Work Room - Week 10

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

When I said to myself, "Self, there should be a Work Room this season", one of the items on my "wish list" for making it work was that I wanted it to be a place where people could interact and specifically discuss their entries and writing in general.

What was working for them, what they saw as working for someone else. What might not be going as well and could be tweaked.

Something that people have said for awhile now is "If only there was a Tim Gunn figure". Someone who you could ask for advice, and who would give it. As with Project Runway, you might not always be eye to eye with what they say, but you can take it and process it down to something you can use.

There are a lot of problems that I have with the having one voice approach to work room discussion, and so I have been hoping that people would step up and be the "Tim Gunn" for their peers. Motivating each other.

In the background though, since last season, I have been working toward a feature of the Work Room that I thought fit enough of the mode people said they wanted, with enough of an Idol touch to it. :)

It's been called various things (in my head and in conversations) but since the introduction of our first guest refers to it by the early term of "Mentor", let's go with that. :)

How does it work? I don't know. I know how it works in theory, but a lot depends on what happens over the course of the first few.

Because a mentor will appear every few weeks, and you can discuss your issues here (and your colleagues can pipe up with their opinions) or just link and let them know you want them to take a look at something. I imagine each mentor will have a slightly different style.

For now though, it's time to introduce the first one.

He was one of the contestants in Season 1. So he was here when this whole thing started. His introduction rather downplays his "outside Idol" qualifications if you ask me. He has been a Gatekeeper in the past, so some of you may already know him.

Let's welcome the first in the series of Idol mentors mezzominty!

***

When Gary first asked me to be an LJ Idol mentor I thought, “but I’m evil; why would he entrust me with the fragile confidence of a bunch of thin-skinned artistic types?” Then I remembered that Gary is *also* evil, and I became giddy with the prospect of inflicting trauma and cruelty.

Lucky for all of you this only lasted a few seconds because my next thought was, “Oh crap, wait a minute, I’ve been in their shoes!” And thus I was awash in sympathy for you lost, wretched souls, having to face torture and torment week after week at the hands of Gary. “I must help them,” I concluded. “I must be a mentor!”

Um, so that’s that. My name is mezzominty. I’ve competed in a couple of these and had responses to entries that ranged from spectacularly positive, warming me to the cockles of something or other, to once being chased by villagers with torches and pitchforks due to a rather unfortunate poem in which I rhymed “dewdrop” with “glue sop” (it didn’t even make sense in context).

Anyway, generally speaking I like entries that surprise me in some way whether in style or content. Funny is always welcome, but I like serious stuff too so long as it doesn’t tip over into melodrama. I’ll read over fiction, comics, poetry, pretty much whatever you throw at me and I’ll do my best to either offer something constructive or admit to being out of my element. When I share my opinion, I share it gently, unless it’s about your mother (can you believe I just went there? What a cheesy joke).

Finally, if you want to see my stuff, you can visit my livejournal, or better yet, you can go buy your own copy of Idol Musings. You could also briefly see my stuff on McSweeneys until it had to be removed due to, um, potential litigation from a chemical giant that rhymes with PooDawnt that I sort of made fun of in the piece (my brand of humor isn’t always appreciated), but hey, at least I was published there for all of 2 days before having to go into hiding these past 9 years.

***

That's him. So feel free to get the ball rolling, or talk amongst yourselves (always a good thing) about what you are seeing in entries, and the snags you are hitting.

Comments

[lilycobalt.livejournal.com]

Hello Work Room, and hello specifically to mezzominty!

I've been having a lot of fun brainstorming for this topic. I've always liked my Greek mythology, and there are a lot of interesting themes in the Icarus story for us to draw from. I think that I've selected an aspect of the myth to zero in on, but I'm in the unfamiliar position of having a theme without an underlying story that expresses the theme I want to convey.

For the musically inspired among us, one of my non-Idol friends pointed out just how many artists have written songs about Icarus. The Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icarus) about him provides a good list.

ETA: Now that I'm a few sentences in, I'm starting to worry about pigeonholing myself. The sentences that I have so far show me that I'm doing melancholic, introspective, coming-of-age yet again. I did that last week. I am somewhat attached to my current take on the topic, which is the story of my teenage catchphrase, but I'm becoming aware that I need to switch it up a bit.

