Week 14 Lab: Advice to Writers

 Advice to Writers

    One of the reasons that I was initially drawn to this class was that I wanted to get more into writing. Now that I have passed most of the way though this class, I definitely want to continue on my writing journey! As such, I was interested when I saw that "advice to writers" was an option for a story lab, I was intrigued. I feel like I have made some strides in writing in this class, but there is always more to learn!

    The first piece of advice that resonated with me was that creative writing needs solitude. I definitely agree with this - some of my best writing has been done in the wee hours of the morning once everyone else has gone to bed and the world is quiet. Something that I might add on to that is that I think that creative writing (and honestly, creativity in general) needs time. Not only because of the obvious - making art takes time - but also that it takes time to get into the right head-space for being creative. Making art is somewhat like meditation - you can't just dim the lights and think that immediately everything is going to just happen. It takes work and concentration (and repetition) to get your brain where it needs to be. 

    The next piece of advice that I liked was the insistence on persistence (hehe - see what I did there?). I think this is hugely important. You cant just think that you are going to make some sort of masterpiece on your first round. If you look at the best composers, artists, writers, etc of the world, most of them have an immensely huge body of work. Out of these, only a few are considered the "hits". The only way to produce "good" art is to start of by just producing art! 

(The value of real advice. Source: 1077TheJewel)

Reading Notes, Inayat. Twenty Jataka Tales: The End of the World

Bibliography: Inayat. Twenty Jataka Tales. Story: The End of the World

Notes: This was another one of those stories that I was drawn to initially because of the name. What a hook! As with the story earlier this week, it was one that had a pretty thinly veiled moral, but again was one that I could wholeheartedly get behind! Too often in our society we see people running with the lemmings. Most recently, I have been having some frustration with the whole lemming phenomenon in regards to vaccinations. I have been volunteering a lot recently at vaccination clinics trying to help get people vaccinated and get us back to some semblance of normal! Although everyone there is obviously getting vaccinated, I have been hearing a lot of stories about their friends and relatives who are too scared to come in because they either have the traditional fears of vaccinations (that they cause autism, etc) or that they have bought into the recent "vaccinations have a chip in them" fear. 

     These fears sounds very similar to the ones from the little rabbit in the story. They are born out of legitimate concerns (for the rabbit that is fear of the world ending, for people not getting their vaccines this might be concerns about the good will and protection of the government and privatized healthcare system), but what is being said has no basis whatsoever (for reference, the man who published the falsified paper saying that vaccines cause autism is now in prison for writing that paper). And yet, those fears spread like wildfire. 

     One thing that I liked about this story was that the lion did not belittle of laugh at the little rabbit after finding out that the sounds was just a fruit falling. I think this is a really important to genuinely listen to people's concerns and then to try to address them in a way that will make people feel comfortable. 

(Vaccination. Source: DiscoverSociety)

Reading Notes, Inayat. Twenty Jataka Tales: The Quarrelsome Quails

Bibliography: Inayat. Twenty Jataka Tales. Story: The Quarrelsome Quails

Notes: Well, the moral of this story was not very subtle, now was it. Work together and be successful or quarrel and fail. Honestly, it's pretty hard to argue with that... 

     What initially drew me to this story was the title. I am a huge fan of alliteration, and try to use it in a lot of my own titles. If I choose to write on this story this week, that is something that I would definitely want to keep! 

     I have been really getting into the Jataka tales, but decided to try to mix it up a bit this week by reading the Inayat Jataka tales rather than the Babbitt Jataka tales. I have to say, now that I have read both, I prefer the Inayat tales. They just flow a bit better and the dialogue seems more natural and not spliced in. I am exited to read more of these tales this week!

     Anyway, on to my own plans with this story. Immediately, I want to make it political. Nowadays, I am always so frustrated when I listen to the news and hear how people in government positions are more concerned with arguing with one another than they are with trying to overcome our differences and work together. The result? Congress is frankly ineffectual because people keep fighting one another. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? 

     I did just write a story last week making pointed political commentary on capitalism (or, at least, trying to), so I could just continue on with that story- essentially write the sequel. Since it is Terry Pratchett's birthday today (he is my absolute favorite author) and he excelled at writing political satire, continuing on in this vein only seems fitting. That being said, I am going to have to work pretty hard before I can hold a candle to Sir Pratchett. 

(A quail. Source: Wikimedia)