A Writing Update #1

I keep a database of writing competitions and potential projects. It's been tremendously useful - I've been entering as many as I can over the last year, just building up practice.

I've just entered this writing competition by Dying Matters, a coalition of people raising awareness of dying, death and bereavement. I'm quite pleased with my entry, and I've learnt a few things as well (I have been tweeting them for later collection):

• Just write. Don't fuss too much with the first draft. Make all your mistakes, get the ideas down and then apply the following things.
• Tell the story. Don't explain it. Weave the backstory into the story, don't just plonk it down. 
• Grammar! I'm not very good with speech marks - got correct examples on a post-stick note now.
• Less is more. Don't cram too much into one sentence. Don't bother with a big word when a normal one will do nicely.
• Structure. I managed to structure this story fairly well, but it was a little loose at times. With a short story, each section/paragraph should count and stay strong.
• Feedback is awesome. Singularly the most important part of writing. Aside from writing

Then went into a slump for a week (and was rescued by KickthePJ, but more on that later) and have now moved on to this competition by the Benjamin Franklin House. Task is to interpret this quote by Mr Franklin;

"When the well's dry, we all know the worth of water"

Took me a little while to come up with an original idea, but I think I have a good one.

Music: I love listening to soundtracks and I am currently LOVING Transistor. It's the second game by SuperGiant, creators of the award-winning Bastion. I haven't played it yet, but I saw TotalBiscuit's intro/review and VintageBeef's Let's Play. The artwork? Amazing. The music? Just listen...

And finally - I've rediscovered KickthePJ. He creates beautifully awesome short films and spoken poems. His work is very colourful and *slightly* surreal, packed with imagination and a creative energy that's managed to pass through the screen into me. It woke me from that mid-projects creative slump  and just made me love creating again. This is my current favourite video of his:

"I then live within another world for seven or eight hours. And then I wake up."

Art creates art.