[teaberryblue.livejournal.com]

I would not worry too much about "pigeonholing" at this point. I would say lead with your strengths. If you have a story that you're very attached to and you think you can tell well, go with it, especially if you think it will be a unique take on the topic.

I haven't been paying as much attention to this kind of thing this year as last year, but there were many writers who did one thing well as opposed to experimenting around and were able to go pretty far just doing what they did best. I'm a big proponent of risk-taking, personally, but I'll also say that it's silly to take a risk JUST for the sake of taking a risk-- if you intuitively feel that this is the "right" entry for this topic for you, then you can take a risk a different week.

[tigrkittn.livejournal.com]

Welcome, mezzominty! You are a brave, brave man!!

[mezzominty.livejournal.com]

Nope, I'm stupid.

[joyfulfeather.livejournal.com]

How awesome! Thanks, mezzominty!

I've got a couple vague thoughts floating in my head for the topic so far. I'm pretty sure I'm going to wind up writing something Stargate-related; SGU is one of my favorite shows and primary fandoms right now, and it started with a project called Icarus. The challenge with writing something fandom-related, though -- or writing fanfic itself -- is making it accessible to people who don't know or care about the show. Part of me thinks I should find another angle, but... if I want to write something I know and feel strongly about, this would be it.

[creature-girl08.livejournal.com]

Stargate is a favorite in our household. Write on brother Stargate lover.

[onda-bianca.livejournal.com]

Welcome/Hello, Mentor Mezzominty!:)

It seems as though phase two of the main competition of Idol is just getting tougher and tougher each week. I mean...these topics...yikes! I look forward to reading what people come up with...:)

[mezzominty.livejournal.com]

me too

WTF moment

[creature-girl08.livejournal.com]

Hello mezzominty. Brave soul indeed to want to help us out.

So, it has been a few since reading myths. Who was Icarus? Feels like an idiot for not remembering such things.

Greek mythology is all I remember thanks to a friend this evening.

Help!

Re: WTF moment

[vaguelyclear.livejournal.com]

From Wikipedia:

Icarus' father, Daedalus, a talented and remarkable Athenian craftsman, attempted to escape from his exile in the palace of Crete, where he and his son were imprisoned at the hands of King Minos, the king for whom he had built the Labyrinth to imprison the Minotaur (half man, half bull). Daedalus, the superior craftsman, was exiled because he gave Minos' daughter, Ariadne, a clue in order to help Theseus, the enemy of Minos, survive the Labyrinth and defeat the Minotaur.

Daedalus fashioned two pairs of wings out of wax and feathers for himself and his son. Before they took off from the island, Daedalus warned his son not to fly too close to the sun, nor too close to the sea. Overcome by the giddiness that flying lent him, Icarus soared through the sky curiously, but in the process he came too close to the sun, which melted the wax. Icarus kept flapping his wings but soon realized that he had no feathers left and that he was only flapping his bare arms. And so, Icarus fell into the sea in the area which bears his name, the Icarian Sea near Icaria, an island southwest of Samos.

Hopefully that helps anyone else who's forgotten/hasn't heard the story of Icarus.

[the-vernacular.livejournal.com]

Hi, there, Evil Mentor!

I am really interested in this topic. I already wrote my post: I knew immediately that I wanted to write something about aerospace, and then remembered my personal experience surrounding the Challenger disaster. Since I've done two weeks of fiction in a row, and my last non-fiction piece was the week of the optional topic, I thought it was a good place to start.

But I think this is a neat topic because it is so specific. I'm interested to see how many people choose to use the character Icarus or an aspect of the Icarus story to write their entries, and how many people choose to pick something tangentially related (as I did). It was tough for me to go with the tangential in a way, because I'm sure many of you have noticed by now that I really like folktales and archetypes and this was right up my alley as far as the subject. So part of why I chose to go the opposite direction was because I felt like it was the bigger challenge for me personally.

[comedychick.livejournal.com]

If I post what I've written (the 'if' is because it's partly about a friend and I've asked her if she minds if I do), my link to the topic seems a little tenuous, but it's the first thing I thought of from the prompt.

