My favorite reading

I found this weeks reading very insightful dealing with a lot of different angles of writing.  First off with the segment of Polaroid I like how the writer used Polaroids somewhat like a metaphor for writing and the process of never knowing how the picture will turn out until its totally developed.  As a writer sometimes I worry about how I want the piece to turn out rather than the process of getting there.  I like "You couldn't have had any way of knowing what this piece of work would look like when you first started."  It's like we put so much on predicting how something will turn out instead of going with the flow and enduring the surprise that will naturally occur. 

In characters sections I learned a different way of viewing how to write about characters.  Give them personality, give them motives, describe them by not only how they look but how they carry themselves, what they own and how they present it.  I really like the point that we all favor at least one of the characters but don't hold back to that person that you love.  "As soon as you start protecting you characters from the ramifications of their less-than-lofty behavior, your story will start to feel flat and pointless, just like real life."  Its like saying takes risks show their good side, show their bad side, give them obstacles because we all go through this things, why shouldn't your characters?

I really like the part where the writers speaks on sharing your work with a friend in this part, "You may need someone else to bounce your material off of, probably a friend or a mate, someone who can tell you if the seams show, or if you've lurched off track, or even that it is not as bad as you thought and that the first one hundred pages do in fact hold up."  Great advice.  I feel like I just write, and write, and write and without any feed back while writing I start to feel self conscience and doubting my work.  I often call my brother to request his options, someone who is blunt and will tell you if your ideas aren't strong enough and maybe take a different angle on your plot before it could be potentially ruined.

This was my favorite PDF by far!

Justin T. Fluellen.