Sample Query Letter
Brown Ink Books, LLC
January 11, 2010
5806 Symmes St.
Dear Mr. Brown Ink
I believe you, as a well established and experienced agent, would be interested in my most recent piece of writing. Standing at twenty pages, double spaced of course, is a sample chapter for my upcoming book entitled Smok3 Crack. None of my works have yet been published, although throughout my many years of writing I’ve been acclaimed by famous elementary school english teachers such as Mr Pierce and Mr. Fortuna as "Interesting", "Not bad", and "Decent". Novelist Chuck Palahniuk responded to my Lullaby extension with "Please stop sending me this. It’s not funny anymore". This clearly demonstrates his acceptance of me as a new man, one who’s left the lighthearted "comedic" writing in to something so in depth and captivating that even a dark humoured Palahniuk can’t take it anymore.
This sample chapter doesn’t blatantly impede on any famous fiction writer’s writing style, using a technique developed by many hours in my saline meditation tank. It strays from cliche, being about topics most people wouldn’t think to write about, such as love, the troubles of growing up, drugs, and how hard life is for rich white kids in North America.
The reading of this chapter will lead the reader to believe the book will be about drug addiction, but really the story has nothing to do with drugs at all. The substances are actually a deep metaphor for the hard times a suburban family needs to go through, such as half cooked spaghetti and BMW payments, augmented with a deep dialogue exhibited through the protagonist’s use of clever wordplay such as "What the fuck, dude?".
Smok3 Crack is a complicated love story set in southern California. Like most love stories set in California, the main character’s name is John. This book stands alone from the crowd in that in can be marketed as both a children’s story and as a novel that adults and elderly of all ages can enjoy. A character in the book sells oranges, and all kids love to eat oranges, you can cut them in to smileys. 22% of the population is over 52, and 100% of people over 52 love stories about teenagers experimenting with drugs they think Satanists consume before sacrifices.
As a young Canadian writer, I’m interested in an agent based in Queens. Luckily enough for you, your agency has caught my attention as a well developed and intelligent group of people who would surely jump at the idea of publishing this unedited copy immediately in a magazine or in university diction. The sample chapter is currently four thousand godly words. I’d ask if you’d like a copy of the chapter, but I’ve sent one along anyway as I already knew the answer would be yes.
Sincerely,
Matt Steel
Monday, January 11, 2010
Friday, December 18, 2009
Novel outline
Novel Outline Matt Steel
Overview
This story is going to be based around a nineteen year old man who attends university. The man goes by the name of Jon, he lives in an apartment with his friend and girlfriend, and is in university to get a degree in english and history, in which he will then hopefully become a teacher. The story revolves around his increasing drug problem and the stresses of growing up in our society.
Character Description
John - John is the protagonist. He’s nineteen and attending university(later in the novel), looking to become a teacher. He’s athletic, standing six foot even. He’s always been what teacher’s call an underachiever, always feeling like he’s got something better to do. He inherited seventy five thousand from deaths and is left with little family. Friendly but quiet, short dark brown hair, and cold, silver green eyes. As john enters university, his soft drug use quickly changes in to a clear addiction.
Steve - Steve is best friends with John and Ormr, living in an apartment with john. He’s six two, with a relaxed but almost sad face, coupled by large brown eyes and shaggy red hair. Steve’s physically large, but not fat. He’s twenty years old and works as a mechanic in a small garage near a popular surfing spot. He’s very quiet, but calm like a bomb. Most people don’t know him very well, which is unfortunate as he’s a great guy who would do anything for his friends. Steve had past problems with his parents whom he no longer speaks to, but he’s happy getting on in life alongside his friends. He’s always doing whatever John and Ormr are, leading to his eventual drug addiction.
Ormr - Ormr’s best friends with steve and john, the three being inseparable. He was born in india but is of mixed african-indian descent. As the youngest of the group, He’s 5'9 but physically well built standing at 185 pounds. His parents are quite wealthy and thus afford him a small apartment, tuition, and funds in california so he can go to school as a programmer. Unlike his friends, outside of the occasional party does not take part in hard drugs, although he is the only member of the group who smokes cigarettes. Ormr's lighthearted, the guy who everyone gets along with. Despite his size, he's the most relaxed of the group but won't turn down a scrap if someone's getting out of line.
Laura – Laura is eighteen years old and lives with her parents in the same city as the three amigos. She's 5''6, with an average build topped by long, light brown hair. She will have graduated by the time she meets John inside a local coffee shop, but is completely at a loss for what she'd like to do for a living and feels lost after exiting highschool. Although a little confused and more than a little misguided, laura is a person of extreme good will, having a guilty conscience and a strong distaste for her parents. She spends most of her time at the beach where she sells oranges for a way to make an income.
