Work Room - Week 12

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

The new topic is up http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/521820.html and so is our very first Home Game thread of the season!
and I'm sure some of you are biting at the bit to get started and others are turning around ideas in your head.

Being in your own head, trying to figure things out, is often a tricky part of the process. Which is where the Work Room comes in, it's a place to bounce around ideas and get tips that will hopefully be useful to you.

We haven't had a Mentor in a bit. That's changing today. I'm sure there are going to be some veterans surprised by this, but one of the things that I tend to hear from newbies and veterans alike, is finding their Voice and learning how to work it into something that stands out from the crowd.

So I went to my tool box of folks that I knew would have something useful to say on the subject, and found just the person.

We may not always agree on things, but I don't think anyone would deny that he's a talent writer, with a lot to say on the subject of not letting yourself get sucked into the mire of the uninspired.

Please welcome your Mentor for the week, hightekvagabond!

***

When Gary asked me to do this mentoring thing my mind went right to my own experiences in the
contest. I remember going into it thinking I was a pretty decent writer and time after time just being boggled at the posts that that did better than me from week to week. To be honest it was a pretty big blow to my ego but that turned out to be because I wasn't willing to accept that LJ Idol is more than just a writing contest, it's a community and votes are NEVER purely about writing. So, first things first, I say unto you: If you don't get as far as you expect in this contest don't take it as a reflection of your writing ability.

Of course, the next thing I went to was the question of what the heck to put into this intro as to who I was and why I was chosen, I mean really, aren't you sitting there going “Who is this guy and why should I listen to him”... Well.. I could give you Gary's reason's but he did that here.

So, instead I built a small robotic penguin from some pvc pipe, an old palm pilot and some motors I salvaged from a retired VCR because everyone knows that penguins have all the answers.

Unfortunately, I couldn't understand his penguineese so I allowed him to build me a translation
device which turned out to be lost in translation because he instead built an alternate universe, time traveling, transportation device.

During our travels the robot penguin and I had to conform to the first law of thermal dynamics
which caused our mass to be displaced in each of our transportation events which caused a house to fall on an evil dictator in our first location. So, as me and my robot penguin companion stared down at the body of a maniacal little man with a strange mustache we were approached by hoards of very short jewish people singing songs about dead nazies... and I thought “Yes, I should point out to these people that sometimes it's ok to be offensive, because it makes a point and gets attention”

During our second transportation, oh, wait, well, I can't tell you about that, I promised the penguin but let me just say, this stop cleared my pocket of all it's 1 dollar bills.

During our third transportation we landed in a weird little suburb where all the houses looked the same, except the one with the big orange splot on it. I loved the splot, it kept me alive and I was reminded of something else I had experienced in this contest which was the repetitive nature of some of the posts. Because when the prompt is “Airplane” it just doesn't matter how good the writing is you are bored out of your mind when you get to the third post about someone's first ride on an airplane. But, my companion and I quickly escaped before consumed by conformity.

During our fourth transportation we landed in the city of the LookAtMes all of which had some
problem. Now, my penguin friend and I both understood that problems exist in this world, but we found many of the LookAtMes kind of boring because it was ALL they ever talked about.
They couldn't find other subjects and they were so focused on pity that they totally missed the concept of continued communication. We escaped as quickly as we could.

After this last visit I couldn't handle any more so I pleaded with my new friend and he brought us home, but remember that first law of thermal dynamics? Well, it seems that during one of those transportations we were displaced with some sort of slime wielding Tasmanian Devil and my bedroom was wrecked. So, while my journey began well it ended very badly. Which reminded me of the last important note for writing: Open Strong and End Strong... the strong opening will keep them reading, and the strong ending will be what they think back on when they remember the post and are deciding if they are voting for you.

Now, I'm off to clean up this mess but I'm looking forward to chatting with you in comments and helping as best I can.

Comments

[spydielives.livejournal.com]

Penguins are awesome, time traveling ones even more so.

If he wore a bow tie, I think I would have to faint.

[hightekvagabond.livejournal.com]

Bow Ties are cool, so are Fezzes

[wolfden.livejournal.com]

I feel like I have a concept but I'm still mulling it over. I'm too exhausted to flesh it out right now too.

I want a time traveling penguin. I would be happy to skip the bedroom destruction though.

Coment here for specific and direct feedback

[hightekvagabond.livejournal.com]

I'm going to do my best to track the overall work room.... and I'm not exactly sure what my job is here as mentor... but if you really specifically want my help in any way shape or form reply to this comment and I promise to respond.

[ecosopher.livejournal.com]

As an aside, can I just make a quick plea on behalf of the Tasmanian Devil, which is actually a sweet creature despite its Warner Bros incarnation, and is under serious threat of extinction?

Cheers for that.

Righto. Topic. I really want to do something different this week. I'm stuck in a rut. The last three topic I've done an essay like thing and I want to branch out a bit. Not exactly sure where to go, though... I think I have some ideas for what I want to write, but just not sure how I want to present it.

[wolfden.livejournal.com]

Tasmanian Devils are super cute - the real thing not the WB incarnation.

I have to figure out a way to make my idea work.

