Primal With A Side Of FABULOUS page 295

[Gay Panda]

I felt that writing short prose (including things like postcard stories, triptych descriptions, and so on) was far more helpful. I suppose they think that poetry will help you develop metaphor, but I think that writing short, descriptive prose pieces with strict word caps is a better tool for learning how to paint a vivid image quickly.

I liked those assignments as well. I think Anne Lamott spoke about those in Bird by Bird, giving an assignment like "school lunches" to her students and letting them write a certain amount about it.

When it came to learning how to write a book, I just had to start writing books and figure it out on my own. Poems were of no use, nor were my teachers. I learned my most important lesson about writing pretty quickly:

not having an outline = writer's block

I know an author who can write books without an outline and she just follows the plot where it goes, but I can't do this AT ALL.

[naiadknight]

I liked those assignments as well. I think Anne Lamott spoke about those in Bird by Bird, giving an assignment like "school lunches" to her students and letting them write a certain amount about it.

When it came to learning how to write a book, I just had to start writing books and figure it out on my own. Poems were of no use, nor were my teachers. I learned my most important lesson about writing pretty quickly:

not having an outline = writer's block

I know an author who can write books without an outline and she just follows the plot where it goes, but I can't do this AT ALL.

See, for me, an outline creates writer's block. I can't write a book with an outline because I know how it ends and the story, so there's no point in writing it. I have to write it like I'm the first person to read it, and I'm just copying down what the book says.

[justyouraveragecavemen]

i think it's safe to say that Gay Panda can take full credit for how great Gay Panda's journal is.

*snort* there are now!

Attachment 7663

Attachment 7663
You're welcome!

[Gay Panda]

i hope you didn't waste too much money at school.

* wince *

My college cost $30,000/year. Some of it was covered in grants and scholarships and I worked all the way through to cover both the student's and parents' part of the tuition. But I still graduated with over $25,000 in loan debt.

And promptly got a job that paid $6 an hour. * winces again *

There was such a stigma in my high school about going to junior college for two years before transferring to a state school. Only morons did that! Well, those 'morons' didn't spend their twenties and early thirties drowning in debt like I did. My diploma is printed on more expensive cardstock than theirs, but other than that, I can't say what benefit I received from attending a fancier school. Got played for a fool, this panda.

[jenn26point2]

This Panda Follower got played a fool too. Only I have (currently) $50,000 in student loans (sadly, I went to a state school, then a junior college, then a private university to get my bachelors) and STILL going to school (working on my Master's courtesy of my employer).

[Gay Panda]

That said, I do admire those authors who can put poems or songs into their novels. Sure, it is probably some carryover nostalgia from Tolkein but it can add to the feel of a book.

I admire them, too, and it totally adds to the feel of the book when done well.

I'm sorry that you skipped creative writing class over poetry! But I totally understand. When I was 11, I went to a place billed as a "Writing Camp". We were supposed to write short stories for the summer and it seemed like heaven until I got there. The teacher announced that she liked poetry better than short stories, so that would be our focus.

Week after week we wrote poems, with an emphasis on haikus. It was awful.

[canio6]

Week after week we wrote poems, with an emphasis on haikus. It was awful.

Holy crap, I would have stabbed a biatch.

I need to try an outline. I like to write, even if for my own edification (I have no illusions of being a novelist or anything) but using the write it as I go approach I always fizzle out/get bored/move on to other things. Generally it is "Huh, this started well but where the f*ck am I going with it?" It would be nice to finish a work of some length just to know I could do it.

[Gay Panda]

I have (currently) $50,000 in student loans (sadly, I went to a state school, then a junior college, then a private university to get my bachelors) and STILL going to school (working on my Master's courtesy of my employer).

Yikes! Every time I think about going back to school, what turns me away is the reluctance to go into debt again. I just can't bring myself to do it.

[Gay Panda]

I need to try an outline. I like to write, even if for my own edification (I have no illusions of being a novelist or anything) but using the write it as I go approach I always fizzle out/get bored/move on to other things. Generally it is "Huh, this started well but where the f*ck am I going with it?" It would be nice to finish a work of some length just to know I could do it.

LOL. I once wrote half a novel and hit the wall for exactly that reason. For three weeks I complained to Lady Friend that I didn't know what happened next, and then I made an outline and finished the damn book. It's a very predictable pattern for me, an outline means I'll one day have a finished book (although it may not stay strictly to that initial outline) and winging it means I'll get bored or lost and fail. So now I always outline first and do character sketches. Lesson learned.

[Saoirse]

once upon a time i thought about being a writer. now i honestly hate writing (but i love reading others' work) so i'm happy that i never made any commitments there. i cannot stand poetry; even really "good" poetry is only mildly pleasing. I hate to be cliche, but i love that a good novel can transport me somewhere else.