When venting with others fails, what do you go to for emotional release? For some it's music, a sanctuary in nature, a pet, exercise, and/or a journal. Otherwise known as a diary–keeper of secrets, keeper of all feelings. It helps to let words pour out onto a page or screen when all you can do is count on yourself. Writing has the power to build resilience because it can turn into a strong coping mechanism. From it one tells a personal story that is uniquely crafted.
Writing in general is structural / form-based (even when it's not, e.g. certain kinds of poetry); one could make the leap that the inherent structure of writing is the only way to give "form to the formless." It also lets you think new things; it's an exercise in learning. – claytonpitcher9 years ago
Nowadays, a seemingly innocent phrase has a sexual connotation. 'Netflix and Chill' does not simply mean going home and watching netflix, and 'truffle butter' is not a type of food. Most of these phrases derive from pop culture, and we have videos on Buzzfeed asking celebrities what these phrases mean and laughing at those who are confused. What does it say about the English language as more words and phrases have double entrendres? What does it say about the generation who uses these phrases in their daily conversations? This article can either explore the origins of phrases, or go in-depth about the English language, and how slang plays an important part in communication.
I think it would be really interesting to discuss how slang plays an important role not only in the English language, but also in other languages. In general, every language has slang words, so how do these slang words affect the language? The slang adds to the complexity of a language because it adds a new set of vocabulary. – ssaylor9 years ago
I would like to see this article take the angle of going in depth of modern english language. It's crazy to me that we have so many phrases, useless in a sense, but "entertaining." I'm curious as to what other countries think of the words we use and the way we use them. I hate to say it, but I'm sure it doesnt give Americans a good look. Truffle Butter? I mean really?! – dylanvictoria9 years ago
Honestly, I'd like to see this article go in both directions. I, being a young adult in a generation that is supposed to be my own, often find myself confused when I get on Twitter or Facebook and see all these phrases or words and not even knowing what is being said! That or listening to modern music and being like "wait, what did they just say? what does that even mean?!" and then having to consult Google just to keep up. I think it'd also be interesting to talk about how this affects the English language and what will become of it, and what will become of those who can't keep up, or even those who come here and attempt to learn our language, along with our ever-changing slang. – Alexandria9 years ago
When it comes to writing, whether it be in a category as specific as film, TV, or games – we are all in the same boat. Whatever it is we say must be new. Or rather, must be heard in a new way.
What are the challenges of coming up with a new idea? What is the difference between copying and reinventing?
This topic can be explored in various ways, from various angles, but most likely under the category of writing. If you find a specific theme geared only towards another area of the Artifice, by all means, go for it!
When someone wants to make the next best story, the obvious conclusion is to think outside the box. That may not be really necessary because sometimes the best ideas are often simplest ones. Romeo and Juliet is a simple love story with engaging charters and themes, but is never feels complicated. When trying to think outside the box, the greater risk of making your world and the character they live in it too complicated. Sometimes, less is more. – Aaron Hatch9 years ago
I have found that synthesis, catharsis, the subconscious, and having a diverse ouevre at your disposal all play a crucial role. The greatest works that I have read, original or not as they may be, they had a lasting impact. An example of this would be Kafka's Metamorphosis. There are plenty of references to what he had read that may have sparked this "little story" of his. (Venus in Furs by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch comes to mind.) Again, Kafka mentioned in some letters written to his then-fiancé, that he simply "had" to write this story, and quickly, so as to not be impeded in the process. A delay would harm the story; having too much thought put into it. This draws on the "subconscious." Kafka was brilliant, because his notorious story defies simple explanation, and it is because it was new, for the four reasons mentioned above. – claytonpitcher9 years ago
Emulate one thing and it's a copy, emulate two or more things together and that's a Hollywood pitch for an original idea. – Lazarinth9 years ago
Perhaps talk about very popular books and what was their "new idea" if they even had one. – nsiegel9 years ago
This question lingers in every single person's mind if they're on a writing career path. There are many famous writers today that strongly believe if you're not writing every single day or if you don't write every minute you have free, then you're not a writer. Should this advice or this way of thinking be what people look at to decide if they're writers? There's no one who can truly decide this for you, but this advice can be very discouraging. Also, possibly tie in the growing industry of self publishing (with the intense competition of writing and publishing). Is it working? Is it worth it? Or do we stick to agents who have connections?
