Monday, December 10, 2012

Glass


I’m going to do another 20 minute challenge, given one word: ‘Glass’. I know I haven’t written in six months, and probably can’t write a decent thing to save my life anymore but here goes.

Glass
http://beautifulpictureshd.com/2012/06/14/black-and-white-pictures/black_and_white_pictures_broken_glass/

It’s so pristine, and clear and flawless.
 It didn't used to be, but that’s how it’s become.
 It used to scare you if it smashed to the ground, a million little pieces you couldn't see.
How it would hurt you, and tear through your skin, or maybe lodge in somewhere where you could never find it, until it tore through your insides.
 It is transparent like the truth you wish you could hide from everyone, but even your reflection screams it.
In its perfection, it is daunting.
 A plane so smooth, like a gateway into somewhere secret,
It’s waiting.
 It is a barrier; unyielding.
 Steady and high, it keeps you.
 Scratch the walls, and hear their screeches
You've come so far.  
But why do you stop, when you can see everything behind it?
These hands are too small to break glass walls,
 but maybe they’ll paint them red.

Writing for idiots, and bored minds 101.


This column, has absolutely no scientific basis and is not supported by any particular school of English. However, for the amateur writer who doesn't have much time to read 600 pages worth of 'how to write', I've concluded a few easy steps towards gathering your thoughts into meaningful and coherent pieces.






TIPS OF THE SELF-PROCLAIMED GURU! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

1. Never let an idea go to waste. Seriously even the silliest thoughts maybe acts of genius, without you knowing it. Even if the idea doesn't fit into the context of what you're writing at the time. Just write it down! Even a very brief plot can be merged into another story, making it much more interesting and brilliant!



2.You never know when inspiration is going to rain down on you. J.K Rowling thought
of Harry Potter on the train. So simply be prepared!
With the advancements in technology, most people can
write down anything, anywhere on their mobile phone. If you have a mentally challenged touch screen that drives you insane! (like mine), then it would be wise to carry around a small notebook.







3. EMOTION! EMOTION! EMOTION!
Every great poem or story holds an even better personal story for it's writer. SO WHEN YOU'RE ANGRY WRITE! It helps, plus it's usually awesome.






4. Don't be weird.To write what is best, you must write what you know. Or you can go completely crazy, which is even better!





5. Writer's block is the worse thing that can happen to a writer. Been there, done that. It's frustrating and sometimes intolerably cruel! But it passes, so chill! So when you feel like your well has dried up: listen to some music, read something, or better yet watch some television. My English teacher once told me, that the night before an exam all you have to do is watch show series. However unlikely that may seem, it really does help.





Well, That's all I've got for today, but I promise to provide more useful nonsense ASAP.
Join us again for another episode of writing for idiots and bored minds 101.




How to write a great character sketch/ Description.


Remember,

This column has absoloutely no scientific basis, and is not supported by any particular school of english.

What always impresses me about any story, is a strong foundation of unique and interesting characters. Even if the story is based on the perspective of a single character in his/her narrative voice, the presence of contrasting personalities and variable psyches broadens the dimensions of the tale. The psychologies and motives of the main characters may not arise until the midlle or end of the story, however there are many ways to convey the complex and distinctive personality of a character, thereby giving your readers hints about what this character's end will come to. This makes the story even more exciting when said character pulls a perfectly ,contradictory-to-all-their-previously mentioned-traits stunt.Like the revelation of Severus Snape's true agenda.

When the story is just begining, a character sketch, no matter how brief can be used to make even the most mundane and unintersting characters seem bizarre and significant.

Here are a few tips on how to write a great character sketch/description.


1. Implent psycho-analytic tools in your description.

for example: He embodied self-loathing.His feet dragged beneath him, eyes firmly fixed on the ground at all times, and had a posture that was made to scare crows away.

In this description, the reader is meant to percieve the character as a person with mere fragments of self-esteem, who seems to have no interest in achieving a particular goal or purpose in life.

IN contrary to someone with ''A stride that challenged the earth beneath it.''


2. Don't stick to every-day adjectives, use interesting, even slightly bizarre ones.

e.g: He had boulder shoulders and porcuppine hair.


3. Describe your characters using words that transport their emotions into the readers mind.

e.g: She had tense shoulders, and a strange excitement in her eyes.


4. Don't be too descriptive. One thing that can be very irritating for a reader, is when the writer goes on and on and on about something, like the characters clothing, that they forget what was going on in the first place.


5.Don't be too vague and abstract, and please don't use the elements of nature in your description, especially if they have nothing to do with what you're talking about! Remember not all minds operate on the same frequency, you might know what ''a smile of rainbows means'' but to me it just sounds like someone had too many fruity loops.


6.Be brief, but important. Try to put as much meaning into small, coherent sentences as possible.


Here's a short character sketch I wrote for my friend, just for fun:

If ever positive energy could be emobied into a being, it would be embodied into Rana A.B. She had a slim athletic figure, to complement her active state of mind. She could probably make boulders smile if she tried. She had dark hair and eyes, and an olive-toned egyptian complexion. But there was a certain brightness and beauty that emitted from the purity of her soul. She was not one to back down or shy away, and had enough confidence to practice kindness to everyone.


That's all for now, please excuse my punctuation.

Join us again, for another episode of writing for idiots and bored minds! :D
image taken from: http://www.tubeonline.info/.

Monday, June 4, 2012

The kettle


This is not a particularly strange week end; this is a typical end of week experience. I am tired and cold, also irritated. As usual there is nothing for me to do this Friday night. I imagined at this point in my life I would be the owner of a fully packed, riveting, and potentially enviable social calendar. Alas, that is not the case at least not in this dim and insignificant period of my existence. In a few years when I look back upon this frame of time, I shall regret not making use of it, in exercise or targeted reading, but I’d like to think in a few years I will not remember this time at all. Yes, that is much better; I shall pretend this time does not exist at all. In fact neither do I, not now, not until I find something useful to occupy my time with.
I stand up and walk towards the window. I could throw myself from it right now, no one would even notice. Except maybe my cat, but it might take him a week or so. Unless I fall, and leave the window open, then he will not realise that his source of sustenance has disappeared, and will simply crawl  out the window to a less negligent care-taker. It is a saddening thought that I must remember to isolate my domestic pet before leaping to a sudden death in order for my swift departure from this earth to gain some momentum.
It’s not as if the cat will gather my relatives, preach them on the fleetingness of life, and warn them of their near ends. Nor will he speak on my behalf on the wrongs they have committed, the injustices and betrayals. My brother, who obstructed any form of kindness that dared steer in my direction, and stole all of my Halloween sweets from under my bed. My uncle who made me clean out fish guts at the age of seven, permanently scarring me for life. My mother, who consistently compared me to her dog. My father, who implanted within me an irrational fear of balloon animals, and aluminium foil, and the list, goes onwards.
I walk away from the window, realising I am too much of a coward to actually take my own life, and that no one would truly benefit from my death, as I have no life insurance. I try to remember something, something I had forgotten something that may very well be the reason I am so irritated. What is it that is so compelling that it picks away at my peace of mind, yet does not reveal itself? Could I have been so completely lost in thought, that I have no recollection whatsoever of this single crucial detail that is hindering the natural progression of my life?
And then the sound goes off, a loud piercing whistle of steam escaping a metallic whole. I am suddenly reunited with rational thought and remember that I had left some water to boil on the stove, which I had forgotten about in my suicidal trail of thought. I walk to the kitchen, to make myself some pot noodles, and everything is right again in the world.