Setting
The year won’t be discussed in the novel, but it will be set in the present times. The novel will start in February and will progress through the summer, moving in to winter during the university semester. It will take place in Long Beach, california
POV
I'll be using a first person perspective in the present tense from the view of John. I find that fictuous novels told from the first person have a more in depth feel, a way to touch base from the story to the reader. We don't experience life through the third person, a book about ones life feels more "hands on" done through the first person. A significant portion of the book will take place in john's kept journals, which will be used as a way to further explain and define john as the protagonist while adding another level on the personal mental degredation. An example will be included in the sample chapter.
Chapter Outlines
Chapters of the book will not be particularily small or large, but are not explicitly linear. Chapters may break out of a situation in to another point in time depending on the way the story develops.
Chapter 1 Chapter one will start the book off around the first third of the story, where John's addictions are in full force. It will be short, mostly entailing john explaining his situation to the reader through his journal entry and will end with a transition back to the start of the story.
Chapter 2 Chapter two will be short and the real "Start" of the story, taking place inside and around the the apartment complex of john and steve, introducing a more stable john and another major character, steve.
Chapter 3 Chapter three will be the first large chapter of the book, involving a brief scene of john at the end of his highschool day. Ormr is introduced to the story through a phone call with John as he heads his way to meet Steve at work. The chapter will end at the beach where steve, john, and their regulars spend the night on some drinks and surfing the beach. Quick journal entry.
Chapter 4 The chapter will revolve around the weekend where Ormr is introduced for the first time in person at a house party the three attend, where john makes the decision to try cocaine for the second time.
Chapter 5 Chapter 5 will be short and take place the day after chapter four, inside ormr's apartment where the three discuss the happenings of the party over drinks and smokes. Journal entry revolving around cocaine use.
Chapter 6 At school, john buys a bag of ten oxycontin pills that a friend of his offered for a dirt cheap price. The chapter will end after john and steve had spent the night doozing inside of john's car, driving around the town playing pool and good times.
Chapter 7 Chapter seven will be a large and important turning point in the story. This is where john's addictive personality starts to manifest in a drug dependancy. Steve gets a call through which he is to about his mothers heart attack and death. This leads to his taking his vacation pay and one week off from work, john tries to comfort his friend by his company and chemical influence. By the end of the week, john begins to understand his situation but ignores it. Journal entry before the week long drug binge starts.
Chapter 8 Skip ahead a few weeks and it's april. Ormr gets his monthly cheque from his parents, doubled due to his birthday in which he uses partially to throw a party in his apartment. He confronts steve about john's open drug use at the party, but little progress is made as john has kept his vices quiet.
Chapter 9 - Chapter 1's insetIt's may, and John's school problems are explained through his drug use and declined grades. This chapter will focus on john and his realization of the gravity of his addiction and it’s effects on his friends, including the degredation of his mental state. Loopy journal entry.
Chapter 10 Laura will be introduced in chapter 10. John will be alone all day, strung out and headed in to a local favourite coffee shop where he is confronted by a girl he's never met before, laura.
Chapter 11 A transition chapter that will shift the focus from partying to john’s thoughts of laura and his frequenting of the coffee shop in hopes to see her. Both under a clear case of infatuation, they agree to continue their talks at the café. Journal entry, laura situation.
Chapter 12 It’s the middle of June and John’s about to finish his last year of school, and although he almost dropped under the average mandate he’s managed to keep his acceptance to California State University. John comes home to see Steve snorting an oxycontin, the first time he’s seen him do any hard drugs without him around.
Chapter 13Laura is introduced to Ormr and Steve at a small end of the school year celebration party at their apartment. She is aware of the groups drug use and although she disproves she accepts it. Chapter end with Ormr and laura taking care of John and steve who are both heavily intoxicated. Journal.
Chapter 14Takes place the next day, Ormr and laura, along with the rest of the group, are gone, leaving john to wake up to a mess with an extreme hangover and what he suspects to be the first serious signs of withdrawal. He proceeds to consume more oxycontin, disregarding his apartment to end the chapter by passing out.
Chapter 15 Ormr and john go surfing on the beach where they talk about how things are going. John continues to sip out of a flask he’s started to carry, alarming ormr. Within a couple hours, john’s too drunk to surf and ormr drops him off at home, clearly angry. John recieves a call from laura and is too intoxicated to speak to her on the phone, leading to a breakdown.
Chapter 16 John comes home sober and with laura to find steve, yet again, passed out on the couch with the remnants of his oxycontin binge on the table. Short journal.
Chapter 17 It’s late July and university has nearly started, john and steve make the decision to live out the rest of their summer partying with disregard to their conditions. During the chapter there’s a disturbance at John’s dealer’s house, where john gets in to a fistfight with a junkie0.
Chapter 18 University has started, and john is still abusing chemicals on a daily basis. He’s spent a respectable portion of his inheritance over the summer and is left with just overget through his university term with. Luara has also started to abuse oxycontin occasionally as an excuse to spend time with him. The chapter will focus on john’s inner conflict over his drug use in a journal entry.
