workflow
Workflow explores the everyday lives of every career imaginable.Whatever your job or position may be, your story has a unique way to be told and shared.
My Side Characters Kinda Suck, But I Can Fix Them - The Violet Project Diaries - Entry 9
Last year I spent a great deal of time studying Bram Stoker’s writing style, specifically Dracula. In my article “Three Essential Writing Techniques from Stoker's Dracula and the Epistolary Narrative”, there’s a section breaking down the use of distinctive tone in every character’s voice. I feel like this is one of those things that is probably considered obvious to most writers, but I’ve seen writers slip up on this, including myself. I’m in a part of my novel right now where a new group of characters are being introduced and I’m worried. Some voices are distinct, while others replicate characters introduced earlier. So…what to do? Do I just compare and contrast? Be picky about my diction during the dialogue? I’m trying to keep in mind what I wrote before:
By Aliciel Alone6 years ago in Journal
Writing Without Historical and Cultural Inaccuracy or Offense- The Violet Project Diaries - Entry 8
Hollywood’s horror industry has been pretty abusive towards ancient and indigenous culture. Shamanic practices from indigenous civilizations (eastern and western) and many other beliefs or customs have been poorly represented in horror media and the most depressing part about this is when ignorant audiences believe the Hollywood representations. It’s this kind of slander in western media that distances and even shames the ethnic roots of people of color. In a previous blog post, I mentioned that I feel neither African or American enough to have any real sense of belonging ethnically. I can research my ancestors, do an AncestryDNA test, or just go visit Africa if I want, but the connection will always be lacking in some way thanks to colonization and the poor, unfair judgments of my ancestors to this day. There are even African American families who cling to the Abrahamic religions to make sure they fit the status quo. So, as a horror and dark fantasy writer myself, I want that to change.
By Aliciel Alone6 years ago in Journal
To The Writer Ashamed of Resting - The Violet Project Diaries - Entry 7
One technique I learned in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is talking to yourself as you would a friend when you’re having a rough day. When I gave myself a rest day yesterday, I felt so guilty and ashamed. It felt like I was purposefully being unproductive and negligent of my career. I had to fight myself not to get on the computer and write something or blog something because I knew my cynicism wasn’t speaking truth. Really, I was just bullying myself because I’m used to setting unreachable standards and beating myself up for not reaching them. Too many times that has left me exploited, drained, and just miserable. So I wanted to write a letter to myself and to you, fellow writer, if you have trouble resting like me.
By Aliciel Alone6 years ago in Journal
The Violet Project Diaries - Entry 6 - Character Design and Conspiracy
No warm up today! I’m jumping right into the novel! Okay, so already I’m seeing that I need to work on character dynamics. Do you ever read your first draft dialogue or a section of dialogue that never got to meet an editor and realize how unnatural and awkward it is? Or sometimes the dialogue is really cliche and the energy between the two characters becomes muted; the statements sound forced and out of character. This is why I really like studying personality types. I do a mixture of astrology and the MBTI when I design my characters and breaking down how they express themselves, develop their motives, who they are friends/enemies with, and so much freaking more. Another thing I do is pay attention to the dialogue and acting when I’m watching a show and think about how characterization comes to life through their speech, mannerisms, and facial or bodily expressions since those are descriptors necessary for fiction. Combine that with context and you get a solid, believable scene.
By Aliciel Alone6 years ago in Journal
The importance of cycle to work schemes and employee mental health benefits
During the hiring process, business owners are generally looking for someone who has the right combination of skills and work ethic. But employees must also have their own list of expectations – over half of all workers in the UK have expressed that they need employers to focus more on mental health as part of their employee benefits. Here, we take a look at how employers can offer more for their staff in terms of looking after their physical and emotional well-being.
By Amy Mercer6 years ago in Journal
The Violet Project Diaries - Entry 5 - Studying Karma as a Writer
Warm Up: I started with blogging about karmic patterns and then moved on to reading about karma itself just to make sure I really understood what it generally meant. This quote from Brittanica caught my eye:
By Aliciel Alone6 years ago in Journal
The Violet Project Diaries - Entry 4 - Flowing in Circles
Warm Up: Published an old, melancholy poem from my journal today called “A Plea to Death”. I really like it. It’s Poe-esque. Yay consonance. I did my best to pay attention to the metre/meter since I made each stanza into a limerick (which is kind of unintentional). Limericks are usually happy or funny so maybe that was a weird choice. Oh well. That happened. I hope that eventually I get over the nervousness in my stomach that bubbles up every time I post a new piece. I know it’s nerves, but it’s still awful. Insecurity sucks.
By Aliciel Alone6 years ago in Journal
Preparing Your Workplace Post Lockdown
We are in the midst of a change that will see the way we work in an office environment changed forever. The pace of change that has been brought about by the Covid-19 crisis means that there are new ways of working that have to get used to from here on out. With many workers being furloughed and the vast majority now taking part in the so-called “world’s biggest working from home experiment” for the last few months, we have recently seen some light at the end of the tunnel.
By Chris Smith6 years ago in Journal
The Violet Project Diaries - Entry 2 - Don’t Be Perfect or Lazy
Warm Up: I published a poem called “Winged” earlier. I don’t know why my stomach is churning. It’s almost nausea, but it’s not sickness. I know it’s nerves, but it’s quite uncomfortable. So referring to the first entry… yeah I have a difficult time posting any kind of work as is sometimes. I don’t mind critiques or anything, but there’s something different about, this… You know what my problem is? Everything has to be a project. Everything I do has to be ridiculously complicated so it feels “wrong” that I did something simple, like publishing an expressive poem online rather than adding it to an elaborate collection of poetry that is carefully planned. See, I’m glad this happened because this is exactly the kind of thing that holds me back from actually developing my career. I make it incredibly hard and set these crazy high standards for myself so I’m forever lost in a limbo of neither success or failure. How ridiculous! I don’t mind putting in the work I need to do, but I really need to knock off the perfectionism nonsense. It’s a creativity killer.
By Aliciel Alone6 years ago in Journal
