The Final Key to Writing

The Key to Writing –Part 3
By Lindsey with Katie
Hello,
I am picking up where Katie left off in “The 3 Keys to Writing Series”. The first two keys according to her were writing and revision. The final key is editing. In her previous article she stressed that rewriting and revision were different from editing. She described rewriting and revision focusing on flow and editing more being focused on the grammar and correctness of your writing. For me however, they are one in the same. I do both at once so it’s hard for me to differentiate one from the other. So, here is how I would suggest how to edit your work.

The thesis is the most important part of any paper. It’s where you declare the purpose and reason of your paper. I would also argue that a thesis plays an important part in creative writing. It doesn’t have to look like a thesis statement that you would find in a persuasive essay but if your story doesn’t have a clear purpose or idea that you’re trying to convey then why write it? As you’re editing making sure your main idea and/or purpose is identifiable.

Beginning and endings are equally important as well. You could have the best story on planet with interesting characters and an amazing plot but if you have a sub-par introduction, no one will read further than the first page or so. Write an introduction that catches the reader. Avoid focusing on something that the reader could care less about. (EX: A character waking up and going through their morning routine, the weather, eating etc.) Show us something different. Once you have nailed the introduction don’t neglect the conclusion. The worst kind of endings are those that feel contrived or tacked on with unresolved tensions and loose ends hanging all over the place.

Make sure your writing has a consistent tone and voice. An author always needs to have their audience in mind; you don’t want to alienate them by confusing them. Also, never come off as condescending to your audience or assume superiority over them. They will leave you. The voices of your narrator and other characters need to fit their personalities.

Grammar is important. English is a very complicated language, and for me it is hard to remember all the correct rules. Luckily, we are better off than writers of the past, we have spell-check, dictionary.com, thesaurus’s etc. This also means that we are held to a higher standard of writing. Today, we have no excuse for a misspelled word and these tools also can help you with correcting your grammar. Another great way to correct grammar is through peer editing and writing groups. Be open to new ideas. Another perspective can help you catch the mistakes that you didn’t find.

Editing is the longest and most frustrating process of writing. As humans we are always striving for perfection. Though we will most always find fault somewhere in our writing, the editing process will bring our writing closer to that unattainable perfection.


- Lindsey

My Fake Future Wedding Album

Hi!

So some people wanted me to post the tracks that I used for my fake future wedding album (NO, I am not getting married- I did it for fun.) and for me to explain why I chose those songs I did and them in the order of songs I did. (Please note that I tried to source them as best as I could.)

My Future Wedding Album Part 1: (The reason there are two parts is because a blank CD only lets you upload 18 songs and my playlist had 22 songs and I didn’t want to shorten the list and compromise the selection just to get it to fit it...so I split the playlist into two segments that would each fit on a CD.)
1. “Silly Love Songs” Paul McCartney. Wingspan: Hits [Disc 1] – So I used this one to start the mix because it sort of justifies a silly love song compilation and it also sets a good encompassing mood over the album.
2. “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) [Remastered]” Eurythmics. Eurythmics: Ultimate Collection –Ha ha, this is where our album really begins...I was kind of going for “BOOM! This is the real world; it’s going to be had to find “the one”, there’s a lot of people out there and not all of them are good. (And I love the beat...)
3. “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) Journey. Journey: Greatest Hits –This is such a great song, I’m glad I’m starting to like 80’s songs now. I was trying to go for, “even though finding “the one” will be hard, true love will find you.” (Well, if you do your part.)
4. “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) Mamma Mia! Film Cast. Mamma Mia! –Sometimes, you just want a guy preferably “the one” to come and save you from the figurative darkness of the dating world. Let’s face it; there are a lot of losers out there.
5. “Sweetest Thing” U2. The Best Of 1980-1990 –I added this because I think we forget that love is “the sweetest thing” in our rush to find “the one”.
6. “Take A Chance On Me” Mamma Mia! Film Cast. Mamma Mia! –So, there’s this guy you really like and you want to be more than friends with...and now you are waiting for him to ask you out. So, you start dropping hints.
7. “You Know My Name (Look Up The Number) [Mono]” The Beatles. Past Masters, Vol. 2 [2009 Stereo Remaster] – You’ve been dropping hints the size of anvils on him waiting for him to ask you out...and he just doesn’t get it. This is the song for all of those people who want to scream “ASK ME OUT FOR GOODNESS SAKES!” at the top of their lungs.
8. “The Bird And The Worm” Owl City. Ocean Eyes –This is just a cute song about a couple slowly making the transition from friends to boyfriend/girlfriend and still remaining the best of friends.
9. “I Want To Hold Your Hand” The Beatles. Past Masters, Vol. 1 [2009 Stereo Remaster] -Why wouldn’t this song be on here? It’s about a couple making it official and it’s from the Beatlemania era!
10. “On The Wing” Owl City. Ocean Eyes –Uh oh! The “L” word is entering the equation and it’s both thrilling and troublesome...are they both invested?
11. Never Knew I Needed” Ne-Yo. The Princess And The Frog – Sometimes it takes you by surprise that falling in love- surrendering yourself to another person was just what you needed. It completes you.

