Why Write Scripts?

You might have a story planned, but you view it like a TV show: scenes appear in your mind, and often in non-chronological order. The story is half images and half dialogue, and you struggle to get it into workable prose. What you haven't realized is that a screenplay would therefore suit the story a whole lot better.

There's also the possibility that you think of a story in terms of characters talking in a room. If so, your story idea may be play material, suitable for theater.

The best reason to write a script is that it best suits your story. But be warned that if you usually write other genres, you may find it harder to keep the healthy distance from your "baby" that's needed to avoid frustration. Screenplays are usually hacked and mangled by the time they're made into movies—if they're made into movies—and it's not uncommon for a director's visualization of a play to vary from the writer's mental image.

Scripts can also, with extreme rarity, be lucrative. Much more often, scriptwriting can be good practice, teaching you why you usually write the way you do. (For example, I used to think my stories were too dialogue-heavy. Writing a play taught me how wrong I was.) If you're stuck in trying to organize a trough of ideas about a story and can't figure out the most important details, writing a script can also teach you just what can be cut.

You may choose to write a script because it suits your story, because you think that way, or to work on your writing overall.

Why Write Poetry?

Some sickeningly sappy romantics might call poetry the way to a woman's heart, but they're wrong: good poetry acts like a surgeon's knife. It sees a "problem"—the specific thing that the poet is addressing—and with its swift cut leaves the reader with the desired response in his emotions.

Perhaps I'd better translate that. Good poetry leaves the reader with the emotions the poet wants him to have. If you've read Ender's Game, you may notice the parallel in that definition to Valentine Wiggen's little gift. (Yes, I'm an Orson Scott Card fan.)

The difference between poetry and prose? Prose explores an idea or some aspect of it with some sort of thoroughness. Poetry provides a snapshot, and it ideally flows more fluidly than prose tends to. (Though well-written prose can flow almost like poetry, as in the books I've read by Gail Carson Levine—author of Ella Enchanted—whose stories are complimented by being read aloud.) Poetry can tell a story, too, as in the example of my poem, "Rehinged."

Poetry, like a short story, should all be geared for a specific emotional response. Therefore, it most often focus on emotions rather than the actions a short story requires for its plot. Or, at least, it focuses on making the reader more acutely involved of the emotions than is common in short stories.

So if your story is more interested in the emotions of a story rather than the plot, a poem might be what you want to use to tell it.

Someone Left Their Toothbrush…

My, I'm on a roll with these impromptu posts referencing other blogs, am I not? (Don't worry; it'll drop off next week when school starts. I think.)

Anyway, legbamel makes an interesting note that I'd not heard before in the his/their for singular pronoun debate. Evidently, their was originally both singular and plural neuter pronoun until two or three centuries ago, so the pure traditionalists for the English language are contradicting themselves when they persist in using he as the singular neuter pronoun.

Legbamel references a page from crossmyt.com that walks through this argument.

Perhaps it's true that those who protest the singular use of their are historically wrong. It's embarrassing to consider, but it's an intriguing idea.

Nonetheless, I'll be happy when (or if) the English language makes a standard decision about what to use. Until then, it's mocked if you do and spurned if you don't, with any choice for a singular neuter pronoun having those who call it downright wrong.

The Importance of 1 Word

I know, I know. My dramatic side's coming out again with that title, if you bother to read the article I found. (Though some of you readers are doubtless of the opinion that I don't own a dramatic side… Links!* I mean, Lain! Um… Blame the evil coffee I had before dinner. It poured itself down my throat.)

A-hem. Back on-topic—now that everyone has been thoroughly educated on why I usually avoid caffeine—that little grammar rant in the Rock Stories blog reminded me of the importance of one little word. In the blogger's case, he points out the misuse of if where the e-mail writer means when. One little conditional statement, a subordinating conjunction that changes the entire meaning of a sentence.

Don't ignore commonly-used words. Use them intentionally, with a mind as to how they'll communicate to the reader. Admittedly, no one's perfect, but at least try to remember the distinctions between because and since! (Since refers to the direct cause of something else, and because references a direct cause. A mild but notable nuance.)

I could give more examples, but it's past my bedtime. The only thing keeping my brain alert enough to write this is the coffee.

Evil luscious Brazilian black coffee.

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*In case you're actually wondering, Links is one of my friend's Balinese cats, and the loudest of the… That is, the most vocal creature in my friend's personal zoo.