Chapter 19 - Major turning pointIt’s the third weekend of August and two weeks of school have passed. Steve and John both have the Saturday off, coming to the decision to do mushrooms. They spend the evening walking around the beach and streets, observing all the slum life that long beach has to offer. They have an emotional experience where they both come to terms with the fact that their drug use has twisted and begun to destroy their lives, they both end up swearing off hard drug use to get their lives back on track
Chapter 20 Two days after the mushroom trip, the two are going strong in their break of habit, declaring to their friends, Ormr and laura in particular, that they’re done with the hard drugs and will refrain their chemical use to alcohol and bud.
Chapter 21John’s picked up on his university subjects and finds his thoughts are more clear than he can ever remember them being. He’s picked up a gym membership and starts to spend more time with Ormr pumping at the gym and hanging out in bars. Steve is absent in this chapter. Journal entry.
Chapter 22 Three weeks after their pact, it’s September. Laura is living with steve and john while working at a local telemarketing company. John and ormr start to suspect Steve’s oxycontin relapse.
Chapter 23 Steve is confronted by john, ormr and laura about his drug use. He admits to have been using it on and off since he had claimed to be sober but claims to have it under control. Steve-based journal entry.
Chapter 24 - Climax John and laura are out for the evening at the movies followed by a bar run. On their way home, steve isn’t answering the phone , something he’s not known to do. They find him in the bathroom overdosed on a combination of valium, whiskey and oxycontin. The answering machine’s last message depicts Steve’s aunt letting him know that his father and sister were both fatally injured in a car crash the same morning. By the time the ambulance arrives, steve is no longer breathing and dies on his way to the hospital.
Chapter 25 John enters a bout of depression and is disgusted by the drugs effect on his and his friends life, and thus refrains from continued use. Laura has been and continues to be his saving grace, helping him get through. They make the decision to change apartment buildings and move in with ormr while they await a new apartment.
Chapter 26 Skip two weeks ahead, laura and john have moved in to a complex located near the university, john’s still clean and is clearly void of a chance for relapse. Laura has happily agreed to stay away from the pills to help john stay clean, and it works. Ormr and steve start to surf together on a competetive level.
Chapter 27 A short chapter taking place in december, consisting of john’s journal entry in which he finally, after 20 years of confusion, found real peace and happiness in the life he has been leading, ending the book in a quote from his favourite band.
Overview
This story is going to be based around a nineteen year old man who attends university. The man goes by the name of Jon, he lives in an apartment with his friend and girlfriend, and is in university to get a degree in english and history, in which he will then hopefully become a teacher. The story revolves around his increasing drug problem and the stresses of growing up in our society.
Character Description
John - John is the protagonist. He’s nineteen and attending university(later in the novel), looking to become a teacher. He’s athletic, standing six foot even. He’s always been what teacher’s call an underachiever, always feeling like he’s got something better to do. He inherited seventy five thousand from deaths and is left with little family. Friendly but quiet, short dark brown hair, and cold, silver green eyes. As john enters university, his soft drug use quickly changes in to a clear addiction.
Steve - Steve is best friends with John and Ormr, living in an apartment with john. He’s six two, with a relaxed but almost sad face, coupled by large brown eyes and shaggy red hair. Steve’s physically large, but not fat. He’s twenty years old and works as a mechanic in a small garage near a popular surfing spot. He’s very quiet, but calm like a bomb. Most people don’t know him very well, which is unfortunate as he’s a great guy who would do anything for his friends. Steve had past problems with his parents whom he no longer speaks to, but he’s happy getting on in life alongside his friends. He’s always doing whatever John and Ormr are, leading to his eventual drug addiction.
Ormr - Ormr’s best friends with steve and john, the three being inseparable. He was born in india but is of mixed african-indian descent. As the youngest of the group, He’s 5'9 but physically well built standing at 185 pounds. His parents are quite wealthy and thus afford him a small apartment, tuition, and funds in california so he can go to school as a programmer. Unlike his friends, outside of the occasional party does not take part in hard drugs, although he is the only member of the group who smokes cigarettes. Ormr's lighthearted, the guy who everyone gets along with. Despite his size, he's the most relaxed of the group but won't turn down a scrap if someone's getting out of line.
Laura – Laura is eighteen years old and lives with her parents in the same city as the three amigos. She's 5''6, with an average build topped by long, light brown hair. She will have graduated by the time she meets John inside a local coffee shop, but is completely at a loss for what she'd like to do for a living and feels lost after exiting highschool. Although a little confused and more than a little misguided, laura is a person of extreme good will, having a guilty conscience and a strong distaste for her parents. She spends most of her time at the beach where she sells oranges for a way to make an income.
