Work Room - Week 13

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

13 weeks in...

so what are *your* writing superstitions?

Do you have them?

Do you ever decide to break them, just to push the boundaries of what you "shouldn't" be doing?

***

and of course, the new topics are out: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/905315.html

so I hope you are thinking about what to do with those!

Comments

[tonithegreat.livejournal.com]

Frist? Frost? Frick it. I don't know that I have superstitions here. It's scary enough without them.

[ellakite.livejournal.com]

Dead to me?

Dude to me?

Frampt it; You know what I'm trying to say.

[kickthehobbit.livejournal.com]

I try not to return to the same setting twice, not for Idol. Sometimes I do it anyway (see also: the Night Market—the piece for Week 1 and the piece for Week 11), but generally, I don't. I don't know if that's really superstition so much as trying to stretch myself at least a little. I also try to respond to comments, even if it's a long time after the fact, because I don't like leaving stuff on pieces unreplied to. (You made the effort to comment, I should at least thank you!)

I'm kind of curious about what other peoples' are, though! :)

[roina-arwen.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking about not bothering with SCI again. I go out, I get back in, just to be booted yet again. Harrumph.

*feeling like a yo-yo*

[uselesstinrelic.livejournal.com]

;...; I love you!

[roina-arwen.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

Please try.

[ellakite.livejournal.com]

I miss you already.

RE: Please try.

[roina-arwen.livejournal.com]

I'll think about it, but VOTES help too, lol.

RE: Please try.

[roina-arwen.livejournal.com]

Fine. I've posted. :)

[murielle.livejournal.com]

I know! Best of luck to you! 😊

Thank you.

[ellakite.livejournal.com]

A bit belated... but welcome back!

[ellakite.livejournal.com]

I don't have any writing superstitions, per se.

I do have certain habits/neuroses, like constantly second-guessing my own ideas and doubting my talent, but that's not the same as a "superstition"...

As for this week's prompts: I have literally *LIVED* the phrase "Every silver lining has its cloud" -- I have gone through *SERIOUS* bouts of depression where I could find the "downside" to absolutely any windfall, and would use the Laws of Thermodynamics to prove that *ANY* attempt to improve the world actually made things worse and therefore wasn't worth the effort. My mantra during such periods was "The senseless, pointless futility of existence". As such, I could have a field day with that prompt.

Which is why I am now wracking my brain to use any of the other prompts. I know I don't want to go down that road again... and trust me when I tell you that you don't want me to go down that road, either. Because there were periods when I wanted to convert the whole Frampton world to my jaundiced, nihilist viewpoint. You folks know how well I can write about things that I believe in, so you don't *EVER* want to see me posting my explanations as to why no one's life has ever mattered or will ever matter...

[uselesstinrelic.livejournal.com]

When I need to get real srs about writing I put on fake glasses.

Glasses make you smarter.

[dmousey.livejournal.com]

This made me giggle! The glasses blurb! :)

No superstitions. Everything starts as a dialogue in my head.... and I record the movie as it unwinds.
If that makes any sense. Most of my 'scenes' start when I'm doing kitchen chores... which makes me wonder if I should just put a tape recorder in there! Although there is a notebook I scrawl my ideas and bits in...

[xo-kizzy-xo.livejournal.com]

LOL, I kind of do the same thing at work. My best ideas always come when I'm immersed in something else entirely and I'm not even consciously thinking. I'll suddenly get a flash of dialogue like you, or a mental setting, or I'll silently "record the movie".

And it doesn't even have to be work. I could be doing laundry, walking The Boyz, shopping...anything except sitting with my laptop.

Now if there was a way to actually remember the nuances of what I was "recording", I'd be a very rich woman ;)

[uselesstinrelic.livejournal.com]

Maybe you need to embrace the verbal tape recorder! Er... MP3 recorder. Sorry, I'm dating myself here!