I think defining oneself as a writer is dependent on two things: self perception and publication. Some people don't consider others writers unless they are published or making money from their writing in some way, it's not a career otherwise. If that criteria isn't being met it's all about your own perception, do you feel like a writer? In the eyes of a famous writer you might not be seen as such, but if you're asked by someone who does not know what defines one "oh, are you a writer?" do you say yes or no? It's an intuition thing though it can be a wide grey area. I feel this way with art as well, but that's much simpler because everyone writes at some point in their day but only "artists" tend to doodle regularly. – Slaidey9 years ago
Definitely a lingering question for anyone committed to writing. You pose some good questions, but I feel this can turn into two separate articles. The advice writers give to other writers varies, and an article analyzing a few select quotes would be interesting. What about focusing on a few quotes from some of your favorite writers? As for the world of publishing, an article detailing what a good query letter looks like and how the nuances of publishing contracts are trickier than most think would be compelling. There's so much legwork to get through after the writing itself is completed. – RobertCutrera9 years ago
These are questions that I have posed. Some advice that I've received from publishers is to write when you feel very passionate. You can write everyday, but sometimes you're writing about "nothing," granted that nothing could one day become something. I would say that writing comes from within, if you're passionate about it and love literature, you love telling narratives, all of that is what constitutes a good writer.
– jeffbis119 years ago
I've been asking myself this question recently, since I haven't been writing in a while and get writers block easily. And on a website like this, I think that this topic can be reassuring for a lot of people. – Samantha Brandbergh9 years ago
The noun implies a verb, if you don't do the verb you shouldn't use the noun. – ChrisKeene9 years ago
I like to think I am a writer, but my inspiration strikes me very erratically. There is no pattern and it certainly does not happen every day! – Natasha9 years ago
One of the hardest assignments I've had as Creative Writing major is to tell people that I'm a writer when they ask what I do. It's easy for me to forget that this is what I am, that I'm not just a teacher or a student, I'm a writer. As a writer, I think it's important to write everyday regardless of content or outlet. There's poetry out there in the form of text messages, and of course the six word memoir. I think it's the writer who has to take ownership of their craft and their passion and be willing to say, regardless of the response, that "I am a writer." – Spayne199 years ago
I strongly believe that we are all writers--we all have stories. We convey them through different mediums, either unwritten or documented. Now, if a person wants to make a career out of writing, then (s)he needs to understand that it takes commitment of at least 40 hours per week. I know it's hard, especially when one needs to be in the creative mode, but here's the thing: if you love it, its not work. Its life :) – sbermudez9 years ago
You will know that you are a writer when your brain will be pressed by enormous quality of strange ideas when your hand reach out to pen or keyboard. – LauraJonson9 years ago
Twitter, Facebook, Texting- you name it. All forms of social media are used daily like breathing air. Since the majority of young adults write so many tweets and comments per second, acronyms, written slang, and jargon are created. There is LOL, omw, btw, and the list goes on and on. How will this transform the written English language? Are the transformations positive or negative? Or are these transformations creating something entirely new?
