Work Room - Week 21

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

Week 20's poll is still going on: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/778354.html which makes this an interesting chance for real time self-examination of what you think that you did well, and where you struggled during the intersection last week.

Maybe more importantly - did you learn anything from that process that you are going to bring to writing this week?

Does knowing the personal nature of the topic, for me, increase the pressure and general sense of dread? ;)

The place to link your new topic entries is http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/779089.html

The place is discuss all the other stuff involved with the topic, and writing, is right here!

Comments

[agirlnamedluna.livejournal.com]

Well, the nature of the topic obviously leaves this one wiiiiddeeee open for me.

Where I strugged last week, was coming up with my angle - fortunately my intersection partner got an idea and when reading it, I got a sudden flash of inspiration for another topic. On my own, I have no idea what I would have done with any of the four topics, to be honest. I still probably would have picked the one I wrote for.

This time, it's just one topic, so that problem isn't there. But I think that the biggest challenge will be to make it original.

As for personal ... I might make it personal, yes *G*

[uncawes.livejournal.com]

You and Laz did a great job with your intersection.
Can't wait to see what you come up with this time around

[roina-arwen.livejournal.com]

The intersection really helped me think through my plotting a little bit more and (appropriately enough) delve deeper into it. My original draft ended with the "Cycle Begun..." break; everything beyond that is due to Dan saying that it needed more, and he was right. It really added a lot to the piece!

[kickthehobbit.livejournal.com]

The hardest thing about intersecting, for me, was that my schedule has been pretty nuts lately (I'm trying to raise a round on the 16th OH GOD IS THIS REAL LIFE) and so we weren't able to talk a lot. Fortunately it seems to have worked out OK, and I really like what my intersection partner came up with! :)

I dunno if I learned anything from writing the the piece that I did, except maybe "I shouldn't hammer things out after having listened to the National's High Violet on repeat after getting a zillion e-mails from an ex in a day and drinking most of a bottle of wine." Which I should have already known, but. :)

This topic actually makes me really...happy. Which is strange!

[waltzmatildah.livejournal.com]

That sounds like the perfect time to write an idol entry to me :)

[kickthehobbit.livejournal.com]

Ah, if you knew the saga of the Inferior Citrus, you might not say that. ;)

[theun4givables.livejournal.com]

I have an idea already and am just waiting for my Pandora to cooperate with me. ;)

It'll be interesting to see what happens!

As far as the intersection went -- Sarah and I ran with the first idea that came out that was viable, discussed the angles with which we could tackle it, and off we went. :) Since we talk just about every hour that I'm awake, it was easy to discuss our pieces as we went, and we shared our progress frequently.

That was actually the smoothest intersection I've done so far, hah. I was so glad to finally get to work with her on a piece. :)

And knowing the personal nature of the topic does not increase the pressure at all, for me. =p

[alycewilson.livejournal.com]

I think what I learned is that it helps to bounce ideas off people! Which is why I'm going to be following the work room more closely this week.

Music is very important to my family and to my life so far, but I'm going to keep my mind open to consider what might be the best way to approach this topic. I like the idea of trying to take Gary literally and to write it for Cynthia. How old is she, exactly?

[xo-kizzy-xo.livejournal.com]

Bouncing ideas off people is a huge plus when it comes to intersections! Sometimes I forget that they're out there :erk:

[xo-kizzy-xo.livejournal.com]

Speaking of bouncing ideas, that's exactly what we did in our first few emails. We eventually came up with a scenario which blended into a story that took itself into a direction which, I think, neither of us had realized once we'd both written our parts. Most of the time you can't see the direction until after you read it in its entirety, and that's OK -- characters don't necessarily want to do what you originally wanted them to do.

As for music...I've got a couple of ideas, but I'm going to let them percolate for a bit.

[anyonesghost.livejournal.com]

I'm admittedly tempted to go back to a serial on this, but I do feel like I've been leaning pretty heavily on those lately. But then, those stories had a mixtape made for them way back in Exhibit B, so it *would* be sort of apropos.

Taken more literally, one has to wonder what "do" is, and what the music in question is. There are a few obvious answers, but I'm wondering if there's a story to someone who compulsively ... I don't know, draws architectural plans for buildings whenever Men At Work is on the radio. :-)

[anyonesghost.livejournal.com]

Or I could go back to creative nonfiction.
At least I'm consistently doing the opposite of what I think I was going to do.

[eska818.livejournal.com]

I feel like perhaps I took the whole "intersection" idea a lot looser than other people did/do - my partner and I worked from a focal point (a real person) and then wrote stories that really have very little to do with each other, aside from the fact that the aforementioned person is a background tool in both. We're not doing super poorly in the polls (he's actually doing really well, and I'm still hanging at average - which I'm okay with) so I guess it's not a huge problem - but I do feel slightly awkward when reading other entries and realizing that most people chose to write much differently and a lot more coordinated.

