Story Laboratory - Advice to Writers

For this week's Story Lab, I decided to look at advice for writers. The following quote was one that definitely stood out to me:

"When I was a member of the Boston Globe Spotlight Team, my editor, Gerry O’Neill, urged me to “write scared.” That is, push yourself beyond what you think is possible or safe, to the outer limits of your research and your ability, to the point where it feels exciting and a little scary. When it works, it’s exhilarating for you and for the reader."

- Mitchell Zuckoff

I thought this quote was especially profound because the majority of writing I do is academic writing, which includes analyzing within a framework of what is allowed. Creative writing is a whole other beast, and it is difficult to transition sometimes. When pushing myself to write creatively, I often find it difficult to write about things I am not comfortable with. This quote shows that it is of the utmost importance to break out of that comfort zone when writing, as that produces the best results.

Writing requires you to think freely, Pexels

Source: https://www.advicetowriters.com/

Reading Notes - Arabian Nights Part B

The story follows Aladdin, who is a poor boy who didn't like to work. He always was playing all day with his friends in the market. 

One day Aladdin's uncle, Abanazar, arrived in the city. He told Aladdin he was rich. He gave Aladdin and his mom gold, bought to Aladdin a beautiful new coat, Aladdin loved him.

However, Abanazar was not Aladdin's uncle. He was a magician from Morocco, and he had a hidden motive. He wanted to find a enchanted lamp so that he could gain power, but only Aladdin could retrieve it.

Aladdin found the old lamp and he saw the jinnee, and he got 3 wishes. He used these wishes to marry a princess and escape poverty. Abanazar constantly was following him around, and Aladdin could not rest. Therefore, he had to use the magic lamp to save the city from the magician, which he did.

Magic Lamp, Pixabay

Story source: The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).

Reading Notes: The Arabian Nights Part A

This Unit is about a Sultan who is filled with hatred for women, and so he marries a new wife every night and kills her every morning. One day, the Grand Vizier's daughter has a plan and asks to be the wife for the next day. She goes ahead with this, and begins a story the morning before when she was supposed to be killed.

She then begins the story of a man who takes a break under a tree and accidentally kills a genius's son. The genius then says he will hill the merchant, but the merchant bargains for one year of his life to say goodbye to his family.

The Sultan wants to hear the rest of the story, so allows Scheherazade to live one more day; this continues until the story is done.

The merchant returns a year later, and is about to be killed, when an old man with him begs for a story in return for his life.

The old man tells stories of his experiences with magic, which include many personal references (we do not know if these are real or not)

The rest of the unit continues stories that delay Scheherazade's death, each with similar but also interesting plot changes.

The Story of the Fisherman

[LIBRIVOX AUDIO]

Source: The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).