There are so many ways to read a sentence that sometimes it's nice to write select words in italics, just like this, to indicate what's important or what should be stressed. But sometimes I can't write in italics because that option is not available. The tacit understanding is to use asterisks to denote stress, but I dislike this pratice. I feel that it turns the word or words into overzealous, pom-pow wielding cheerleaders. Look at *this*. It looks ridiculous. It's not that I am against cheerleaders but rather that I resent making my words resemble them. Using italics makes me feel so much more refined and elegant. I'd rather use asterisks singly, as an alternative to using parenthesis*.
*except for when I would like to interrupt my writing with the neat curves of a parenthetical thought.
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 23
Monday, October 10
More thoughts on texting
Last text message I received: "<family friend>'s mother died yesterday"
First text message I received: "Got a curling iron"
I'm not much of a texter, and I really only send text messages when it's more convenient than just talking over the phone. I don't have unlimited texting as part of my phone plan so my texts are usually terse and lack vowels. The texts I receive, though, come in varying writing (or texting?) styles and are on a wider range of topics. That first text message I ever received was from one of my close high school friends and in regard to that hair appliance that she wanted to use for her hair for prom. I think she chose to text me rather than call because she didn't know if I was in class or not at that time. That last message was texted to me probably because the sender primarily communicates through text. I'm actually glad I got the information through text rather than over the phone because it gave me the chance to react privately, without having to audibly express my thoughts and feelings right then and there to the person on the other line. And also I received the information while I was in a public bathroom, and...I just would not have liked to receive that kind of phone call while washing my hands, amidst the typical commotion of a ladies restroom (women washing hands, applying makeup, fixing hair, talking to stall-mates).
Sometimes it's better, nicer, to hear someone's voice and have a normal conversation over the phone. I'm not a great phone interlocutor, though, because I tend to get excited and interrupt the person on the other side, and half of the art of conversation is reading nonverbal cues. I like communicating through writing, so, logically, I should prefer to text and I should have taken to text-messaging easily. Eh, I feel that in a couple of years I'll really get the hang of texting and feel more compelled to use it more often, especially after realizing that there are times when receiving a text is more preferable.
First text message I received: "Got a curling iron"
I'm not much of a texter, and I really only send text messages when it's more convenient than just talking over the phone. I don't have unlimited texting as part of my phone plan so my texts are usually terse and lack vowels. The texts I receive, though, come in varying writing (or texting?) styles and are on a wider range of topics. That first text message I ever received was from one of my close high school friends and in regard to that hair appliance that she wanted to use for her hair for prom. I think she chose to text me rather than call because she didn't know if I was in class or not at that time. That last message was texted to me probably because the sender primarily communicates through text. I'm actually glad I got the information through text rather than over the phone because it gave me the chance to react privately, without having to audibly express my thoughts and feelings right then and there to the person on the other line. And also I received the information while I was in a public bathroom, and...I just would not have liked to receive that kind of phone call while washing my hands, amidst the typical commotion of a ladies restroom (women washing hands, applying makeup, fixing hair, talking to stall-mates).
Sometimes it's better, nicer, to hear someone's voice and have a normal conversation over the phone. I'm not a great phone interlocutor, though, because I tend to get excited and interrupt the person on the other side, and half of the art of conversation is reading nonverbal cues. I like communicating through writing, so, logically, I should prefer to text and I should have taken to text-messaging easily. Eh, I feel that in a couple of years I'll really get the hang of texting and feel more compelled to use it more often, especially after realizing that there are times when receiving a text is more preferable.
Sunday, October 2
Stream of consciousness: Benefits of writing every day
http://lifehacker.com/5844427/a-sure+fire-approach-to-improving-your-writing-and-getting-over-writers-block
this article, saying that writing on daily basis will help you write in general. i agree, and that was part of the motivation for keeping this blog up. okay, sometimes i cheat and if i have more than one idea that's been simmering in my head on a particular day i'll write a bunch of posts so that i have something for the days of drought when it's 11:30pm and i realize i have to put something up here.
unlike the article suggests, sort of, my intent here is quantity over quality: i want 365 posts. some of them are just barely three sentences long and written in a matter of minutes, and a few of them were posts that i actually wrote and edited over the course of several days.