As for the topic this week, I'm okay with it, but worried that it might make me really sad as opposed to positive - I have the unfortunate issue of sensory memory, and certain music is a huge trigger for me, and not all of those are good memories. >.>

[n3m3sis43.livejournal.com]

Music affects me that way, too. :\

[dmousey.livejournal.com]

I think music is like that for many creative types. It has been scientifically proven to affect mood, even on plants. So the notion that it is a trigger is not far-fetched or abstract. However, in this instance you, my friend, are in control! If you want only happy triggers than write about them. Want to write about music figuratively... go ahead... Music is also subjective... peepers and crickets on a country summer night are music also... :)

a home game entry

[ashgaelsonaria.livejournal.com]

http://ashgaelsonaria.livejournal.com/293387.html

[aimercat.livejournal.com]

well, looking at the numbers, I'm probably going home this week (i'm serverely behind everyone else, so it's probably a given)

I struggled with all the deep topics this week, struggled with finding a partner (slightly) and struggled with blending my style of writing with that partner. it's almost mirroring my life....I'm now at almost 3 weeks without a steady job...you would think finding a night/weekend server/bartending job in L.A. would be easy....it's not. Hell, I even interviewed for the most perfect job for me (Ohio State friendly sports bar that I basically said "I can bring you a TON of new business") and didn't get hired. The casual & chain places tell me that I'm overqualified & to apply to be a manager (don't want that. it's not actor friendly), the fine dining places tell me I'm underqualified.

this really freaking sucks.

[dmousey.livejournal.com]

ey aimer... don't place your head to far down that rabbit hole yet! Plus we'll still be here with plenty of great green rooms you can come chat in. Someone's almost always around. Plus from what I understand there's Second Chance Idol for those who want to still play.

As for the job search, potential employers smell desperation. Since you're an aspiring actor, approach each job interview as an audition. Dangle why it would be great to have you on their team and what you can bring to the business. Then play a little hard to get. Don't be afraid to just 'cold call' too, go to the actual resteraunts and talk to managers. 3 weeks is not a long time so don't despair. Hopefully you're able to collect UE.

You can always message me too. I'm around a lot... lurking... in the shadows, like a great spider, weaving tales into everyone's heads! (Cackling like the wicked witch of the west) :)
:: hugggz::

*talks and talks and talks*

[reckless-blues.livejournal.com]

The intersection was challenging and fun for me because I think in impressions, a fragment of an image, basically, on instinct. I write a lot about my dreams. I can't do things like "Write about what it would be like if magic became real", or something, it's like pulling teeth. (Actually for that I'd probably write an essay complaining about how if magic existed - whatever that phenomenon would be - it wouldn't be incompatible with science or mathematics, science is a method of inquiry and I'm sure if you tried hard enough you could describe magic mathematically...it's like saying magic is incompatible with search engines and can never be discussed in Esperanto. Anyway.)

Sometimes my stories don't seem to fit the topic very well because if I'm thinking about them they sort of spiral out creating new sensations and images from the word or phrase and might end up someplace different. Maybe I don't write on the topic, I write on my impressions of the topic or the daydreams I had while thinking about it ... I had no idea how to involve another person in that. She suggested we both write about "journeys" but that word was never interesting or evocative to me, I couldn't sense anything in it ... I ended up showing her some images that had been fascinating me lately. This week I also got fascinated with the shibusa aesthetic, or possibly just the way it was described...constantly finding new meanings, contrasting aesthetics...that seemed a little unnerving or alien or menacing to me, like an object you can't understand and which has a grip on you, so that you feel compelled to turn it over and over in your mind. I guess I pictured somebody meditating on some old teacup for twenty years and somehow finding great meaning in it (at which point he probably would have gone insane), although I'm sure none of this is what shibusa is about. I couldn't completely grasp the meaning of the word in its original culture, so I somehow decided to do kind of a Slavic version of shibusa, which means it's covered in two pounds of rose gold and Tchaikovsky is setting off cannons in the background. And everybody's suffering, of course.

But I couldn't have told her all that at the beginning ... the meaning of things isn't apparent sometimes until it's done. Even my train of thought I can't follow until after it's pulled into the station.

Once we agreed on the subject, something we both felt was compelling, we split off for a bit, which worked well here, maybe it was better for our (for my, anyway) creative method and maybe because it was just especially fitting for our story. I didn't know what I was going to write until I read hers (I really liked trying to figure out what this man could have been like at twenty), and she had no idea what I was going to do until she saw the finished project, so it was like method writing, it was appropriate here. But next time I want to try sharpening my communication skills.

[kehlen-crow.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Music. 'Music' needs not be literal.

[alien-writings.livejournal.com]

I just wanted to chime in and say I like the idea of non-literal music for this topic. I think it could open up interesting possibilities. :)

[dmousey.livejournal.com]

This was my first intersection ever. I'm a newbie noobie newb and I'm manic, very communicative, and I love plotting. Some of this comes from my bi-I'm polar brain, ok all of it comes from a BPbrain, and yes, if I don't take my meds, I have manic psychosis. I never miss my meds. Not for six years. Not since i was placed on the wrong ones and they sent me into a catatonic fugue state where I was hospitalized, but that's a tale for another day.

