Work Room - Week 32

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

Now that you know that it's an OPEN TOPIC - how are you going to proceed? Have you been storing up ideas, just in case something came up again? http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/581689.html

***

One thing that caught my attention over the last couple of weeks was the "assumption" of an entry.

I'm not really sure if I'd considered this before I saw it, but once I did, it clicked with me.

What I mean by that is - are you writing your entries with "the Idol audience" in mind, or are you writing toward a larger audience, some of whom might not know anything about Idol? (Those unfortunate people!)

What other assumptions are you making with your writing? What might need to be explained, if someone were coming across your entries for the very first time?

Comments

[mstrobel.livejournal.com]

Oh my god open topics are the BEST. This I have got to home game.

Oh yeah, that's how you do it. FIRST.

[kathrynrose.livejournal.com]

This is an interesting question. I keep Idol in mind when I write, but I think I write for everyone. Except, I care more about the structure and word choices and sometimes tone than in my regular posts. But I guess I imagine that whoever is reading either has me friended, in which case they know about Idol, or they came through Idol, so I don't explain.

[kathrynrose.livejournal.com]

Hah! I'd have been first if I hadn't gotten all thinky about my comment.

[pixiebelle.livejournal.com]

When an idea hits me, I write it down. I never know if I'll get the chance to use it, but if I think "that'll be fun to write about", I put it on the list. I've used several ideas as they fit topics, but luckily the list continues to grow since most of the time new ideas hit me when I see the topic.

I have a few nonfiction ideas I would like to write about. Some funny, some serious. I have to see what kind of mood I'm in. Would people rather see funny again? Of the self-deprecating sort, I'm sure. Or would you rather read something serious? Or maybe even real life creepy or unusual? It all depends on what hits me (and if I have any dreams that inspire me), but I'm open to suggestions as well.

When I write, I write for a wider audience most of the time. I like sharing my writing with non-idol people and even RL folks lately. I've never considered writing purely for Idol... I'm not even sure I'd know how to do that?

[mstrobel.livejournal.com]

Haha, sorry :P Unintended ninja!

[pixiebelle.livejournal.com]

I was typing out a novel of a comment :P

[mstrobel.livejournal.com]

Ohhh you are good. I keep the ideas in my head, and then suddenly I have to write 9,000 words in ONE DAY.

Go creepy! I like creepy!

[pixiebelle.livejournal.com]

I clean up my idol pieces so that they are presented in a more professional manner. I label fiction as such ( though people have gotten confused before when I wrote realistic fiction). I think about presentation a lot more... But it's not Idol specific. It's because it's less journal like and more for an audience than my day to day ponderings.

[kathrynrose.livejournal.com]

It's ok. I can sneak the cookies anyway. :)

[alien-infinity.livejournal.com]

I would rather see funny if you're going to go nonfiction, because serious nonfiction and creepy stuff aren't things I usually like. Hah, that's one way to write for Idol: do what I want! :P

[whipchick.livejournal.com]

I keep a list, too - one of the things I love about Idol is that is spurs me more to see ideas as writable pieces!

I'm writing for a general audience. I tweak sometimes when I know a certain subject might appeal more or less to Idol-ers, but in general, I want to leave this competition with a portfolio of work that I can start submitting to literary magazines and publications. So when I'm posting, I'm trying to post with as polished and finished a piece as I can make, and where a reader doesn't need backstory or to know what went on in our community for it to make sense. And the comments and concrit are often very useful in making further tweaks to a piece I've used in the contest!

[n3m3sis42.livejournal.com]

I write with the Idol audience in mind, I guess? My serial has picked up a few fans on my regular friends list but I'm not really writing it for them. Mostly, I write what I feel inspired to write.

ETA: So I guess I write for me first, but then I try to keep Idol in mind in terms of length and stuff like that. And since it's Idol, I write less of my serial than I probably would otherwise, etc.

[pixiebelle.livejournal.com]

I have a notepad on my phone. Anytime an idea hits me, no matter how silly, I write it down. Dreams too. It leaves me stressing less about each topic because if all else fails, I'll find a way to tweak an idea I wrote down. When I stress less, better ideas usually come to me :)

Hmmm creepy... RL creepy would be interesting?

[pixiebelle.livejournal.com]

I'm considering funny... And I'm not ruling out fiction. I just have nonfiction ideas to play with until a fiction idea hits me maybe. Though I'm a fan of writing nonfiction and may dabble in it this week again.

[alien-infinity.livejournal.com]

I write for a general audience rather than specifically for Idol, and I also write for myself in that I write stuff I would want to read. I do write a lot of genre fiction, so my audience might not be the most general of general audiences. I try to avoid "pandering" to the Idol people, because I know if I tried that it would come out awkward and not-so-good. I keep Idol in mind when I'm writing, but I don't bend over backwards to "write for Idol," if that makes any sense.

Being as I have a bit of a serial (part of this complete breakfast!) problem, I suppose one humongous assumption I make is that people have read or will read previous entries in the series in order to fully understand what's going on. Somehow, miraculously, this serial habit of mine hasn't gotten me eliminated. Yet.

