Reflective Blog Post 4 - Response to Creativity Requires TIME

Today for one of our day book entries, we as a class watched a video some people created to show their customers why they need more time to be creative:

 Creativity Requires TIME

                The way the world works now is that everything must be organized and placed onto a day-to-day schedule. However, all the best ideas come when they want – not when we force them. Did you know that the idea of Harry Potter was in the mind of J.K. Rowling for years before she wrote the first draft?

                Writing on a schedule pressures the writer to get the basic idea across immediately in the blandest way possible. All of those interesting, small details can’t be added in if the writer doesn’t have the time. Hence the reason why people who start immediately on their writing assignments for a class end up with a better paper then a person who postpones it until the night before. However, this doesn’t just have to be in context with writing.

                Ironically enough, I’ve heard my dad come home a few times from his job complaining about the new way they have to plan out their work. Instead of what he’s used to and what he’s best at, he and his co-workers must plan with a certain “outline” in mind. They also have less time to do this. My father used the old way of things to plan for problems that may occur later on, as in a few years from now. That idea he used saved the company’s computers from crashing many times (yes, he’s amazing at what he does). So therefore, creativity can be seen in something that others may see as computer code.

                Just so you know, he’s so fed up with this new organization technique that he’s basically said, “Fine – if it blows up in your face then it’s your problem, not mine.” Also, he’s this close (imagine almost no space between two fingers) to quitting. He won’t take this invasion in to the way he’s been doing his job for years. Don’t fix something that’s not broken, right?

                I see that as a prediction of what will happen if we as a society keep on suppressing creativity because of a simple schedule. Schedules can be changed easily but creativity isn’t even in the same orbit as that thought process. Creativity can’t be changed and it can’t be controlled. Creativity is like a wild horse – untameable.

                That’s the reason why I absolutely refuse to write stories that I have in my head until the creative ideas for that specific plot nearly explode outwards. I wait until my imagination is filled to the brink before I serve myself that delicious soup of creative thoughts I’ve been stewing for, literally, years. Let me ask you something, don’t you do the same thing? It may be with what you want to do with your life. It may have to do with exploring or it may even have to do with how you plan to live on a personal level. We all do this “stewing” and for good reason. Our best decisions in life aren’t as new as we thought they were.

                Our greatest moments… well, they actually take years to start and end. Creativity is definitely not a short burst of inspiration. It’s always there.

Thanks for listening to my small rant about the importance of giving creativity enough time to expand! Do you want to see something that is really creative (Both for the camera style and the actor who works it so well)? See this link and hold on until around 3 minutes and 30 seconds because that's when things get interesting:

 Epic Tea Time

P.S. Watch his head! It doesn't move AT ALL. That is some incredible control :)

Me and My Cello - Reflective Blog Post 3

So you want to know more about what makes me, me? You say that you want to dig in to my head and experience my thoughts…. You sure?

Just kidding – I don’t mind at all. Thought I poke fun but I don’t know how well that came out. Anyways, you remember that assignment we got a few days ago involving us choosing five objects in our room that inspires us? Of course you do! I bet that there’s a whole bunch of students in our class that are writing about the same thing… again. I should get back on topic.

I made a list of the five objects, both hidden and not, in my room that inspire me above everything else. These amazing pieces of human creation also mean the world to me. I love when everything works out like that.

However, I’m only going to pick the one that means more to me than anything else and that object is my baby – my cello named Vesper. For those of you interested, I named my cello that because “vesper” means evening prayer and that just has a ring to it. Trust me; I’m not a romantic at heart… really. 

Guess what? Y’all get to read a story and for those of you who have to read this blog and don’t want to read the story…. Well, too bad – so sad. I think I might actually be feeling some sympathy for you.

…

Not really. Onwards my fellow fairy-tale readers!

To start, my whole experience with playing the cello began with one thing: my friends’ nagging. For an entire year certain friends of mine gradually warmed me up to the idea of starting in my high school orchestra and, at the time, I was not the inspired musician I am now (if you had the time to notice that yet). So, what did my friends get for the continuous planting of ideas into my head?

…

My decision to join Beginning Stringz (yes that’s spelled like that for a reason and this class is a required class for those who have never played a string instrument before) was the outcome from all of those nice suggestions they gave me. Honestly, did you guys expect anything else? Don’t get me wrong – I loved it and I still do! Also, it was the second best decision I’ve ever made during my high school years. The fun class periods I had with those ten or so students and our Orchestra teacher, at the time anyways, made up the best memories I have of my four years at high school.

