The Writers' Ezine - T-Zero Xpandizine since 1998

01 December 2008

Sparks The Writers' Ezine - T-Zero Xpandizine

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Sparks

Karenika@wvu.org

Have you ever wanted to learn something new? Most of us have things at the back of our mind that we always wished we could learn how to do, but for one reason or another, we always kept putting it off. Well, today is your lucky day. Today, we will take the plunge.

First, grab a piece of paper and pen, or position yourself in front of your computer. Take a second to breathe. Take a deep breath in through your nose and let it out of your mouth. Repeat this three times. Now, you're ready.

For the next fifteen minutes, make a list of things you always wanted to learn. Don't criticize yourself and don't concentrate on how much time or talent would be a prerequisite to learning a particular skill. Just imagine yourself in a perfect world, where you have any kind of talent you wish. One example list may look like this:

Learn:

to play the trumpet
to swing dance
to do stand up comedy
to speak Italian
to fly a plane
to cook
to write a poem
to paint with watercolors
about flower names
about Malaysia

You get my point. I could go on forever. My list would most likely be endless and yours might be too. It also might only contain three items. There are no minimums or maximums necessary for this list, just jot all you can for fifteen minutes.

Once time is up, look over your list. Next to each item, write an estimation of three things - how long it would take, how much it would cost, and how badly you want to learn it. The last point can be a grade from 1 to 10, where 10 represents the one you want most.

Once your list is complete, choose one item depending upon how much time and money you have to invest in this project. Once you chose what you're going to learn, guess what the next step is? You got it! You just start learning it!

After your allotted time for this exercise is over, go back to some of your old stories and have one of your characters learn the same thing. Since you experienced it first hand, you should have a pretty good idea about what's involved in learning that specific item.

You can also write a story where one of your characters already knows how to do that thing or just apply your recently acquired knowledge to a new story. For example, if you picked to learn about flower names, make sure to name all the flowers in your next story. Instead of just saying "Half a dozen flower pots decorated her windowsill," say, "Purple and yellow tulips fought for attention on her windowsill."

At least, you will have made the time to learn something you've always wanted to. Additionally, you now have that experience and knowledge to apply to your future stories.

As always, make sure to have tons of fun!

T-Zero: The Writer's Ezine
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[an error occurred while processing this directive] Newbie Notes The Writers' Ezine - T-Zero Xpandizine

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Newbie Notes

micarr@4-writers.com

Change, change, change

My cats are mad at me because I moved their chair. They do not like change. But then, people are not that different. We may seek change and see it as a diversion, but when someone dares to change something that we are accustomed to, a part of our routine, we object. New as it is, and new as we may be to it, the Internet has, for many of us, already become part of our routine. But on the Internet, change is almost the daily routine. So how can we survive it?

The first step is simply to accept that change is going to happen. It happens off-line, although at a slower pace, and very rapidly on-line. Fuming about it will simply endanger your blood pressure. Consider it an adventure.

Write it down. What? In the computer age I am suggesting that you write instead of clicking? Yes, a scratch pad makes a great computer accessory. When you're staring at that message "Page Not Found", comparing what you have written on the scratch pad, with the URL in the window, can at least assure you that it isn't your mistake.

Writing down the steps you need to take to get somewhere or do something will also give you a reference when you wonder if you missed a step. At the very least, use a word pad to collect your favorite URLs and to copy instructions.

Check your email to see if someone sent you a notice about a change. Planned site changes are usually announced both by email and on the site. Server changes may or may not be announced far enough ahead to allow notification.

When you find something you like, check to see if you can get to it in more than one way. Sometimes one route will be affected by a change, but another one will still get you there. You can then update your bookmarks/favorites.

Some changes are major improvements. Remember those when the Internet Gremlins have you wishing for the good old days.

T-Zero: The Writer's Ezine
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Copyright 1998 - 2007, Writopia Inc. All Rights Reserved

Healthy Horizons The Writers' Ezine - T-Zero Xpandizine

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Healthy Horizons

Laurie@WVU.zzn.com
ICQ 17599180

Panic Disorder (PD) is a terribly frustrating disorder. I don't wish to cover this from the direction of statistics and medical definitions, but rather from one that aids others who suffer with it. Panic can be described in one word - fear. Fear of what? Well, for a person who suffers from Panic Disorder, it can be a fear of most anything.

