Work Room - Week 29

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

The new topics are up. http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/571850.html

Which one are you going to choose? Why? What do you think you will be able to do with it that you don't think you can with the others?

***
One of the biggest surprises for me (other than the storm) last week was in saying "Bring Your A-Game" some people seemed upset that they had to "bring their A-game" yet ANOTHER week, as if they shoudn't be doing their best every single week. Everyone has bad/tough weeks. But doing your best work every week should be the norm, not a special event!

Another head scratcher was that, it felt like people reverted to bad habits we haven't seen since early in the competition. The main one being trying to fit the words in the topic into the piece. Trust me, if you can deliver on the piece you want, people are smart enough to figure out the connection. If they can't, without resorting to beating them over the head with it, chances are you need to get a second look at the piece, stare at it from the side and see what it is that you need to change.

I believe that every one in this competition has the chance to shine. But not if you trip over your own heels. I know what pressure can do to a person. But hopefully those surprise days off to rest will come in handy, to recharge you for the march to the finish!

Comments

[noodledays.livejournal.com]

happy Monday everyone! I hope everyone had a good weekend, be it a long one or elsewise. :D

[xo-kizzy-xo.livejournal.com]

WOOT, you're FIRST!!!!!!!

[xo-kizzy-xo.livejournal.com]

Levithan would be interesting. Naturally the first thing I thought of was a great white shark...

[kathrynrose.livejournal.com]

My first thought was an old Cris Williamson song.

::waits for entire workroom to stop and ponder, "Cris, who?"::

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

For those wondering, I still do not have internet access at home. I'm using wifi somewhere else.

They promised to be out between 4-6 today. I got home at 4, to find out they came out just before 3!!

It's the first time I've ever had someone come *early*, so of course that is why they did... they are coming back out tomorrow after work.

[theafaye.livejournal.com]

Hurray! Gotta love contractors who are so diligent that they come early, so they get out of actually doing the job they're supposed to do. Hope you didn't lose any pay for getting home early.

[alien-infinity.livejournal.com]

My brain wouldn't LET me have the weekend off; I think it didn't want my writing muscles to atrophy. Instead of relaxing, I wrote on a "fake" Idol topic given to me by another Idoler.

Here (http://alien-infinity.livejournal.com/226879.html) is the piece, if anybody wants to read it. It's a continuation of Gemma's story.

[basric.livejournal.com]

So is the hammer of doom dropping. We all choose a word, and X amount of bottom votes from each list -- axed. May be a bloody game this week. I feel a bulls-eye between my eyes. SIGH

[ashgaelsonaria.livejournal.com]

Atlest you get to choise one. Opps.
I shall stop before the introducing of evil ideas.

[theafaye.livejournal.com]

I feel drawn towards "disappear" but I strongly suspect that there are going to be a lot of obvious interpretations - invisible because nobody really sees YOU, disappearing through kidnap/murder, that kind of thing and I hate to do obvious. So unless I can come up with an angle that isn't obvious to me (despite the fact that things that I've thought were obvious in the past with my alt apparently weren't to anyone else), I'm going with something else. I've always loved the word gobsmacked.

[alien-infinity.livejournal.com]

My first thought on "disappear" was someone who WANTS to disappear for whatever reason, which is probably another obvious interpretation.

[xo-kizzy-xo.livejournal.com]

To address what Gary brought up -- my own opinion, of course.

1) I honestly think this break was indeed an Act of God in that most -- if not all of us -- are indeed a bit weary. Idol's a marathon, and naturally each one of us will have our own tough weeks. I think the pressure we put on ourselves, coupled with Gary's "Bring Your A Game" just adds to it. I'm not saying either/both is good nor bad; it's just my own observation.

Using myself as an example -- I tend to put enormous pressure on myself as par for the course, whether it's Idol or at work or whatever. Sometimes it works in my favor. Sometimes it doesn't. But I never let my guard down.

2) I think "slipping back into old habits" ties in with the weariness/pressure factor. If you're tired, you won't be at your best in anything unless you push past it. How you get to the point where you can push past it, I can't answer because I'm not you. Only you can answer that.

:steps off soapbox:

[alycewilson.livejournal.com]

Speaking as someone who's chronically sleep-deprived, I wholeheartedly agree with you on the need for rest.

Of course, I am a victim of migraines, so in a cruel twist of fate, if I *oversleep*, I get a headache.

[jem0000000.livejournal.com]

Good luck!

[kathrynrose.livejournal.com]

How about a story about being gobsmacked at the news that Congress has appropriated funds to save some nearly extinct whale species.

It'd be fiction, of course.

[xo-kizzy-xo.livejournal.com]

LOLOL!!!

The fact that you mentioned whales now makes me think of Animal Planet's "Whale Wars". Hmmm...

[beldar.livejournal.com]

As if we needed more stress in this competition, it occurs to me that it is possible (I don't know for sure, just a guess) that we will be divided into four "tribes" in the poll, based on which topic we write on. That means if you write on a less-popular topic, your odds of elimination could go up.

