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Writers' Alliance Weekly Update--10/10/10


Riisiing Moon

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Why, it's the first-ever weekly update of Writers' Alliance! For some more info on what this is, check out this blog entry, and then report back here!

 

This week's theme is, in honor of the initiation of the Writers' Alliance--

 

Beginnings

 

This week, write anything that follows the theme of beginnings. It can interpreted any way you want--this is to kick-start your inspiration for writing, and it's your choice how you filter that inspiration. Once you write a piece--remember, they can be anything; a short story, a chapter of an epic, a poem, etc., in any writing forum (except Comedies)--whether it follows the theme of beginnings or not, link it back in this entry to advertise your work and earn some points!

 

Weekly Tips

 

Here're some tips intended to improve your writing, while retain your signature style. Remember, you get one point for each tip incorporated in your work for the first time--but that's not to say these are only practical once.

 

[submitted by Rising Moon]--Say the word beginning. Out loud. Let the concept of beginnings fill your mind, until you become single-minded on that one concept. Think of its sound in your ear, its taste on your tongue, the definition, everything. When you've reached that point, close your eyes and envision something physical. What's the first thing you see with your mind's eye? Expand on it. Let it move around in the scene that's playing in your head. Expand on that. Then head to your keyboard and write.

 

[submitted by Rising Moon]--Other languages can be useful tools, in more ways than one. Pick a language, any language. Look up the word beginning in that language. Not only the definition, but maybe some lore centered around it, what it means culturally and not just linguistically. Write around any of that. Like the theme, it's open to your own interpretation.

 

A reminder--Submit your own tips for others to use in their writing! Also, advertise the WA! You get points for it, and after all, the more the merrier!

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[submitted by KNI] --Making MoCs for your characters can make them easier to write about. Say you made a story about Gali. Having a set of Gali can make it easier to explore details and characteristics. For example:

Lewa ran through the street.

Now, with a set, or pic:

Lewa Nuva's long legs prodded him forward, his green mask and armor being just a blur.

See what I mean? It makes it easier to use adjectives.

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edit: ignore

 

[submitted by Slim] --Don't be afraid to experiment with your writing. Stories that take place outside your comfort zone or other people's comfort zones often turn out to be the best because they're usually more exciting. If something is 'too mature' or 'above your head' it probably means that people are just scared of it. Let them face their fears.

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[submitted by KNI] --Making MoCs for your characters can make them easier to write about. Say you made a story about Gali. Having a set of Gali can make it easier to explore details and characteristics. For example:

Lewa ran through the street.

Now, with a set, or pic:

Lewa Nuva's long legs prodded him forward, his green mask and armor being just a blur.

See what I mean? It makes it easier to use adjectives.

Only if:

 

1) You're good at MoCing

2) You don't have enough imagination to describe it without MoCing

3) You actually want to be restrained

4) You're writing about Bionicle because you know people write about other stuff too

 

Those are the problems I have with this.

 

Eiiiiiither way.

 

[submitted by Dovydas] Here's a dozen of tips on making titles for stories. LEGAL DISCLAIMER: It won't improve the quality of your writing by far. It'll hopefully improve your title.

 

» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «

- Fragmented prepositions (To Kill a Mockingbird, Until I Find You)

These titles add a sense of mystery and incompletion to a work. Is it wrong to kill a mocking bird? What'll you do until you find me? While these titles can be tricky (and rarely brief), they usually have a poetically pleasing rhythm and often demand that the reader read on.

 

- Adjectives following nouns as to suggest action (Paradise Lost, Atlas Shrugged)

This type of title is concise, yet kinetic. Two words that suggest that humanity has lost paradise, or that the greatest men on earth are abandoning their duties. These titles enjoy the brevity, brevity, brevity rule.

 

- The work's motto or theme (All's Well That Ends Well, As You Like It)

Maybe Shakespeare's the only one that does this, in which case we need to see more of it. They are not the briefest titles in the world, but their originality makes up for it.

 

- Alliteration and assonance (Palace of Pleasure, Love's Labours Lost, V for Vendetta)

These titles are first-and-foremost catchy. The mind, especially the English speaking mind, enjoys the association of starting sounds. The biggest risk with these titles is forcing the wording to fit the alliteration, which looses all effectiveness as a title.