[hightekvagabond.livejournal.com]

When I was competing in this contest and I had more than one idea and was having a hard time choosing one I'd always go with the one least likely to show up in someone else's work.

[ashgaelsonaria.livejournal.com]

A lot of the native wildlife in tasmania is indagered - and there are a lot of peoplr who beleave that the tasmanian wolf is still around and are activly serching for some.
I watch too much discovery.

[tjoel2]

I totally agree with the Open Strong, End Strong idea. I also think there needs to be a hook somewhere in the middle, because even if you have a great ending, if it gets boring in the middle no one is going to get to that ending anyway.

[karmasoup.livejournal.com]

Or, you could just do like our mentor does, and let your hook be a whap-in-the-face that leaves you scratching your head and wondering, wtf, in between the enticing opener and just before the punch to the gut close.

[yachiru]

I want to do mystery again this week. Science fiction-y. Neither of those genres is my strong suit. Mysteries are hard! I always over think or under think the mystery element and end up confusing people.

[hightekvagabond.livejournal.com]

When I find myself over-thinking something I plan to write I put it off and mentally write it in the shower where there are no other distractions.

[roina-arwen.livejournal.com]

How about some MST3k? :)

[cosmolinguist]

If another pair of eyes would help, so you can tell if you're confusing people, I'm happy to read it :) I read a lot of mysteries and SF anyway.

[roina-arwen.livejournal.com]

Penguins are such adorable animals! My hubby has a great story about why he hates penguins, but he's developed a soft spot for the penguins from the Madagascar movies. Real life penguins, not so much.

[jem0000000.livejournal.com]

Ideas, ideas.... How does one be original without knowing what everyone else will write?

Also I'm terribly afraid I'm going to procrastinate this week, because last week I ought to have written it while I was out and about, and I assumed I would have time when I returned, and skipped the hassle of texting it to someone so they could send it back to me later... and I totally needed that time, because it didn't cooperate and I couldn't get it ship-shape in time. :(

....Not that the last one can be fixed by writing comments about it. But I feel more productive thinking while in the workroom than thinking while playing solitaire. (Really the IRS needs to fix their download speeds so I can do something productive while I think. But this comment isn't about that.)

[sweeny-todd.livejournal.com]

I am often worries that my idea will be covered by someone else as well *but* even when that happens, the outcomes are totally different. I am thinking specifically of the Food Memory topic, when ellakite and I write something similar.. but completely different at the some time.

[roina-arwen.livejournal.com]

How does one be original without knowing what everyone else will write?

That's the question alright! Obviously, you don't know what everyone else will write (although for those who are fast on the submit button, you can always read a few entries before writing your own, to see where at least a few Idolers have gone with it, or if you're stuck on what to write) but the best idea is to NOT go with your first instinct IF it seems too obvious.

For example, putting together toys, furniture, or Legos.

Beyond that, there's always the whole "thesaurus" route.

"Assembly" doesn't always refer to "putting things together". A gathering of people is also an assembly, like a congregation at church, or a crowd at a movie premiere; maybe that way of approaching the topic would work better for you than thinking about constructing things?

[imafarmgirl.livejournal.com]

Good to see you around these parts again. I think I know what I will write about, which makes me happy especially since I have school work I really need to do this weekend and I want to catch a movie as well.

[hightekvagabond.livejournal.com]

YAY! A Familiar face :)

Good to see you too :)

[poppetawoppet.livejournal.com]

a part of me completely understands that this is a community, and a part of me hates it, as I am never good at the community thing

(although I'm trying to be more of a participant this year. I am.)

that said, I have an idea on what I want to write about, but not sure how I want to write it

[karmasoup.livejournal.com]

I pulled myself out of the community aspect this year, just so I could primarily focus on writing, either keeping up with the discipline of being in the habit to actually make myself do it, or expanding my comfort zone into additional directions. Though, at times I look back over the way I was received when I was more involved, and, I do miss that, a bit. I don't miss the drama that caused me to leave, though. I have been hoping to just let my writing speak for itself, but I am here now to support the mentor... we'll see how it goes.

[sweeny-todd.livejournal.com]

I have two ideas... one I have pretty much written up, the other is more of a follow on from my entry last week.

This is the first time this season I have more than one idea that I actually want to write up! Having said that, although I am glad I wrote what I did last week, I just know that it worked. It was a challenge! (which is the bit I was glad about).


The other thing is the current idea is that dystopian future idea which everyone is doing at the moment. SIGH. There is just so much fun to be had with a bleak future!

[porn-this-way.livejournal.com]

Hey! Is anybody reading this?! I got a last minute idea, BUT I NEED YOUR HELP.

Those of you who've been around the Idol block a few times - what are some commonly recurring trends, tropes, memes, themes, fights...anything! This can apply to entries themselves, voting, green room comments, work room threads, elimination posts, whutevs. Spill 'em if ya got 'em, por favor!

[rt-sparrow.livejournal.com]

Fights? There are no fights in Idol. :)

[whipchick.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the point about strong openings and closings - I wrote five interlocking flash pieces this week, and made a point of going back and trying to make each one open and close with a bang. Appreciate the reminder!