Quote by sprite
i figure hell's to warm for clothes, so yeah, naked it is *grins*
The place sounds better all the time. I can't wait to go.
Who was it who said "I would go to Heaven for the food, but Hell for the company"?
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Lupus
Over 90 days ago
Straight Male, 34
0 miles · Stafford
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Active Ink Slinger
Quote by avrgblkgrl
Okay, I didn't want to quote everything because it is jam packed and I LOVE IT ALL!! I'm wet! Your mind?!?!? Always so honest and humble Ben.
I agree with you fully. You won't find yourself inserted completely into any of my stories because what I know is going to be limited, heavily influenced by who I am. That translates into a flat character. But, to me life is better than any fiction. I pick up things. I watch. I savor. I collect. And yes, I use them. But, I'm not without a heart. I have a conscience. I'd never, how do I say this, brutalize someone else for the sake of a story. I use myself most of all. I give my permission, so I'm fine with that.
If you have ever experienced the fullness of Toni Morrison's characters, all of them, then you know what a talent she must have to pull that all from thin air. I'm kind of thinking it is impossible--at least for me. Some of you out there may have all of that within you though.
My students were like, "We are all going to hell, except her. That's why she has a wall full of awards."
A wall full of awards, or a room filled with the world's most interesting people - imprisoned and unable to leave as she siphons off their stories and personalities for her own gains. Horrible woman.
I would say that we're all human - and that every one of us has the potential to be any other person we see out there. The phrase "There but for the grace of God" springs to mind. We all undergo changes in our lives and there's no saying that we'll stay the way we are. We all start out in life on the same blank canvas. It's our lives that create us and mould us. Is it ever such a leap to put ourselves in the shoes of someone else and behave the way we would, in that situation?
It's true that our characters share a lot of our own personalities and traits. We can't remove ourselves from ourselves, it's true - but we can put ourselves in another time and space. The most interesting characters we write are those we become a part of - those whose lives we feel we've lived. We might not write it, but we give them back story, character progression, traumas, hopes and dreams that shape the way they are - to create the person we write about. These things might never be mentioned, but they're evident in their personality and their actions.
I try to put myself in different positions, to write different perspectives and challenge myself as much as possible. As Steph says, sometimes I cannot relate to my characters - but I am able to write it. I wouldn't want to be that person or live that way, but I am capable of imagining how life would be. Isn't it a strange insight into mankind - and ourselves as individuals - to see how we might react in these circumstances?
I always thought I would struggle with the female pov. It's surely something I can't relate to - something I can't possibly have experienced. I thought it would be a disaster. I recently tried it and found that it was easier than I had given myself credit for. I wonder why, but I realise that although I have never lived that way and never been in that situation, I have lived in that mindset through the stories I enjoy, the writings I read, the insights I hold. I cannot have lived that side of life - and yet I feel I have. Isn't that truly the wonder of writing, to be able to put ourselves - and others who read us - into any single moment in time and space, in any perspective, and live that small slice of life? Whether that's a fictional character of a unique creation or a snapshot of someone's experiences, it's just as influential and just as important to our development - as people and writers.
Active Ink Slinger
Firstly, you don't need to tell us you're a succubus - we already know that, dear. No one here will deny your sheer sexual energy.
Otherwise, I'd say we're all going to Hell, if that's the case. Ms. Morrison might claim to write people of her own inventions, but it's quite a bold thing to say. Is anything we create truly our own idea? There's a branch of thought that says that every person, every face, you see in your dreams is someone you have seen before. It's believed that there are no uniquely imagined faces, simply drawn from the depths of your creative genius mind - they're all the forgotten, buried faces you've walked past for decades and never recognised. Can we refute this? Not really. I'll be honest and say that last night in a pub I saw a girl I went to college with not five years ago. Did I remember her? No. My friend remembered her - I did not. So can we ever say that the faces we see in our dreams are our own creation? No. We can't prove that.
