Subject: Re: [FFML] [ffml] Amateur needs help
From: "Spiffy (Dustin Goeller)" <stinky@azstarnet.com>
Date: 8/3/1997, 8:57 AM
To: Nicholas Leifker
CC: The Baddest Fanfic Mailing List Ever! <fanfic@fanfic.com>

YES! I KNOW THIS IS OLD! A WHOLE WHOPPIN' DAY! (My, how time flies on the
FFML.) But I just read this post and felt like I had to respond. (It's them
voices inside my head. They're making me do it!)

On the first of August, Nicholas Leifker, the writer whom we all envy,
wrote...
Write from the heart.  Most people have the intelligence to write; the
difference between a writer and a good writer lies in a person's ability
to connect with his (or her) soul, and bring that out into the open. 
This can be improved through two things: practice and experience.

"Write from the heart," he says. Oh yes, we all instantly know how to do
that. Please! I don't mean to sound like a know-it-all(I can't help it),
but I think that this response is so overused. How does one write from the
heart? The heart is a muscle for god's sake! Writing from the heart means
different things for different people. For me, I suppose it means, don't
try to write like someone else. Write how it feels to you. And don't force
words down. They should come to you, not you to them.

Unfortunately, this is easier said than done. I know that for me, it is
very difficult to write down my thoughts and feelings with words. I'll
spend hours looking up words in thesauruses just to find the perfect word.
And it's ironic. There are 600,000 or so words in the English language, and
I can never find the right one. It's pure hell! 

Practice... This means more than writing more.  This means being honest
with your thoughts and feelings.  If you feel nothing when you write,
then that is what the reader will feel when they read it.  Acting (even
something as simple as role-playing) and singing are two non-writing
activities I've found that can help with this.  

When in doubt, use the magical 'p' word. Yes, practicing works very well,
better than not practicing. I don't see what practicing has to do with
being honest with your thoughts and feelings, but that doesn't mean being
honest with ones thoughts and feelings is a bad thing. Being honest with
one's feelings is really quite simple, too. "I'm tired," would pretty much
some up the way I feel right now. And that's the truth.

If you want to become a good writer, the best way to prepare yourself is to
read stuff. And I don't mean manga and magazine articles and stuff. I mean
books. Long, boring, depressing books. You won't become a good writer if
you never read. The real challenge in reading is trying to keep yourself
focused on the book. I know I have this problem. Reading Shakespeare, for
example, I find my eyes are in the book, while my brain is several blocks
away trying to find something interesting to do. 

I have to agree with Nick on acting. I find that really helps me. (Singing,
on the other hand...) The best way to get a character down is to try to
pretend to be him or her. Or, hell, forget the 'pretending part, and just
be the character. If you have an idea, try acting it out. This really helps. 

Experience is by far the more difficult of the two.  The best way I can
put this to you is with a simple question:  Could you adequately
describe the electric feel of a kiss without the experience of it?   You
have to live life in order to write about it.  I once talked with a
friend and fellow writer about his past, which included several
incidents of personal tragedy.  My initial response?  "I don't know how
you stayed sane."  

I think the best thing to do in a situation like this is just to make
something up. Of course, make it up logically. Don't put something down
like, "as the fork was thrust into my leg, I felt the sudden urge to sing
'twinkle twinkle little star.'" Because, obviously this is not going to
happen. Instead, try to base it on something you have experienced. Or watch
the reactions of other people as it happens to them.

One other thing: The best writers also have ideas that, for one reason
or another, didn't quite work.  Don't get discouraged; keep on working
with the idea, and you'll usually find a way through it.  

Hmm... How odd. When I find myself stuck, I usually end up taking a break.
Yes, the ever so wonderful break. It'll solve all your writing problems.
Seriously, if you get your mind off writing for a little bit, it can really
help. You can exhaust your brain, and it does occasionally need to take a
pause. Don't overwork it, or it may explode. And try explaining that to
your parents.

Before you go off believing all this stuff, don't. I am a sucky writer. I
can't write! But, even if I can't, that doesn't mean I can't pretend to be
really good. What I have above is serious, though. But, let's face it. It
probably isn't going to work for you. Since everyone writes differently, no
one method works for everyone. So this is my advice. Find what works for
you. Experiment. Experiment a lot. Experiment so much that you blow up the
house. You should find something that works. And if you don't, you may be
like me, unable to write. The end!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dustin Goeller (Spiffy; Has this Nick been taken yet? If so, GET A NEW ONE!:-)
e-mail:stinky@azstarnet.com <---- Send Flames Hear, Not To ML or Girlfriend.
Web Page:Get real! Me make a web page?  Yea, whatever...

				     	  For the two of you who can't read this,
  ---- //  -----    __---     \  /	  this is my first name written n katakana.
  |  |        /       |         /	  Why?  Cause I felt like wasting space!
  -- /       /\    -------     / 	  Maybe I should replace it with the
    /       /  \      |       /  	  kanji for bakamon.  But, I don't know
   /       /    \     |      /    	  if my mother would be too happy about
				      	  that...
				    
"When you breathe, you inspire. When you do not breathe, you expire."
			-A Student Blooper From 'Anguished English.'
------------------------------------------------------------------------------