Where Do Your Emotions Come From?

Okay, so I was inspired by a comment from Amanda on my Real World Writing post from last week.  She wrote:

It's impossible to create a compelling piece of fiction without the real world. Even with fantasy, one HAS to write in real emotions and human issues. Too often, though, people look to other people's issues instead of their own.

Everything she wrote is 100% true (imho).  But the last sentence made me pause.  Why is it that people look so much beyond themselves to find emotions and stories and don't look inside?

I open this question up as a forum.  I have my own ideas, but I'm going to save them until later in the week.  Do you agree with Amanda?  Or do you think writers use more of themselves and less of everything around them?  Or do you think writers pull their ideas from thin air?

Inquiring minds and all that....

Back from... Somewhere

Look at me, hosting my 100 Followers #contest, and then I disappear for days.  Bad Rosie!

Welcome to my newer followers!  Thanks for coming by to check out the blog.  And a big thank you to my old followers for staying interested and putting up with my time-lapses :/

Don't forget! You have until Friday to enter!

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It's been a difficult week, and I'm not sure where it went, to be honest.  I remember Tuesday, and then all of a sudden it was Saturday.  I think I must have hit a temporal flux somewhere along the line.

My sincerest apologies, folks.  Here I am, attempting to rejoin regular blogging society.

Update: the write-up from my interview... well, it happened.  I turned it in on Wednesday.  After we'd passed them back, during the course of discussion I realized I hadn't entirely followed the directions of the assignment.  Ack!  Plus I didn't like the characterization (though there's very little one can do in 400 words), and many other things about it.  I suppose as writers, we're always highly self-critical, right?

On Friday, I was chatting with another student from the class outside the building when our instructor came up.  She started chatting with us, talking about how much she loved everyone's story from class so much, and that she planned to read a few during class.  Well, she started with *mine*.  Dumbstruck = me!  She had a lot of great things to say about it, including that, with some minor tweaks, I could get it published. 

Say what???

Oh, so giddy am I.  Later that day, I got a lovely compliment from someone in my critique group, too.  Since I wasn't feeling well, the two of those things really lifted my spirits and made my day so much better.

Otherwise, my last three days have been spent in a haze from which I am only beginning to recover.  While I've gotten some writing done, I'm terrified as to the quality I will find when I go back to edit it.  But the positive comments from this week also make me feel a bit more confident about what I'll find.  Editing will be necessary (when is it ever not??), but maybe it won't be quite as bad.

It all got me thinking about the advice and criticism we all crave.  For months, since joining the online blogosphere of the writing world, I've desperately wanted hard-nailed constructive criticism.  And I've gotten it in many forms.  Each time I've welcomed it (mostly) openly, and appreciated each piece.  In my desire for the constructive to improve my craft, I think I lost sight of the need for positive reinforcement and how much that's necessary as well.  While I feel a little head-swelly from Friday's compliments, I also remembered that, yeah, it's good to hear that people like my work.  There's only so much self-flagellation a girl can take without caring for her wounds, too, right? Or eventually it gets to be too much and she has to stop.

So, hurrah for the positive!

And here, I need to send a out a quick thanks to those who have given me the most positive feedback along the way and made me feel like I can really do this: Jose, Maria, Catalina, Nazarea, Carol, Auzy, Astra, and the rest of my crit group.  You're all awesome!  Thank you :)

What's some praise you've received recently?  Publication of a small/big work?  Partial/full request?  A friend saying how much they enjoy reading your chapters?

PS—I've recently received a few awards, too.  Yea for more praise!  I'll be posting them over the next couple of days.

Real World Writing

No, this has nothing to do with MTV.

Yesterday my writing class took a field trip.  Our instructor told us nothing before our arrival in class as to what we were doing or where we were going or how it related to writing.  So we arrived, expectant, and waited for her announcement.

The assignment (and there was no choice regarding acceptance): (i) go to the Student Union and interview someone you've never met about a time when they got kicked out of somewhere, (ii) write up the details of said story, and (iii) fictionalize it into a story of 300-400 words.  And we only got one shot once the person agreed.  She forbade us from interviewing multiple people.

