see where it takes you.
Also, you try to compare your blogs to other people's on the site. But to be quite honest, when I click on a docvoc blog I have a pretty good idea of what I'm gonna get. They're kinda... docvocy. I guess what I'm saying is to keep doin' you
My father is a writer/blogger/misc with a pen, he had a couple books published over the course of the last few years through the U of M press, does a writing class or two directed at writers that, from what was described to me, are in your position.
I've not read many blogs here on TL but I would say Wordpress is essential as a tool, just in terms of where your audience reach can go. TL is an overly specific demographic to speak to exclusively, and if you really want to write professionally or publish sending readers to a more... neutral forum would be wise. Not to mention you can express a bit more about your style in a space you own and control.
If you are interested I'll PM you links to my father's stuff. Stylistically he is a bit Chicago newsprint (comes from his father), but he has fallen in love with the short story/vignette of late. I could definitely see if he wouldn't mind shooting some emails back and forth with you, if you are so inclined, as he gone through the process of write, edit, agent, decline more times than anyone I know. Anyway best of luck.
On August 01 2013 04:05 farvacola wrote: If you can't figure out how to stylize your writing, you need to read more.
Haha it's not exactly that, but yeah I do need to read more. The books I've read this summer are just a precursor to all the reading I'm gonna be doing. Hopefully when I've finished college I'll have read a little more than 200 books (I figure 52 weeks = 52 books x 4 years = 208 books or more if I read 100 pages a day like this summer, but of course studies come first). The main issue is that I don't know how to create a style that fits my plot. If I write like Malraux, I should probably make my book about the fundamental failure of a group of men, because his style shows that so well (all of his books seem to be about that ), and if I write like Wallace or Murakami, my book would sound so much more post-modern. I guess I'll just develop my own style and create my own way, but I'll most likely steal from the authors that influence me. I think I'm just scraping the surface right now haha.
Sure you're not kidding yourself into thinking you have a story all ready? I used to do that. Many use a first person narrator who can tell you a lot about other people and by doing so a lot about himself like Alice Munro has a short story of someone reading a book by a dead poet from a small town.
"The poetess had a long face; a rather long nose; full sombre dark eyes which seem ready to roll down her cheeks like giant tears; a lot of dark hair gathered around her face in droopy rolls and curtains. A thin streak of grey hair plain to see, although, she is, in this picture, only twenty five. Not a pretty girl but the sort of woman who may age well" (Munro 165)
See, who is this person who is so good at describing other people and why is she interested. Who is more interesting, the narrator or the poet? I'm thinking about all this... ooo!
Works Cited
Munro, Alice. My Best Stories. Menseteung. Penguin press.. All that (i dunno how to properly cite but the book is "My Best Stories" By Alice Munro Published by Penguin Canada and the particular short story is Menseteung)
Kazuo Ishiguro makes use of the first person that is interesting too. The information that the narrator fails to say is the source of the real information a lot of the time.
On August 01 2013 05:11 Japhybaby wrote: Sure you're not kidding yourself into thinking you have a story all ready? I used to do that. Many use a first person narrator who can tell you a lot about other people and by doing so a lot about himself like Alice Munro has a short story of someone reading a book by a dead poet from a small town.
"The poetess had a long face; a rather long nose; full sombre dark eyes which seem ready to roll down her cheeks like giant tears; a lot of dark hair gathered around her face in droopy rolls and curtains. A thin streak of grey hair plain to see, although, she is, in this picture, only twenty five. Not a pretty girl but the sort of woman who may age well" (Munro 165)
See, who is this person who is so good at describing other people and why is she interested. Who is more interesting, the narrator or the poet? I'm thinking about all this... ooo!
Works Cited
Munro, Alice. My Best Stories. Menseteung. Penguin press.. All that (i dunno how to properly cite but the book is "My Best Stories" By Alice Munro Published by Penguin Canada and the particular short story is Menseteung)
Kazuo Ishiguro makes use of the first person that is interesting too. The information that the narrator fails to say is the source of the real information a lot of the time.
I'm not a big fan of Munro, but other people are. I think you're assuming a lot about my fiction style, especially since you've never seen it, nor do I post it on TL. That was partly one of the reasons I talked about the Wordpress issue.
Also, does anybody have anything I can improve on for the blog experience?
i think having a significant web presence/brand is important
your blog is part of your web presence/brand.
what you do with/in your blog should be conducive to your brand.
someone i knew from the internet started a blog (for writing things), then closed his blog, opened a new one, closed it, opened a site, closed it, tried to start an internet literary mag, didn't get it off the ground, interacted with writers via twitter/stream chats, and eventually emails as he began to be published in the small circles that he was a part of, and now i think that he doesn't blog anymore, or use twitter, etc., and keeps most of his interactions on gchat etc.
he does these things because this is what he feels is best for his web presence/brand, and he has had a moderate degree of success, i think, because hes being published alongside people who are very good writers, and i think that he is also a very good writer, and he is also interacting/networking with other writers.
these are all very important things to do, and i think that your blog should be a part of that, whatever you make your blog, or decide what you want your blog to do, etc etc. web presence etc.
i dont think that you should be thinking very much about the possibilities and repercussions of those possibilities etc. when you are making blog posts, or your web presence etc., because identity is, probably, a constantly shifting thing, and your brand shouldnt really be a prison.
I think having more than one word press is a good idea. One for formal stuff, probably published under your name, where you're trying to publish your best works. And a second one, for more experimental stuff and kinda farting out incomplete thoughts and toying around with them.
And as someone said, think of the blogs here as being more of a specific audience. If you're that worried about your writing style and how it is perceived here, post your blogs under a different account. It's pretty funny how different people view the same exact words if you post under a second account!!
another person also mentioned, you do have a certain style and it is cool! I enjoy your posts and blogs. You're thoughtful about what you say/write, you have a wide variety of interests and influences, esp for a young guy, and it comes through in your posts.
Haha so AiurZ and Hawk both say to just write and have a couple accounts. I think problem solved . Also, Tom (if I can call you that ThomasJServo) I pm-ed you this, but I'd love to see your father's work. Also, I didn't see at the end that I could talk to him, if I could send him an email or two about it, that'd be super cool also .
EPT
. Also, I realize that there are other great blog writers on TL, those are just the ones that really come to mind when I think of the different blog styles on TL, and either way, I pretty much read every blog that comes out because I live in the blogs section lol.
), and if I write like Wallace or Murakami, my book would sound so much more post-modern. I guess I'll just develop my own style and create my own way, but I'll most likely steal from the authors that influence me. I think I'm just scraping the surface right now haha.
