Comments | dream_bigger20: Rant: Presences

dream_bigger20

Rant: Presences

Sep 07, 2010 21:37

So since I'm not getting any school work done (due to my internet addiction) I decided to rant a bit. I was having an incredibly interesting conversation with my best friend about the types of presences various people have. The more I think about it the more engrossed I become. Our presences say so much about us as people.The teach us about ( Read more... )

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kore_rising September 8 2010, 15:01:30 UTC

In the immortal words of my granny (probably, she usually said things like: "Don't sit too near the fire or your spine will melt." But hey ho) It's mostly down to practice. What we want the world to see of us, what we want to present to it, how selective or bombastic or quiet we choose to be is down to experience and to how good we are at hiding the bits of ourselves we'd rather not show! And the same can be said for writing-we learn by doing. I'm not Paul Auster or even J.K.Rowling by any stretch, but still, I do have times where I sit back and try scenarios or just write them for my own pleasure. It keeps the muscles strong, kwim?

dream_bigger20 September 8 2010, 16:31:49 UTC

Never heard that phrase before! Copyrighted to Granny lol.

I think you may be onto something with the practice concept though. But i think some things are beyond that, such as writing. I think it takes natural talent that can be sharpened but just writing volumes isn't going to a way to nurture talent.

I think if you get yourself into a certain mindset, then you'll be able to change the presence you project. But it takes a whole makeover or else it comes off as insincere. Do you think a negative presence is better then no presence? I'm sort of split on that. Good things can be learned when you deal with a negative presence but only if you deal with them properly.

It's great that you have the muse that keeps you going! I think it's really important to be able to write for pleasure. Idk I have high expectations for my writing (for no good reason) which are never met, leaving me in a state of anger and frustration lol.

kore_rising September 9 2010, 12:19:49 UTC

To a certain degree I would agree with you-if you have the inclination to write it helps when you come to do it. It's a lot like an example I heard applied to singing "Everyone has a singing voice, it's just how pleasant it is to hear that makes the difference." Writers, like everyone else, need to practise and to study their medium. Philip Pullman (who wrote "His Dark Materials") always advises budding writers to read, read and read some more. If you ever read any of his books you can see how this has influenced him-his worlds are so dense and richly drawn they're enough to make anyone thrown in their pen and say "I'm not worthy!" :D ( ... )

dream_bigger20 September 9 2010, 17:12:33 UTC

I have an extremely practical nature. So once i feel that there really isn't going to be a profit out of whatever I'm doing I just won't. But I think LJ is giving me a profit. If I write and post (something decent!) someone will read it and give me some sort of positive feedback (especially if it's for the inception meme lol). I like that phrase about singing. But after reading it my first reaction was: well if the singer is terrible they should stop lol. In any case, thank you so much for the encouragement. If i ever do write something it most definitely will have a line of dedication to you ( ... )

kore_rising September 10 2010, 16:19:47 UTC

Ha ha! No need-knowing you've managed to beat your Muse into submission will be enough for me :)
Philip Pullman wrote the His Dark Materials series (Northern Lights (The Golden Compass outside the UK), The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass and two shorts- Lyra's Oxford and Once Upon A Time In The North) among other things. They're aimed at teens, but in much the same way The Hobbit is regarded as a children's book that adult can and do read, these are much the same. He was very influenced by Milton, Blake and even Marlowe to a degree. I would class them as fantasy/au (if I had to) but they contain so much more than a simple adventure through magic. If you liked Tolkien you might just like these too (no elves though. Angels, daemons, but no elves.)
Oh yeah, me and my £5 word vocabulary. Blame my degree. Three years of literature and you start spouting all kinds of claptrap XD But thank you for saying so!

dream_bigger20 September 10 2010, 20:48:10 UTC

I just read Pullman's bio on Wikipedia and fell madly in love. SMART Person! WOOO! I LOVE SMART PEOPLE! (yes I did change my icon for this comment lol) I'm going to start with His Dark Materials and see how it goes. Honestly I don't read too much modern stuff because it takes so much time to go through and figure out "this is worth the time" "this was a waste of it". The most modern writer I've read works of is probably Kurt Vanagut. Me and him could have been best friends lol. I have a good feeling about Pullman, we have similar views on religion and we're born a day apart lol, plus he's British! <3 ( ... )