Likewise, I'd say those we see in our writing come from a similar place. I understand Ms Morrison's idea - creating your own characters is by far more enriching and more captivating than simply writing a new perspective on a face or a person you've already seen. There's a personal touch to it - the freedom to go anywhere you please, to truly live through the imagined life of a stranger for one fun, shining moment. When we write, we create people. We don't just write about a name and their actions - we should be aiming to create real people. Our characters should come to live - own their own personalities, humours, characters, traits, quirks and idiosyncrasies. I am sometimes told that a reader HATES the character in my story. I love that. To me, that someone can truly despise my character makes them real - it gives them a personal, human touch that I aim for. I don't want characters people feel apathetic about. I want real people that readers can live through, relate to, despise and fall in love with. People make stories.
It seems strange, but there's often more life in showing a unique character than there is in copying someone we know. We can never hope to match the true character of someone else, no matter how well we know them. It will always be a shadow of their real self. We don't allow them to be who they are - unlike those we truly create. There is a strange action of almost holding ourselves back when we write about those we know. Rather than allowing that energy of the person to flow, we try to restrict ourselves to match their personalities. Sometimes it works, but we should allow ourselves that wonder of artistic licence.
I admit to writing stories based around people I know, though. Yes, in this regard I too shall be joining you in Hell. I think I'll bring whisky instead, though, if you don't mind. There will be others along with the wine shortly. Sometimes the people around us can snatch at a part of our writer's soul - whether it's someone we pass by, a person on the train (I've been there, written that...), a friend who says something that speaks to us, or anyone we encounter in life. Inspiration comes from the strangest of places. As writers, I think it's our duty to embrace that inspiration, no matter where it comes from, or when. Truly creating our own fictional characters is one thing, but there's a beauty in capturing a moment, a thought, a mood, an ideal, a wish or a dream that fleetingly passes throughout our day. This is the true human side of us all - and it is so easily captured and recorded if we just allow ourselves to paint the image we see at that time. We don't need to be great inventors. Sometimes the greatest stories of all are those we just remember well. Life is the greatest story of all.
To return to my point, is there really such a thing as a purely unique and original character? I don't think it's possible. We live in a world where we're constantly told stories, introduced to characters, shown plot-lines and given cliffhangers and twists. Our minds are programmed for these things, recording and replaying all of the stories we hear - comedies and tragedies. We see hundreds of people every day, each with their own stories, each caught in their own tiny fragment of time. These people influence us. We remember these people, whether we want to or not. Everything we do in life shapes the way we think, feel, believe and - most importantly - imagine. Can the man who lives his entire life alone in the wilderness imagine anything but the wilderness? The stories and people we find every day shape our thoughts, whether we want them to or not. Every character we create is a patchwork creation from dozens and hundreds of others. They're like no one we recognise - they're like hundreds and thousands we know.
So am I going to Hell? Damn right, I am - with pride. I think we all are. We're all guilty of stealing from others. Are we really stealing, though? Is the camera guilty of offending those it records, or are we just the medium - the monitor - through which we see our own humanity, in all its forms?
Otherwise, I'd say we're all going to Hell, if that's the case. Ms. Morrison might claim to write people of her own inventions, but it's quite a bold thing to say. Is anything we create truly our own idea? There's a branch of thought that says that every person, every face, you see in your dreams is someone you have seen before. It's believed that there are no uniquely imagined faces, simply drawn from the depths of your creative genius mind - they're all the forgotten, buried faces you've walked past for decades and never recognised. Can we refute this? Not really. I'll be honest and say that last night in a pub I saw a girl I went to college with not five years ago. Did I remember her? No. My friend remembered her - I did not. So can we ever say that the faces we see in our dreams are our own creation? No. We can't prove that.
Likewise, I'd say those we see in our writing come from a similar place. I understand Ms Morrison's idea - creating your own characters is by far more enriching and more captivating than simply writing a new perspective on a face or a person you've already seen. There's a personal touch to it - the freedom to go anywhere you please, to truly live through the imagined life of a stranger for one fun, shining moment. When we write, we create people. We don't just write about a name and their actions - we should be aiming to create real people. Our characters should come to live - own their own personalities, humours, characters, traits, quirks and idiosyncrasies. I am sometimes told that a reader HATES the character in my story. I love that. To me, that someone can truly despise my character makes them real - it gives them a personal, human touch that I aim for. I don't want characters people feel apathetic about. I want real people that readers can live through, relate to, despise and fall in love with. People make stories.