but i have still been practising some of the things the article outlines: don't make this a diary. this isn't a diary for me about 'this is what i did today' but an attempt to be a little bit more reflective. not really THAT analytical, except for some of the commercials, and even then a lot of it is just stream of consciousness/raw reactions to something, not necessarily searching my thoughts and challenging my preconceived notions on x y z.
writing something--even if it's drivel-- is better than nothing. i've gotten better at allowing myself not just to write terribly but to let it be public-- and public in the sense that anyone on the internet can read this. i like writing drafts, and do the practice of the vomit draft, which is pure stream of consciousness and writing what comes to my head, even if i acknowledge as i'm writing or typing it that it's nonsense, stupid, reveals my smallness in terms of lack of mental capacity, shows that i'm not as smart as i think i am or present myself. i've written this as such, as pure unedited writing just to demonstrate. See-- i didn't even capitalize some things or concern myself with grammar, proper syntax or whatever it is called.
it doesn't seem like my writing will improve as a result of this mind-dump but keeping it up every day will, according to this article, still help in the long run. Right now i have a surfeit of ideas i want to blog about in the future, and i am saving this post for a 'rainy day', for when i don't feel like writing and have no time or energy to write. cheating, i know, because i SAID i was going to post something every day BUT that doesn't mean i have to necessarily WRITE something every day, hahhahaha loophole! ah, but see, now I feel guilty about this habit of mine and I feel guilty for having revealed this to you, the reader. okay, so i resolve that from now on i WILL in fact write every day, but i will not necessarily post what i have written that day, for sake of my pride and an attempt to put out better quality posts (excluding this one, of course).
this article, saying that writing on daily basis will help you write in general. i agree, and that was part of the motivation for keeping this blog up. okay, sometimes i cheat and if i have more than one idea that's been simmering in my head on a particular day i'll write a bunch of posts so that i have something for the days of drought when it's 11:30pm and i realize i have to put something up here.
unlike the article suggests, sort of, my intent here is quantity over quality: i want 365 posts. some of them are just barely three sentences long and written in a matter of minutes, and a few of them were posts that i actually wrote and edited over the course of several days.
but i have still been practising some of the things the article outlines: don't make this a diary. this isn't a diary for me about 'this is what i did today' but an attempt to be a little bit more reflective. not really THAT analytical, except for some of the commercials, and even then a lot of it is just stream of consciousness/raw reactions to something, not necessarily searching my thoughts and challenging my preconceived notions on x y z.
writing something--even if it's drivel-- is better than nothing. i've gotten better at allowing myself not just to write terribly but to let it be public-- and public in the sense that anyone on the internet can read this. i like writing drafts, and do the practice of the vomit draft, which is pure stream of consciousness and writing what comes to my head, even if i acknowledge as i'm writing or typing it that it's nonsense, stupid, reveals my smallness in terms of lack of mental capacity, shows that i'm not as smart as i think i am or present myself. i've written this as such, as pure unedited writing just to demonstrate. See-- i didn't even capitalize some things or concern myself with grammar, proper syntax or whatever it is called.
it doesn't seem like my writing will improve as a result of this mind-dump but keeping it up every day will, according to this article, still help in the long run. Right now i have a surfeit of ideas i want to blog about in the future, and i am saving this post for a 'rainy day', for when i don't feel like writing and have no time or energy to write. cheating, i know, because i SAID i was going to post something every day BUT that doesn't mean i have to necessarily WRITE something every day, hahhahaha loophole! ah, but see, now I feel guilty about this habit of mine and I feel guilty for having revealed this to you, the reader. okay, so i resolve that from now on i WILL in fact write every day, but i will not necessarily post what i have written that day, for sake of my pride and an attempt to put out better quality posts (excluding this one, of course).
Wednesday, September 21
Thursday, June 30
Halfway there!
Well looky-here, I'm halfway through the year! I think I've done a good job in delivering quantity over quality, and I'm slightly surprised that I've persevered and lasted this long. I wouldn't say that writing daily has become a habit or a compulsion, as some days I really have to force myself to think and to write. But some days I do look forward to writing about something that happened to me or something that's been marinating in my brain.