But while I did have this thought, it's not going to really effect what topic I go with, because going with something when the idea/inspiration isn't there is more of a guarantee of doom than a shorter poll list.

I'm still giving this some thought -- maybe write something tomorrow.

[xo-kizzy-xo.livejournal.com]

Good point re the tribes ;)

Of course now that you mentioned it, Gary will probably dream up something even more evil...

[alien-infinity.livejournal.com]

Now I'm wondering if my decision to write a pseudo-Idol post over the weekend was a bad idea. My brain saw empty space where Idol was supposed to go and was having none of it, but I hope I didn't overtax myself and thus render myself unable to write well NOW.

Hmm...as to actual IDEAS, I no haz. :/

My brain likes "disappear" the best of all the topics, but I feel that is a very obvious choice that will lead to a very obvious post. Maybe I could make it work, though.

[medleymisty.livejournal.com]

Process of elimination - appropriation is right out, because I can't see a way to get a story out of it and also I play life on easy, if you guys read John Scalzi's blog post about privilege. Leviathan is too close to what sonophax and I wrote for our intersection, with the Lovecraftian horror. So that leaves gobsmacked and disappear. Disappear certainly plays to my strengths, imagery and metaphor and weird psychological stuff and all.

I might could get nonfiction out of gobsmacked, and I know a fair few people prefer nonfiction, but really...I can do nonfiction fairly well, but generally not Idol type nonfiction. The last time I did nonfiction my poll results scared me. If you're LJ friends with me, you know my nonfiction tends to be long personal essays that explore concepts like class and ego development and the psychological effects of losing a parent in early childhood and things like that. Not really Idol fare. Nonfiction gobsmacked....

I don't know, I just googled it and I don't really identify with that emotion. I was thinking maybe something like - like how my brain lights up with colors and sparkles and joy when I see the sunlight on just mowed grass, or green trees against a blue sky...I did find a site that said it can just mean that you're so amazed that you're speechless, but yeah. The beauty of the world constantly amazes me, but I constantly write about it. No speechlessness here.

So yeah. Fictional disappearing it is. Although I've been meaning to write one of my usual style LJ posts tonight, so all the new people I've friended the last few days can see my usual style. So I'll go start on that, and we'll see how it turns out. If I think it can be used for gobsmacked or disappear, I'll just use it as my Idol entry this week. If not, then I've already got a faint inkling for fiction using disappear. There may be a character named Lovesy involved. ;)

[alien-infinity.livejournal.com]

A lot of Idol people prefer nonfiction, but there are those of us who love a good piece of fiction, too. ;)

I feel like you might get a better Idol entry if you set out to write an Idol entry, rather than just writing something and later saying "oh, this is my Idol entry." I think this holds for nonfiction as well as for fiction. Maybe the reason you got low poll results when you did nonfiction last time was an "Idol topic burnout" of more people than usual writing nonfiction, and writing nonfiction about the same sorts of things. Also, you just do AWESOME fiction, so there's that. I mean, you had freaking ZOMBIE POE!!!

[porn-this-way.livejournal.com]

There's trying to bring your A game, and then there's actually bringing it. Lord knows I *try* every week. But some weeks, it's more A than others! That's my (admittedly weak) justification of the whole "OMG TWO WEEKS IN A ROW??1!?1111" howl of agony, anyways :P

Which topic - OMG. Disappear is tempting, but I'm worried everyone and their dog is gonna do that, and I *do* love me a good ol' fashioned sea monster. Also, it's official. If I can't get this damn thing written by Wednesday night, I'm bringing a pickle to work on Thursday and eating it after lunch. I'm allergic to dill. I'll get really sick for like an hour, make a break for it, then be fine. Wait, what's that? "Too far"? "Not healthy"? Pffffft. What the hell do YOU mortals know.

Harhar, j\k. I think. >_>

Also, random question for anyone reading this, on the topic of A game and whatnot:

What week do you think was the "playtime is over, this shit is ON" dividing week between "stretch your wings" and "fly or die"? I was looking over my old posts yesterday, and I think Week 18 was the week that kicked me from "hey, this is a fun challenge" to "Quit effing around, bring the noise, or GTFO!" Sure, it was a gradual process over the entire course of the competition, but that week seemed to be, for whatever reason, when the proverbial fire felt like it had officially been lit under my booty. Was just wondering what the time frame was like for my fellow Idol Island dwellers. Was there a specific time that you definitively felt yourself switch from a jog to a sprint? Or has it been more of just a steady incline the whole time?

[alien-infinity.livejournal.com]

I don't know about definitively, but the Gatekeeper Week definitely brought on the Super Panic. I thought I was DONE FOR that week but I passed and around that time is when I got seriously emotionally invested in Idol.

If you need help bringing your A-game this week, I'm always available for IM brainstorming and happy to passive-aggressively beg you to chat with me, I mean help you write! :P

[pixiebelle.livejournal.com]

I've got a couple ideas I'm playing with. Nonfiction of course. Either a funny story for appropriation (if I can get it to work) or a serious but happy one for gobsmacked.