At the words "you've never met", my adrenaline kicked into overdrive.  I'm not an interviewer.  If I were, I'd be in journalism classes, not fiction.  I'm a lock-myself-up-and-write type, and... other people? What's that?  As we left the classroom, another woman from class and I started discussing, first, how this was crazy and we were already embarrassed :) and then strategies on how to find people who weren't trying to study and would therefore be more willing to talk to us.

I guess it worked—once I swallowed my pride and my fear.  The first person I asked not only was willing to talk to me (sitting in the food court with his half-eaten Pizza Hut bread stick), but he had a great story.  Due to confidentiality restrictions required by the assignment, I can't share it, but I will tell you that I laughed the entire time he relayed his story, and that it involved a Walmart and a ripstik.

Feel free to use your imaginations.

This exercise really emphasized the importance of using the real world (as opposed to the Real World) in writing.  Once I got over my initial apprehension, I realized what a fabulous assignment this is.  I'm still nervous about the writing part—even though the instructor assured us that we in no way had to stay true to the original story—but it's taken me beyond my comfort zone and asked me to do more.  That I sincerely appreciate.


What leaps do you take for your writing?  Have you ever been nervous about taking extra steps to make your work more authentic?  How do you push yourself to include the real world (or the Real World if you love MTV)?

Whoot! It's my 100 Followers #Contest!!

If you've seen any of my posts since the momentous event, you know I have 100 followers.

Me = Giddy :)

So, I'm holding a little celebration at East For Green Eyes, and I hope you'll participate.  I'll make it worth your while, I promise.

Also, I have no idea what I'm doing. But you'll enjoy it nonetheless, no?

What Can You Win?

Indecisive me.  I have a few different things to offer, but I couldn't decide what was most valuable.  Plus, I have both reader followers and writer followers, each with different priorities.  So here are the possibilities.

A signed copy of The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors by Michele Young-Stone.

A signed copy of Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick.

A chapter critique from me.  This does not have to be a first chapter as long as it is accompanied by a summary of the action thus far (which can be highly informal).

A 5-page or query critique from me.

Choice of two Vosges Chocolate Bars.  Subject to availability at my local grocer.  No promises the chocolate making it in one piece though international shipping.

The Rules

• You must be a follower. +2 pts for old followers—i.e., you clicked the happy "follow" button before I published this post.  +1 pt for new followers. 
• To participate, leave me a comment and tell me (briefly—max 20 words?) about the awesomeness that is YOU!
• In your comment, rank what you would like 1st, 2nd, etc.  The first place winner will get their top choice, and then the top-most choice for the other winners.
• This is not limited to US and Canadian residents.  You're all cool.  I can manage the postage :)
• Tweet for extra points. 1pt per Tweet, maximum 3.  Please include @rosieanabelle in your Tweet, and leave me a link below.
• Give my contest a shout-out in a blog post = +4 pts. (and leave me a link)
• Side bar announcement about the contest = +2 pts. (and leave me a link)
• Okay, folks, here's the kicker.  My blog doesn't have a very writerly title.  It doesn't include the word "write" or "edit" or my name.  It references a song lyric.  Chances are good that said song lyric has something to do with my writing (I'd say 99.99999% with a .00001% margin of error). I'm not asking you to guess, because that would take away the mystery, but for +10 extra points, you can write a short story (of no more than 500 words) that includes the phrase "east for green eyes" that is NOT from the song lyric.  Email your story to me at rlconnolly01(at)gmail(dot)com.  PLEASE include the story IN-LINE.  Attachments will NOT be read and you will not get the points for your beautiful creative efforts.

Okay, for the record, when you first enter these things, you haven't Tweeted and you haven't side-barred and you haven't blogged, and that's cool.  When/if you do, just come back and leave me another comment with your links.  If you just want to enter and not do any of the extras, that's cool, too.  Just leave me a comment.

The contest will close at midnight EST on Friday, 17 Sept.  Winners will be announced on Monday, 20 Sept.

Good luck! And thanks for following! :)

Contests and Tagging

Hey Everyone!  First, if you missed it, look over there ---------\/
(wow, that's a really horrible down arrow, isn't it?)