Setting
The year won’t be discussed in the novel, but it will be set in the present times. The novel will start in February and will progress through the summer, moving in to winter during the university semester. It will take place in Long Beach, california
POV
I'll be using a first person perspective in the present tense from the view of John. I find that fictuous novels told from the first person have a more in depth feel, a way to touch base from the story to the reader. We don't experience life through the third person, a book about ones life feels more "hands on" done through the first person. A significant portion of the book will take place in john's kept journals, which will be used as a way to further explain and define john as the protagonist while adding another level on the personal mental degredation. An example will be included in the sample chapter.
Chapter Outlines
Chapters of the book will not be particularily small or large, but are not explicitly linear. Chapters may break out of a situation in to another point in time depending on the way the story develops.
Chapter 1 Chapter one will start the book off around the first third of the story, where John's addictions are in full force. It will be short, mostly entailing john explaining his situation to the reader through his journal entry and will end with a transition back to the start of the story.
Chapter 2 Chapter two will be short and the real "Start" of the story, taking place inside and around the the apartment complex of john and steve, introducing a more stable john and another major character, steve.
Chapter 3 Chapter three will be the first large chapter of the book, involving a brief scene of john at the end of his highschool day. Ormr is introduced to the story through a phone call with John as he heads his way to meet Steve at work. The chapter will end at the beach where steve, john, and their regulars spend the night on some drinks and surfing the beach. Quick journal entry.
Chapter 4 The chapter will revolve around the weekend where Ormr is introduced for the first time in person at a house party the three attend, where john makes the decision to try cocaine for the second time.
Chapter 5 Chapter 5 will be short and take place the day after chapter four, inside ormr's apartment where the three discuss the happenings of the party over drinks and smokes. Journal entry revolving around cocaine use.
Chapter 6 At school, john buys a bag of ten oxycontin pills that a friend of his offered for a dirt cheap price. The chapter will end after john and steve had spent the night doozing inside of john's car, driving around the town playing pool and good times.
Chapter 7 Chapter seven will be a large and important turning point in the story. This is where john's addictive personality starts to manifest in a drug dependancy. Steve gets a call through which he is to about his mothers heart attack and death. This leads to his taking his vacation pay and one week off from work, john tries to comfort his friend by his company and chemical influence. By the end of the week, john begins to understand his situation but ignores it. Journal entry before the week long drug binge starts.
Chapter 8 Skip ahead a few weeks and it's april. Ormr gets his monthly cheque from his parents, doubled due to his birthday in which he uses partially to throw a party in his apartment. He confronts steve about john's open drug use at the party, but little progress is made as john has kept his vices quiet.
Chapter 9 - Chapter 1's insetIt's may, and John's school problems are explained through his drug use and declined grades. This chapter will focus on john and his realization of the gravity of his addiction and it’s effects on his friends, including the degredation of his mental state. Loopy journal entry.
Chapter 10 Laura will be introduced in chapter 10. John will be alone all day, strung out and headed in to a local favourite coffee shop where he is confronted by a girl he's never met before, laura.
Chapter 11 A transition chapter that will shift the focus from partying to john’s thoughts of laura and his frequenting of the coffee shop in hopes to see her. Both under a clear case of infatuation, they agree to continue their talks at the café. Journal entry, laura situation.
Chapter 12 It’s the middle of June and John’s about to finish his last year of school, and although he almost dropped under the average mandate he’s managed to keep his acceptance to California State University. John comes home to see Steve snorting an oxycontin, the first time he’s seen him do any hard drugs without him around.
Chapter 13Laura is introduced to Ormr and Steve at a small end of the school year celebration party at their apartment. She is aware of the groups drug use and although she disproves she accepts it. Chapter end with Ormr and laura taking care of John and steve who are both heavily intoxicated. Journal.
Chapter 14Takes place the next day, Ormr and laura, along with the rest of the group, are gone, leaving john to wake up to a mess with an extreme hangover and what he suspects to be the first serious signs of withdrawal. He proceeds to consume more oxycontin, disregarding his apartment to end the chapter by passing out.
Chapter 15 Ormr and john go surfing on the beach where they talk about how things are going. John continues to sip out of a flask he’s started to carry, alarming ormr. Within a couple hours, john’s too drunk to surf and ormr drops him off at home, clearly angry. John recieves a call from laura and is too intoxicated to speak to her on the phone, leading to a breakdown.
Chapter 16 John comes home sober and with laura to find steve, yet again, passed out on the couch with the remnants of his oxycontin binge on the table. Short journal.
Chapter 17 It’s late July and university has nearly started, john and steve make the decision to live out the rest of their summer partying with disregard to their conditions. During the chapter there’s a disturbance at John’s dealer’s house, where john gets in to a fistfight with a junkie0.