We shall see what my brain comes up with.

As to your questions, I always bring the best I can every week. I mentioned it in the GR last week even. I didn't stress that I needed to bring my A-game last week more than I stress about in any week. I always want to put my best work out there. Some weeks are harder than others, but I know I always do the best I can in that given week.

I'm not sure if you consider my entry subject as using the title... I was trying to be funny and play with it, but I never use the topic in the actual post unless it fits in naturally. I prefer to not use it, I like my entry to define the topic without me having to mention the connection. I remember some people had issues with mt Coprolite entry and seeing the metaphor, but I wasn't going to throw it in to make it obvious either.

[alien-infinity.livejournal.com]

Being that I'm Very, Very Stuck right now, I'll jump on an old bandwagon and ask what people would want to see from me. To make the question less tired, is there any of the four TOPICS you would especially like to see me write on?

Thank you. :)

[pixiebelle.livejournal.com]

I'd like to see you write on some of the nonfiction ideas we've discussed. I think you could do those well and in your own unique voice :)

[alycewilson.livejournal.com]

Help me out here, longtime LJI participants. Wasn't "leviathan" a topic from an earlier season? Or are they all just running into each other?

I'm not quite sure what direction I'm going to go yet or which topic to pick.

[alycewilson.livejournal.com]

I do rather like the word "gobsmacked," though.

[n3m3sis42.livejournal.com]

The only reason I was worried about being told to bring my A game was because of what that's implied in the past. Gatekeepers are scary! Although I will admit that I whined about "having to bring my A game two weeks in a row" after there was no elimination last week. I was half kidding but the whole turn of events did shake me up quite a bit.

Anyone want to see anything specific from me? I have one idea I've been playing with in my head that might work for one of the topics but I'm not sure I'm attached to it. Then when I saw the topics, the first thing that came to mind was another piece of the series I've been writing the past two weeks. I just don't think it's a wise idea to write the same series 3 weeks in a row, although it does clearly have a very big place in my heart.

So... Any suggestions or thoughts?

[alien-infinity.livejournal.com]

For what it's worth, I've written TWO serials and done well with them. I'm still here, after all! If your brain keeps telling you to write on Sam's story, it might be a good idea to go with it, if only to get it out of your brain to make room for something else.

[ashgaelsonaria.livejournal.com]

Gee, aside from the fact that my glasses dissapeared sometime between being put up Friday night and me reaching for them Saturday morning I have a sudden urge to write a Farscape fan fiction from Moya's perspective or just a commentary on the most awesome space ships in science fiction.
Moya and Talon.
I simply can't put my finger on why.
However given that without my glasses I am functionally blind with a zone of focus of less then six inches. I am very nearsighted and the only Internet device I can use right now is my kindle.
As vision in my good eye is. -6.50 (not counting the astigmatism and crossed eyes - I do see out both still) you can understand if I dont do anything that requires the use of my computer.
Tomarrow I go pick out a pair and then I wait until my lenses arrive. They do not generally keep such strong scripts on hand. I might not be able to home game.

[ecosopher.livejournal.com]

But doing your best work every week should be the norm, not a special event!

What?!! You mean contestants actually have to try to produce something good every week? What the hell is this, some kind of writing competition?

Leviathan

[ecosopher.livejournal.com]

Oh, and also, those of you interested in philosophy might want to check out Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan for some ideas. Or you could ask me, if you're wanting some ideas about that (particular book), because it's one of my favourite areas of discussion.

Re: Leviathan

[comedychick.livejournal.com]

Or you could just write a home game entry about it ;)

[sweeny-todd.livejournal.com]

I like 2 of the topics...

[jem0000000.livejournal.com]

It only takes one! Will you be Home Gaming?

[roina-arwen.livejournal.com]

Did we ever find out who was eliminated in week 28?

I'm guessing that the tribes this week will be based on the topics chosen... :)

[comedychick.livejournal.com]

Due to Gary's Internet being cut off, he took it as a sign that he wasn't supposed to eliminate anyone.

[jem0000000.livejournal.com]

Does not doing something new after you've done something new several times in a row actually count as doing something new?

[whipchick.livejournal.com]

Dear God I hope so.

[jacq22.livejournal.com]

I am hoping my enthusiasm isn't short lived, but I literally sat and wrote this afternoon and it became a 'story' too quickly, ??? it sort of took me over.... have time to juggle with it before Thursday if I keep the body of it?. But got excited by what I found and 'saw' the characters in my head. We shall see, now for some ironing, cooking, and second thoughts!!
Boy he is a hard task master... Love ya Gary, and glad the tech hitch is over. Yay! for tradesmen who arrive at all. that is some sort of miracle.

[alien-infinity.livejournal.com]

I would love to see another entry like the one you did for "Closer" where you based it on a photograph. That post was so cool. :)