[halfshellvenus.livejournal.com]

Haha! I like this idea! It's kind of like a placebo to make you focus. :D

[uselesstinrelic.livejournal.com]

It kind of is! When I was doing NaNo I had a whole schedule thing. First, cup of tea, then put on headphones with white noise, then apply glasses and my "I'm a novelist!" button, then read the motivation card thing, then work!

I'm kind of a fool for routine! Anything that helps set up that environment helps.

[roina-arwen.livejournal.com]

Ha!

[murielle.livejournal.com]

I wear glasses all the time, even when I sleep sometimes. I must be seriously super smart! ;-))

[uselesstinrelic.livejournal.com]

Dang right you are! : D

[lordrexfear.livejournal.com]

Never been something I've had to tackle.

But to help people having any trouble this week...

I don't think the topics ever have to held true to their style. They just need to inspire... at least as I've always understood it.

Like if it was a singing competition and the subject was Nu Metal. You'd have a bunch of different people doing songs and YOU might say "None of that was Nu Metal" but it's open to interpretation.

If I'm wrong about this I've been cheating in Idol this whole time and cheating is the way of life.

[alycewilson.livejournal.com]

I don't know about "superstitions," per se, but I do try to steer away from the obvious. It used to be that, if I felt too many people were going to approach a topic a certain way, I would avoid using that approach. These days, I tend to go with my gut, even if it means treading in familiar waters. I trust my instincts and my ability to make it stand out.

As far as this week's topics are concerned, however, I'm wondering if it's a mistake to keep going in a similar vein as previous weeks. However, if there could be a topic more geared towards dealing with my Mom's death than "Life is art," I can't think of one. I think that, after all these weeks of coping with the loss of my Mom, I'd like to focus on the way she taught me to find beauty in the world.

[tonithegreat.livejournal.com]

I think your thoughtful entries dealing with your loss are beautiful, and you shouldn't worry about making misstep continuing in that direction.

[alycewilson.livejournal.com]

Good to hear! I can't think of a better approach.

[murielle.livejournal.com]

Hear! Hear!

Science Fiction Readers - free book?

[whipchick.livejournal.com]

Hey - I have edited a science fiction book that does not suck. The author is new and needs Amazon reviews. If you're interested in reading the book and perhaps leaving a review (I can't make you, and certainly write what you think, it doesn't have to be a puff piece) I'd love to send you a free ebook. Please backchannel me with your email!

This is the book -

http://www.amazon.com/Shadows-Bear-Names-Blackened-Prophecy-ebook/dp/B01BGS1422/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1457438980&sr=8-1&keywords=canatan

Re: Science Fiction Readers - free book?

[kickthehobbit.livejournal.com]

Sounds like it's right up my alley. I'll send you a PM.

[anyonesghost.livejournal.com]

I'm a creature of habit (headphones, please no standing behind me and reading over my shoulder, coffee always goes on the right hand side for easy reach, left leg folded under right leg), but that's all finding a place of relative comfort, not superstition, per se. I might do a bit of pacing or jumping jacks before I rip into a blank page, if just to burn some nervous energy. (I do the same thing before going on stage.)

But since I work with the mindset that any genre, any style, any POV, any form, and any content is fair game ... I don't think I get superstitious about writing itself. Paranoid, maybe about what's going to do well in the polls. ;-) But it never stops me from submitting something in the first place.

All that said, I never send out query letters on a Monday. That never works out.

[murielle.livejournal.com]

I don't know if it's a superstition or not, but on several occasions a story has come to me in a dream, pretty much whole-cloth, when that happens it seems wrong not to do something with it.

In fact that's what happened today. I had a dream about something kind of "out there." I sat with it, wrestled with it and finally gave in and entered it in Second Chance. You can't hear me, but I am giggling. Now, that I have created a story around, or from, the dream it's far from as disturbing as it was. I should probably do this more often. Thing is I don't always recall my dreams, but this one was so very vivid.

Such fine, fine writers taking part in SCG this week.

[murielle.livejournal.com]

I know it's late, but is there anyone out there with the time to Beta for me?