Improvements/adjustments for the second half of this year:
1) Rely less on random YouTube videos or movies for inspiration/filler for days when I'm uninspired to write
2) Use more GIFs
3) Proofread my posts more than once before publishing
Sunday, April 24
Writer's block
The other day I was watching Gwen Stefani's music video for "What You Waiting For?" The song's about Gwen having writer's block and waiting for inspiration to fall out of the sky. In this extended music video she goes to some kind of clinic to help her with her writer's block and has to fill out a questionairre before the process. I stopped the video to record the questions and fill in my own answers:
.
.
.
.
.
.
- Are you a member of a royal family? Yes ____ No _X__
- Do you set your watch a little fast? Yes_X__ No _____
- Define the word “sesquipedalian” It's an adjective and antiquated word; I can't define it better without looking it up
- Hedgehogs live in hedges. True ____ False_X__
PART III
- What are you five favorite colors? _hunter green_ _sunset orange__ _plum__ _black__ _azure____
- Do you like the smell of gasoline? Yes_____ No _X__
- Please write as best you can the sound a flamingo makes. Rrhnnck
Thursday, April 21
What's in a title?
What's in a name? That which we call a garlic clove
By any other name would still stink.
* * * * *
Consider the movie titled "Dead Snow" , translated literally from its original Norwegian title "Død snø". What could it be about? Mayhap a meditative depiction of doomed romance, set in an unforgiving Oslo winter (featuring Rachmoniff's Piano Concert No. 2, mov. 1). Or a Viking tirade gone awry. Or a documentary feature on the alarmingly high levels of mercury and other toxic chemicals that endanger the existence of life in the Artic Circle.
Or it could be exactly what the Spanish translation of the title indicates: "Zombis Nazis" (or, you know, "Nazi Zombies", to follow the proper English grammar structure wherein the adjective precedes the noun). With that title there's no doubt about what you're going to see, no question about it. It's not as if the words "dead" and "snow" don't exist in the Spanish language, but that title sounds a lot more impressive and fun that "Nieve Muerta". Although I love me some good wordplay, I also find pleasure in a straightforward title that doesn't balk from its subject matter-- movies like "Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off". I guess I'm also fatigued from movies (mostly romantic comedies) that try to have punny, clever titles that don't really do anything for the movie except serve as expanding benign tumors in an actor's body of work-- "How Do You Know" and "Just Go With It" are the first egregious examples that come to mind.
Most of the time when I write a post I come up with the title last. I don't relish having to think up ways to summarize or capture the essence of the post that follows the title, and when I'm done writing I've usually veered into another subject. I think the title for this post is pretty...okay.
movie info taken from IMDb
By any other name would still stink.
* * * * *
Consider the movie titled "Dead Snow" , translated literally from its original Norwegian title "Død snø". What could it be about? Mayhap a meditative depiction of doomed romance, set in an unforgiving Oslo winter (featuring Rachmoniff's Piano Concert No. 2, mov. 1). Or a Viking tirade gone awry. Or a documentary feature on the alarmingly high levels of mercury and other toxic chemicals that endanger the existence of life in the Artic Circle.
Or it could be exactly what the Spanish translation of the title indicates: "Zombis Nazis" (or, you know, "Nazi Zombies", to follow the proper English grammar structure wherein the adjective precedes the noun). With that title there's no doubt about what you're going to see, no question about it. It's not as if the words "dead" and "snow" don't exist in the Spanish language, but that title sounds a lot more impressive and fun that "Nieve Muerta". Although I love me some good wordplay, I also find pleasure in a straightforward title that doesn't balk from its subject matter-- movies like "Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off". I guess I'm also fatigued from movies (mostly romantic comedies) that try to have punny, clever titles that don't really do anything for the movie except serve as expanding benign tumors in an actor's body of work-- "How Do You Know" and "Just Go With It" are the first egregious examples that come to mind.
Most of the time when I write a post I come up with the title last. I don't relish having to think up ways to summarize or capture the essence of the post that follows the title, and when I'm done writing I've usually veered into another subject. I think the title for this post is pretty...okay.
movie info taken from IMDb
Tuesday, April 12
On language: written, spoken, and signed
I like writing because I feel that it's the best way for me to express myself clearly. I'm not great with conversation-- especially with talking on the phone-- but I do like public speaking. It's kind of counterintuitive because I'm an introvert and dislike being around a lot of people and getting a lot of attention. But public speaking/performing isn't so daunting to me. Auditions are a completely different matter, for reasons I either have already explained or will in another post, but whenever it came to, say, giving a presentation for class, I just... I just did it. And I liked it. I liked having that specific kind of attention and could handle that sort of pressure, both actual and perceived.
