Work Room - Week 2

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

When I first heard that I would be writing a Work Room this week, I wasn't sure about what I was going to say. I sat down and I pondered the idea. What is a Work Room? Why did I need to write one? Work. In a room. A Room of Work.

I pondered until I couldn't ponder any more...

and then I deleted the first couple of paragraphs you just read and got right to the point with a stronger beginning.

There's a lesson in there. You only have a few moments to grab someone's attention. There is a lot to read, just in Idol - and a world of distractions. If you don't have a way to hook someone into wanting to read more, it doesn't matter how you close, because most people won't get there.


That's MY number 1 piece of advice going into Week 2.

What's yours?

The new topic is up: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/954961.html

and please make sure that you stop by the Results thread to say goodbye to those leaving us this week: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/954709.html

Comments

[favoritebean.livejournal.com]

My daughter is very excited about the topic. Since she spent all evening on homework (seriously, first graders get an hour a day or more), she won't start writing until tomorrow.

[tonithegreat.livejournal.com]

My advice: Boldly onward!

Also, yikes! A 3PM Sunday deadline! There's just something painful about the mid-day-itude of that.

[murielle.livejournal.com]

Post early.

I have to take that advice myself. Will be at church till 7:30ish on Sabbath, so Sunday will be a moveless day. Oh and Thursday evening my adorable Scrunchie, pictured above, will be coming to visit. So Friday it is. Friday to polish and post.

[aniron-iorhael.livejournal.com]

You do Sabbath, too? I'm just really surprised to see that. Surprised but happy. :) Good luck for the second week.

[murielle.livejournal.com]

Sabbath and all the Biblical Holy days. :-)

Good luck to you, too.

[majesticarky.livejournal.com]

Hah, i wrote about "that one friend" last week! I guess it would be better not to write about him again. I actually have another friend i could write about. That one is equally as crazy.

[sonarvampress.livejournal.com]

I figured there's several of those 'one friends' I considered writing about that friend who is super annoying but you still hang out with them anyway or that friend who's so flakey that you know they will never show up even if they say they are going to. The friend you always figured you'd marry one day, the friend who has a huge crush on you but you just aren't interested, the friend you wish you were closer to but you feel like they are too cool for you, the friend who's always desperate exc. I pretty much labeled every friend I had, lol.

[poppetawoppet.livejournal.com]

.....well this topic is exactly what I needed this week. Now how to write it without being maudlin...

[tijuanagringo.livejournal.com]

.

I know exactly who to write about
but the question is
what to say
how to
say
it

I don't want to go on and on and on but
that is what he deserves yes an
e n c y c l o p ae d i a
of description

so
well
we'll see

+ won't


w e



.

[lordrexfear.livejournal.com]

Meter and rhyme.

[tijuanagringo.livejournal.com]

.
Free the iambic thyme.
.
Free the verse.
.
o r
n o t
.
worse
.

[halfshellvenus.livejournal.com]

This could practically be your entry right here.

As meta. ;)

[tijuanagringo.livejournal.com]

.
LOL
.
Maybe but not wild enough.
.
Maybe "wild" is what I hunger for.
.
Hmmm
.

[spydielives.livejournal.com]

I'd hoped to do a season of poetry... now I am wondering if I already need to make an exception and do a dialog piece. *shakes fist in Gary's general direction*

[lordrexfear.livejournal.com]

I'm stuck a little this week.

Do I take the HAPPY route?
or
do I reenforce a bit of what I wrote last week? Or do I find a way to combine them? Because there is a way... and you know what? I'm taking it... I'm talking about that one friend that you can talk about all your other friends with.

[sonarvampress.livejournal.com]

The one no one really likes that much but you keep hanging out with them?

[lordrexfear.livejournal.com]

No... I meant the friend you can talk about all the other friends about cause they're the only person you can truly trust.

[sonarvampress.livejournal.com]

Ah, the exact opposite,lol. I am lucky enough to have a couple of those.

[j0ydivided.livejournal.com]

I'm wondering: what does the topic mean to everyone? I wrote about "that one friend" as I see it earlier this week. Now I'm curious as to how everyone else interprets it! :)

[kehlen-crow.livejournal.com]

The very first thought I had was complaining, even going so far as to writing the topic as 'That one "friend"'.

But that approach is too obvious and therefore, boring.

[uselesstinrelic.livejournal.com]

To me, "that one friend" is the one who always tends to do the sort of thing where you just need to call someone else immediately and tell them about it. It's not even always that it's a bad thing, it's just... so distinctly -that person- of them to do that they become, in a way, sort of entertaining just by being who they are.

[eternal-ot.livejournal.com]

The first thing that came to my mind is "That one friend" who never left your side, has been through your thick and thin times and knows you in and out.

[lordrexfear.livejournal.com]

Definitely the route I chose.

The other route of That one friend... I found a way to get it in there too...

[kindabrisk.livejournal.com]

Several ideas popped into my head when I saw the topic. Won't mention them all, but: 1. How I don't have many friends (but not in a woe-is-me way); 2. Not having "that one friend"/having multiple "that one friend"s; and 3. Having to always make new friends when I was younger because I moved around a lot.

In a way, they're ideas that, for me, are all linked to one another.