It seems strange, but there's often more life in showing a unique character than there is in copying someone we know. We can never hope to match the true character of someone else, no matter how well we know them. It will always be a shadow of their real self. We don't allow them to be who they are - unlike those we truly create. There is a strange action of almost holding ourselves back when we write about those we know. Rather than allowing that energy of the person to flow, we try to restrict ourselves to match their personalities. Sometimes it works, but we should allow ourselves that wonder of artistic licence.
I admit to writing stories based around people I know, though. Yes, in this regard I too shall be joining you in Hell. I think I'll bring whisky instead, though, if you don't mind. There will be others along with the wine shortly. Sometimes the people around us can snatch at a part of our writer's soul - whether it's someone we pass by, a person on the train (I've been there, written that...), a friend who says something that speaks to us, or anyone we encounter in life. Inspiration comes from the strangest of places. As writers, I think it's our duty to embrace that inspiration, no matter where it comes from, or when. Truly creating our own fictional characters is one thing, but there's a beauty in capturing a moment, a thought, a mood, an ideal, a wish or a dream that fleetingly passes throughout our day. This is the true human side of us all - and it is so easily captured and recorded if we just allow ourselves to paint the image we see at that time. We don't need to be great inventors. Sometimes the greatest stories of all are those we just remember well. Life is the greatest story of all.
To return to my point, is there really such a thing as a purely unique and original character? I don't think it's possible. We live in a world where we're constantly told stories, introduced to characters, shown plot-lines and given cliffhangers and twists. Our minds are programmed for these things, recording and replaying all of the stories we hear - comedies and tragedies. We see hundreds of people every day, each with their own stories, each caught in their own tiny fragment of time. These people influence us. We remember these people, whether we want to or not. Everything we do in life shapes the way we think, feel, believe and - most importantly - imagine. Can the man who lives his entire life alone in the wilderness imagine anything but the wilderness? The stories and people we find every day shape our thoughts, whether we want them to or not. Every character we create is a patchwork creation from dozens and hundreds of others. They're like no one we recognise - they're like hundreds and thousands we know.
So am I going to Hell? Damn right, I am - with pride. I think we all are. We're all guilty of stealing from others. Are we really stealing, though? Is the camera guilty of offending those it records, or are we just the medium - the monitor - through which we see our own humanity, in all its forms?
Active Ink Slinger
The words I'm about to speak come from the heart and soul of a man who enjoys writing, but has recently been struggling. You're about to hear from a man who's written more poems in the past week - and discarded all of them with venomous hate - than he has in three years. You're about to be graced with the eloquent opinion of a writer whose skill and ability seems surely to be failing and who is CONVINCED that he will never write poetry again. I speak for myself when I say this:
Fuck y'all. Y'all too talented. I hate you. (And I HATE 'y'all'!)
How do you people do it? *Grumbles and leaves*
Actually! *turns and pokes little Spritely monster* Keep it up.
*grumbles* Talented bitch...
Fuck y'all. Y'all too talented. I hate you. (And I HATE 'y'all'!)
How do you people do it? *Grumbles and leaves*
Actually! *turns and pokes little Spritely monster* Keep it up.
*grumbles* Talented bitch... 
Active Ink Slinger
Ha! Brilliant! I love it! Evie and Jayne have both berated me for entering and they get first and second! Love you girls, I told you both you could do it. I'm really proud of everyone for achieving their places, but especially you girls. I know you've both wanted it a lot. Maybe NOW you can be convinced to enter more often, eh? 
x
Well done to everyone. Really.
xWell done to everyone. Really.
Active Ink Slinger
I seem to be one of those people who constantly chooses the 'exotic'. There are plenty of English women I could choose from, so why do I always pick the more 'exotic' women to keep me company? Maybe I'm lacking in patriotism. Perhaps it is the accents. It's spicy, it's different and exciting.
Active Ink Slinger
Quote by avrgblkgrl
Mine is pretty easy. Average Black Girl. Too many vowels just seemed elitist.
Fight the power.
I'm gonna post mine here, because a helluva lot of people ask me and maybe they'll spot it in my forum posts. I should link to this post...