kore_rising September 11 2010, 19:32:59 UTC

Excellent! Well, I hope you enjoy them (they are some of my favourite books of the last few years.) I'll have a think and see if there's anything else you might enjoy, if you're up for some more reccs?
Sure, I can talk to you about Britain. Is there anything in particular that you'd like to know? Most of the stuff I get asked usually is about accents, the BBC, the weather (does it rain that much? Well, it can...:)); the food (not as bad as people think at all); our teeth (we have toothpaste, floss and dentists, thank you); afternoon tea (a treat, not a habit); fuel prices (higher than yours); I can elaborate, if you wish? Plus, you dodged a bullet with the University of Hertfordshire-I live about thirty minutes drive from there and it's what's called a 'new' university (it used to be a polytechnic or technical college.) So yes, Penn is probably a far better prospect.
I look forward to hearing what you think!

dream_bigger20 September 11 2010, 20:34:57 UTC

I'd love to have some more recs! Do you have a favorite novel ( ... )

kore_rising September 12 2010, 13:10:09 UTC

A favourite? I have hundreds! Let me see...The Secret History by Donna Tartt; Miss Smilla's Feeling For Snow by Peter Hoeg (try and get the UK edition by Harvil, the translation is better);The Earthsea series by Ursula K. Le Guin;The Probable Future by Alice Hoffman;The Powerbook, The Passion and Sexing The Cherry by Jeanette Winterson;Perfume by Patrick Suskind; Bonjour, Tristesse by Françoise Sagan;Never Let Me Go and The Remains of The Day by Kazou Ishiguro;Middlesex and The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides;Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier;After You'd Gone by Maggie O'Farrell;The Handmaid's Tale, Oryx and Crake and The Year of The Flood by Margaret Atwood; and that's just the fiction, off the top of my head ( ... )

dream_bigger20 September 12 2010, 14:11:44 UTC

wow thanks for that list, it's going to take me a few months lol. I've only heard of The Virgin Suicides. From your prompts I thought your favorites would lie with classics since you quote Shakespeare in some of them.

Journal entry!!!! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 ( ... )

kore_rising September 13 2010, 13:51:25 UTC

Yeah, I love Shakespeare and some pre twentieth century fiction is incredible, but I thought I'd try and stick to the last sixty years or so, just to keep the list manageable for now! Start there and see how you go. If you want more I shall put my thinking cap on ( ... )

dream_bigger20 September 13 2010, 17:13:45 UTC

haha I think my plate is full from just Philip Pullman. (blegh I'm no good with names). I'm waiting for "His Dark Materials" to come into my library)

It's such a shame to watch other countries become "Americanized." I just want to scream "Guys see where we're going? DO A 180 and SAVE YOURSELVES!" but instead we're kind of followed. Ugh it's sickening.

Btw i love how you have the words I was so blindly grasping for. slapstick! It completely escaped me as i wrote that previous comment.

I'd just like to note that the US really isn't that bad. I've been very negative about it (and there are TONS of bad things lol) but in the end people are basically the same and they're everywhere. I guess i Just have a more critical opinion because my parents are from (what was) the USSR and I just sort of learned how to look and judge society. (I hope that doesn't sound obnoxious). No one said my analysis was a good one lol.

kore_rising September 14 2010, 10:21:31 UTC

No, I think outsiders have a unique view of any culture. Even in the UK, watching America is a fascinating experience. I'm planning to visit the US next year and tbh I'm not sure how I'll take it! I have some excellent US buddies, but still. I guess what happens is that the most extreme end of any society is the one that gets shown to the outside world (cheese rolling, gun crime, folk dancing, goodness knows what else) so we can go "Ha ha! Look at the funny foreigners!" And US culture is so entrenched in the history of independence that certain tropes repeat over and over. On one level it's fascinating, on another it can be a bit scary even for those inside it.
Let me know how you find Philip Pullman when he arrives. I always enjoy hearing what other people think of my favourite books.

dream_bigger20 September 13 2010, 17:51:09 UTC

This is from the smallville universe (and my favorite writer). I think it's a remarkable piece: http://sarcastic-fina.livejournal.com/18235.html

This one is from the Harry Potter fandom: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2415532/1/You
I'll be honest, I don't like the ending with the other woman. But the beginning in my opinion is just beautiful.

This is a cross between smallville and supernatural.
http://sarcastic-fina.livejournal.com/tag/ship%3A%20chloe%2Fcastiel

If you're familiar with the character Castiel, this writer just did a fabulous job with him.

I ADORE the way she writes smut. There's something so personal about it.

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