 

- Commands (Look Homeward, Angel)

One of the most psychologically powerful titles. A direct command is gripping to the point of nearly being invasive. The title alone can evoke emotion, as Thomas Wolfe's work does for me. This is not customary for titles, but can be extremely effective for "selling" your book/movie/game/something that you're writing a story for.

 

- Second Person (The World Ends With You)

Similar to commands, titles that mention (or better, address) the reader/player/movie-goer draw said person in. (The world ends with me? Aw shoot. . . I'd better try and avoid that.) These titles can be awkward in their novelty and may make the consumer feel too uncomfortable, but they are a powerful way to go if you can.

 

- Concepts separated by conjunctions (Pride and Prejudice, War and Peace, Crime and Punishment, Steam and Steel)

These are especially prevalent in literature. These titles help if you have strong themes in your work. Especially if the themes are progressions (Crime and Punishment) or seeming opposites (War and Peace).

 

- Allusion (The Doors of Perception, A Separate Peace)

Allusions can be pretentious. But otherwise they help to connect a broad theme of even whole story to another work (yours!).

 

- "Zingers" (Memento, Brick, Crash, Taken, Halo)

Popular in movies and videogames, "Zingers" are quick, powerful, and hopefully memorable. They generally express a concept encapsulated in the work. It is often best for these titles to suggest action, as it adds to the excitement.

 

- And, finally, the Golden Rule:

"Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous." - George Orwell, Politics and the English Language

 

LEGAL DISCLAIMER No. 2: These were not created by me. I just found them very useful.

 

Also...

 

It so coincides that I wrote a piece today, Flaming Swords. Rather, the first chapter, or even rather-er, the prologue of an epic. It isn't really about beginnings, but to some extent this chapter suits the theme because not only it's the beginning of the epic, but also it tells the story of the beginnings of the protagonist, and his family. Like I said, it's not about beginnings, but I thought, whaddaheck, I'll post the link here anyways.

 

For writing about the theme of beginnings, I'm getting there. :P

-Dovydas

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Personal Writing Tip: Stream of Consciousness

 

Get out your notebook and, while keeping whatever subject you're writing about in the back of you mind, write down everything you think of. You'll be surprised what you can come up with when you're not trying too hard. Some of a writer's best ideas are the ones that take even himself by surprise. I can almost guarantee you that if you start writing down everything that comes to mind, you'll find yourself coming up with points that you can easily jump off from.

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Only if:

 

1) You're good at MoCing

2) You don't have enough imagination to describe it without MoCing

3) You actually want to be restrained

4) You're writing about Bionicle because you know people write about other stuff

 

-Dovydas

1) Says who? What're you trying to prove? You could use an inika-build and it would good details.

2) What? It helps with details, not giving you "imagination".

3) Restrained? That doesn't even make since.

4) Is it so wrong to post tips on bionicle on BionicleZonePower?

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Guys, just to clarify, what you're all submitting here are tips; the piece this entry's an inspiration for is any short story, epic chapter, poem, etc., in any writing forum--not a tip for writing posted here. And when you're done, you link us back to it in this entry. Been some confusion, so just putting an end to that. :D

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Only if:

 

1) You're good at MoCing

2) You don't have enough imagination to describe it without MoCing

3) You actually want to be restrained

4) You're writing about Bionicle because you know people write about other stuff

 

-Dovydas

1) Says who? What're you trying to prove? You could use an inika-build and it would good details.

2) What? It helps with details, not giving you "imagination".

3) Restrained? That doesn't even make since.

4) Is it so wrong to post tips on bionicle on BionicleZonePower?

1-3) I am aware of it. Sorry, I worded it wrong. What I meant to say was, you like MoCing. I personally find writing when looking at a set or a MoC rather controlling and for me it actually is worse to write with an image in my eyes rather than head. Just for me. There are obviously people for whom it is easier. But I personally like imagining a situation in my head, not basing it off a real-life object.

 

4) Nope. Just trying to make all the non-Bionicle writers here not feel alienated.

 

And RM, you missed my link to a piece I wrote.

-Dovydas

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Yeah, I was never much of a MOCist--and therefore, I found MOCing limiting. I work well with creativity in terms of writing, not physical building, and I'm not going to incorporate something I have limited potential for in something I'm passionate about and so want it to be the best it can be with my writing. For those of you who can MOC well, by all means go for it--you have considerably less boundaries than I do as a bad MOCist, and so you can fit your writing in those large parameters of creativity. Whatever suits you suits you personally. Everyone's got unique traditions and inspirational techniques.