My Future Wedding Album Part 2:
1. “Something” The Beatles. Abbey Road – This is just a beautiful song about someone realizing how in love they are. I think that it’s one of the greatest love songs ever.
2. “Meteor Shower” Owl City. Ocean Eyes – This song is short but incredibly sweet. Love is something that gives you something more than you could ever gain on your own.
3. “Lay All Your Love On Me” Mamma Mia! Film Cast. Mamma Mia! – Love is great but it can make you crazy. The bad kind of crazy that can lead to possessiveness and other similar things. The key is to learn how to be in love but not crazy. Yep, it’s that simple.
4. “All I Want is You” U2. Rattle and Hum – People make a lot of crazy promises and get fancy gifts for the object of their affection when all they really need is their love.
5. “No More Lonely Nights” Paul McCartney. Wingspan: Hits [Disc 1] – People fight. If your love is really worth it, you’ll make it through together.
6. “Where The Streets Have No Name” U2. The Best Of 1980-1990 – Some things are beyond our control, but we can find peace and something that will last forever with those we love.
7. “You and me and One Spotlight” Yellowcard. Paper Walls – This is just the best song you could slow dance to EVER.
8. “My Love” Paul McCartney & Wings. Wingspan: Hits [Disc 1] – This song is about a couple that has complete faith in each other and devotion to each other.
9. “Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever)” Muse. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [Deluxe Version] – This is a beautiful song that overarches the entire album, it was difficult to get there, but their love will last forever.
10. “Love Story Meets Love Story (Taylor Swift Remix)” Jon Schmidt. Bonus Tracks – And here’s a nice (if cliché) outro that’s the perfect “happy ending” song that concludes the album...
11. “ The Song That Goes Like This” Spamalot (Original Broadway Cast). Spamalot – Except it isn’t actually over yet! I had to throw this in because of its sheer ridiculousness; it pokes fun at about every love song in existence. I don’t want my album to come off too self important, it’s just a fake future wedding album, not the opera. ☺

Thanks for reading!

-Katie

My Entry for USU's Bad Poetry Contest

Hey,

So if you want to write good poetry- don't do what I did. :)

Here it is:

"What is Love"

Love is like liking someone a lot

Uh, it's like, uh, dot dot dot...

I need to get more things to rhyme...

Should've put in more time

Polar Bears.

The End.

Sorry if I offended your good tastes!

See you!

-Katie

P.S. I probably should've posted this on Valentines...my bad!

The USU Creative Writing Club

Hey,

So recently I finally found out where and when USU's elusive Creative Writing Club took place. Yesterday, I attended for my second time and I brought Lindsey with me who had never gone before. The members are doing some cool things!

They start out with a prompt where everyone free-writes for about ten minutes to get the mind going. Then after that is either a lesson and a critique or a full time critique. (They switch off every week.) The atmosphere there is very friendly but professional. I've met some cool people that are a lot of fun but we get a lot of work done as well. (Sometimes there's even treats!)

I had a lot of fun and I encourage my fellow Cliff Hangers and friends to come to one of the meetings sometime in the future. They take place on Thursdays at 7 pm in the Business Building in room 116.

Oh, and before I go here's the address to their site: "http://sites.google.com/site/usucreativewritingclub/
". (Sorry, I wasn't able to link it for some reason...so you'll just have to copy and paste! Heh, heh...)They have all sorts of cool prompts, lessons and other information on there. Check it out!

