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MESSAGE BOARD TOPIC #15


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One thing I always stress whenever anyone asks how to begin a story, is to simply 'write from the heart'. It's not as easy as it may sound, but it can be done. When you tap into a true piece of yourself, a fictional story can truly become a monumental part of someone's life. It's a special connection that many authors make unknowingly, and it truly shows us the power of words. However...there are some stories that seem to hit too close to home. Sometimes for the reader, sometimes for the author. And it can be extremely difficult to keep a series going strong when that's an issue. So the question for this week is....

 

=Has there ever been something that you've written or read online that has been so close to home that you were almost 'bothered' by it?=

 

The story itself might be an excellent piece of fiction, but sometimes it can just be too much. People who have had their significant other cheat on them, or feelings of suicide, or a history of abuse...these things can be tough to relive for those involved with the story. Have you ever been 'scared off' by a story because it related to your current or past situation TOO MUCH? Have you ever backed away because it represented a friend of yours or a relative, and what they went through?

 

A true expression of self comes out in any art you persue. Sometimes painting a picture that vivid can be damaging. What do you think?

 

The board is open! :)

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In a short answer, yes. Often as I am writing a story I draw upon the well of my life and my experiences. I have a story that I am writing now, inspired by a work by Grasshopper he entitled: Dreamchasers.

 

His tale took me back to a time between my junior and senior year of high school and a trip that I made from my home along the front range of the rockies near Colorado Springs to the high desert of Northern New Mexico. For a brief time, in that place, and in that summer I fell in love with a beautiful Indian boy my own age. I was 17, young and brash, and growing up when you could not be queer.

 

After I finished Grasshopper's tale I found myself writing, and the emotions rolling out of me thinking back to that summer of 1976. I know that what I wrote was directly affected because what Grasshopper wrote touched my heart.

 

I really am of the opinion that if I do not write from the heart, I am doing a disservice to my readers and well quite frankly, to myself.

 

Paul Bishop

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Yes, I also draw upon personal experience to write about many things. I try to connect my quirky sense of humor to serious topics as I often do in my own life.

 

It seems to work well enough for me. :)

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I see. So you guys are saying that you actually 'prefer' something that's close to home. Right? I can definitely relate to that. Sometimes it's eerie how someone else can speak your mind so vividly. With me, it's usually music that does that.

 

But what if it's BAD? What if it's a place that you really don't want to go to again? Do you think you would avid that story, or would it be better for you to read it and maybe find a solution through the storyline?

 

Good answers by the way. And you're right dude...Grasshoppers stuff is EXCELLENT!!! It's the kind of heart that people look for in these stories! :)

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My first story on Nifty came about as a result of my taking somebody's advice. They were a close friend and had known me for some years, long enough to realise that I was in some ways, pretty screwed up.

 

He told me that it may help me to write down all those experiences I had as a boy, just for me to read, nobody else. Quality of writing was of no matter, just to let my memories flow onto paper (or disc). I did it and kept it for some time, and yes in many ways it helped me. It layed many ghosts to rest.

 

It was only a matter of about a year later I discovered Nifty. I wanted to write but couldn't think of a story, so for an excersise I re-worked my own journal, adding bits to thicken up the plot here and there and change the characters names. there was also rather a lot of 'time warping' etc.

 

The story "A boys tale" was born, the writing style was poor, but it did me the world of good. The funny thing was that the first e-mail I received from the story was from a man who said "Nice story, pity it was so far fetched"

 

Hugs to all,

 

Maurice.

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Comicality,

 

In the last MB pinned topic, in a way, I addressed that. I understand that even "Bad" must be addressed. Daniel's story is fiction, but it based on a real life event that was horrible. Myself and those who were close to me at that time had our collective perceptions of life forever changed by that event.

 

I posted the first part of it as an illustrative example to Woody's question, but in order to sort thru the emotional tides that were running thru me, I guess to reach a solution as you put it, I had to go down a trail that I had avoided for a very long time.

 

Bad, I guess it is all relative to how you write, especially if you are like me and write from your heart. There's a member here now, PecMan who wrote two outstanding examples of that. " A groovy kind of Love, & Jagged Angel." Both stories I think are posted at Nifty. Bad and pain can be clarified, defined, and dealt with by writing about it, I'll cite the aforementioned works as a good example.

 

Maybe I am being simplistic in evaluating that, but I guess that avoiding "Bad" ultimately serves no purpose other than crippling your abilities as an author.

 

Paul Bishop

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I greatly appreciate the comments fellas, thanks. :)

 

To be totally honest, I'm definitely one for expressing myself through my writing, especially when it comes to personally 'difficult' topics (of which I have many, unfortunately). However, I'm still learning how to let go all the way. In fact, there are still parts of my life that I haven't touched yet. Probably won't for a long long time. I shave layers off of the surface from time to time by fictionalizing it and toning it down a bit. But there have been times when I've been writing something and felt myself 'digging too deep'. And I'll pull it back a little bit.

 

It's a bad habit, I know, and I DO try to just express without restriction most times. But like I said, I'm still learning. I think I've gotten better though, since I started writing small pieces just for me and not for anyone else to see. It helps to unload a lot of pain, a lot of anger, a lot of sadness, and it truly aids me in getting some of those feelings out where other people who might be going through something similar can see them.

 

So yeah, sometimes the 'bad' bothers me. But I try. The only thing I've ever posted on the site without holding back or toning it down whatsoever was "My One Fallen Angel" dedication. I hope to one day be able to let my emotions show as freely as I did that night in the rest of my work.

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