On Fiction's Failings

Buzzle.com has a very interesting (albeit kinda old) short article I found, I forget where. British author Philip Pullman has evidently critiqued fiction, and fantasy in particular, for failing to use its full potential.

For me, it's another case in point on the value of fiction. It's not a mere escapade in another world, and even when it is, that escapade in itself gives lessons by the examples they provide.

By failing to recognize this truth about their fiction, many writers have effectively cheapened their work. Their lessons often seem to be entirely accidental rather than witting and intentional.

Does that mean the story should be sacrificed for a message? No! But writers should know their story well enough to know what it's teaching and what it can be used to teach. Only then, I believe, will they tap more of fiction's potential.

Now, if I could only finish that fantasy novel to prove it to you…

Why Write Prose?

prose - the ordinary paragraph form of writing

For many people who try to write, prose is the easiest form. At least, that's how it seems. School essays, reports, and e-mails in general have groomed the budding writer in some of the basics of this style.

Prose, with its focus on paragraphs, can be the best way to tell some stories. Non-fiction tends to come in prose form, since it can express things the most directly. Prose uniquely balances thoughts, actions, and settings for a meld that best suits intricate and extended tales.

The Lord of the Rings movies might be massive, but even they can't nearly reach the epic depth and expanse of Tolkien's books. Terry Pratchett's apparently tangled plot in Reaper Man wouldn't have quite the same effect in the four or five-hour movie that would be required to adequately develop its split strands and knots. And what would happen to the poor little dyslexic rooster?

Many people write prose without thinking because it's familiar. That can be a good place to start, but you may want to be cautious to avoid being stuck in a rut. The best way to understand what the different forms of prose can do is to experiment with them yourself.

Personally, I tend to evaluate my story ideas before sitting down to write on them. Some are better served by screenplays, and one may end up a book of poems. But for the ones that have intricate depth and width, I stick to prose.

How to Not Sell Your Writing

Common sense doesn't exist.

Even if you don't agree with me, you have or will someday meet someone who is so sadly lacking on perceptions of things you thought "common sense" that you can at least admit that common sense is a lot less common than we like to think. I know I'm often a case in point for people, but lately I've come to know someone who makes me look normal.

That is, normal compared to certain people, since the entire concept of normalcy is dependent upon who is defining normal, anyway.

At any rate, the blog writingworld.org posted an interesting tidbit today, about how to not get a freelance writing job. It can be summed up in two things:

1. Don't bother to check spelling.
2. Don't bother to do your research.

Evidently, the blogger Amber actually got an e-mail flattering her "presitigious magazine." Writingworld.org doesn't have a magazine, much less a prestigious one.

No matter what kind of writing you do, if you're going to try to sell it, use spell checker. And, as is the a common complaint I hear as advice for writers, do know with whom you're speaking.

Why Write Articles?

"Ooo!"

"Hm?" my brother asks, not too bothered that I've interrupted his monologue on the pros and cons of the Bumblebee yo-yo since he already knew I wasn't listening. (Think my headphones gave me away?)

"I just found this fascinating article on the uses of em- and en-dashes!"

Okay, maybe you aren't interested in the nuances of the different types of dash that exist in the English language. But maybe you like reading about weight loss tips, or the dangers of artificial sweeteners for dogs. Name a topic, and someone somewhere will be interested in reading it.

What was the last thing you taught a friend (or wished you could teach him)? The difference between heavy metal and death metal music (which you know because you like one and hate the other)? What the gall bladder does (which you know because you had yours recently removed)? The importance of measuring your starting ingredients in a cake (which you know because your friend recently guessed some ingredients' amounts and insisted others should be measured properly)?

Just think about all the information that pools in your head and comes out at different times. If you recently had your gall bladder removed, chances are you may remember what all the prior medical tests were for, but what if it were 5 years ago, and now your daughter is facing the same surgery? You'd have to look up that information you once knew so well…

While you have that information up there, why not write an article on it? Depending on the topic and where you publish it, earnings could range from a few to a hundred dollars (or more), so it can be a source of some extra money. (Some make their full or part-time income off article writing, like me.)

Even if you don't try to sell it, you may find it useful later when someone else you know needs it. You'll have all the info you need—or at least an introduction—ready-made at your fingertips.

So you might just want to write an article for the future benefit. Some writers are hired by clients that tell them specifically what to write about. Some people decide to join online communities where articles are written as a matter of course.

For fun, for information, for income—all these reasons can answer why you might want to write articles. Though if you're going to go that route in writing for one of the reasons, at least do some research to know why you don't want to do it for the others.