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Dear mezzominty, I don't know about you, but I immediately thought about drone bees! What do you think?

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

You *always* think about drone bees. Or beer. Or getting drone bees drunk! :)

[michikatinski.livejournal.com]

Great idea. I might have to put this dude to work!

[mezzominty.livejournal.com]

please do!

[theafaye.livejournal.com]

Just had to say that Mezzominty wrote some of my most absolute favourite pieces in Idol Musings, so having him as a mentor is a totally awesome idea.

I was going to take a bye this week but then my daughter surprised me by knowing the legend of Icarus when I was telling her what she had to write about, so I may do a piece about home education. I don't know. I guess I shall see how interesting I feel I can make it.

[mezzominty.livejournal.com]

Hello! Hello! I hope you give it a try. As a public librarian, I meet a lot of homeschool parents (almost daily), and many homeschool teens volunteer at our branch. It would be interesting to see how the Icarus story or theme could tie in. Either way, thanks for the kind words!

[imafarmgirl.livejournal.com]

Yay for having a mentor. Cool idea.

I had to google this topic because I had no idea what it was. It helped but not much. I think I know what I will write though.

[mezzominty.livejournal.com]

Let me know if you want me to look anything over. Good to see you competing again this season! Good luck!

[vaguelyclear.livejournal.com]

Welcome to our first mentor! Great idea, Gary :)

As for the topic, I have a few half-formed ideas, but nothing solid to go with yet. I'm going to have to sleep on it, and just hope that something comes to me before the deadline.

[ravenshrinkery.livejournal.com]

Hi, I'm John, and I would like to welcome our mentor, if I may, with a request for advice (of course, everyone else jump in too if you like!).

You might not believe this, but prior to Idol I never thought of myself as a creative writer, or even having much skill at all in it. I took a class in it somewhere way back in time but have forgotten everything from it. Yet somehow it feels like I'm doing something instinctively well (and last week's poll didn't hurt). But because of not really knowing much about writing in this sense - my writing experience is primarily academic and business in nature, which encourages conciseness and clear transmission of information - I'm not sure how to improve. Except for the obvious of keep writing.

I'm not a very well read person, given that since childhood I had an undiagnosed issue with my reading vision. These days I can get around it with the aid of a big monitor and fonts but it means paper reading, especially of trade paperbacks, is very hard for me. I know a lot of great writers are also great readers, but that's something I'll probably never be that great with. Further, it means compared to a lot of writers I have a rather limited knowledge of literature.

So, that's where I want to ask for advice. I want to be a better writer across the board, but am not sure how to proceed. I don't mean to sound like I'm soliciting compliments or ego massaging, but if people could put into words what exactly I'm doing well (and not, of course), I think it will help give me some direction.

My entry is already up for this week, as I've found that going with my early instincts (in life in general) works out better than trying to agonize over what to do. Thank you everyone for taking the time to read this, and my writing in Idol in general.

[team-jessie.livejournal.com]

Well, they always tell you to write what you know, and many of your posts have struck me as very personal... so you're already following the first rule!

[team-jessie.livejournal.com]

Ok, the way I'm interpreting "Icarus" is basically a "crash and burn" story. Something that starts out with a sense of confidence, but winds up with the characters wondering how they fell so far so fast.

The trick is going to be getting across what is essentially a story of failure without being heavy-handed or maudlin. So I'm going the self-deprecating route.

I have three different ideas, and would love some thoughts on which one you'd like to read!

1. A spur-of-the-moment, lighthearted motorcycle trip to Gettysburg takes a nosedive as we become stuck on rural roads with no cover during an intensely powerful thunderstorm.

2. My best friend and I are overly confident 13-year olds, and figure we can walk home after the worst ice storm in Philadelphia's history.

3. A romantic weekend getaway to one of those famous "love hotels" in the Pocono Mountains turns out to be every bit as skeevy and depressing as you'd think.

[teaberryblue.livejournal.com]

I think two sounds the funniest and most like Icarus, to me! The overconfidence of youth and all!

[the-vernacular.livejournal.com]

I have a mezzominty question-- it's a more general one.

