Writing Podcast: Blending Familiar and Original

Writing Podcast

Writing Excuses Episode 2: Blending the Familiar and the Original

How do you know when your setting of high school kids solve supernatural mysteries becomes cliché?  Brandon, Howard and Dan discuss how you create unique concepts by blending familiar topics with something new and original and how to avoid possible pitfalls.

Notes

Take a mundane idea and something extraordinary and merge them together. Expand on whatever it is you are writing about.

Ex. You can create a character such as a pirate or bounty hunter and give them an extraordinary name.

Understand the theory of The Strange Attractor- this has to do with something that attracts and is familiar but there is something strange about it.

So what do they mean by familiar?

Familiar- It is something that you can relate to. Also, something already in your head even if it is as simple as a story you recall of a kid in high school. Now by understanding the familiar, you can then create a simple story about high school kid but then add in the original, which could be that your teacher is an alien or robot.

By following this theory it allows readers to locate themselves in your story.

In order to be most effective in reaching your audience you must understand them. You must do your research. Know all the trends in your industry or genre. It is best to know what else is being written around you and to also know what is actually being read. Understand that people want different amounts of original and extraordinary. For example, in science fiction many of the readers look for about 70 percent original content and about 30 percent original content.

Watch out for Risks

In science fiction there is a risk of singularity and post singularity. This is when the writer is no longer able to create characters that are recognizable. The problem is that if the readers cannot identify the characters they will not want to read.

Here is response posted on the website regarding the writers podcast.

Tips

You need to make a decision on how much familiar content and how much original content you want to provide to your reader. There is a market for both but it is suggested that to write to a specific audience. The largest audience is in the middle of the two.

Don’t stand on the shoulders of giants. Pick something out of reach and jump for it, make a leap, take a risk.

Take a long look at your original content and really analyze and make sure it truly is original. Do your research.

Lastly, write the story YOU want to read.

Getting Involved

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What organizations do I get involved in?

I personally like to get involved in as many organizations as possible. I enjoy being in an organization because I feel like I am a part of something where it gives me the opportunity to contribute and provide my services. Now I know I mentioned that I like to get involved in as many organizations as possible but let me clarify that more. Although I do like to be involved in multiple organizations I know that at some point I can only handle some many. There comes a point where I have to draw the line and only participate in so many organizations. However, I do try to keep a good balance of the types of organizations that I do get involved with such as work based, church based, and community based. By being able to experience and be a part of different organizations it certainly helps me stayed balanced.

The BYU advertising program is a great organization and one that I am proud to be a part of. The advertising program provides students with the knowledge and opportunities to prepare students for a career. Within the program, it has created another organization called the BYU adlab. This is an additional organization that the program provides in order to gives student current projects with real clients. Not only has this organization helped in preparing for my career but it has also helped me network and establish meaningful relationships with those within and connected to the organization.

I am also involved frequently with my church organization. The LDS community is well organized and always providing opportunities to learn, grow, and serve. I love this organization because it is a big part of my life and beliefs. It gives me direction of understanding of where I came from, why I am here, and where I am going. There are constant church activities and opportunities to get involved and serve.

Lastly, I enjoy getting involved in community organizations. I am very active and I love to participate in local and national charities. I have participated in various runs and marathons to help local charities and I have also participated in national presidential campaigns. Being a part of these communities help me to serve and contribute to others needs. There are many different ways to be a part of communities based organizations you just need to seek them out.

Lets Talk About This

I have noticed that as a society, we treat our electronics as our prized possessions. This is true even for myself. The electronics that we possess, especially our cell phones, are constantly with us. Whether it be because they are usually the most expensive thing we have with us or because we need them to function, it is clear that our electronic devices have become some of our most prized possessions.

