CAT | Writing
The beginning of Christmas can be traced well before the birth of Christ at 1 A.D. Ancient Europeans marked the winter solstice as the beginning of longer days and the resurrection of the sun. They celebrate from late December through January, similar to modern Christmas season. Romans celebrated the Saturnalia festival from the seventeenth of December to the twenty fourth. The festivities contained parties, gambling, gift-giving and the reversal of social standings. During this time, slaves could wear their masters’ clothing and can refuse orders. The children also can command their parents. It was not until the 4th century that the Catholic Church decided that they need a holiday to rival solstice festivities. December 25 by then was chosen as the Feast of Nativity. Over the next hundred years, the feast was continually evolving to the Christmas we know today but was still less important than Good Friday and Easter. By the nineteenth century, it already became a full-fledged Christian holiday.
One of the favourite formatting styles for emphasis has to be the italic typeset, which a lot of website editors and owners end up using for their web content. From fitness plr to personalised blog entries, the italics can now show up just about anywhere, tilting letters to signify that special term or statement that just deserves a little bit more attention.
Be careful, however, not to overdo the italics. This is one of the most common mistakes that new editors and website owners make, because they get so eager to distinguish particular terms that they end up tilting whole paragraphs of text in their efforts. Not only is the overuse of the italic type potentially irritating to a reader, it also cheapens the actual emphasis you are trying to achieve. Emphasis is supposed to be reserved for those rare moments of special distinction, and not given to anything that can pretend to be of minor importance or relevance to a topic.
People love stories. In every society and any point in time all across history – storytellers were beloved characters endowed with both charisma and a knack for putting events into words. Today, one does not have to search around for such people: they are easily reachable thanks to the power of technology. People often choose to read stories online to find inspiration, learn answers or feel connected to others who meet the same challenges in life. Often, they do it just for fun. Reading about other people’s experiences teaches them that everybody has a story, and that answers may come from unexpected places. Whether love stories, stories of loss or fortune, motivational pieces, or just fictional attempts to fun and life enjoyment, reading about others and how they see life is a profoundly human need, well satisfied today by the rich online content, available to everybody through the simple click of a button.
Being accountable to someone, preferably another writer or better yet, a group of dedicated screenwriters who are also making that screenplay magic happen, can make a huge difference in getting it done. Writing buddies and deadlines can be your new best friends. This is where screenplay contests and other writing competitions come in–they may just be the motivation you need. Screenplay contests with prizes? That’s just icing on the cake. And a screenwriting competition that actually offers you a chance to get your script in front of agents? Now that’s a challenge I simply can’t refuse. Now get back to writing that screenplay!
You can finish it if you work very hard. You are a great writer! Really, all you need is to feel responsible for your own work, and to feel accountable to someone. A group would be great, but you can just hold yourself accountable too! You can!