I am a pretty flexible writer, so I let my partner pick her subject. Then I picked mine based off hers, and off we went to the concept... and once I have that, plus a natural ending line,(I always have endings first... don't know why, maybe I just subconsciously need the goal) my head actually hummms until storyline is resolved. It's like it neeeeeds to be released.

My partner was patient with me and my ideas and possible storylines, and alllll those revisions I sent! Poor thing.

It's been six years since I've felt like this and I didn't realize part of my being was missing until My brat pulled me into the game. :) (I bet she regrets it now!!! Hehehe) :p phhht.

[gratefuladdict.livejournal.com]

I always write my ending first, too. :) Then it takes all of my will and discipline to build a bridge from beginning to end.

[dmousey.livejournal.com]

My mind just won't stop until I have a plausable plot line to that end! I wake up with ideas and dialogue, it's like a giant maze and the end line is the way out! :)

[alien-writings.livejournal.com]

kehlen_crow's comment about music not needing to be literal has made me think of a fantasy story where you do magic by "listening to the rhythm of the world" or "listening to the voices of the gods" or something similar.

If anyone wants that idea, they can have it. :)

[kehlen-crow.livejournal.com]

Yes, this is what I meant, that 'music' can be found in many things.

[roina-arwen.livejournal.com]

I've always thought that the rhythm of raindrops was very musical.

[ellakite.livejournal.com]

Only time I struggled with the intersection this past week is before someone chose me to be their partner. Actually, to be precise I continued to "struggle" even after that, as initially I had no clue how to proceed with the Intersection. However, my partner indicated they wanted to do historical fiction, ideally about a pair of famous twins, and... well, things got a whole lot easier after that.

As for what I learned from the process -- well, at least sometimes it helps my creative process to get feedback/suggestions from someone else. I may not run with the precise idea suggested... but such input may get my creative juices flowing. And thus, I now turn to my fellow Idolers to get such feedback:

When I saw the new prompt, my initial thought ran to showing part of the creative process for developing my saga. You see, when I hear certain tunes I see "visions" in my head, with the action taking place in perfect sync with the music. Essentially, my subconscious mind creates its own private "Music Videos"... but this started happening to me *LONG* before MTV and VH1 were created. Then again, my parents took me to see FANTASIA for the first time in 1969, when I was all of 5 years old. I was enthralled by that movie... and that's probably what fueled my subconscious in this case.

So... What I'd like to do is give a detailed description of one specific "vision"; I think I could put together the rough equivalent of a screenplay, which would describe the action in one specific "vision" of mine while simultaneously listing the lyrics of the song that inspire these "visions". The problem is that while the action in my head is rather exciting, I think reading the action in the form of a screenplay would be as dry as dust.

So... and comments? Suggestions? Responses?

help?

[roina-arwen.livejournal.com]

Maybe make an interpretive dance video set to the music? :)

Screenplays can be very hit or miss in my opinion...

[alien-writings.livejournal.com]

I must admit I don't love reading things in stuff like screenplay format and would not be super-excited about that. Is there a reason you couldn't write your idea as a regular story in more descriptive language with lyrics interspersed? That sounds like it would be less dry.

[zhent.livejournal.com]

I've played several seasons of Idol, and this was actually my first intersection. Thankfully my partner had an idea that played off of my idea and she didn't mind < spoiler highlight to reveal> .

Depending on the topic, and the idea I'm chasing, I work it a little differently. Working with my clone army has been both fun and interesting. I've found for the first time that I have to outline my story, and then as I'm writing it they decide that they don't want to cooperate with that and do something else that's usually better than the outline.

This week I'm toying with the idea of playing off of the results of the intersection, and since their story is kind of following current world events various news items have given me ideas. I'm just not convinced that others are as in love with my serial fiction as I am, and if I might be better off this week writing something else and letting the earth spin a few more times before I come back to that story...

[beeker121.livejournal.com]

So, I've had an idea for this topic, based in part on the fact that it was posted yesterday. But does anyone need or want to read another 9/11 related piece? (It would be about the day spent trying to decide if the show should go on that night.) And in this case, knowing the personal nature of the topic, do I want to write something that dark in response? Do I have any right to borrow a tragedy that didn't touch me in a meaningful way, even if the story I'd be telling is true?

[roina-arwen.livejournal.com]

It's an interesting concept, it would just depend on how you wrote it.

Don't all writers borrow tragedies to some extent?

In other news, 9/11 happened 13 years ago. I think it's okay to "borrow" from it even if it didn't impact you personally, as long as it is done in a respectful manner.

[binaryorchid.livejournal.com]

Did you every experience the moment when you see the new topic and think: "I am going to write THIS!" ?

I had to think about days I had in my life over 10 years ago, which was when I realized, how much positive impact music has on me...