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Encounters with the Writing Process |
 New Intention: Now in 2017 and the following years, if any, I shall use this journal for whatever I please to write.  Still, I reiterate: Read at your own risk! Old Intentions: Now, starting with June 2013, I will use this journal for the entries for "I Write in June-July-August "  . Afterward, I'll go back to the part I have down below in red. Still, read at your own risk.  Now, starting at the end of 2010, I am going to write into this journal directly, without making any other copies. Freeflow, but from prompts. I may use prompts or simple sentences as prompts, which I'll put on the subject line. I'll probably use some of the prompts from the Writing.com app. And yes, I do intend to make a fool of myself, because I miss writing on a good old fashioned typewriter with no other cares. Maybe some ancient and wise author like Dickens will watch me from Heaven, shake his head, and say, "You haven't made a dent." Not a dent, but making my own mud is my intention. So, if you read, read at your own risk. Truth is, I had started this journal in 2002 for the different reason of writing down ideas on the craft of writing. Over the years, my personal blog took over what I wanted to do here. Afterwards I continued with writing exercises with no order or plan to the entries. And now, this. Who says I can't let my hair down! Okay, I can't because my hair is short.  But I've got nerve.      |
| A cliché is a tired expression which has been and is being used over and over. Usually it is a metaphor or a simile that someone once uttered and it rooted itself into the vocabulary of the masses. Just for the fun of it, let me write down a few of them: “starving to death” “I love him to death” “ a sitting duck” “crying one’s eyes out” “the spur of the moment” “blowing one’s top” “spread like wildfire” “work like a horse” “a place like a pigsty” “monkey business” “fate dealing a card” “lose track of time” “population explosion” “wearing one’s heart on one’s sleeves” “hit the ceiling” “drop like a ton of bricks” “bend over backwards” “when it rains, it pours” “he’s a dead duck” “money talks” A cliché, because of its colloquial nature, is sometimes functional if used to give color to a character’s dialogue. “Don’t follow me like a puppy, please, John,” she said. “Man! The boy’s a freakin’ pig, I say!” A cliché can be used wisely if the dead metaphor in it can be revived. Let me try to revive “money talks” if I may. “He saw the young teller behind the glass partition count a stack of bills. As he waited and stared, the enticing whisper of the green begged and cajoled him into a romantic fascination. From then on, he knew he would follow that voice.” In general, clichés are dangerous for amateurs and are used sparingly or avoided totally by serious writers. If I catch myself using clichés during a free-flow or a first draft, I later replace them or try to revive them in some way. Today’s tip: Writers read; readers write. :) -------------------------------- :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):) My current ratings are given according to the SMS's guidelines
** Image ID #467080 Unavailable ** ** Image ID #460955 Unavailable ** ** Image ID #513135 Unavailable ** ** Image ID #467084 Unavailable ** ** Image ID #434966 Unavailable ** ** Image ID #438606 Unavailable ** Joy    "A witty saying proves nothing." |
| A metaphor is a figure of speech that describes one thing, concept, or action in terms of another one. A metaphor interacts with language intimately, creating relationships between things and ideas not recognized before. When a metaphor is the exact opposite of what it describes, it is called a collusion or a collision. Although a metaphor is quite like a simile, it does not use words of resemblance such as "like" or "as" when it describes something. Metaphors are either plain or implied. “A whirlwind of ideas” is a plain metaphor. “The numbers rained on him,” “His smile sinned when he looked at her,” and “Jane knifed my wound” are implied metaphors. Implied metaphors are cherished by poets and writers more than the plain ones. Since they are usually made with verbs, they bring life and excitement to an expression. Yet, plain or implied, all metaphors can be overused or abused like other good things. At the beginning, when I tried to write poetry, I had a run-in with metaphors, only because I loved metaphors a lot. I thought they worked wonders, and since I believed metaphors were my strength, I used them too often and too indiscriminately. Imagine a Christmas tree with decorations building up to a single shining star, which has a beautiful meaning in its fundamental nature. Well, my Christmas tree had many stars all around it with all of them fighting with that star on top for brightness, so much so that my poems became disorientated in a traffic jam of metaphors. I stopped my romp with metaphors when a wonderful teacher pointed out to me, ever so gently, what I had been doing. I will forever be grateful to her as long as I use metaphors. She told me to use one master metaphor, and if I felt like adding extras, I should make the additional metaphors work under that one master. Now, I go with her formula especially in a short poems; one central metaphor with all the other less significant ones building up to it. In other words, for each Christmas tree there needs be only one very bright star on top. With a metaphor one can express an idea more pointedly and more delicately than one can express by using a roomful of adjectives and adverbs. For example, an amateur could be saying this: "When he moved the position of his cap, it was visible that his head was covered by white hair, which was holy, sacred, saintly, distinct, untainted, not dirtied, much adored, spiritually aristocratic, and shining brightly with a circular light." Here is how a great poet has said it with a metaphor so eloquently. “And white the unpigmented Halo of his hair When he shifted his cap:” from Night Game by Robert Pinsky Let us look at the word metaphor. Meta means across, phor means carry something like a ferry. So, a metaphor must “carry across” a meaning by using a physical image which stands for an abstract thought. The poet Jane Yolen--in an interview--said: "In Greece the word metafora is a kind of moving van and so as you drive around, you see trucks with METAFORA on the side. They are shifting a lot of stuff under the watchful eye of the stone-draped ladies of the Parthenon. There's a poem there." Jane Yolen was so right. Where there is a good metaphor that is wisely used, there is a poem there. Today’s tip: In meaning, the word climactic refers to climax , while climatic has to do with climate. -------------------------------- :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):) My current ratings are given according to the SMS's guidelines
** Image ID #467080 Unavailable ** ** Image ID #460955 Unavailable ** ** Image ID #513135 Unavailable ** ** Image ID #467084 Unavailable ** ** Image ID #434966 Unavailable ** ** Image ID #438606 Unavailable ** Joy "A witty saying proves nothing." |
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