Speaking in front of people isn't just about the words you say but how you say them and the body language that you use, whether it's intentional or not. I found that I gesticulate a lot. I guess it helps me?
One of my peers started an American Sign Language club in high school. Using sign language is as much about the hand gestures as the facial expressions. I don't think there's any symbol for a question mark or exclamation point; rather the inflection is shown using your face. You can show that you're sarcastic if you sign one thing but your face contradicts whatever it is you've signed.
Sometimes I distract/amuse myself by looking at ASL interpretations of pop music. Someone who is deaf or hearing impaired could easily find the lyrics to a song and watch a music video and lip-read or feel the vibrations from the speakers, but there's a certain joy to watching the words "translated" into ASL. This video, for example. The Black Eyed Peas song "My Humps" is pretty silly and nonsensical already, but seeing it interpreted so enthusiastically sort of elevates the song to a new level of ridiculousness and hilarity:
Speaking in front of people isn't just about the words you say but how you say them and the body language that you use, whether it's intentional or not. I found that I gesticulate a lot. I guess it helps me?
One of my peers started an American Sign Language club in high school. Using sign language is as much about the hand gestures as the facial expressions. I don't think there's any symbol for a question mark or exclamation point; rather the inflection is shown using your face. You can show that you're sarcastic if you sign one thing but your face contradicts whatever it is you've signed.
Sometimes I distract/amuse myself by looking at ASL interpretations of pop music. Someone who is deaf or hearing impaired could easily find the lyrics to a song and watch a music video and lip-read or feel the vibrations from the speakers, but there's a certain joy to watching the words "translated" into ASL. This video, for example. The Black Eyed Peas song "My Humps" is pretty silly and nonsensical already, but seeing it interpreted so enthusiastically sort of elevates the song to a new level of ridiculousness and hilarity:
Thursday, March 3
Writing letters
The Letter
by Amy Lowell
Like cramped words scrawling all over
the paper
Like draggled fly's legs.
What can you tell of the flaring moon
Through the oak leaves?
Or of my uncertain window and the
bare floor
Spattered with moonlight?
Your silly quirks and twists have nothing
in them
Of blossoming hawthorns,
And this paper is dull, crisp, smooth,
virgin of loveliness
Beneath my hand.
I am tired, Beloved, of chafing my heart
against
The want of you;
Of squeezing it into little inkdrops,
And posting it.
And I scald alone, here, under the fire
Of the great moon.
* * * * *
Another one of my favorite poems. I found it when I was looking for poems written by women not named Emily Dickenson or Elizabeth Barrett Browning for my creative writing class in high school. I do have an anthology of poems but I don't regularly read poetry.
I like writing letters. I write regularly to three friends, even I live within driving distance of all of them and have their cell phone numbers and email addresses. I handwrite all my letters because I like to imbue my words with, well, my handwriting. I try my best to keep my writing legible but I make no attempts to hide it when I'm really excited about what I write. Letter-writing is my way of documenting my rambly, tangential monologues for the enjoyment of one particular person.
Yes, so basically my approach is very similar to what I do in these daily blogposts. Yet another illuminating post ...
by Amy Lowell
Like cramped words scrawling all over
the paper
Like draggled fly's legs.
What can you tell of the flaring moon
Through the oak leaves?
Or of my uncertain window and the
bare floor
Spattered with moonlight?
Your silly quirks and twists have nothing
in them
Of blossoming hawthorns,
And this paper is dull, crisp, smooth,
virgin of loveliness
Beneath my hand.
I am tired, Beloved, of chafing my heart
against
The want of you;
Of squeezing it into little inkdrops,
And posting it.
And I scald alone, here, under the fire
Of the great moon.
* * * * *
Another one of my favorite poems. I found it when I was looking for poems written by women not named Emily Dickenson or Elizabeth Barrett Browning for my creative writing class in high school. I do have an anthology of poems but I don't regularly read poetry.