Do you have certain approaches to the prompts that you prefer? Ones you dislike? Are there things you try to avoid writing, or dislike when other people write them? Are there certain pitfalls where you see Idol contestants fail (not necessarily "fail to move on to next week" but "fail to appeal to you personally")?

[mezzominty.livejournal.com]

So some of this might sound shallow, but it's not meant to be. I'm trying to give practical advice/strategy. I think very long entries don't get read all the way through. I'm personally not a fan of the confessional style of writing that doesn't break through to something poignant, but rather just ends up sounding wet or melodramatic. This is very different from saying I don't like the cobfessional style of wrting because in fact I do love writers like Sylvia Plath, John Berryman, and Robert Lowell to name just a few. Honesty is brave and vital to good writing, but it has to transcend the author's personal history or else there's nothing for the reader to take away from the story. Sadly, I see a lot of the uncomfortable, wet confessional writing on LJ (not necessarily LJ Idol) that I'd rather see go into someone's personal diary. But hey, this is all just my opinion, you know? No one should listen to me if it's going to keep them from writing because writing come first!!!

[thaliontholwen.livejournal.com]

I am struggling this week.

I had ideas for using the topic in a story as soon as I saw it posted, but... they're fiction. Either it's a new chapter to my recurring fiction series, or a one-shot thing. I've been quadruple guessing my fiction work these past few weeks because it seems like I do worse in the polls when I do fiction. As much as I like writing the fiction side this season, if I'm the only one enjoying it, it would seem I need to change things up.

I could do nonfiction, I suppose, but I feel like it would be more contrived since it's not my first inclination.

Any advice?

[beeker121.livejournal.com]

If fiction is the first idea you had and the idea you're most passionate about I say go for it. My only advice is that recurring fiction can be difficult unless it's the same story every week, so if you have a one-shot idea you like equally well I'd recommend that.

I try to mix up my fiction and non-fiction for myself, but tend to go whichever way a prompt takes me unless I've been in one mode for weeks.

[beeker121.livejournal.com]

I have had a few ideas, but right now they're all too wispy to be the foundation for anything. The biggest issue is that one of my ideas led me sideways to a poem that I love, and now I'm stuck in that poem in my head.

Anyone have suggestions for how to get a piece of source material out of their heads so they can have their own original idea? Or I suppose I could just post the poem with all correct citation, but I'm guessing that wouldn't go over so well.

[joyfulfeather.livejournal.com]

Ooo, I hate it when that happens! Maybe go ahead and post the poem -- not as your LJI entry, but just as a normal post. That might get it out of your head, maybe? Like singing/listening to a song that's stuck in your head in order to get it unstuck.

This is of the frustrating...

[cheshire23.livejournal.com]

I have an idea, a beginning, an end - and NO MIDDLE.

I hate it when this happens! Help?

Re: This is of the frustrating...

[mezzominty.livejournal.com]

This happens to me. I write the beginning. I write the end. I think a lot of people do this, and then think, "Crap, now I have to tie the two pieces together and I have no idea how." I think the trick is to know what you want to write *about*. So find some thread of a plot to pick up, get to your beginning and start writing. Here's the tough part (at least for me). This doesn't always lead to the end that I first dreamed up. Soooooo, no matter how cool that first ending was, I have to let it go if my writing leads me to the "right" ending for the story that I've written. All of this pretty much boils down to: where we think we are going when we start writing isn't always where we end up, but sometimes where we end up is even better, so start inking up that blank page! Don Delillo once described writing as the most concentrated form of thought he knew and that he couldn't get to some ideas unless he started writing.

[from-the-pit.livejournal.com]

Home Game Entry for Icarus - http://from-the-pit.livejournal.com/3309.html

[lee-hawk.livejournal.com]

http://lee-hawk.livejournal.com/3923.html

[mezzominty.livejournal.com]

Hi lee_hawk! What a lovely re-telling of the Icarus myth from a Fantasy/Speculative fiction style rather than the original Greek Mythology style. My only suggestions would be to take the time to re-read what you have written and imagine you are reading it for the first time like one of your readers. Look to make sure that you have set up the elements of your plot clearly. Also, watch for sentences written in "passive voice." For example, instead of writing "he was followed by me," write "I followed him." Placing the subject ahead of the verb clears up passive voice, makes your sentence tighter, and makes your prose sound more active. Other than that technical stuff, I like that you went into the fantasy realm with the Icarus story. I *know* there are a lot of die hard fantasy fans out there!