Chapter 18 University has started, and john is still abusing chemicals on a daily basis. He’s spent a respectable portion of his inheritance over the summer and is left with just overget through his university term with. Luara has also started to abuse oxycontin occasionally as an excuse to spend time with him. The chapter will focus on john’s inner conflict over his drug use in a journal entry.
Chapter 19 - Major turning pointIt’s the third weekend of August and two weeks of school have passed. Steve and John both have the Saturday off, coming to the decision to do mushrooms. They spend the evening walking around the beach and streets, observing all the slum life that long beach has to offer. They have an emotional experience where they both come to terms with the fact that their drug use has twisted and begun to destroy their lives, they both end up swearing off hard drug use to get their lives back on track
Chapter 20 Two days after the mushroom trip, the two are going strong in their break of habit, declaring to their friends, Ormr and laura in particular, that they’re done with the hard drugs and will refrain their chemical use to alcohol and bud.
Chapter 21John’s picked up on his university subjects and finds his thoughts are more clear than he can ever remember them being. He’s picked up a gym membership and starts to spend more time with Ormr pumping at the gym and hanging out in bars. Steve is absent in this chapter. Journal entry.
Chapter 22 Three weeks after their pact, it’s September. Laura is living with steve and john while working at a local telemarketing company. John and ormr start to suspect Steve’s oxycontin relapse.
Chapter 23 Steve is confronted by john, ormr and laura about his drug use. He admits to have been using it on and off since he had claimed to be sober but claims to have it under control. Steve-based journal entry.
Chapter 24 - Climax John and laura are out for the evening at the movies followed by a bar run. On their way home, steve isn’t answering the phone , something he’s not known to do. They find him in the bathroom overdosed on a combination of valium, whiskey and oxycontin. The answering machine’s last message depicts Steve’s aunt letting him know that his father and sister were both fatally injured in a car crash the same morning. By the time the ambulance arrives, steve is no longer breathing and dies on his way to the hospital.
Chapter 25 John enters a bout of depression and is disgusted by the drugs effect on his and his friends life, and thus refrains from continued use. Laura has been and continues to be his saving grace, helping him get through. They make the decision to change apartment buildings and move in with ormr while they await a new apartment.
Chapter 26 Skip two weeks ahead, laura and john have moved in to a complex located near the university, john’s still clean and is clearly void of a chance for relapse. Laura has happily agreed to stay away from the pills to help john stay clean, and it works. Ormr and steve start to surf together on a competetive level.
Chapter 27 A short chapter taking place in december, consisting of john’s journal entry in which he finally, after 20 years of confusion, found real peace and happiness in the life he has been leading, ending the book in a quote from his favourite band.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Journal 16 - Freewrite
When we’re born, we are fulfilling a role. Our parents (usually) have us in mind to be at least moderately “successful”, or at least happy. Being north american, we’ve all generally accepted the same common goals in life. Get old, make money, buy a house and have a family. For the most part, the way people go about doing this is getting an education and acquiring a career that will afford us all of the great material goods we’ve become so addicted to. Some careers build, design, improve our world. Other’s are simply entertainment, and these, ironically, are the most well paid. Sports players, actors, etc. One who is a major league anything player is looked up to as a star figure in our society, a role model and an idol. They get paid millions upon millions to simply play what they enjoy. Of course there’s more to it, travelling, time away from home, extreme training and practice regimen, etc. The reason people who are star players get paid so much in comparison to something useful, say, a carpenter, is because although the carpenter is probably more valuable to our society, it’s much easier to perform the carpenters job than it is to be a sports god.
Football, hockey, all major sports were at one point simple recreational activities. Games people played and started to organize in to competitive levels are now our national pastimes. This leads us to today’s up and coming claim to fame; video games. Many people view video games as childish and simple, just something to do in one’s spare time. To others, these people are morons. The average video gamer is not eight, ten, or twelve years old, but thirty-three. Unlike what most people would imagine, 38% of video gamers are female, a number that’s been rising steadily over the past decade. There’s only a handful of professional level sports players, with millions of people playing the game on a recreational level. What separates a player from a pro is the extent of knowledge and skill of the game, the huge gap in performance. One can easily distinguish the difference between a “Childish” game of four on four and a “Professional” , ruled and restricted game of NBA basketball. Unfortunately, unlike basketball, not everyone has witnessed a properly organized video game match. Players are praised for their skill at otherwise inane tasks, such as throwing a ball in a hoop, smashing into eachother, etc. Each sport has it’s own set of “duties”, shooting, passing, field awareness, teamwork. Anyone who has ever seen a legitimate MLG (Major League Gaming) match of any variety, halo, gears of war, or warcraft knows that it is much, much more taxing to keep your shit together in proper videogame environments than any court. Take an FPS for example, a player must not only learn how to master the subtle controls of shooting, dodging, throwing (The list goes on), but learn how to detect seemingly nonexistent signs at every angle. It’d almost be impossible to explain to someone not familiar with competitive tier play how much is really going on all at once and needs to be micromanaged on one screen. The speed at which some player’s minds operate is simply on another level than that of any rugby pro.