Then, I joined the actual Orchestra. The only bad memories I have with that class was the dreaded jump (The jump is the skip that one must take from easy music to more difficult music).  I nearly had a heart attack the first day of Orchestra. The music was so hard and I sucked at the time! 

No joke, I did.

Over time, I started to get better and our class began playing amazing pieces from Handel to Mozart.

AND PIRATE OF THE CARIBBEAN AS WELL AS THE IDYLLS OF PEGASUS! … Obviously, you can tell that I love those two songs. 

Any ways, I started to gain an inspiration for the music I was playing and the cello itself. Musicians are lucky in the sense that we can become one with our instruments while we’re playing. The sensation of that is incredible – feeling as if you’re the one who’s making the sounds instead of the wood. I then started to notice that this also began to show up in the writing I was doing at the time. In a very obvious way, too.

My writing was becoming more romantic, optimistic, in style. This is neither a bad or good transition – it’s just a transition. I was moving into the next stage of my writing and my life. I was gaining experience and loving it at the same time and through it all, I felt as if the cello was giving me a way out. No matter what anyone else says, the cello opens a gateway towards a path where one’s heart can soar to an inner peace just like the freedom of a bird can.

It’s my inspiration – my soul. And that will never change as long as I can help it.

See, was that so bad? You guys thought I was going to draw the story out, didn’t you? 

I’d just like to tell you all that the way I wrote this (as in format) is for a reason – it’s kind of like research for one of the personal blogs I’m going to put up soon. 

Also, I have absolutely no idea where all that sarcasm came from. Eh, who cares? Hope you all have a pleasant day!

OH! You guys should watch this video cause it's amusing and you'll probably get some idea of what I'm talking about when it comes to me and my cello :)

 Me and My Cello by the Piano Guys

My Writing Journey - Reflective Blog Post 2

            Everyone’s journey with writing exists, no matter how small of an adventure this is. Most receive what excitement they can obtain through school whether this is through essays, plays, or fictional stories we write for projects. We all gather our beginning through school and through, most of the time, English. However, only a small amount of students continue their writing outside the walls of school. This could circle around songs, poems, stories, writing on the internet, or a mix of some or all of the above. This is my adventure – my Indiana Jones moments. 

Writing Timeline in Daybook page 1

Writing Timeline in Daybook page 2

What one can gather through the information I obtain through the students in my class is that almost everyone starts to catch an interest with writing during middle school. This is also true with me. However before middle school, and what I remember as a stereotypical-high-school-scenario which seems to appear three years early, I recall staring at the clouds. To be frank, I’m a 24-hour daydreamer. That is not an exaggeration – I did and still do so 24/7.

Consider this, years and years of pent-up ideas roam your mind every second of the day as well as while you sleep. Add to this more and more dreams, which could last from a few minutes to even a few days, a creative mind imagines. Isn’t that going to start taking a toll on one’s brain capacity? I sure reach this issue, constantly. However, I only realize this in my high school years. There’s seems to be a gap in my timeline. Fixing issue now, please hold.

During my middle school years, two main events ripple waves into my life even today. The first event is my introduction to fan fiction. This is what I consider my big bang, the love of my life! However, what most aspiring writers don’t realize is that fan fiction can either be their downfall or their strength. I find that a respectable explanation for the previous sentence would take a whole post to write about; but, in summary, one has to watch themselves when using fan fiction as a writing experience. Fan fiction is both dangerous to a writer’s skill as well as a realization that the style can open one’s mind.

Still, this wisdom I now know was, at the time, not available to me during my seventh year. The choice to travel down this road on to my next experience during this year has me writing a fictional story for the first time. However at the time, I decide to write in the style of fan fiction and as some, or possibly many, can guess the effect was disastrous. I soon suffer a serious failure which crumbles my confidence. Hard. This event leads me to the decision to never pick up a pencil for fiction again. Thankfully, the ideas in my head continue, even today, to scream at me until the dreams I create reach a heaviness almost too much to bear. At the time, I feel like I can empathize with the god Atlas – world on your shoulders and such.

