Yeh, it seems like a lot of people with the potential to be engineers have a bit of a creative spark in them.
How many fiction and/or prose writers here?
- Thread starter D_Thoraxis_Biggulp
- Start date
Actually I would say to be a successful writer you have to be equally adept at thinking abstractly and structurally.
A purely abstract thinker is going to be wildly creative, but have difficultly expressing their ideas in a way that's easily understood or accessible to a broader audience. Even poetry is, in principal, very scientific.
Abstract thought is vital to make a story feel "alive" and create believable characters, settings and circumstances outside your point of view. A writer without imagination is pretty much sitting in the middle of a lake with no oars for the boat. But a writer who only has imagination doesn't even have the boat.
Writing is more complex than a lot of people give it credit for. Structured thought involves more than just being accurate or avoiding plot holes. It plays into character development, ability to create consistent themes and atmosphere, choosing the right settings, resolution... a character arc is literally a geometric arc, for example.
Whenever I've taught workshops I focus heavily on story structure and outline. I learned the hard way that if you don't set parameters around abstract ideas its next to impossible to write something really effective. Otherwise you lose yourself in the creative process and forget whatever you're trying to say.
So if you decide to pursue writing I think you'll find having a working understanding of engineering will help you in more ways than you think. In an abstract sort of way, of course. :biggrin1:
Just the 2 (okay, maybe 5) cents of a fellow writer. :smile:
StapledShut - thanks for starting this thread man. It's been a while since I've seen one I could sink my teeth into that's about something that's a huge part of my life. Or at least a bigger part than political debate and getting fucked by hot rugby players. :tongue:
Lack of time gets in the way far too often. I've got a novel turned trilogy turned anthology that I need to find time to write.
short stories and some poetry. lol...i sound like a 15 year old girl. but i would love to be a novelist some day.
and getting an A in every Literature and Language class i've ever been in doesn't hurt either.
and getting an A in every Literature and Language class i've ever been in doesn't hurt either.
short stories and some poetry. lol...i sound like a 15 year old girl. but i would love to be a novelist some day.
and getting an A in every Literature and Language class i've ever been in doesn't hurt either.
You don't dot your Is with hearts do you, Will? :biggrin1:
lmao! i'm not that type of 15 year old girl, thank you very much. but i did have pink stationary to take notes on. :tongue:
and you're a teacher too? wow. i'm a bit crazy for hot male teachers so that revelation takes my mind to dirty places.
and i've also have some experience in screenwriting.
but it was nothing special. i loved reading Syd Field's book on it though.but i love writing stories, and i love anything with a good story which is why i love movies, scripted TV shows and books. God knows how many books i plow through in a year.
Clarification: I've been the instructor for some offbeat writing workshops. I'm not a teacher. I'm just the good-looking hipster type with the funky glasses and Chuck Taylors and vintage t-shirt under a $500 jacket who everybody assumes is taking the workshop until I start taking roll call.
Somebody like that couldn't possibly elicit dirty fantasies, could he?
OK, the $64,000 question then has to be:
What have you written that we may have read or watched?
What have you written that we may have read or watched?
I love Garcia as well.
A lot of favorites come to mind: George Orwell, Preston Sturges, Erik Larson, Gregory Maguire, Alan Moore, Christopher Moore, David Sedaris, Charles Dickens, Chuck Palahniuk... William Shakespeare is my personal god. And for social commentary in the moment, Dorothy Parker was the bomb.
Clarification: I've been the instructor for some offbeat writing workshops. I'm not a teacher. I'm just the good-looking hipster type with the funky glasses and Chuck Taylors and vintage t-shirt under a $500 jacket who everybody assumes is taking the workshop until I start taking roll call.
Somebody like that couldn't possibly elicit dirty fantasies, could he?
(drools a fountain) if hottie Maths teacher were like you, i would've never let him go back to Canada. he would probably be in my basement waiting for me to give him his daily.....ok, i'll stop there. :biggrin1:
i loved Marquez's "Love In the Time of Cholera" and the many different forms of love were so romantic. plus, it's a very engrossing story and so quotable.
others would be John Irving, Chuck Palaniuk (who totally had me at "Survivor") Tom Perotta, Anita Shreve (she's great when i want to take a break from some of the intense books i read) Frank McCourt, Augusten Burroughs, and many others. i can't list more because i'd be rambling on forever.
ouch. shuts me up. lol. but something i've written was filmed once, for a class. it was a mock documentary. we got an A.
I forgot to mention Chuch Palahniuk. This guys is awesome. His latest book came out yesterday!!! It's your typical Palahniuk-esque gruesome subject matter: the world's biggest gang bang, jajajajaja! Can't wait to get my hands on it, but unfortunately, I have to wait for my uncle to come back from the States in three weeks!
I like to write in my spare time and I tend to do best with short stories and highly condensed prose that's to the point and very descriptive. It's just for fun, since I like to flex my vocab and stay sharp mentally. I lack the focus and dedication needed to write anything major and I'm a world-class procrastinator to boot. I will say that it's kind of frustrating to think that were one to total every bit of stupid bullshit I've ever written on an internet forum, that it'd probably equal at least a couple of novels in terms of total words. Maybe I should just do that and shun you guys completely. I mean hell, none of you are making me rich. :tongue:
whoa. i didn't even know! caught me totally off-guard. i've just looked on Amazon, and i'm sort of reluctant to buy it, but then again, that was the same way i felt about Fight Club and Survivor and i loved them. (but i did not like Choke at all....)
That might reveal my secret identity Jason.
You may have watched a TV show or two I worked on. Hint for when you're feeling funny: "Blue;" Hint for when you need to escape: "Double"None of my features have been produced (yet) but I've done rewrites for some studio pictures. I'm not credited, but the guild keeps lists of who worked on what, so I have to be cagey about those too.
Sorry, just protective of my identity. It's not that I'm so uptight (there are a couple members here who know my real name), I just don't want to jeopardize the freedom I have on LPSG by opening a door to my professional life. If that makes any sense. I'm on my third glass of Bordeaux.
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