Why Write Copy?

copy - writing designed to produce a sale

Ever tried to encourage a friend to visit your favorite web site in an e-mail? Then you've written or at least tried to write copy. In that case, the "sale" is a visit to your favorite web site.

Many writers look into the field for one major reason: money. For freelancers and those seeking extra cash, copywriting is where money can be. (Notice that I'm not saying copyrighting—that's a different word.)

Maybe you've decided you want to try to blast into this lucrative writing market for the cash… or perhaps you just don't want to have to pay one of those high-priced writers for your small business's copy. Writing it yourself could save hundreds or thousands of dollars, especially if you decide to self-code the site, too. (Though if you do that, please save yourself a headache and… Well, do not use HTML to make things look how you want. That only makes things harder in the long run. Use CSS; that's what it's meant for. HTML Dog has a good tutorial series that teaches both together.)

In either case, you'll likely be writing copy to make money: to sell the copy for income, or so people read the copy and buy your product (or your service, or donate to your preferred cause, or whatever). Personally, I'm in the process of learning to write copy for both reasons.

There's also the off chance that you may actually like writing copy. In which case, have fun. And earn the nice income you can from those projects.

Why Write Nonfiction?

So you like teaching. Maybe you even love instructing others—or you want to earn money by writing. Fiction writing, unless you're one of those rare, virtually non-existent few authors that end up with best seller novels that have bidding wars, will likely not earn enough for an income.

Therefore, if you want to write for earnings, non-fiction is the way to go. But maybe you teach, and you want to write everything in one place so you don't have to repeat it time and again. When someone asks for some kitchen tips, having an article ready can save time. That lettuce wilts when stored with tomatoes or browns when cut with metal knives will already be written and organized for use.

Perhaps you like sharing information, or telling a true stories, or talking about history, or analyzing things. Any of those can be used to make a non-fiction work, be it an article or book. Some, like articles, can be used for income. Others, like historical works, may or may not be apt to earn much of anything.

Perhaps you've decided you could write a book critiquing various popular movies or books, that your thoughts on the matter are worth hearing. Or you want something you can hand people when they start asking you how to learn HTML, again. Perhaps people are so fascinated by your life story that you think it would sell well as an autobiography. Maybe you just want to earn some side cash.

At any rate, you may find writing nonfiction worth a shot.

Why Write Fiction?

A story pounds in your skull, begging to be set free…

Romanticism aside, that does happen. Sometimes. But it's a lot more often that someone wakes up with a random scene in his head that refuses to go away (as occurred with Mary Shelley for Frankenstein) or that the author refuses to let vanish (like Stephenie Meyer for Twilight). The writer then has to pull a story out of that scene. (As a note, the writer will likely refer to it as "the" story from the scene, rather than "a," and may be sensitive to the implied cliché if you call it "a.")

Personality can also induce someone to start a story. Maybe someone just likes writing and decides to mimic something he just read. Or a reader realizes with a jolt that he can write better than a certain story, so he decides to do it. In my personal case, I realized there was something I wanted to read—Christian sci-fi—and I couldn't find it, so I decided to write it. (That novel, written from ages 14 to 17, has been scrapped, but I'm still writing.)

I'm well aware that some people consider fiction useless, or at least don't see its practicality and value. Of the four members of my family, I'm the only one who greatly enjoys fiction, particularly when it starts getting fantastic (as in, entering the fantasy and science fiction realms). For someone who just wants to learn about airplanes, reading a non-fiction book on airplanes will be the easiest way for him to learn.

But a lot of people don't want to be taught. Therefore, they go for that fiction novel… that surreptitiously is teaching them something. If the book's well-written and the writer did his research, it might be details about how a lawyer becomes a judge, or that blueberries are a summer fruit (which could even be in a fantasy novel).

Characters' actions and the consequences quietly—or not so quietly—declare proper behavior or common idealizations of character. Ever noticed how almost every single heroine you can find is a spitfire, and usually slender and gorgeous? How fathers tend to be foolish idiots or tyrants? How Harry and friends in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books are rewarded for breaking the rules since their reasons were good? That some stories assume the romantic couple will sleep together, some that they won't; some don't so much as consider homosexuality an option, and some treat bisexuality as normal?

For each of those life lessons I named, I could name a fantasy novel that teaches them. But the good ones don't discourse; rather, they provide examples so a reader has to discern what is being taught. In many ways, particularly to the non-analytical reader, fiction can be much more dangerous than non-fiction, since such a reader is unaware of the lessons being poured into his brain by example.