Many people, but not all, suffer with agoraphobia or social phobia, which is in essence a fear of people or the outside world, the fear that you are different, that they will see you differently more so then they will harm you. I suppose maybe some fear that they will suffer harm from others, but I hear the fear of feeling like a freak. That is a terrible feeling, I can tell you first hand.

I have such fear of going outside my door, though I know in my mind of logic people really aren't looking at me and seeing anything. The PD mind sees it differently. I think they are talking about me or laughing at me, anything that describes a dislike.

Panic Disorder also causes a fear of death because of the things you experience when having a panic attack (PA). One primary feeling is that of your chest tightening and your air being cut off. I also have moments when my heart pounds erratically, then stops for just a short moment.

It is hard to express the feeling that accompanies, but it is a tremendous fear. The worst, I think, is at night when I have just fallen asleep and I awake feeling as though I have quit breathing. Then the panic is immediate, which logically only feeds the situation.

It isn't fair that I, or anyone else, has to suffer this torment, but then, a lot of things in life aren't fair. So what do you do? Well for me, I'm doing it right here. I was suffering a PA that ultimately developed this article. This doesn't always work and I didn't get through it solely by writing. I leaned on a friend with PD and typed as I chatted. It's called distraction. We can fight the PA and make it intensify and last longer or we can let it come and take its course.

For me, creativity is my inspiration because it is the one thing in life I am confident with and that makes me feel good. When I write, I feel satisfaction in what I have achieved. I think if we were to look through writers and their history, we would find many who suffered from some form of medical or mental disorder, many success stories, and probably many who survived through their talent.

If any of you know such writers, I would love for you to drop me a line. Even if you wouldn't mind sharing your own story of inspiration, I would be glad to hear it. Certainly in issues to come, we will contemplate over the collaboration of writers and their struggles in this capacity. Thanks for sharing my illness and, in a way, seeing me through it.

'Til next time keep looking toward those Healthy Horizons!

T-Zero: The Writer's Ezine
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Copyright 1998 - 2007, Writopia Inc. All Rights Reserved

Fiction Corner The Writers' Ezine - T-Zero Xpandizine

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Fiction Corner

Alison@4-writers.com

Fan Fiction

Have you ever seen a movie or television show and thought "I know what needs to happen next." Or read a book and thought of how the characters would react if you put them in another situation? Welcome to the world of Fan Fiction.

Fan Fiction takes existing characters and/or settings and puts them under your control. The characters already have history and personality, the terrain is already mapped. Think of it as playing with someone else’s chess set, instead of hand-carving your own pieces and making the board yourself.

The Internet contains a whole lot of fan fiction:

Newsgroups
alt.fiction.original
alt.[insert title here].creative

Web sites
This web site has links to collections of fan fiction based on anything from Star Trek to Jane Austen’s Persuasion.
http://members.aol.com/KSNicholas/fanfic/index.html

There are also fan fiction mailing lists and FTP sites.

Fan fiction isn’t the soft option in storytelling. You have to come up with an idea that the scriptwriters haven’t thought about. Your setting is pre-defined, not yours to mould at will. The characters already have a healthy set of quirks and instabilities. Some have a complex history that shaped their present attitude and personality. You need to know these characters well to write a good story for them.

At the end of the story you have one of two choices. Either you "put the toys back in the box" and leave the characters and setting as you found them, or you leave them changed by your events. Star Trek is a good example of the first choice. Rarely do events in one episode affect the entire cast or setting. Babylon 5 and the X-Files both have a long running story arc which demands that your story be slotted in at an appropriate point.

Once you’ve written it, what then? You can send it to a mailing list or newsgroup, and be prepared for feedback. You can send it to a fanfic archive. If you meet the entry criteria, you can enter the Star Trek "Strange New Worlds" contest.

Take a look at some fan fiction based on a show or movie you like. See if you can come up with something interesting, and get writing!