[xo-kizzy-xo.livejournal.com]

My initial reaction a shaking of the head to the phrase, kind of like an "Oh, only YOU..." type of thing. Like the friend who always manages to get him/herself into some kind of sitcom scrape, you know? Like Lucy Ricardo, LOL.

My second reaction is like kehlen_crow's.

My third reaction is very cynical, like a "friend" who never follows through with anything, a "friend" who cannot be relied upon, but you're still "friends" with them anyway for any number of reasons.

Interesting that I'm not getting a "happy" or "grateful" vibe from the phrase. Then again that could be my current state of mind.

[ryl.livejournal.com]

I didn't get a happy vibe either. I got more of a "oh, it's that guy" feel.

[lordrexfear.livejournal.com]

I got all of the vibes and found a way to write about all of them.

I probably cheated.

[unmowngrass.livejournal.com]

I had a few immediate ideas flash through my brain, most similar to what everyone else has said. There's also that one friend who's like your partner in crime, or the one you used to be friends with and now miss.

I also have an idea that I was sort of planning to write about this season anyway, but I was hoping to do it a bit later in the season, although it does fit the topic very well... decisions, decisions...

[sonarvampress.livejournal.com]

My first thought was like the previous person said, that "friend" you don't even like much, talk about behind their back exc because they are pretty annoying but at the same time you just keep hanging out with them. Then I thought about the crazy friend which is where a lot of other people ended up going. And then I came up with about 30 other types of friends I've had over and over. I finally settled on discussing a label I have had because I always feel like LJ is a journal site so I should write about me.

[xo-kizzy-xo.livejournal.com]

It's funny, soon after I'd posted upthread I ran across a post in a closed FB group discussing *that* kind of friend. The OP was loathe to break off the friendship because she and the "friend", despite all their issues, have known each other since middle school. It was a very interesting discussion and, for me, it gave me insight as to why somebody would *want* to hold onto somebody like that.

Hmm...

[unmowngrass.livejournal.com]

I still remember the lyric form Baz Luhrmann's "Sunscreen" that said "the older you get, the more you need people who knew you when you were young."

Which explains why, as we all turn 30, there's been a flurry of friend requests back and forth over facebook with people who I was at high school with. Even with the ones I never spoke to at high school!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTJ7AzBIJoI

[sonarvampress.livejournal.com]

I wonder why I do it but I have a friend who was that friend for me for a long time she was just going through a phase where she just really annoyed me and basically was always negative and complaining but eventually she outgrew that. I wouldn't say that we are very close to him but she is definitely a better friend now than she was back then. I have lots of old friends that I am very close to people that I've known much longer than my husband but I think that I'm just one of those people who doesn't like to give up on other people. No matter how annoying somebody is or how much they frustrate me I always try and see the good in them too.

[garnigal.livejournal.com]

I got lots of concerned comments on last week's post... I think I'd better aim for something a little lighter this time round. ;)

Also, I think I'M that one friend...

[unmowngrass.livejournal.com]

I probably am as well.

[belenen.livejournal.com]

I can't believe I actually managed to get my entry in already -- and I think it is a good one! I am a very analytical person and I like to make up little methods and measurements for relationships. I hope it's not too tailored-to-me to be relatable. Feedback welcome, including criticism *smiles nervously*

[sonarvampress.livejournal.com]

Not sure if I love what I wrote this week, but I wanted to be true to myself. I just hope that I got the tone right because I learned last week sometimes people misinterpret what I'm saying.

[yachiru]

I'm writing some extreme weirdness with curse worse so now I feel like an adult type person.

[my-name-is-jenn.livejournal.com]

My entry's mostly finished. I'm editing and finagling it into some semblance of what I want.

I'm curious though. When you write an entry as fiction, do you typically label it as fiction? If it's non-fiction, do you label it as such?

I'm more asking about those entries where it's not easy to tell if it's fiction or non-fiction. Curious minds want to know. :)

[kathrynrose.livejournal.com]

I use a "fiction" tag on the entry if it's fiction, because I so rarely write fiction. (because it's like pulling freaking teeth)

Some people use tags, some people use labels at the top, and sometimes you're just left guessing. Whenever I wonder, I tend to skim through the comments. Sometimes I just ask. :)

[kbr-shorts.livejournal.com]

Hmm, this topic made a whole story framework unfold for me in a matter of minutes, but I'm struggling to flesh it out into something interesting.

I'll get there.

I don't think it's going to go the way anyone expects! And it's another serious one - sort of horror this time and a completely different writing style to my last two entries.

Not sure why I'm not feeling funny at the moment; I need to read some Wodehouse or Douglas Adams to get me back in the mood!

[jake67jake]

I'm avoiding reading entries until I come up with mine -- do people do that? Or do you read hoping for inspiration?

I'm torn on this idea. I don't have the "crazy" friend. I do have the needy/soulsucking kind of friend, but my last entry was kinda dark, and I don't really want to get typed.

And of course, I can go total fiction, because I *know* what kind of theme this should inspire... but then I don't want to be predictable either ...

waffle much?

[kathrynrose.livejournal.com]

It doesn't have to be *your* that one friend. :)

And it doesn't have to be a person.

I tend to avoid reading other people's entries until I've written mine, unless I really have no idea, then I skim through hoping my brain will free associate until I have an idea different enough that still fits the topic. :)

[harmony83.livejournal.com]

Hands down, my best friend since freshman year of high school. 19 years later, still besties and she's been there for me through thick and thin