Some people don't care about that ability and only want to tell a story. That's their prerogative. But every writer should be aware that he will teach something in his story, be it his direct intent or not. A writer's beliefs will affect his writing, regardless of if his conscious awareness of it. Children learn from what their parents do more than what they say; fiction teaches in much the same way.

So, write fiction to tell a story, write it to unobtrusively teach, write it so others have certain content to read—but know your reasons, and remember them.

Why Write School Papers?

For the sake of your career, do not decide "to sell on the Internet." Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad idea. Just consider the equation: academic dishonesty + exposure (even belated) = ruined reputation and probable repudiated degree(s).

Clear enough?

Good. Now, the only reason anyone should write a paper is for himself. Most often, students write them for classes. A teacher might also write an example for his own use to show his students.

In fact, if the teacher is introducing a style of paper alien to the students, like a discourse paper, I can say from the students' end that an example paper would be a whole lot more helpful than hodgepodged feedback that may or may not help the student realize the problem(s) with his paper style. And it would lessen the amount of time the teacher spent addressing the same issues to each student.

Students will—or, at least, should—still be essentially all who write papers. Okay, so you really couldn't care less about the influence of the National Assembly on the French Revolution, because you don't care whatsoever. But you want to pass your class, right?

It's safe to say that you even want a good grade in your class, though you may not be aware that you want that. Good grades pave your way through school; sometimes even help you get jobs. And they help lower car insurance.

So even if you have no desire to write that paper, you want to write it. If only for light at the end of the school years.

P.S. As a bit of a hint… Try to find something to like about the topic. You'll write a lot better.

Why Write at All?

Because you want to.

All right, maybe you really don't want to write that discourse paper on the global warming threat (or lack thereof). But you do want to pass your class, and therefore you do want to write the paper, even if you would prefer to buy one off the Internet, instead.

Oh, and for the record: buying a school paper be a terrible idea.

Frankly, not all people sit down and write because they want to, and a good many who want to don't because they don't know where to start. Some sit down and begin writing because they've noticed something that can be written, or they are able to do it and need the extra money articles can bring. Others begin because they read something and decide, 'I can do better!'

But in many cases, someone sits down and starts writing because someone comes along and gives them a kick in the pants.

"Oh, but I can't think of a story!" Funny, you've only homeschooled three kids (or babysat, or shared information with a friend). You've never told a two-line story to help others understand something? Ever?

Many non-writers seem to have the idea that writers are unusually inspired, that full articles and stories (and research papers) pop into their minds, ready to be written. And something similar might happen to someone who writes a lot, on occasion.

But the truth is, writers work for their inspiration.

A writer might notice something, say an article complaining about things that are overused in pulp fantasy. That writer may sit down and decide to write a fantasy novel mocking those overused fantasy elements. So the writer—me—decides how to transform those stock clichés.

Most fantasy is third person, past tense, with elegant half-elf heroines and benevolent fairy godmothers who come to the rescue. Therefore, I decide, my heroine will be a quarter-elf klutz who's telling the story in the present tense from her perspective, with a troublesome (and fatally dangerous) fairy godmother… and my little klutz is paranoid to boot! Considering that difficult premise logically, that heroine needs a very good reason to be paranoid or the story's dead. Develop why that girl is paranoid of royalty—despite her being royalty—and what's do be done about it, and the plot starts to develop…

Likewise, someone may notice that he knows a little-known technique that helps some people memorize, or that few people know how learning styles work. Therefore, he might write some helpful articles on learning style from his own experience studying for school and tutoring others.

But when someone who writes for a living, or works on a short story or novel, sometimes he must sit down and force himself to find ideas. Techniques for doing that vary, and some people find their best techniques vary with what they're writing.

Having an idea to explore or something to say is the best reason to write and will bring out the best writer in you. It is possible to force yourself to write because you must… like research papers, but be aware that you'll have to work a lot harder to write as well as you can.

Grab Your Favorite Cuppa Caff!

Be it coffee, tea, or hot chocolate, grab your favorite cup of caffeine and plop down for some its informational equivalent from this (somewhat) crazy grammar freak!

Why should I, when there are so many writing sites already available? Maybe I've seen bits and pieces of various ones that I prefer more than other tidbits and have decided to hammer out my own, hm?

Which brings me to this month's theme: why write. Why does or should anyone sit and write out that short story, that article, that report for Spanish class? (Reports are hard in foreign languages.)

So, join Cuppa Caff for August 2007 as we—well, I—answer, "Why write?"