I have 100 followers! Come back on Monday to celebrate with me :)



CONTESTS

Here are a few contests that need to be shared with the masses:

First, Jessica, a.k.a. The Alliterative Allomorph, is holding a contest in support of The Writing Show.  If you're a writer (you know who you are!) you should definitely be involved!  Deadline is September 13!

Steph at MaybeGenius is hosting the Mash-It Up blogfest with some awesome prizes.  Entries are due by October 1.

And, really, how can you resist with a graphic like that? Haha :)

Carol at Artzicarol Ramblings is offering signed copies of her book JUNCTION 2020.  Enter by September 7.




And, just to be a tad bit embarrassed of my own excitement, Talli Roland is having a contest to celebrate her 400 followers!  Super congrats to Talli.  Be a follower of Talli's by September 30th for an automatic entry. (Sorry, but I don't have a graphic for Talli :(

Rebecca at Sonshine Thoughts and Naomi at Writing: A Soul's Way of Breathing are having their SUPER SISTER CELEBRATION. Rebecca's deadline has been extended until September 7.




Have another contest that I didn't mention?  Let me know and I'll add you :)

I'VE BEEN TAGGED...


Leigh over at That's Write has tagged me again with the handwriting game.  Please feel free to oooh and aaaah over my messy scrawl.

Write down (by hand!) on a piece of paper the following:
1. Name, Blog Name
2. Right handed, left handed, or both?
3. Favorite letters to write
4. Least favorite letters to write
5. Write out "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog"
6. Write in CAPS: BABOON, SPLENDOR, ONOMATOPOEIA, FLIP-FLOPS, HUZZAH!
7. Favorite song lyrics (My two: "Starlight" by Muse and (duh!) "Pretty Bird" by Jenny Lewis.)
8. Tag 7 people
9. Whatever else strikes your fancy (Macedonian.  Translation: "I really don't like writing with Macedonian letters." Reason: They're messing up my fine Russian handwriting!)

I'm not sure who to tag with this.  Seems like so many people have already been tagged.  SO, if you haven't been tagged or would like to be tagged again, consider yourself tagged.  Otherwise, continue to oooh and aaaah :)


Happy Friday, Everyone!

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Weekend....

ACK! It almost snuck (er, sneaked) up on me.  Guess what, folks!

I HAVE 100 FOLLOWERS!!!

The ideas for how to celebrate have been germinating in the back of my mind, but I haven't completely settled on anything.  I promise to have the situation settled by Monday.

So be sure to drop back in on Monday and find out how you can play and what you can win :)

HURRAH!

Writing Prompts Gone Bad

What do you do when your writing prompt goes wrong? I mean, rebels, takes a gun, and robs a bank, bad.  Or Charles Manson bad.  Or passive-aggressive, why didn't my mother ever love me bad.

(Warning: Info Dump!)

As you know, I'm taking a writing class right now.  We have two pretty nice books: The Making of a Story by Alice LaPlante and Making Shapely Fiction by Jerome Stern.  They each have many good qualities, though I've read fewer than 100 pages total.

Okay, back to the point.

In Stern's book, there's an interlude entitled "Don't Do This: A Short Guide to What Not to Do" (65-76).  They're all obvious things (e.g., don't end you story with "And then the alarm woke me up."), but some of them stuck with me, and I want to force fun stories from them.  I have no intention of writing the typical story that the author is warning against, but twist it into something entertaining.

For example:

Hobos in Space.  This prompt has a lot of potential for a bad MST2K kind of story.  Stern wasn't literally suggesting take a hobo and put him/her in space, but instead discussed the abhorrent mimicking of Samuel Beckett.  That's not my plan.  (And I can't stop hearing the muppets yelling "Pigs In Spaaaaaaace" in my head.)

Bachelor party takes groom-to-be to brothel to find bride hard at work.  Yes, I intentionally used the word "hard".  The point Stern was making here was that many times this is the end of a story.  I really want to write this one from first-discovery on.  Do they still get married?  Does she get mad at him for invading her "office space"?

The Zero-to-Zero story. The MC who never learns anything. Yes, this is horrible and cliché and a disservice to the reader.  But what about the Zero-to-Two story, where the MC kind of gets it, but not really, and inevitably gets it wrong but sort of tried?



Try any good writing prompts lately?  Or any ideas on how to expand upon the prompts above?