Even though this process takes almost four years, I still receive the same outcome because of that insanity in my head: signing up for a Creative Writing class. Out of all the experiences in my entire life, this became the greatest decision in my writing adventure. Do all of you aspiring writers have questions on how to make your writing better? Want to know how to get through the publishing process? Sign up for the amazing creative writing classes found all over the place! Almost all your questions receive answers.

Every single piece of information I use today I gather from my memories of that class. This is thanks to the my Creative Writing teacher because he knows exactly what he is discussing. All that he teaches is based off of his previous experiences as well as the knowledge he gains from other writers. In that classroom, he's a genius: Mister-Einstein-of-high-school-Creative-Writing-101 himself. Quick shout out, I bow down to you Mr. (Insert name here because I don’t know if you would like to be mentioned on a blog or not)!

Finally, the last event on my journey arrives. This is my Kingdom of the Crystal Skull although the fact’s debatable on whether or not this receives better ratings. For all of you curious minds, this moment actually takes a whole month to play out during the end of my 12^th year of high school. Also, should I mention that my 12^th grade English teacher is wise in her career choice? After a few years of struggle, she brilliantly thinks up the idea of an amazing project to give to all of her students at the end of the year. The project that more than a few teachers use today: the I-Search project. Thus, my chance arose to use this project for my own personal, writing gain.

In a previous project, my friend and I write a poem which has main idea focusing on the plot outline of The Canterbury Tales. I came to the decision to try to start the process of publishing this poem for my I-Search project. What occurs during this month is my greatest writing achievement so far. Without attempting to publish this poem (The Last Caravan) during the time limit I have, I choose to send the piece onto teenink.com (a website which has some surprising, and respectable, results for people who have luck on their side), expecting a reply after the month finishes. However, there seems to be an angel looking out for me for I soon receive a reply back the day before my project deadline. A miracle has occurred – my poem is now a part of teenink.com's archive.

Even though this isn’t the same as getting my poem into a magazine, this is a start in my writing career. This is something that I sometimes still believe in my head to be near impossible unless I gain more experience. Ah, lack of self-confidence: oh how I hate thee. Anyways, what I hope to give to all you readers is the hope that you aspiring writers can place your foot in the door. If a high school student achieves this, then so can everyone else. Now, go out there and kick some booty!

I hope you all enjoyed that.... well, I guess essay on my journey to the writer I am now. I just wanted to say that I won't write like this much. I just wanted to make sure I still could write an essay well enough :)
 Here's something I found that you guys might enjoy!
the CrEatiVe wirters bein cool :D

How To Spot A Diamond In The Rough

Note: For Some Reason My Links to Fanfiction.net aren't working properly so please ignore those (the links at the end of each group - summaries, word length, etc.). Sorry!

Well, good morning to you! I was shocked when you said that you had to leave for a few days. Is everything alright? Oh, you had some meetings you couldn't miss, well that's fine. Just let me know if anything serious happens, will you?

What's that bag you've brought with you - camping equipment? My, you're planning on staying in that building for the night! I hope you've already grabbed everything you'll need. If not, you can just borrow anything from me. Just know that if you break anything then you'll have to buy me a brand new one!

Have you already eaten because I can make something up real quick. Oh, you have? Well then, come by tomorrow - that way I can have some company since those workers haven't been around much lately. Have a great time!

                                                                                                                                   

As viewers visit http://www.fanfiction.net/, they are met with categories beyond categories of stories. There are also even hundreds of thousands of stories under just one category! For a new user of this website, that's overwhelming. Then there's also the actual process of choosing a story to read once a user picks a category. The main issue people find with this is trying to avoid the terrible fiction. How do you spot a diamond in the rough through all this muck?

For expert browsers on this website, these adept users have found small clues to help discover amazing fan fiction without even having to waste hours on reading. These are some of those main hints:

Summaries

Before a person has to even click on a story's link, they have the option to read a summary. What most writers put in those two to three sentences will usually show their writing ability. Therefore, experienced browsers know to avoid stories that have summaries with terrible grammar and spelling. They also know that a story which has "not good at summaries" in the summary box is a waste of time. Usually, those two hints reveal that the writer's idea has not been written well enough for most of the picky readers on this website. In my personal opinion, I find that this has the biggest reveal above anything else.