Lupus IS a disease, as most people recognise. It's not what made me choose the name.
Lupus is also the Latin word for wolf. 'Lupus' and a few other variations have been usernames I've used over the years, usually as a substitute when my main choice was taken. I like how it sounds. It was inspired by an old girlfriend and it's been one of those usernames that's stuck with me. It's almost Syphilitic.
Active Ink Slinger
Quote by DanielleX
Well he kind of said that anyway, but that wasn't my question
Who's to say that there wasn't only 150 pages in chapter 1 and 500 in chapter 2?
Danny xx
I suppose it's simply an assumption. He does say "finds us in chapter two", rather than "on chapter two", so it could be any distance into it, yes. It's merely an exaggerated assumption for effect, I'd say. To me, though, 500 pages for two chapters would point to tedium anyway, one way or another - no matter how evenly the pages are distributed.
Active Ink Slinger
Quote by Liz
My heartiest congratulations to the three winners and all of the runners up.
There were some really excellent stories. You guys rock!
Liz x
--- --- ---
Me: "Come on, admit it."
Lupus: "Admit what?"
Me: "You screamed like a girl when you saw the list."
Lupus: "How very dare you! I did no such thing."
Me: "You screamed. I know you did..."
How does she know?! *Sobs*
Seriously too talented for your own good, miss.
Active Ink Slinger
I think Holmes' point is simply that it's redundant to put too much stock in an arbitrary figure such as a chapter number. He's suggesting that the real quantity of work is measured in the pages, not the chapters. Chapters are variant and objective. They can be as long or short as you like, whereas the page numbers actually quantify something accurately - in a way that means something.
Active Ink Slinger
I... What? Seriously? I... Thank you, to everyone! It's a fantastic, wonderful surprise to come second, it really is. Being topped by ABG is no shame for me. Who could hope to compete with THAT story? Hell, that woman.
Well done you, missy and everyone else who entered. I read a lot and genuinely didn't think I'd figure - there are so many great stories coming through.
Thank God a few others didn't enter.
Seriously? I... Thank you, to everyone! It's a fantastic, wonderful surprise to come second, it really is. Being topped by ABG is no shame for me. Who could hope to compete with THAT story? Hell, that woman.Well done you, missy and everyone else who entered. I read a lot and genuinely didn't think I'd figure - there are so many great stories coming through.
Thank God a few others didn't enter.
Active Ink Slinger
<- Me.
I started off with an avatar that wasn't of me. I used to get asked a lot, so I decided to use only my own photos after that. Now no one believes they are me. *Rolls eyes*
I suppose for me it's just simpler. It's nothing incriminating that's going to bring me any problems and it seems a bit more... Honest.
Okay and maybe I have a slight exhibitionist side that likes putting myself out there.
I started off with an avatar that wasn't of me. I used to get asked a lot, so I decided to use only my own photos after that. Now no one believes they are me. *Rolls eyes*
I suppose for me it's just simpler. It's nothing incriminating that's going to bring me any problems and it seems a bit more... Honest.
Okay and maybe I have a slight exhibitionist side that likes putting myself out there.
Active Ink Slinger
Quote by DanielleX
You make my comments sound rather pejorative.
I've nothing personally against any of my friends, but I do think some just add me for the kudos of having a lot of friends and see me as another pair of tits to have on their list x
A nice pair to have, though. x
In all seriousness, I tend not to pay much attention to any spam messages. I know that it means a lot to the writer sending the message, but I just don't register it. It doesn't appeal to me. Sometimes I find it irritating, yes, if I get them all the time. I don't midn the occasional message and a polite reminder. I'd love to help my friends out more and be a bit better about it.
I have a lot of stories I'd like to read and stories I've forgotten to read. I wish I could read them all, but sometimes it's just not possible. I know it's a shame and I know a lot of writers really deserve the feedback, but sometimes you have to be selective. I'd like to think that I read a selection of all of my friends. I can't guarantee to read everything.
Personally, though, I don't like to send out spam messages. I could always use the votes. I don't get a lot of readers (and my competition one is getting less than most), but I feel guilty pestering people to read it. I figure if they want to read it - and it's worth reading - then hopefully they will.