If someone were to wander across my journal, the rather large amount of backstory some entries have might need to be explained, haha.

It's funny, I never even thought I COULD write a serial story, and that's the majority of what I've written for Idol! :O

[pixiebelle.livejournal.com]

Exactly! I write with every intention of building a portfolio of work. I don't have much time for editing nearly as much as I'd like... But I'll get there. It's making me a stronger writer and I don't focus on what Idol will or won't like. I tried that in Season 6 and a bit in 7, I never could tell what Idol would like and it felt forced, which meant the pieces didn't come out as well. This season my focus is on having fun and improving my technique while discovering my strengths and weaknesses.

[medleymisty.livejournal.com]

I've been slacking lately, and I plan to sit down this weekend and put some actual effort into an entry. Not going to be doing anything Saturday anyway, since the current predictions say it'll be 106 to 108 degrees.

I'll probably do fiction. It's been a while. And I think I had an idea that I was saving, but I can't remember it right now.

I might do Seth. I love writing Seth, and I know he brings out my best. For a twist on it, though - maybe full text adult Seth?

Oh, I write for me. My nonfiction for Idol isn't really any different than the majority of my posts on my LJ from the last two years. And my fiction, well - Seth has all sorts of backstory, but I think for the most part you don't really need to know it to enjoy a single Seth story. You won't get all the meaning or all the symbolism or the foreshadowing, but it'll still be an okay read.

Sigh - there'll never be another audience like the one that read Valley (the Sims story where Seth originated) as I was writing it. I think you get more involved in stuff that you read as the author updates it, as opposed to coming along and reading the finished product later. So they were really all up into my characters and my story, and then....then I started writing 10, the story of teenage Seth.

And they found themselves identifying with Seth, when he'd been the scary murderer villain of Valley and they'd spent the last third of Valley being creeped out of their minds by him. Their reactions were delicious. :)

But yeah - my audience is me. I'm the only person that I write to please. Of course I want other people to read it and enjoy it and I love nice comments, but while I'm writing all I'm thinking is....I don't know. I don't know that I consciously think a lot when I write. It's all very instinctual.

I should probably go to bed now and get some sleep. Maybe I'll remember the idea I had tomorrow. If not - I'll figure something out. :)

Good night, fellow Idol peeps! Thank you for being awesome!

[alycewilson.livejournal.com]

I definitely always try to keep my audience in mind, whether writing for "Idol" or for something else. Primarily, this tends to mean defining esoteric terms and making certain that, if I write about topics not likely to be familiar to all my readers, I make it accessible.

One of my poetry professors in grad school had a term I find myself using all the time. If a poem was too personal, too self-referential, he called it an "inside" poem. He urged us, always, to "open" our poems up to the reader: to allow them a way into the experience we were discussing. It's a useful idea to consider with any piece of writing.

[pixiebelle.livejournal.com]

Without realizing it, I've focused this season on writing "outside" type entries. In previous seasons, I've went very personal. While not always bad (I love personal nonfiction), I made it too personal and often struggled with wanting to share that side of me with anyone and everyone.

So maybe a similar concept, in a way. Those entries didn't go over as well either and I think it's because it was too much to share (and perhaps I held back in fear as well).

[beldarzfixon.livejournal.com]

I don't know if I'm writing "for the idol audience" so much as I'm writing something that is to be read.

I keep in mind that I want people to notice it -- find an opening that appropriately grabs them -- and keep reading through to the end: Make it flow, stay on topic, find fat wordy sentences and edit! edit! edit!, read it through to see if it's something I'd read if someone else wrote it, find the spots that need something more, or a distraction snipped away.

So much of this has become instinctual, that it's hard to describe in detail. I know this sounds like boasting as I do writing/editing for a living, but it's also a product of practice, and I think it's becoming second nature to everyone here, whether you've mucked through 31 weeks or closing in on 100. And even in the most modest "oh, I'm not a REAL writer" it's showing in the great quality of their work.

[medleymisty.livejournal.com]

That's what I meant! With the instinctual editing and pacing. Only I don't do the keeping people in mind part. :)

[alycewilson.livejournal.com]

So while you're not aware of it, you probably are writing for an "Idol" audience, intuitively.

I've certainly learned, both from the reactions I've had to my own pieces, and to the response to other pieces, about what this audience prefers. Of course, the truth is that, if you want to be read, you're always writing for an audience. Even blog entries are written for an audience; otherwise, we'd all just keep diaries!

[theun4givables.livejournal.com]

I know I considered the Idol audience whenever writing something for LJI. However, these considerations never stopped me from writing what it is I wanted to write. My entry for vacation is proof enough for that. ;) I knew it might not go over well, but I did it anyway. My home game entry has more comments than that entry, lol.

Sometimes, you just gotta take risks.

[similiesslip.livejournal.com]

I like your nonfiction, whether serious or not:)

[similiesslip.livejournal.com]

Thanks for sharing the idea of "inside" and "open." That made a lot of sense.