The electronic devices, specifically cell phones, have drastically changed the way we interact and communicate with those around.  A recent article in Time Tech analyzed this situation very closing. The article mentions that he telephone call is a dying institution. The number of text messages sent monthly in the U.S. exploded from 14 billion in 2000 to 188 billion in 2010, according to a Pew Institute survey.

http://techland.time.com/2012/08/16/we-never-talk-anymore-the-problem-with-text-messaging/

Americans ages 18-29 send and receive an average of nearly 88 text messages per day, compared to 17 phone calls. The numbers change as we get older, with the overall frequency of all communication declining, but even in the 65 and over group, daily texting still edges calling 4.7 to 3.8. In the TIME mobility poll, 32% of all respondents said they’d rather communicate by text than phone, even with people they know very well. This is truer still in the workplace, where communication is between colleagues who are often not friends at all. “No more trying to find time to call and chit-chat,” is how one poll respondent described the business appeal of texting over talking.

The problem, of course, is what’s lost when that chit-chat goes. Developmental psychologists studying the impact of texting worry especially about young people, not just because kids are such promiscuous users of the technology, but because their interpersonal skills, such as they are, have not yet fully formed.

I have noticed this problem of the loss of communication due to the increase of text messaging. I personally prefer to call and talk to someone over the phone rather than just communicate with them through text messaging. I find myself explaining and speaking more clearly though telephone conversations rather than messaging. It is also easier from me to listen and truly understand the person who I am talking with as I can listen to their words and tone of voice to gain a better understanding of what they are communicating to me. Text messaging does have some advantages put it cannot replace the experience of talking to someone over the phone.

Changing It Up

Here are just a few subjects I’ve discovered that have changed over time due to the introduction of the personal computer and development of the internet.

Changed the way we Learn

I personally remember growing up and taking school trips to the library and gathering all the information I needed from various books. Back in the day, acquiring information about an unfamiliar subject required either the discovery of a knowledgeable individual or a trip to the local library. Then a little internet start-up founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin in the nineties changed all of that. You might be familiar with it, it’s called Google. 

The internet doesn’t just offer information in comprehensive fashion, it offers it instantaneously. Now with the ability to search for anything and everything at the click of a button, individuals around the world can now learn about any subject of their choosing in a quick and efficient manner, either by typing it into the search bar offered on Google’s homepage. 

Changed the way we do Business

An article I recently read featured a good example of how the internet has changed the way we market. 

http://whatculture.com/technology/10-ways-the-internet-has-changed-the-world.php/6

If there’s one internet success story from the last year or so that you’re familiar with, it’s probably Kickstarter, the site that epitomizes the practice of crowd sourcing by allowing projects to source investment, interest and possible custom from a huge user base. It’s merely one of the latest techniques that marketers can use to ply their trade, but it’s an effective one, as are many others that they have been able to utilize using the internet’s technology. Tailored marketing, for instance, is possible by gathering details about people’s interests through their search patterns, allowing organizations to market products and services at the individuals most likely to be interested in them. This is cheaper and much more effective than traditional marketing techniques, such as television advertising, as there is no guarantee that a firm’s target market will be watching a specific program at a specific time.

Direct marketers also have a field day with the technology, as no longer do they have to go through the hassle of printing and delivering material in an attempt to source custom or keep previous customers informed of new developments. Instead, they can merely email information to a mailing list of thousands in a matter of seconds. It’s a great annoyance to most of us, but for every ninety-nine individuals that have a junk e-mail filter and won’t bother to read such material, there will be one who does and makes a purchase as a result.

Changed the Way we take in Media

Many of us grew up in homes with a number of bookshelves containing an assortment of novels, magazines and films. Again, the internet and new technology has quickly changed that as well. Internet speeds have been progressively improving over the last few years, making the streaming of media or the download of large files very accessible. As a result, literature, games, films and television have outgrown the need for a costly physical medium such as a book or disc, and are accessible in an instant on the likes of e-book readers, Netflix and catch-up services.

Surprisingly it’s just not professional publishers, production companies and the like that are able to utilize the internet to get their product to customers, however, as the ease of the technology’s use and its wide user base makes it a easy medium for amateurs to contribute. Countless musicians, comedians, filmmakers, writers and other personalities have made a name for themselves by releasing their material on platforms such as YouTube, SoundCloud or Ustream, which can be used to distribute either pre-recorded or live material. As a result, people have both more choice than ever and more opportunities to pursue their dreams.