There are already several large videogame organizations, CAL, CPL, and MLG being the leaders. These hot tournaments for players from around the globe, with prize money, hotel accommodation, and a huge fanbase following, yet still videogames have failed to gain a proper sense of respect from the average non videogamer. It frustrates me how someone who is adept at smashing a ball with a stick of wood is looked at as a king, yet someone who needs to make more on the spot, instantaneous decisions than the entire baseball league is made out to look like a fool.
Fortunately, North America’s ignorance towards gamers is not world wide. In much of Europe, café’s have proper internet connections and computers that many people pay hourly to use for gaming. In germany and the Phillipines, DotA (A Videogame) has become a common pastime for the student body. Korea has adapted Blizzard Entertainment’s “Starcraft” in to their national pastime (No, really.), where star players live in all inclusive, specially designed homes where they spend the days with their teammates and coaches, simply “Training” day in and day out. As of recent, a few select individuals have started to earn their keep off of professional gaming via sponsorships, a good start to a lengthy , well needed change.
When we’re born, we are fulfilling a role. Our parents (usually) have us in mind to be at least moderately “successful”, or at least happy. Being north american, we’ve all generally accepted the same common goals in life. Get old, make money, buy a house and have a family. For the most part, the way people go about doing this is getting an education and acquiring a career that will afford us all of the great material goods we’ve become so addicted to. Some careers build, design, improve our world. Other’s are simply entertainment, and these, ironically, are the most well paid. Sports players, actors, etc. One who is a major league anything player is looked up to as a star figure in our society, a role model and an idol. They get paid millions upon millions to simply play what they enjoy. Of course there’s more to it, travelling, time away from home, extreme training and practice regimen, etc. The reason people who are star players get paid so much in comparison to something useful, say, a carpenter, is because although the carpenter is probably more valuable to our society, it’s much easier to perform the carpenters job than it is to be a sports god.
Football, hockey, all major sports were at one point simple recreational activities. Games people played and started to organize in to competitive levels are now our national pastimes. This leads us to today’s up and coming claim to fame; video games. Many people view video games as childish and simple, just something to do in one’s spare time. To others, these people are morons. The average video gamer is not eight, ten, or twelve years old, but thirty-three. Unlike what most people would imagine, 38% of video gamers are female, a number that’s been rising steadily over the past decade. There’s only a handful of professional level sports players, with millions of people playing the game on a recreational level. What separates a player from a pro is the extent of knowledge and skill of the game, the huge gap in performance. One can easily distinguish the difference between a “Childish” game of four on four and a “Professional” , ruled and restricted game of NBA basketball. Unfortunately, unlike basketball, not everyone has witnessed a properly organized video game match. Players are praised for their skill at otherwise inane tasks, such as throwing a ball in a hoop, smashing into eachother, etc. Each sport has it’s own set of “duties”, shooting, passing, field awareness, teamwork. Anyone who has ever seen a legitimate MLG (Major League Gaming) match of any variety, halo, gears of war, or warcraft knows that it is much, much more taxing to keep your shit together in proper videogame environments than any court. Take an FPS for example, a player must not only learn how to master the subtle controls of shooting, dodging, throwing (The list goes on), but learn how to detect seemingly nonexistent signs at every angle. It’d almost be impossible to explain to someone not familiar with competitive tier play how much is really going on all at once and needs to be micromanaged on one screen. The speed at which some player’s minds operate is simply on another level than that of any rugby pro.
There are already several large videogame organizations, CAL, CPL, and MLG being the leaders. These hot tournaments for players from around the globe, with prize money, hotel accommodation, and a huge fanbase following, yet still videogames have failed to gain a proper sense of respect from the average non videogamer. It frustrates me how someone who is adept at smashing a ball with a stick of wood is looked at as a king, yet someone who needs to make more on the spot, instantaneous decisions than the entire baseball league is made out to look like a fool.
Fortunately, North America’s ignorance towards gamers is not world wide. In much of Europe, café’s have proper internet connections and computers that many people pay hourly to use for gaming. In germany and the Phillipines, DotA (A Videogame) has become a common pastime for the student body. Korea has adapted Blizzard Entertainment’s “Starcraft” in to their national pastime (No, really.), where star players live in all inclusive, specially designed homes where they spend the days with their teammates and coaches, simply “Training” day in and day out. As of recent, a few select individuals have started to earn their keep off of professional gaming via sponsorships, a good start to a lengthy , well needed change.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Journal 15
Journal 15 - Digital Education Matt Steel
Blogging was completely foreign to me until this semester. Blogger turned out to be a great classroom tool, being easy to use with an interesting plus - feedback that can be read at any time. I find I’m - far - more organised while working on computers, I’ve always been the guy with the loose paper monstrosity known as my binder.
