Looking at Causes

We've all heard of writers (like Charles Dickens, J.K. Rowling, Truman Capote, and Lois Lowry) through out history who have been praised for their work in literature.

But what makes them so good? Why are they considered great writers? How does their writing stand out from the rest?

Let's look at the writings of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, who wrote Frankenstein. This book has been published over and over, been a reference in anything from songs to movies to poems to stage, and has been turned into movies.

But why did this book stand out? Why was Mary W. Shelley such a powerful writer? Does her background affect her writings?

Now, we're going to look at the number of factors that made Shelley's book stand out. For one, she was a woman. That might sound like a really lame factor, but the thing is that she lived back in the 1800's. Women didn't have much of a career choice and were expected to be baby-making machines (who were married of course!). A woman's life was considered to be hard because they basically had no life. But one thing that made Shelley different from your average, typical woman was that she was surrounded by words. Her mother was a celebrated author, her husband was a famous author, and her father was an intellectual rebel. She was among powerful minds and loud voices. It is no wonder that she had such an imagination.

So, perhaps were you grow up, how you lived your life, and what you did in your life has an effect about how your writing turns out to be. It would be pretty ridiculous for someone who lived a wonderful, extravagant, luxurious lifestyle from birth till present to write about living at Skid Row when they don't even know where it is, how it looks like, or how it feels like to live there. Your background can have an impact at how your voice is heard in the words you write because the subject you write about may be about something that you know personally. Using the same wealthy person as before, maybe they could write about what it feels like to have a privileged life or how they wish for a simpler, more meaningful life. The person's text would be more powerful because they know their subject more personally.

There are other factors to consider when asking what makes a piece of literature so memorable. One mean, giant, humongous factor is creativity/originality. Shelley wrote a Gothic, romance novel about a monster brought to life by a scientist (whose name was Victor Frankenstein). This novel can also be considered the first science fiction novel, making it highly original. The name 'Frankenstein' was not made up, but the overall plot of the story is. It practically created the whole 'mad-scientist' genre.

The other factors, well, those are up to you to decide. What do you think makes a powerful writer?

Follow the link to read about the top ten writers through out history and see what makes them so good.

http://ezinearticles.com/?10-Best-Writers-Who-Ever-Lived&id=38103

Hola!

And bienvenidos! (a little more original than 'welcome', don't you think?)

Anyways, there is a reason why I'm writing this to you, and it's not to show off my Spanish skills. It is to inform you a little more about powerful writers. But before we dive in fully into that without a helmet on, I'm going to tell you a little more about my AP class and why this blog is important to my class, though many of you readers are part of that class, so I don't think there's a need to go into that.

Instead I will tell you about why I chose 'powerful writers' as the subject for my blog. I chose this subject because I actually want to become a powerful writer, like Edgar Allen Poe, Jane Austen, and other awesome people. I finding writing to be one of life's most artistic and luxurious....I don't want to say hobby because then it sounds like it's pish-posh and doesn't matter, but it does! It truly does! Writing is a form of expression and if you can't express yourself, then it really is horrid. To put it simple: I love writing, I think it's liberating, and I want to pursue it as a career.

So, when I saw that one of the topics for this blog was 'powerful writers', I nearly jumped. This would be a perfect opportunity for me (and you) to learn about what is a powerful writer and what it takes to be one. Here's what I already know, or what I think I know: powerful writers make for powerful speakers. If you can write one invigorating persuasive essay, than you can convince a crowd of people for what ever good! deed you are trying to do to help the world. You don't exactly have to be a people person to be a good writer, but you are able to talk to people. You could be like Abraham Lincoln. He was a powerful speaker, Gettysburg Address, so he was a powerful writer.

What I hope to learn throughout these next few months is how a powerful writer becomes so good at their writing. There was some times when I believe that they (writers) must be taking some sort of medicine or have a secret club or something, but I realize that a writer isn't something that you create. I'm not sure how a writer comes to be, but I want to figure that out. I want to know more about writing and how one could be considered a strong writer. One question I have is if writing is really all about the voice? Does a writer's voice affect how the text is?

I actually found an article which talks about the writer's voice and powerful writers. I would say only the first two or three paragraphs are the most important ones, but still. It's a good article to read.

So, without further ado, may you enjoy reading!

http://www.businessknowhow.com/Writers/Perceptions/pdoyouhear.htm