Example of how not to do a summary

Word Length and Number of Chapters 

Another hint which states a lot about different fan fictions is actually a mix of two things. With a glance of the eye, just below the summary box, one can view the subcategories which minimizes a person's search. Two of them are the chapters and the words. Users of the website have grown used to what constitutes a fair length per chapter in the format offered. Personally, I search for fiction which has an average of 3,000 words per chapter.

One will begin to notice that some fiction has chapters with 500 words and others which have 10,000 words (Those can usually turn out to be one-shots, also known as short stories). However, readers have to start using simple mathematics if they want to avoid stories which have 50 chapters but only with 5,000 words in all (100 words per chapter). Those stories turn out to have less writing skill then most. 

 Example of Word Length and Number of Chapters

The First Chapter Tells All 

Once a reader is able to minimize their search by the two hints offered above, greatly by the way, they then have to start previewing the fictions by reading the first few chapters or so. There are two things which a reader can come across that will allow them to stop reading in the first paragraph instead of the seventh chapter. These two hints are the number of grammar or spelling mistakes a writer makes and the comments the author can post on their chapters.

Number of Grammar/Spelling Mistakes 

On http://www.fanfiction.net/, there is the option for writers to find a Beta. A Beta is basically another person who reviews the chapters of a story before they're published. Usually, the Beta will fix any leftover grammar or spelling mistakes that the author has not caught. Therefore, well written stories shouldn't have many mistakes if they're capable of finding a Beta (Trust me, there's not a lowering supply of these nice people). If, by chance, there's a story with terrible grammar and spelling, then the writer has not taken the time to find a great Beta. They haven't spent enough time to dedicate to their stories which others would do (That doesn't mean one has to spend over 5 hours a day on their stories. It can be around 30 minutes or so).

Example of Spelling/Grammar Mistakes 

Author Comments 

On the top and/or bottom of a chapter, many writers on http://www.fanfiction.net/ will add their own little flair to their stories (whether that be responding to reviews or talking with the characters of their stories - like an interview). That is also the time where a reader can get to know an author as well as the author's personality. These comments can put specific writers into the spotlight, almost like a celebrity. However, if an author states something mean then people will stop reading their stories. Therefore, a reader can choose whether or not the author's personal information will decide if they want to read his/her stories. 

Complete or Incomplete? 

First of all, most stories on  http://www.fanfiction.net/ are incomplete. That means that they're either in progress or have been discontinued. Many find that they want a story that is either complete or is nearing the last chapter. Most don't want to read a story that only has one or three chapters - they want a story which is already far into its plot. The reason? Readers don't want to have to wait for a chapter to be updated, sporadically. They also despise when a story is 50 chapters in (and 300,000 words in all) but then the author chooses to stop writing.

This comes down to a personal choice. Do you want to chance a story and place a bet on someone you don't know if their story isn't complete yet? Or, do you just want to read the stories that already have a reliable author? Granted, there are those amazing stories which are already 15 chapters in and you just can't stay away. Go for it! Stories that last over 10 chapters have a higher chance of being completed then those that have less.

Discontinued (Incomplete) 

Reviews... Not So Much 

In the entire time I have been browsing fan fiction, I have found that I only read the reviews if I reviewed a story myself. It's not necessary to pay attention to reviews for they fall under three categories: fluff, critics, and flamers. Most writers, and browsers, have to ignore majority of the reviews which are made up of fluff to try and find those select few critics that actually help in their reviews (Don't even get me started on flamers, yet). Frankly, this process just takes way too much time for browsers to use.

The only thing browsers need to notice when it comes to reviews is the amount a story is receiving. For the more a reviews a story has, the better it is. 

 Number of Reviews Stated In The Summary

And now you all have the main hints to browse http://www.fanfiction.net/ if you want to. Have fun!

                                                                                                                              

For all of those reading these posts, here's my author comment :)

I want to thank you all for taking the time to read this and I hope you start to take an interest (even if it's small) in fan fiction. I should tell you that currently I am a college student who is also using this blog for my English class. The red posts are for my class and the blue posts are my personal ones. I hope you've been enjoying these!

And now a fun fact about me: I have a poem published on http://teenink.com/ which is called The Last Caravan. My friend and I wrote that for an English assignment in high school and then I published it for another project I had :)

Also, I've been putting links on the bottom of my posts as a little bit of fun. Sometimes they'll be links to music while other time's they'll be links to videos. I hope you enjoy those as well!
Here's the link for today's post: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toXNVbvFXyk

Everyone, have a nice day!