Unfortunately, school PC’s are absolute trash and are a huge sufferance to productivity. The school’s bandwidth isn’t fit for a seniors’ online banking, let alone having a hundred kids trying to get whatever they’re doing done at the same time. I’ve legitimately typed ewcfall2009.blogspot.com, waited unsuccessfully for a minute for it to load, put my head down for a ten minute nap, looked up, and had it not loaded. For real. School software is starting to look ancient. IE7? Really? A combination of needing to reinstall proper software due to a poorly preset Deep Freeze and an underfunded internet connection result in a mind numbing amount of time lost every day clearing up the necessities, plus fifteen minutes a day in waiting for “Thesaurus.com” to load.
I’ve had a great time with our blogging, and I would tell the next symester students not to screw around and let work build up like I did, and to bring in an ipod if they need music to work properly. Between finding unblocked sites and mind numbing load times, your equilibrium will be sent for a trip.
Blogging was completely foreign to me until this semester. Blogger turned out to be a great classroom tool, being easy to use with an interesting plus - feedback that can be read at any time. I find I’m - far - more organised while working on computers, I’ve always been the guy with the loose paper monstrosity known as my binder.
Unfortunately, school PC’s are absolute trash and are a huge sufferance to productivity. The school’s bandwidth isn’t fit for a seniors’ online banking, let alone having a hundred kids trying to get whatever they’re doing done at the same time. I’ve legitimately typed ewcfall2009.blogspot.com, waited unsuccessfully for a minute for it to load, put my head down for a ten minute nap, looked up, and had it not loaded. For real. School software is starting to look ancient. IE7? Really? A combination of needing to reinstall proper software due to a poorly preset Deep Freeze and an underfunded internet connection result in a mind numbing amount of time lost every day clearing up the necessities, plus fifteen minutes a day in waiting for “Thesaurus.com” to load.
I’ve had a great time with our blogging, and I would tell the next symester students not to screw around and let work build up like I did, and to bring in an ipod if they need music to work properly. Between finding unblocked sites and mind numbing load times, your equilibrium will be sent for a trip.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Journal 14
Journal 14 - Nurturing Your Inner Writer
I can’t see anyone being a "born writer". Some people are born with higher intelligence, some with strength, some with speed, etc. These traits will effect what said person excels in later in life, but someone who is born with a strong set of legs and good coordination is a "Born runner", as these both directly influence the persons’ performance. Writing is something different altogether. Any baby learns to walk regardless of assistance eventually, it’s what we’re built to do. Writing on the other hand is something we teach our children how to do, it’s got almost nothing to do with our natural build. No six year old child is a novelist savant who pumps out top sellers at ten, how we write is almost completely in relation to how we were taught how to write.
This of course brings us to the obvious question of "Well, nobody taught the first person to write how to write, did they?". No, but there’s a difference between being born with a set of writing skills and thousands of years of human experimentation and development. Someone of higher intelligence or creativity may have an easier time writing later in life, but they still need years of teaching and reinforcement before being able to make anything worth mentioning.
The writer I am now is mostly a result of schooling, there’s probably some books I’ve read that have effected my writing level or style.
I’m not particularly motivated to continue the development of my writing, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to write something of value, and If I were to spend time developing a skill of mine I’d probably see better progress on something else
I can’t see anyone being a "born writer". Some people are born with higher intelligence, some with strength, some with speed, etc. These traits will effect what said person excels in later in life, but someone who is born with a strong set of legs and good coordination is a "Born runner", as these both directly influence the persons’ performance. Writing is something different altogether. Any baby learns to walk regardless of assistance eventually, it’s what we’re built to do. Writing on the other hand is something we teach our children how to do, it’s got almost nothing to do with our natural build. No six year old child is a novelist savant who pumps out top sellers at ten, how we write is almost completely in relation to how we were taught how to write.
This of course brings us to the obvious question of "Well, nobody taught the first person to write how to write, did they?". No, but there’s a difference between being born with a set of writing skills and thousands of years of human experimentation and development. Someone of higher intelligence or creativity may have an easier time writing later in life, but they still need years of teaching and reinforcement before being able to make anything worth mentioning.
The writer I am now is mostly a result of schooling, there’s probably some books I’ve read that have effected my writing level or style.
I’m not particularly motivated to continue the development of my writing, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to write something of value, and If I were to spend time developing a skill of mine I’d probably see better progress on something else
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Journal 13 - Writing as a Lifestyle
Journal 13 - Writing as a Lifestyle Matt Steel
A writers lifestyle is completely unfamiliar to me or anyone in this class, unless there’s a hidden novelist I’m unaware about (Amy perhaps?). From what I can imagine I believe a writer would spend a lot of time in their house simply writing, or trying to write. Book tours would be a pain, catering to happy go lucky fans, signature times ten thousand. Many people put more than simple sentences in to their writing, subtle meanings, hidden or disguised thoughts amongst a story. This is true for all types of artists, but the idea of being a writer who puts something of value in his or her writing only to be overlooked by a good story would be frustrating.
