Shea's Myth-Folk Blog

I chose to look around the Writers Write website. It offers advise to writers, writing courses, and writing motivation. One of the articles I most enjoyed was " 45 Ways to Avoid Using the Word 'Very.' " I thought the quote it started with was very funny: "Substitute 'damn' every time you're inclined to use the word 'very;' your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be." -Mark Twain The article then gives a chart with adjectives commonly used after the word "very" and then gives a word that means "very (insert adjective)." Sometimes when I am writing, one of the harder parts is picking strong adjectives; this chart gives me a go-to list. I also liked the article " 20 Myths to Use as Writing Prompts ." The articles does not give specific stories to base your writing off, like I usually do for this class, but rather gives general myths to use as a starting point. A few of the id...

In the videos from TedEd about style, the speakers explore  creative writing and style  found in famous authors' writings and in mythology. One of the videos I found most interesting is the videos about what makes something " Kafkaeqsque ." I have heard of Kafka, and think I have even read some of his work, but did not know about his unique style. Kafka focuses on the convoluted absurdity of modern bureaucracy. He calls attention to the unnecessary complexness of administration, but also calls attention to how this can potentially be changed in the future. His style became so unique and recognizable that it was named after him. I also really enjoyed the video " How to Write Descriptively ." This video talks about how to make each word count and how to add layers to make writing more description. Through this video, I learned to focus on each of the different senses I want to invoke in my writing. I should choose certain words depending on if I want to focus ...

On the website Advise to Writers, I looked at rules and tips from writers. One article I really liked is " 22 Rules of Storytelling from Pixar ." The first rule is "you admire a character for trying more than for their successes." I thought this is something helpful to use in my future writing. Rather than just focusing on the outcome of my character's attempts, I think it would be fun to look more on the characterization of my character through their actions. I also liked the seventh tip, which is "come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get your working up front." I think one of the hardest parts of writing for this class for me has been to come up with the ending. By focusing on that first before I write the rest of the story, I will save myself from having to try to figure out an ending based on what I've written. Rather, I will be writing a story for an ending I have already decided. Another tip...

For this Story Lab, I watched Ted Talks about stories and storytelling . The first video is the TED Talk of a woman named Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie from Nigeria. From a young age, she has been a storyteller. She read foreign books for much of her childhood and based the stories she wrote based on what she read in these books. She eventually discovered books and she learned that writers could look like her. When she came to university in the United States, her roommate was surprised to learn Nigeria has English as an official language and that she was familiar with many of the comforts of American life. She believes people like her roommate have a view of Africans because of writing that portrays them as living in a dark place. When Chimamanda wrote a book, her professor told her the book was not "African enough" because the characters were similar to him, a middle-class man, and they drove cars. When she visited Mexico, she realized she saw the people there as poor immigran...

This week, I looked through the TVTrope website. I specifically looked through Fairy Tale tropes , as a thought they could be beneficial to this class. I thought the "Once Upon a Time" trope was interesting to read about; I learned that it dates back to 1380 and has been in almost every fairy tale since. I also read about "Happily Ever After." Because this phrase is so classic, it can be considered a discredited trope and is now often subject to parody. People like this ending because they simply like a happy ending. One trope I thought would be interesting to use is the "Rule of Three." This is a pattern of telling a story three time, each time with some differences. In the third time, a twist is often incorporated. Alternatively, there is also the "Rule of Seven." This trope is most often evident through the use of a group of seven characters, such as the seven dwarfs, seven days of the week, or seven celestial bodies. This would be easy to i...

I was so excited to see watching Crash Course videos was an assignment option this week! Crash Course has always been one of my favorite ways to learn; the videos are fun to watch and easy to understand, and yet I am able to learn quite a bit from them. One of my favorite parts of these videos is reading the fun facts during the opening sequence. The  Overview of Mythology  videos gave a comprehensive look at what makes a story a myth and different ways to look at mythology. The first video ("What is Myth?) was helpful for me to get a better idea of what constitutes a myth. According to this video, only stories are considered myths, which means myths cannot be historical. The host, Mike Rugnetta, points out that myths can be difficult to strictly define, and there is sometimes crossover between different types of stories. This video looks into the story of Persephone and explains how this story was used as an explanation for the reasons. Mike then looks into some of the th...