I like writing letters. I write regularly to three friends, even I live within driving distance of all of them and have their cell phone numbers and email addresses. I handwrite all my letters because I like to imbue my words with, well, my handwriting. I try my best to keep my writing legible but I make no attempts to hide it when I'm really excited about what I write. Letter-writing is my way of documenting my rambly, tangential monologues for the enjoyment of one particular person.
Yes, so basically my approach is very similar to what I do in these daily blogposts. Yet another illuminating post ...
Tuesday, March 1
A bit on my writing process
If you get bored with nothing to do, you are not a writer.
- Guillermo del Toro
I am a big fan of Guillermo del Toro (director of Pan's Labyrinth and the Hellboy movies) and sorry to say that I don't fit his description for what it means to be a writer. As of late I've approached writing my daily post as a chore and have struggled to find a topic that I want to write about. I have a list of them but nowadays I lack motivation to put them into any kind of cohesive piece. Also I'm trying not to write so much about movies; last time I checked I had 17 blog posts that included the label "movies". I love films but I don't want it to monopolize my blog posts.
I guess my main concern is finding a balance between what I want to write and putting out something that is worth being read by someone. When I write papers for school I like to write many drafts and take a lot of time figuring out the best way to structure the paragrapsh and make smooth transitions. These posts are more like documentations of my stream of thought of that particular moment. I do very little backtracking and mostly use whatever words pop into my head. Sometimes I'll go back and find a more concise synonym for something, but if I can't I'll just find a way to reword the sentence. I get excited when I come up with a really fitting and appropriate word off the top of my head, from the vast trove of words that I've had to memorize for SAT prep. As of now, my favorite word is samovar; I like what it means and the way it sounds. Say it with me: Ssssamovaarrrrr!
- Guillermo del Toro
I am a big fan of Guillermo del Toro (director of Pan's Labyrinth and the Hellboy movies) and sorry to say that I don't fit his description for what it means to be a writer. As of late I've approached writing my daily post as a chore and have struggled to find a topic that I want to write about. I have a list of them but nowadays I lack motivation to put them into any kind of cohesive piece. Also I'm trying not to write so much about movies; last time I checked I had 17 blog posts that included the label "movies". I love films but I don't want it to monopolize my blog posts.
I guess my main concern is finding a balance between what I want to write and putting out something that is worth being read by someone. When I write papers for school I like to write many drafts and take a lot of time figuring out the best way to structure the paragrapsh and make smooth transitions. These posts are more like documentations of my stream of thought of that particular moment. I do very little backtracking and mostly use whatever words pop into my head. Sometimes I'll go back and find a more concise synonym for something, but if I can't I'll just find a way to reword the sentence. I get excited when I come up with a really fitting and appropriate word off the top of my head, from the vast trove of words that I've had to memorize for SAT prep. As of now, my favorite word is samovar; I like what it means and the way it sounds. Say it with me: Ssssamovaarrrrr!
Monday, January 31
Looking back, looking forward; Updates
After hitting the "PUBLISH POST" button at the bottom of my screen here I will have written one blog post a day for an entire month. One down, eleven to go. I can't come up with a cogent argument as to this experiment having a positive effect on my writing, but at least it's gotten me to sit in front of the computer and actually think instead of falling into the routine of cycling through the same websites until I look at the clock and egads how long have I been here I was supposed to find a recipe for falafel and all I've done is watch twelve videosofdogsridingturtlesgaah! Hmm, and apparently it hasn't curbed my proclivity to ramble. I swear I don't typically write run-on sentences! I love grammar and spelling and punctuation!
For the next month I'll make a word bank of 37 Interesting Words and try to use one word in every post, rather than give myself seven days to use seven words. Good thing February's a short month. And it's that the beginning of the next month also includes the beginning of the lunar (not Chinese!) New Year. Thursday marks the start of the Year of the Rabbit. I have hope for the new year, that it'll be better than the last.
* * * * *
Currently reading:
Eleven by Patricia Reilly Giff
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (reading it a second time)
Recently viewed:
Avatar: The Last Airbender, Book I, Vol. I: Water (Nickelodeon TV series)
Underdog (2007)
10 Things I Hate About You (1999) by Gil Junger
Coupling season 2 (BBC)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)