Of course the notion of making room fulls of money would be appealing, the physically laid back work and (for the most part) making my own schedule would be dope, travelling, drinking, having a good time on tour. Being a famous writer, as being a famous anything, would have it’s problems. Anyone with significant amounts of money or fame has instantly put their entire life in the hands of chance. If I’ve written five number one books in two years, all over the radio, TV, a sensation, I’ve got millions. I now also need to worry about my wife actually loving me for me, all my friends credibility, all the relationships I make with people from that point on will always have that lingering alienation of normality. Not that every person is inherently conniving, but the thought of “what if” would probably drive me to be insane or depressed. Trying to churn out books that my fans and new readers will both get on with, sensitive stories that wont offend sensitive readers, etc. I honestly don’t think I could see myself being a full time writer, or even a successful part time writer, not only from the lack of skill or creativity but the content of my writing probably wouldn’t appeal to a mass market. The only way I can picture myself integrating writing in to my long-term lifestyle is writing for personal use, journals, logs, etc. This is a little unfortunate as if I get myself in the mood, writing is a great pastime. But hey, maybe I’ll have some crazy realization and turn in to some god-tier writer.
But hey, probably not.
A writers lifestyle is completely unfamiliar to me or anyone in this class, unless there’s a hidden novelist I’m unaware about (Amy perhaps?). From what I can imagine I believe a writer would spend a lot of time in their house simply writing, or trying to write. Book tours would be a pain, catering to happy go lucky fans, signature times ten thousand. Many people put more than simple sentences in to their writing, subtle meanings, hidden or disguised thoughts amongst a story. This is true for all types of artists, but the idea of being a writer who puts something of value in his or her writing only to be overlooked by a good story would be frustrating.
Of course the notion of making room fulls of money would be appealing, the physically laid back work and (for the most part) making my own schedule would be dope, travelling, drinking, having a good time on tour. Being a famous writer, as being a famous anything, would have it’s problems. Anyone with significant amounts of money or fame has instantly put their entire life in the hands of chance. If I’ve written five number one books in two years, all over the radio, TV, a sensation, I’ve got millions. I now also need to worry about my wife actually loving me for me, all my friends credibility, all the relationships I make with people from that point on will always have that lingering alienation of normality. Not that every person is inherently conniving, but the thought of “what if” would probably drive me to be insane or depressed. Trying to churn out books that my fans and new readers will both get on with, sensitive stories that wont offend sensitive readers, etc. I honestly don’t think I could see myself being a full time writer, or even a successful part time writer, not only from the lack of skill or creativity but the content of my writing probably wouldn’t appeal to a mass market. The only way I can picture myself integrating writing in to my long-term lifestyle is writing for personal use, journals, logs, etc. This is a little unfortunate as if I get myself in the mood, writing is a great pastime. But hey, maybe I’ll have some crazy realization and turn in to some god-tier writer.
But hey, probably not.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Poem 5 - Narrative
A sublime man.
There was once a man
Brad Nowell his name
Long beach he grew
Great music he played
bud and eric
on the drums and bass
Everywhere they jammed
their tunes destroyed the place
But as all men have a vice
Brad had times twice
Pesky writers block impedes
He had a well known fix indeed
At first, if he couldn’t think
He’d sit down with a drink
One gin lead to four
and by the end of the day he needed more
So to the needles he took
his family and friends
shook
“Just a music experiment” He said
“You really think I’ll wind up dead?”
For two years, the music genius flowed
“Be careful with the opiates” he was told
But sobriety just isn’t that fun
when you’ve got songs to write
and shows to be done
Shortly after his newlywed wife had born
A baby boy too young to mourn
the death of his father, too far in
Should have stuck with the bud and gin
So here he lies
the late and great
A gift to the world too quickly dies
a self constructed, self assured fate.
There was once a man
Brad Nowell his name
Long beach he grew
Great music he played
bud and eric
on the drums and bass
Everywhere they jammed
their tunes destroyed the place
But as all men have a vice
Brad had times twice
Pesky writers block impedes
He had a well known fix indeed
At first, if he couldn’t think
He’d sit down with a drink
One gin lead to four
and by the end of the day he needed more
So to the needles he took
his family and friends
shook
“Just a music experiment” He said
“You really think I’ll wind up dead?”
For two years, the music genius flowed
“Be careful with the opiates” he was told
But sobriety just isn’t that fun
when you’ve got songs to write
and shows to be done
Shortly after his newlywed wife had born
A baby boy too young to mourn
the death of his father, too far in
Should have stuck with the bud and gin
So here he lies
the late and great
A gift to the world too quickly dies
a self constructed, self assured fate.
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