These are just a few examples of how the personal computer and internet has changed our way of life. Although not everything can be predicted, it is very likely that the personal computer and internet will conitune to change our lives and how we come about doing things. Alex Antliff's article "10 Ways The Internet Has Changed the World" provided a lot of good examples and has many other interesting examples featured in his as article. 

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Social Media Shift

Social media has allowed the entertainment industry to shift more of the load of advertising and marketing to the consumers. When thinking of examples of companies that are shifting their advertising and marketing to the consumers, Doritos and GoPro are two to consider.

Doritos holds an annual competition that has become huge. It lets the fans send in videos for a Doritos ad and the winning video that is selected through fan voting will air during the prime time television spot. This allows fans to directly participate with the brand by encouraging them to submit a video that could be feature during the Super Bowl. In addition, it generates a social media buzz about the competition and increases web traffic by posting videos to the website and encouraging people to watch and vote.

The Breakdown

• Fans make a video and submit it to Doritos' website in late fall.
• The videos are selected and semi finalists are voted on.
• Finalists are chosen and fans continue to vote.
• The winning video is show as Doritos' Super Bowl ad. 

It is important to give fans direct participation with your brand by allowing them to make something and send it in with the hopes of it being used for your brand's advertising. This will show fans that you care about them and will provide them an opportunity for their creativity to shine. Holding a contest and allowing people to vote on the submissions encourages participation by everybody, not just those who submitted. Once a winner is selected, the winning submission is posted on social media. This example from Doritos shows the shift that industries are taking by allowing their consumers to assist in marketing and advertisement for their company. The consumers will have an actual opportunity to truly market or advertise for them.

Another popular example is the versatile camera GoPro. The company GoPro has viewers upload their GoPro photos, and other users get to vote on them. Every day GoPro posts the Photo of the Day on Instagram and other platforms that they use.

Basically, they have users submit photos of themselves on Instagram using the product. This certainly allows GoPro to leverage themselves because the consumers are marketing and advertising their product for them. The reach the GoPro obtains is incredible as they have over 1 million followers. GoPro does add some incentive to the daily post as they reward the Photo of the Day winner with a package of all of their products. This reward has captured hundreds of thousands of people and again is another great example of how social media has shifted by allowing consumers to market and advertise for different companies.

Social Media Changing Business

Over the years we have noticed the impact social media has on us as people and as consumers. Have you thought about the impact social media has had on a company? I recently came across an article about Red Robin, a gourmet burger chain, and they have implemented an internal social network which is similar to Facebook in order to teach managers across the country everything the need to know about implementing items on to the menu.

The article mentioned that before the implementation of the web inside companies, businesses such as Red Robin had to send out written material to all of its management across the country. In addition, for the executives to get feedback, they had to make trips around the country in order to visit all the stores to help with making business decisions, changes, and making sure the customers were happy. This process would take months to execute and implement the solutions. 

Today, with the advancement of technology like the web and social media, these business management processes have been cut and simplified dramatically. The article mentioned that the executives at Red Robin can now make quicker changes to their menu and can see the results from the changes even faster than before. By allowing executives and managers to communicate freely within this network, they were able to create recipes, menu changes, and even videos to help managers learn what is necessary to implement such changes quickly and efficiently. By setting up an internal network, managers from across the country were able to input all customer feedback into the system and then have open discussions with executives to figure out trouble patterns and ways to fix them effectively.

 

In a recent study conducted by McKinsey & Co, “Nearly 90% of big companies claimed to have been able to see at least one measurable business benefit from social media.” According to Michael Chui, senior fellow at the McKinsey Global Institute, “Heavy use of social tools has a statistically significant correlation to profitability.” Though it is still early to tell, only 3% of respondents claimed to have used social business tools for all three major uses. These uses are: Reaching customers, connecting employees and coordinating with suppliers.

Social media is not just about updating your status and sharing pictures. Red Robin is just one example of how companies are turning toward social media for help in their businesses. It can truly help businesses grow in multiple ways. Continue to pay attention  and you will notice various companies taking advantage of social media both internally and externally.

Article:

http://www.brandingpersonality.com/social-business-how-social-media-has-changed-business-as-we-know-it/