Emily's blog on writing

My friend Emily wrote this little blog about her writing last night. I thought it was good enough to share with anyone into the arts, entertainment and writing. Great advice!

ars faux-etica Current mood: frustrated I.this is what i just hate seeing in my department: people trying to justify their depth through vague references and carbon copy poetry. your literary worth is not measured through how many contests you win. you're always learning, so always be willing to learn. listen to what everyone has to say, even if it isn't helpful. you'll still learn from it. just don't be everyone at once, don't be your friends, don't be someone else's siamese twin. people shouldn't be saying you're the same person as someone else, or that your writing is just like so-and-so's. it disgusts everyone when you obviously can't be yourself. II. READ. MORE. POETRY. FOR GOD'S SAKE. III.people that aren't willing to learn and change in art drive me absolutely up the wall. improve or get out. it all goes back to the mathemetician that doesn't do his problem the same way expecting different results. stop writing fanfiction; nobody respectable actually writes it. stop writing about vampires or romance novels; it's not what you're here for. if you must write about something you don't know, research the fuck out of it. there will always be someone combing over the details, willing to call you out. there will always be a grammar nazi. fucking deal with it--better your classmates than an agent or an editor who will just send your shit back with a useless rejection letter. IV. assume that nobody cares and it's your job to make them. do critique; it doesn't matter how shitty yours went. in addition, read every critique sheet, even though you know the person has nothing helpful to say. maybe you'll be surprised, or completely disappointed. you're not in a classroom of scholars; deal. yes you'll have to do a ton of stupid exercises. just do them. just read everything given to you. just keep it all, put it in a notebook. later when you're a senior you'll wish you still had all those handouts; you'll want to go back to all the basics you skipped over and refresh your memory. V. burnout is just a lie. you either have what it takes or you don't. VI. i'll be writing for the rest of my life, regardless of what happened in high school.i enjoy every fucking second of it. From: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=2717762&blogID=235496417&indicate=1