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Nice tip, Zennia Jorra, that's a personal favorite of mine.

 

[submitted by Lazzy] See it Everywhere

Ever notice how you learn a new word and suddenly start seeing it everywhere? Let's say it's something obscure, like, say, retrograde. Suddenly, you're reading a book =and 'retrograde' pops up, or your teacher/professor mentions 'retrograde' in a lecture. Weird, right? That works for writing, too. Keep the intended theme or subject of your writing in the back of your mind (in this case 'beginning'), but go about your daily life -- go to school or work, surf the internet -- you'll start to notice situations where that theme applies. 'Hey, I never thought about this before, but this sofa I'm sitting on was made by someone and came from somewhere. I wonder where it began.'

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Okay, I posted a review for Dovydas's epic - a review for the first chapter actually, already reviewed the prologue :P.

 

And how did I get a point? As far as I know, I haven't submitted any stories, nor reviewed any. Besides Flaming Swords of course.

 

-Zarayna

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:tohu: If you guys didn't like the first banner, here's another one:

wabanner2.png

and the coding is:

http://www.majhost.com/KNI/BZPower/wabanner2.png

I'll be back with more, and ones from photoshop/GIMP. :tohu:

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Well, posted a review of Second to None (Ad's epic) here and a review to Kal's Degeneration here, along with a review to Killjoy's Catacombs here.

 

Also, a tip:

 

[submitted by Mangai: Paladin]-Write what comes to you, when it comes to you. Forcing yourself to do something is NOT fun (Ever been in school?). Of course, if you have a deadline and a set thing to write about, this may seem hard. But remember, this is supposed to be fun, not a chore. Just do it about what you feel like, not what you planned (trust me, I tried and failed). If you're tired and you think you just go to sleep instead, go go to sleep. If you want to write about what happened in school today instead of updating that epic liked you planned, do it. You can always do those things later, when and about what you want to write about is working for you. I cannot stress how important this one is.

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Tip:

 

[submitted by Celu Krom] Your writing is yours not anybody else's, you right for you not others. If you like your story it's a great story then. Don't let others get you down, eventually you'll find fans, but it's your writing, so, love it.

 

Edit: I made a Banner;

 

wabanner.png

[url="http://www.bzpower.com/forum/index.php?automodule=blog&blogid=1701&showentry=95424"][img=http://www.majhost.com/gallery/celu1997/Art/wabanner.png][/url]

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Tip-

 

[submitted by Captain Marvel]- When you're writing, you don't always have to plan ahead how your story is going to turn out. You can just let your ideas flow, and then it will turn out the way it turns out. It's not bad if it doesn't end up the way you want it to, because people will always like it, even if you don't.

 

Also, I made a banner:

writers_alliance.gif

 

[url="http://www.bzpower.com/forum/index.php?automodule=blog&blogid=1701&"][img=http://www.majhost.com/gallery/decstarfighter/Random-Images/writers_alliance.gif][/url]

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Zarayna--You put the banner in your sig. :D

 

Thank you so much for all the banners, guys! I think I'll change one every so often, so as not to be biased to one. In all sincerity, I really can't choose one. I seriously wish I had your guys' talent. Thanks a ton!

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Reporting for a review of Scientist Alex Humva's SS: Island.

 

Rising Moon, if you keep getting new members here you're going to need some help counting up points for reviews, tips, and new stories. Whenever that day comes (probably soon), feel free to ask for some help from me on counting those little awesome points.

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Here's the link to my work for the week: Cocodrilo the hermit and Neko-Ma Sorry it's a bit late (and long) but I really had to put an effort to make it the size it is and not include many elements that could cause confusion (as this is a -relatively- small fragment from a book I'm writting, and I feel to lazy to make nough descriptions to clarify it :P)

 

Also, a writting tip: Try listening to some music while writting, but don't just pick any song, but one that goes according to the mood you want your strory to be (happy, sad, intriguing, calm...). Also, try not to pick a song that can be too distracting: the music you listen while writting must be like "background music": present, but not the focus of what you're doing.

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Reporting for a review of Scientist Alex Humva's SS: Island.

 

Rising Moon, if you keep getting new members here you're going to need some help counting up points for reviews, tips, and new stories. Whenever that day comes (probably soon), feel free to ask for some help from me on counting those little awesome points.

 

I think I'll ditto that. If you need a hand with this, feel absolutely free to ask me. :)

 

-Zarayna

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