This morning I poured out a bowl of cereal only then to discover, on opening the fridge, that I had no milk. There is suffering here, in the suburbs. Much like everything else, you'll get out what you put in.
I've lived, worked and gone to school in New York City all my life, and I don't see that as an automatic qualifier for judging the quality of anyone's work product, be it music, writing or anything else. Also, I know this concept of "wisdom of the streets" has been out there for a while, but don't see that when it comes to artistic merit. It is presumptuous to think that you have a wider range of experience than someone who is not from New York. Different, possibly. But the kind of experiences that make one a good writer, or make one capable of discerning good writing, can be gotten from many places. My first suggestion to you in judging yourself and your fellows is to take a step back, and perhaps a little humility would not come amiss. Good luck in your writing endeavors.
I can't speak for how post-secondary schools work in the US, but in many places in Canada community colleges fill the niche of trade schools, career colleges, and as stepping stones for people who decide to go on to university but maybe didn't take high school as seriously as the universities require. As such, many community college courses put a greater emphasis on doing stuff rather than simply studying it. University writing classes tend to be offered as supplements to other programs, and are there to give students extra help, instruction, and insight to the actual writing process, rather than on the interest or creativity of the final product. I'd recommend English lit courses as the core of a creative writing program, and think of the writing classes more as insights to the technical process of putting words to screen.
Finally, I have registered for an online fiction writing class. I have chosen Gotham Writer's Workshop because it is the closest to a real class I could find. Anyway, any tips on how to utilize the class to my full advantage. Anything else you want to say about/warn me about the particular class or online classes in general.
I recently took Gotham's Fiction I course and enjoyed it a great deal. I think the key to getting the most out of it is to participate as much as you can. You'll be asked to critique other students' work, much as we do on this forum, and you should do so honestly and in great detail. Read the critiques others give on your work and ask questions of those other students on points you want clarified. Participate in the chat sessions. The more you put into it, the more you'll get out of it.
So good to hear the class is enjoyable and useful, I have been planning to join this class for many months now and I wasn't sure if it's any good.
I certainly found it valuable, and I'm going to take the Fiction II class as well, when I get time. Probably in January.
gotham offers the best writing courses to be found online... just do what you're told and you should get more than your money's worth...
Has anyone written one of these before?? If so, can you give me some tips? Do you know if the accepted 'person' is 1st or 3rd?
If you're the creator of the work, then first person is usually fine, although it is also a good idea to use impersonal pronouns where possible (the work vs my work). If you're writing an exegesis of someone else's work, then stick to third person unless your personal opinion is specifically asked for. And avoid using collective pronouns, it's not done anymore.
It's a bit strange, but I often feel very sick if I've been concentrating on novel creation for extended periods. Just a nausea, and it's pretty irritating and immediately kills your ability to concentrate. It's not quite so bad when writing but I get it a lot when I'm brainstorming or doing concept art or anything inherently creative. I used to play video games quite a lot when I was younger, for hours on end and I never had/have any problems doing that. When trying to work on my novel though I get ill after an hour or two. Strangely it's usually not headaches like I said, it's almost always nausea. thoughts?
Sometimes nervousness = nausea Do you feel anxious or nervous at all about anything while being creative?
I drink plenty of fluids all the time; I get very uncomfortable if I'm not fully refreshed. I don't eat tons, just my meals and a snack maybe in between. And yeah, I'm a bit of a perfectionist and I spend a great deal of time fretting over detail, going back and forth mentally etc. I never really thought about it...
I think you should seek some medical advice. I would prefer a psychiatrist..and that does not mean you are crazy. A good doc could give you something to help you relax those.."it has got to be perfect thoughts". Tell the doc mental how you feel before and during your nausea.
It's probably nervousness, then. It might be just something you have to deal with if you really care about what you're doing and you have a thin skin. Fight through it and finish your novel. Then look at it after taking some time away from it, and see if it's as good as you were trying to make it. If it is, use that fact to thicken your skin - you're as good as you hope you are and the nervousness should fade, and the nausea along with it.
This to me sound extremely insulting. She/he might need some medicinal help.. It does not matter how much she/he cares about what he/she are doing or if he/she has "thin skin".. having mental illness/issues is not a choice. You basically just said that if he/she can't get over nausea and her/his feelings then she does not care about what she is doing and that her skin is too thin...which is NOT true. She/he may have a legitimate medical problem that needs attention. Edit to add= nervousness and nausea are probably symptoms not the problem
maybe try eating a little bit more or drinking orange juice while you are writing. You are using energy, concerntrating etc It is possible your blood sugar levels fall a bit. You have said you are a person that needs to be refreshed with water. I have fibromyalgia - I notice when precious energy is leaving like a healthy person wouldn't. Try a healthy snack, maybe drink a tad more water, and have some orange juice for if you do feel queasy. It may not help it could be nerves but it maybe simply your body needs taking care of in a different way when you are writing. It maybe worth having blood sugar levels checked as well.
Using your brain in any kind of focused activity is burning pure sugar faster than any other activity. Yet, you don't move around, so muscles can't work and trigger the mechanism that converts fat to sugar - the result is a serious drop in blood sugar, which results in all the symptoms you describe. Before you run off to a shrink, try Googling low blood sugar and eating small, frequent snacks. Fruit is a fast sugar fix without spiking your glucose. This is a common problem with writers, poker players and other gamers, who sit for long periods doing serious mental work. Our problem is, when we are creating, when we are engaged, the world goes away and who remembers to eat? No high-sugar junk food. Really, try Google.
Oh yes, I always do. As long as you can put up with it, I'm not sure it's necessarily a bad thing. I get more done when racked with anxiety and other feelings.
That is an odd one...could be physical but my instinct isn't so sure... When I create (I do graphic design too), I get myself in to a zen-like state. I play some music but something chilled and with a little groove to it. Then I just let me brain go. Even though I focus on what I'm writing or designing, I am not sitting there with a furrowed brow, sweating over each detail. The details make themselves evident when I'm in zem world. My point is that you may want to look at the atmosphere you create when you create. Like you'd said, you could game for hours. I'd assert that is because you could hang in that zen deal I mentioned above while gaming.
I feel the same way that my characters do when I'm writing them. There's an upcoming part in my current story where my characters have to go through a plagued town, and I'm dreading writing it. My characters are going to feel nauseated in that part just by seeing what's going on around them, and I'm sure I'll feel a bit queasy as well. As others have said, this is probably just anxiety. It might not be to the point where you're about to crap yourself, but when you're focusing so intensely on something, it can make you a bit on edge or frustrated sometimes, which means you're anxious, which = nauseated.
