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).

Week 5 Story: The Fountain of Youth

It has to be here. It just has to be.

Kudra had been searching for many months, map in hand, for the only thing that could set him free. A prisoner of war, he had been sent by the aging but great King Amril to find this fountain, which supposedly could grant immortality to whoever might drink from it. Many had tried to find it before, and many had failed, and it was even said that some had stumbled upon the fountain but had not realized its potential, and let it be without drinking. But Kudra was determined. He was smarter than most, and the most skilled tracker of his generation, and he knew that if he could find it, and drink from it before his King, he could save the city from devastation.

Two years prior, Amril had seized the city, and with it Kudra and his family. Pleading for his life, Kudra promised Amril that he knew where to find the famed Fountain of Youth, which no man alive had ever seen. However, Kudra's ancestors were the ones who first detailed its existence, and the King was convinced. Kudra was scared, but embarked on a dangerous journey that led him across the world back to his hometown, only to find a well that he had passed many times as a child. He recognized it as the well that no one was to ever drink from, for it should lead to certain death.

Kudra closed his eyes and bent down to take a sip, knowing that he would die if he did, but if he did not, his family would soon perish. The fountain knew of his intentions, and revealed its true self to him in that moment. The water turned from a murky brown to a crystal clear blue, as did the skies above him. Eyes still closed, Kudra did not see this transformation but felt Allah protecting him. When he finally took a sip, he could see clearer than ever before and decided to commit his life to everyone but himself. For immortality has no use if it is selfish. Kudra is said to be still living to this day.

Authors Note: This story was loosely based on the story of El Khudr the Evergreen. However, the story itself did not have much elaboration onto the backstory of El Khudr, so I created one. I thought it was fun to add elements that might not have actually been written in, to make the story come to life. I changed the names of certain characters, and maintained the overall plot while taking creative liberty on other things.

Fountain of Khadr, 14th Century

Story source: Folk-lore of the Holy Land: Moslem, Christian and Jewish by J. E. Hanauer (1907).

Reading Notes: Holy Land Folklore B

• The devil kept foiling God's plan to provide for humanity
• Moses and Aaron discuss their fear of death, and as a result, decide that it is time to die
• The next section outlines Soloman the King's history, and how Allah chastised his gluttony
• The tale of El Khudr the Evergreen tells the traditional story of the fountain of youth
• There were many people who found themselves at El Khudr healed, and the legend spread
• Elijah was well known in Jeruselum, as well as St. George who slain the monster
• A lot of stories form the Quran are very similar to those in the Old Testament, with different names

St. George, 14th Century Painting

Bibliography: Folk-lore of the Holy Land: Moslem, Christian and Jewish by J. E. Hanauer (1907).

Reading Notes: Holy Land Folklore A

• 
  
• Adam and Hawa
• Allah first created the Tablet of Destiny, which has all people's fates and lives written upon it
• Allah then created the great pen, which wrote all things on the tablet
• This was followed by the creation of water, seas, wind, and the continents
• The story of Adam and Eve follows that Allah created Adam, who rest for 40 days (or 40 years) lifeless, and the angel Iblis refused to wait, and he became Satan
• Adam gave birth to many monsters that roam the Earth
• The angel Gabriel visited him many times, and over Adam's life, he gave birth to 40,000 kids

• Noah, Job, Etc
• The Story of Noah is very similar to that of the Bible, with slightly different characters and descriptions.
• Ayub had a wife who dares parley with the devil, and he asked Allah for mercy, which was granted
• There was a man named Hakim Lokman who, while being ugly, was one of the greatest and wisest man to ever live
• However, when a wise doctor was needed, his sister's son was actually a better doctor and offered life saving advise.

• Abraham
• Abraham's full name meant "Friend of God"
• Abraham was born and grew very fast and could speak at only 15 months
• He was hidden because Nimrod was afraid of someone overthrowing him
• He wondered if the sun, moon, stars, etc. were his Lord, but they all changed
• Nimrod had Abraham thrown into fire, but Abraham allowed him to be unburnt
• The story of the Tower of Babel is told, and is because Nimrod ordered it
• Abraham was very hospitable, and giving

Cave of the Patriarchs, Hebron

Bibliography: Folk-lore of the Holy Land: Moslem, Christian and Jewish by J. E. Hanauer (1907).

Storybook Plan

For the Storybook, I have decided to continue with my idea surrounding the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, and the controversies and conspiracies surrounding them. Last week, I outlined three of my storybook ideas, and plan on using the same ones on the real storybook, so the following is simply copied from my last blog post.

1. My first idea for the Pyramids of Giza revolve around the Gods themselves. The pyramids are supposedly built as great tombs for pharoahs, and Osiris is the god of death. I think that a fun story could be made where Osiris is playing a prank on Isis by stealing one of his favorite humans and trapping him in this tomb, which turns out to be a marvelous structure.

Source: The Story of Isis and Osiris, Schofield, Freebookapalooza



2. My second idea is more of a science fiction idea. It would revolve around a scientist, who comes across a startling discovery. There has been much controversy surrounding the pyramids, and this scientist reveals his discovery that the pyramids match the layout of Orion's belt, which he had only recently discovered (this is true). He goes on this massive quest to the center of the Great Pyramid, and when he gets there, he is whisked away to the past where him and his team are found to be the architects of the pyramid, who have travelled from the future. It turns out to be an endless loop, but he realizes that the pyramids were not built by aliens, but rather by himself as a tool to help humanity.

Source: Orion correlation theory, Wikipedia



3. My last idea revolves around the famous alien conspiracy theory. The pyramids were built with technology far too advanced for its time, so they must have had help. It was discovered that the location coordinated for the great pyramid are exactly that of the speed of light, which was not discovered until much later. This can be tied in to aliens traveling via the speed of light (ie. time travel) to clue humans in about their existence, because the Egyptian gods have taken wrath on them and they need humanity's help. I like the idea of an amicable relationship between humans and aliens.

Source: Time Travel and the Great Pyramids, Express UK

The Great Pyramids of Giza, Wikimedia

Some storytelling ideas I could use includes a first person narrative, by creating a character that lives during these events. Of course, I could also use the less personal third person approach, but I want to avoid making the stories sound like a history book.