Drabble of the Month
Another gem from Ian McFarlane of New York, on the color Red.

Red

"Sir Chevalier", I inquired, "Please tell your fans why you’ve decided to exclude the color red from your masterpieces." The painter turned and said "Monsieur, I refuse to sully my hands with an entity that evokes the shade of a war torn sky, the rage of discontented youth and the image of lovers in torrid heat. Who wants to sully their eyes with the haze of communistic flags and the vicious bite of McCarthyist mad dogs? With all due respect sir and apologies to the appropriate bards, I see a red door and I want to paint it black! "

The Drabble theme for August is water (due July 15th), the theme for September is timetables or schedules (due August 15th) and the theme for October is night (due September 15th).

Send your Drabbles to me at: drabble@technologist.com

June Contest

The closing date for the June contest has been extended to the last day of July. Details are in the t-zero June edition, and the winner will receive a copy of Writers' Software Companion (valued at $89 US).

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Tidbits

Emma@4-writers.com

International Calendar - July

Canada Day	1 July	Canada
Communist Party Birthday	1 July	China
Bank Holiday	1 July	Taiwan
Independance Day	4 July	USA
Commemorates the formal adoption by the Continental Congress of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776, although the signing of the Declaration was not finished until August 1776. Philadelphia was the first to observe the holiday on July 8, 1776 at which time the Declaration was read aloud. City bells rang and bands played. It is celebrated now by parades, pageants, and patriotic speeches, along with firework displays and organized firing of guns and cannons. It was not declared a legal holiday until 1941.
Orangemen's Day	12 July	Northern Ireland
Bastille Day	14 July	France
Commemorates the start of the French Revolution in 1789. The Bastille was a French prison fortress in Paris. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Bastille was used primarily for political prisoners - citizens deemed obnoxious to the royal court. Be they peasant or politician, they were arrested by secret warrants called lettres-de-cachet and imprisoned indefinitely without accusation or trial. On the 14 July 1789 the Bastille was attacked and captured by a mob assisted by royal troops. Two days later the destruction of the fortress was started amid great public rejoicing. The site is now an open square called the Place de la Bastille.
Constitution Day	17 July	South Korea
Maritime Day	20 July	Thailand
Asalha Puja	30 July	Thailand

What Happened...

Literature

5000BC Sumerian Language in use

1859 Dickens: Tale of Two Cities, novel of the French Revolution

1697 Vanbrugh: The provok'd wife, a play; a fine study of an ill treated wife.

History

828 Crete captured by Arabs

1067 Rebellion in South West England

1971 Lt. William Calley found guilty of My Lai massacre of South Vietnamese civilians in 1968.

Science

845 Chinese used paper money

1657 Huyghans designed first pendulum for clock

1988 Claims that consumption of convenience foods caused decline in intelligence

Arts

16 BC Erection of Maison Carree, Nimes, finest extant small Roman Shrine

1294 Work began on Cathedral of San Gennaro Naples; completed 1323; western facade 1906

1915 Keep the home fire's burning, wartime song, published

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RedPen

CaLana@4-writers.com

We celebrate you, the readers and writers of the WVU/Writopia community. We can't thank you enough for your support, and work to enhance T-zero each month for your personal benefit and enjoyment. A wide vat of opportunity is extended to you through this forum.

This summer, the T-zero department settles into a new agenda. It seeks to increase new writer showcases, community voice, and active sponsorship. The division anticipates some internal shifting and staff additions. You'll enjoy new features, including more contests and the 2 ^nd Annual T-zero Issue. But the fun won't stop there!

Why all the diligence you ask? To begin, T-zero subscriptions have increased almost 40% since January, 1999. Second, we feel you deserve the best we have to give. Also, our cornerstone is making T-zero the premier writer's e-zine.

Whatever your comment, suggestion, or idea, it's one to be used. Questions are our specialty too. We pivot on the art of writing to serve the writer - the person, the human. So kick back and savor yet another issue.

P.S. A couple of our editors are on vacation this month. Never daunt - they'll be back.

	T-zero Xpandizine *The Writer's E-Zine*
	Produced and published by the members of Writers' Village University since 1998 ISSN 1521-2639