WRITING AND IMAGES
by Sonia Lupher
Writing. Writing is a very important word. Writing heals the soul and feeds the body. It is a power, a wonderful power you will never, ever forget. You have most of the power already. You have the power to control the writing and make it how you want it to be. Had a bad day at school? Write it down, then write another copy and say how your day would have been if things had gone your way. Did you, say, at lunch sit on your enemies' doughnut or something messy? Pretend it didn't happen. Pretend someone else sat on it instead. You also don't have to change it. Write what happened, have a good laugh, and forget aout it. Chances are so will everyone else. Back to writing. Write with POWER, power that can change a person's mind or heal someone's heart. First write for yourself. You ALWAYS go first, no matter what. (Unless it's during a fire or an earthquake or something.) But think about your health and your problems before thinking about other people. If you are doing things for other people first . . . well, I think it would give me a heart attack. So always write for yourself first. In a journal, on the computer, anything! After you know how to do things for yourself you think about other people. How do you catch someone else's attention in a story? Will they like it? Ask people to read it. (Also you can listen to the song 'Paperback Writer' by the Beatles: "Dear Sir or Madam, will you read my book it took me years to write so will you take a look . . . ") And remember: ALWAYS READ AND REREAD YOUR WORK FROM THE BEGINNING. Note how you feel while your reading it: Bored? Excited? Is there a part where you could make it longer? Shorter? Maybe there were parts where you didn't feel any emotions at all. Write all the things down that you notice, then change them. Keep rereading (yes, from the beginning) from time to time, say, every four or five pages.
And finally, rewrite and rewrite! Real writers go through this every single day, though, needless to say, I hate rewriting. But - IT IS A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF WRITING. More advice. Writers do not write for fame, for money, and to get published. Writers write because it is what they love to do. Writing is a part of their life. It's like an extra leg. I am glad I'm one of the people God gave the gift of writing to, because it is one of the greatest, gentlest powers in the world. In the universe. Writers never stop writing. They are always making up stories in their heads, as if giving themselves a vision. If you are planning to write all your life, you literally have to write ALL YOUR LIFE. But I have not met a single person who is unhappy with their gift.
Images. Sure, images matter when you're in line for a movie and there are a lot of boys in the line. But to me, images mean a hidden soul. A soul beneath the smile and the eyes that see all but see nothing. When I was in line for the bathroom somewhere once, I thought, 'All these people in line see me as a blond twelve-year-old girl holding a book. They have no idea who I am or what I am without asking. They don't know that I am a writer.' Now I think they would be surprised if the found out I am a writer. Most blond girls with a slender figure think about nothing but looks. I think that's prejudice, because I do care if I look like a warthog or not, but wearing makeup to bed is something I definitely would not do. I don't even wear makeup (except for lip gloss and nail polish but those don't count because I hardly ever wear stuff like that.). And it's not like I don't like my blond hair. I love it, and am planning to grow it out very long. But still, blonds are prejudiced because they act, well, dumb in dumb blond jokes. A lot of people expect that blonds with be the most popular kids in school, and blonds are always the only ones on the cheerleading squad. But that is not true. In fact, the populars at my school are brunettes and Africans and not a lot of blonds. But blonds can achieve great things. In my favorite magazine, Stone Soup, you can see many blonds writing and illustrating work. In the book, Gutsy Girls, there is a young woman who is an open-water marathon swimmer. That means she swims in a cage in open water. She has to swim in a cage because, since it's open water, there are sharks. She's blond. Images matter, but the soul matters most. A girl may look ugly on the outside, but on the inside she might be the prettiest girls you could ever find.
Writing. Writing is a very important word. Writing heals the soul and feeds the body. It is a power, a wonderful power you will never, ever forget. You have most of the power already. You have the power to control the writing and make it how you want it to be. Had a bad day at school? Write it down, then write another copy and say how your day would have been if things had gone your way. Did you, say, at lunch sit on your enemies' doughnut or something messy? Pretend it didn't happen. Pretend someone else sat on it instead. You also don't have to change it. Write what happened, have a good laugh, and forget aout it. Chances are so will everyone else. Back to writing. Write with POWER, power that can change a person's mind or heal someone's heart. First write for yourself. You ALWAYS go first, no matter what. (Unless it's during a fire or an earthquake or something.) But think about your health and your problems before thinking about other people. If you are doing things for other people first . . . well, I think it would give me a heart attack. So always write for yourself first. In a journal, on the computer, anything! After you know how to do things for yourself you think about other people. How do you catch someone else's attention in a story? Will they like it? Ask people to read it. (Also you can listen to the song 'Paperback Writer' by the Beatles: "Dear Sir or Madam, will you read my book it took me years to write so will you take a look . . . ") And remember: ALWAYS READ AND REREAD YOUR WORK FROM THE BEGINNING. Note how you feel while your reading it: Bored? Excited? Is there a part where you could make it longer? Shorter? Maybe there were parts where you didn't feel any emotions at all. Write all the things down that you notice, then change them. Keep rereading (yes, from the beginning) from time to time, say, every four or five pages.
And finally, rewrite and rewrite! Real writers go through this every single day, though, needless to say, I hate rewriting. But - IT IS A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF WRITING. More advice. Writers do not write for fame, for money, and to get published. Writers write because it is what they love to do. Writing is a part of their life. It's like an extra leg. I am glad I'm one of the people God gave the gift of writing to, because it is one of the greatest, gentlest powers in the world. In the universe. Writers never stop writing. They are always making up stories in their heads, as if giving themselves a vision. If you are planning to write all your life, you literally have to write ALL YOUR LIFE. But I have not met a single person who is unhappy with their gift.
Images. Sure, images matter when you're in line for a movie and there are a lot of boys in the line. But to me, images mean a hidden soul. A soul beneath the smile and the eyes that see all but see nothing. When I was in line for the bathroom somewhere once, I thought, 'All these people in line see me as a blond twelve-year-old girl holding a book. They have no idea who I am or what I am without asking. They don't know that I am a writer.' Now I think they would be surprised if the found out I am a writer. Most blond girls with a slender figure think about nothing but looks. I think that's prejudice, because I do care if I look like a warthog or not, but wearing makeup to bed is something I definitely would not do. I don't even wear makeup (except for lip gloss and nail polish but those don't count because I hardly ever wear stuff like that.). And it's not like I don't like my blond hair. I love it, and am planning to grow it out very long. But still, blonds are prejudiced because they act, well, dumb in dumb blond jokes. A lot of people expect that blonds with be the most popular kids in school, and blonds are always the only ones on the cheerleading squad. But that is not true. In fact, the populars at my school are brunettes and Africans and not a lot of blonds. But blonds can achieve great things. In my favorite magazine, Stone Soup, you can see many blonds writing and illustrating work. In the book, Gutsy Girls, there is a young woman who is an open-water marathon swimmer. That means she swims in a cage in open water. She has to swim in a cage because, since it's open water, there are sharks. She's blond. Images matter, but the soul matters most. A girl may look ugly on the outside, but on the inside she might be the prettiest girls you could ever find.