You can also mention how urbandictionary is sometimes used in court, because the witnesses talk in so much slang that they need someone to refer to it. Words like 'ratchet' and 'dope' have their own double meaning now, which can be hard for people trying to learn English. – YsabelGo9 years ago
I don't think this is only an English phenomenon. Would be interesting to have a look at other languages as well, maybe find some funny acronyms or changes of language that are particularly striking. – Rachel Elfassy Bitoun9 years ago
Anyone writing on this topic should probably start by reading some of the linguist David Crystal's work, such as his book called Txting: the Gr8 Db8. He carefully avoids and debunks the "end of civilization" approach to this topic and also looks at languages besides English. – laurajeffries9 years ago
This topic sounds interesting, but should definitely include a callback to how language has historically developed and evolved to become whole new ones, especially considering English's Mr. Shakespeare. English itself is a unique case of blended languages stealing from others, etc. – smartstooge9 years ago
The evolution of text based language: and believe me it does evolve. The abbreviations and terms used today, are not the same of yesterday. Language is always evolving and so we go from lol to lml, going ham to goat, web searching to googling. Language is affected on a larger spectrum than we sometimes realize. From the microcosm of adolescent fads to the larger picture of a world shaped by the... devolution of language? – george9 years ago
I thought it was interesting going from high school to college and seeing how my peers changed their text message writing. In high school, we all used shorthand, but as we aged (and texts no longer had word limits) we began to type in full sentences again. Does this have to do with phones that suggest words for you? Full keypads? No word limits? – cc3279 years ago
To copy from a source is called cheating. And sometimes, when a writer (mostly content writers) copy from multiple resources, they're applauded for their research capability. There has to be a fine line between copying and genuine research. A mindbending article about this topic will be a good read for all writers and the people who hire them.
This topic is an interesting one but a tough one to write about. You will need to treat it very meticulously by researching specific cases of 'copying' or plagiarism in the history of literature, film, theatre, art... What is the line between being inspired by and actually copying? Copying suggests the appropriation of the work. It's also very different from copying as paying a tribute. I know some people are allowed to copy some of the art works in the Louvre Museum but they have a specific title and a card, and they have to change at least one thing about the painting, whether colour or scale or small detail, to avoid plagiarism. – Rachel Elfassy Bitoun9 years ago
It is interesting to note between academic and amateur copying. While most consider academic copying to be fool-proof it is possible for a person to cite their own work previously published, thus augmenting an argument with their own information that doesn't normally get checked further down on. Theoretically a person could for decades perpetuate a lie or half-truth. All research is based on limited abilities of human beings to comprehend, such as the long-time fact of a flat Earth, etc. Looking at human research and its faults then is key for an article of this nature. – smartstooge9 years ago
This is very interesting. But It is even tougher sometimes when a writer thinks that he/she have researched something that he/she is positive that hasn't been used/written/applied before, it turns out that (not so often) it would be on internet. It's hard to do research when the internet is very broad and an idea can just as contagious as the ones on the internet. – banalma9 years ago
Horror is one of few genres which the imagination can compensate for the lack of styles. For example, Howard Phillips Lovecraft may not have the best writer in terms of techniques, but his imagination made him the master of modern horror. Similarly, James Herbert's The Rats was criticized for its overt violence and writings, but the image of man-eating rats turned it into a memorable horror classics.
On the contrary, some horror stories may have stylized writing, but it does not deliver the gut punch people are expecting.
Also, when you examine the history of horror movies, many "classics" were regarded as pure garbages by the critiques but endured such attacks. In many cases, the imaginations of horror movies later inspired many talented writers and led to the blooming of quality works.
So I was wondering, what makes a great "horror" literature/movie/etc? It is a simple question but hard to answer. What makes certain horror more memorable and enduring? For example, Richard Marsh's The Beetle was said to be as popular as Dracula, but now it remains as one of forgotten works.
So what makes horror survive and prosper?
