Thursday, May 31, 2012

Quote of the Day


The true University of these days is a collection of books.
Thomas Carlyle (1795 - 1881)
Scottish historian and essayist.
On Heroes, Hero-Worship and the Heroic in History, "The Hero as a Man of Letters"

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Quote of the Day


We all know that books burn—yet we have the greater knowledge that books cannot be killed by fire. People die, but books never die. No man and no force can abolish memory...In this war, we know, books are weapons.
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882 - 1945)
U.S. president.
Message to the American Booksellers Association

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Quote of the Day


Who kills a man kills a reasonable creature, God's image; but he who destroys a good book, kills reason itself, kills the image of God, as it were in the eye.
John Milton (1608 - 1674)
English writer.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Quote of the Day


You will, I am sure, agree with me that if page 534 finds us only in the second chapter, the length of the first one must have been really intolerable.
Arthur Conan Doyle (1859 - 1930)
Scottish-born British writer and physician.
In the words of Sherlock Holmes.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

I CREATE ART EVEN WHEN I'M HIT WITH WRITER'S BLOCK

"I write when the spirit moves me," William Faulkner once said. "And the spirit moves me every day."

I love this saying by Faulkner. It’s one of the best saying I know on how to deal with that Writer’s Block. As a writer, I meet those blocks sometimes and it’s frustrating when you stare at your computer screen or paper but you just don’t know what word or sentence would follow. Then you might feel like any sentence you force into the work would kill the whole manuscript.

Writers, writing instructors, agents, editors always say, ‘Do not edit while writing your first draft.’

I believe them. And I stick to that rule. No. I stick to that guideline. Writing and editing at the same time is hard work. I think it screws a work. If it doesn’t screw the work, then the writer is bound to spend more time on that project. And when the writer thinks he/she is beating the time, that’s when the block come.

I dread writer’s block like I dread going to hell. For me, writer’s block means I’m stuck in one place and making no progress. I hate it when I make no progress in something I hope to be a success.

I hardly get hit by writer’s blocks because I try hard to avoid them. But sometimes, they’re just unavoidable. My blocks come especially when I’m in a descriptive scene. Some writers excel well in descriptions, others don’t.

Honestly, I think I’m among the latter.

When describing a scene, I try my best to put myself into that scene so I’d be able to capture the sights, the colors, the smell, and the sounds. I don’t always have problems with the smell and the sounds. However, sometimes I do have problems with the sights and colors. And without the sights and colors, you cannot fully pull your readers into a scene, especially a new environment they haven’t come across in the book.

The funny part about this is that I think I’m pretty good in another aspect. Another aspect that fully involves sight and colors.

Graphics Design. But I call it picture pimping.

I’m a lover of artworks, graphic pictures especially. I think I’m among those readers that fall in love with awesome book covers. If I like a book cover, I like the book. Even though the content is trash.

As a kid in secondary school, I was good in putting good and colorful images on blank papers.

Was good?

Yes. To be sincere, I don’t think I’m much of a good drawer again. I left drawing to concentrate on writing and music.

But I still draw awesome stuffs though.

How?

Well. I have to say thanks for computer. With computer software, I can easily take this picture:


















and turn it to this drawing: 

 
















It looks just like stuff done with a pencil.

What does this have to do with my writer’s block or difficulty to add colors and sights to some scenes?