[mezzominty.livejournal.com]

Happy Friday, Folks! I just want to say that the entries so far are making it look like the voting will be competitive. The quality of writing this season is great, as the bar seems to go up from season to season (and it started out high! imo). Anyway, I've read a lot of comments in the workroom about what the style or nature of entries for LJ Idol should be and how they should differ from our regular LJ entries. I tend to think an LJ Idol entry should be able to stand on its own out of context from your other entries or your LJ page. There are actually a lot of examples of a certain kind that I like available out in the world to read. Going back a ways, H. L. Mencken (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._L._Mencken) wrote weekly pieces that I think would have killed in LJ Idol if the language were modernized. Charles Bukowski did an R-rated version for Open City paper. Jim Knipfel wrote for several paper and is stil writing online (very funny stuff) (http://www.missioncreep.com/slackjaw/index.html). And Jonathan Ames used to write for New York Press. I wrote a review of one of his collections of these very stories for Richmond, VA's now defunct city paper bag when I wrote their book reviews (http://www.lestercat.net/punchline/ContentDisplay.php?UID=439). I also wanted to say that I am reserving my comments to the workroom, so if you want my opinion on something, let me know in here. I don't want to have an effect on voting by commenting elsewhere. Alrighty, keep working!

[joyfulfeather.livejournal.com]

After immediately deciding to write fanfic for this week's topic, I got a little stuck. I've finally come up with a couple of options I like -- and now I can't decide which to write. They're similar, just focusing on different characters with different types of loss/grief. One is about a lost pregnancy; the other is about the death of a friend and regrets about actions that led to her death. The first is a sensitive subject, while the second may wind up being more backstory-specific (that is, some of the details might not make full sense to people unfamiliar with the show).

I could write both and then decide which to post -- but the last time I did that, I just posted the first one when it was done, rather than writing the second as well.

Thoughts?

[mezzominty.livejournal.com]

The thing about the second one that jumped out to me is that you wrote it is: "about the death of a friend and regrets about actions that led to her death." The fact that there were specific actions that lead to the loss and the regret tie directly to the legend of Icarus, making it an excellent choice for this week's theme. The challenge will be overcoming what every fanfic writer has to struggle with--how to make it accessible to readers who may not be fans of the source material. But fanfic writers do it all the time. You can do it! But which ever you choose, get writing! The deadline is fast approaching :)

[redvelvetgrrl.livejournal.com]

I'm at a cross road of sorts. I have an idea, a fictional take on the topic, although I'm not sure I can pull it off. I thought long and hard about the idea of a crash and burn story, trying to think of something from my own life that was relatable. But nothing came. Until now. Some things ask to be written, but am I ready to write it? That is a whole different question. And the deadline is tomorrow.

Choose one and move on, right. I know I know. But sometimes it doesn't seem that easy.

[mezzominty.livejournal.com]

Or write both. Start with the one you feel more comfortable about sharing even if you worry you can't pull it off (I bet you surprise yourself). If the result doesn't cut it, jump into the next one. You only get better at writing creatively through the practice of creative writing. And you'd be amazed at how much you can write in a short while once the fingers start dancing across the keyboard. Don't think about the deadline - Start, relax, trust your voice and tell a story.

[shadowwolf13]

Thoughts?

http://shadowwolf13.livejournal.com/885289.html

[mezzominty.livejournal.com]

Cool, I think it's poignant that the wings have been supplanted as a metaphor for your dreams. The story of the fall is heartbreaking, but I think many readers will see at least one or two familiar elements in their own life. I like the ending note of hope that the new wings/dreams, if built with a true partner rather than one who maybe is uncertain about sharing the same dreams and not likely to stick by, will more likely come true. Good luck (in voting and in flight)!

[mezzominty.livejournal.com]

And they're off and voting... it was a pleasure hanging out in the workroom with everyone. Good luck!