I think it's drastically different when it comes to horror literature and horror movies. A movie can be really horrifying merely because it's extremely gory and distorted and have really dark music going on the background - it does not necessarily have to be anything meaningful. However, since you only read a book by your eyes, all the horror has to be delivered by words, which is much harder. A writer has to know how to manipulate words to convey the horror to his/her readers. In addition, I think many people watch horror movies just for the excitement while the people who read horror books look for more than just the excitement. – JamesZhan95929 years ago
I may write on this topic; I want to write about Poe and Lovecraft and the horror genre in literature so this topic might fit well with that. I think a good horror story has to tap into our fears: fear of death, fear of the unknown, fear of pain, etc. In the original "Halloween" movie, which seems tame today in terms of sex and violence, one of the creepiest aspects of Michael Meyers is that we don't know why he is the way he is. There's no explanation for his behavior. – S.A. Takacs9 years ago
I appreciate this topic, nice one. Horror way back when Mary Shelley was doing work, was much different than what we have now. Saying that, the horror genre is pretty subjective. That said, many find Frankenstein to be a horror, many prefer to analyze it as a piece of science fiction. Even looking at the short story called "The Machine Stops", a piece written early 1900s describing the lives of people run by machines with nothing but buttons and screens (back when screens were just dream, crazy huh?), could be considered a horror when read- a horror of a possible future. So saying all of that, there isn't really a defined set of outlines for the horror genre, and so that's what brings us to the modern day movies, where there aren't really reoccuring guidelines that I can notice after each modern day horror film. A great horror plays on the fears that we all have, fear will always exist and thats why the horror genre exists- whether its a literal monster or a dystopia. – Arian9 years ago
This is a great topic. I think one way you could pump up this article, is perhaps adding several notes on the biology of the human psyche when exposed to horror, and the adrenaline thats released (many scholars have written on this). Also perhaps, examining what was considered scary in the 1940's, as opposed to which horror genre survives and thrives the most in 2015. Great idea, would love to read once its published. – Valeria Sharivker9 years ago
This is a good topic, and something I think about a lot. One interesting way to approach this may be looking at the way gore films seem to have become a larger point of focus in recent years, as suspense-centered films (like anything made by Hitchcock) have seemed to be made less often. Is this one of the ways horror is keeping up with audiences? Giving them something new? If so, what's the next stage? – KTPopielarz9 years ago
I am currently reading a book called "Mayumi and the Sea of Happiness" by Jennifer Tseng in which she writes about a middle aged woman who becomes involved with a high school boy. Of course this sounds sick, but the elegance of Tseng's words almost make you forget the strange nature of their relationship. It would be interesting if someone could explore the influence of writing and style on taboo topics that make readers less offended or that make it possible to sit through a book like this and enjoy it. I am a big fan of Jodi Picoult and I know she often tip toes on boundaries as well, if you wanted to explore more than one author.
Spoiler alert* A mainstream example to use would be Game of Thrones. Reading about the Lannisters and hearing things from Cersei's POV makes people more understanding as to why her and Jaime resorted to incest (which is a highly taboo thing, made almost worse because they are twins). Not to mention characters who do awful things are not always punished, seen in the Mountain winning against the Dorne Prince in a duel, getting to kill the fan favorite fighter while admitting to raping his sister and slaughtering her children. It's awful but I'm sure some people were amused at how badass the execution of the death made the Mountain seem, and then he gets to be reborn through his injuries as a Frankenstein-like character. There are so many corrupt characters it's hard not to be compelled to favor some of them. – Slaidey9 years ago
I have found that not being too crass or graphic with the writing helps readers accept the taboo topic. – Nocturna329 years ago
I can't help but think of Mortal Instruments, where it is briefly believed that the main character and the love interest are siblings... and they still love each other romantically. – SpectreWriter9 years ago
One of the prime examples I can think of is Middlesex, which has become a pretty high-profile book despite it discussing some very taboo topics in great detail (puberty, lesbian sex between minors, and incest, to name a few). To a certain extent I think these books become popular because readers are curious about the topics, but get embarrassed to read about them unless they're wrapped up in an artistic, literary package. – Grace Maich9 years ago
While more manga-based I read "Bunny Drop" which explored love between relatives, in this case a man and his young half-sister. In Japanese culture in general their is a trend of relationships like this (Ghibli's "From up on Poppy Hill" etc.) which like to straddle the line of "we could be brother/sister and lovers but there's a side way out!" and then find a way to avoid being completely controversial. A good side to explore is the public (whether American or international) opinion on literature with incest and other taboo subjects as part of a story of fiction. What is it that makes authors and editors so afraid to go the whole nine yards? Has this always been the case and which novels have shone through which have been far more controversial? Also are taboo topics used more as a source of generating interest? (Monty Python's "Life of Brian" used the taboo of poking fun at events from the bible to get notoriety and sell much better.) Anyways, just a few ideas that might help in looking at the topic. Interesting choice also of the words "of course this sounds sick", that very sentence sums up the generalisation being explored here. – smartstooge9 years ago