See you later!

-Katie

Our ideas for 2011

Hey y'all!

Here are some of our ideas for activities this year:


1. Behind the names
2. April Fools Day exchange
3. Character exchange
4. Ski and write a-thon
5. Write or die
6. Story playlists
7. Story prompt a day
8. Board game stories
9. Ipod stories
10. Box Stories
11. Edit Twilight
12. Movie review

-Lindsey

What I learned in English 1010

Hey,

So I know it's been awhile...I'm sorry about that. But, I'm back now and I have a new article and I promise you that there are a lot of things in store for next year.

So, for my English final I was assigned to write a paper reflecting on what I'd learned in the class. This was my first shot at "modeling behavior". Modeling Behavior according to my Professor for the course is when "you do what you are trying to get others to do or understand. I think it turned out okay and I'm pretty proud of it. It might seem similar to other articles on this blog and therefore repetitive; but isn't that what writing is all about? Writing is hard work, you may not know where you are going- but that's where the "primary answers a.k.a. the fundamentals come into play. They help you get to where you need to be. So, here it is ...

(Please note that when I wrote this I was writing it in the present tense during finals)

Reflections Paper

What did I learn and what will I take away and put into use in future classes?

Writing is hard, but I love it. Never leave an assignment ‘til the last minute. “Writing is an act of faith.”- Jack Heffron. Bad writing sure does get the job done! Go through every tangent you think of and write it down, flesh it out, read it over, go to the Writing Center, and edit it…then you can turn it in! (Bonus points if it’s early!)

I hate sourcing things. I really, really, hate sourcing things. Sometimes I have problems doing reports. Research can be hard for me, I source other people’s stuff, but it seems like all I do is compile a bunch of people’s quotes. I need to make my reports uniquely my own.

And I’ve learned that it’s so much easier and more fun to type when you have a laptop.

Now I will personally demonstrate what I’ve learned in this class by turning the “bad writing” above into a cohesive paper...

What have I learned in English 1010 that I can put to use in future classes? I’ve learned that writing is a creative process. There is a beginning and an end; it doesn’t all come at once. Jack Heffron once said, “Writing is an act of faith”; which is completely true. Writing is a completely isolated journey where your task is to transform a tiny germ of an idea into a fully formed extension of your very being. Writing is hard, but it can be fulfilling as well; it isn’t impossible to write a good paper, you just have to write it down.

When you start out your prose will seem...bad. Don’t worry, that actually means you are starting out the right way. If you let go of your inhibitions and follow your every thought wherever it takes you and explore, you’ll end up with more original material than you knew you could create. Then, after you flesh them out later, it will begin to stand-alone. What you have to do next is to refine it.

The first thing I do when I begin to edit is read the paper from start to finish; most of the minor errors will jump out at me from my monitor. (Though it has been proven that this phenomenon can also occur on lined paper.) Then I’ll go onto fix the grammatically correct prose. How do you fix grammatically correct prose? Add more detail where you find it lacking and take away the embellishments that are unneeded, and then your grammatically correct prose will be articulate and cohesive.

If you are having a hard time with any stage of the writing process, feel free to get a second opinion. As long as they know what they are talking about, it doesn’t matter who you ask. One resource on campus that exists solely to help students with writing is the Writing Center. They won’t write your paper for you, but they’ll show you the way to your objective- be it brainstorming or the final stages of editing. I can’t accredit them enough.

There you have it, that’s what I’ve learned through taking this course. I still have a long way to go however; I have a really hard time writing reports. Which is a big problem since college is full of them. I’ll need to gather my sources faster, so I can fully process them and use them in my reports. I don’t want to compile a report of other people’s articles and comment on their views; I want to write a report where the articles support my ideas. If I improve in that regard I think they’d be more enjoyable to do, and I’d get better at doing them. I’ll have to work hard to get there but also remember what I’ve learned so far: write it down and then make it better.

And that's it! I know it's three days to late to say it, but Merry Christmas! One thing I'm glad I'm not to late to say however is Happy New Year. 2011 is going to be great guys!

See you later,

Katie

This is Danny's book. If you're interested....buy it.