I felt like trying something new today.
I’ve been lazy with posts this April, mostly because any writing at all just seemed like extra work. I figured that extra work was not something I needed when studying for exams, rehearsing for a drama performance, and dealing with the rest of life. It seemed like a decent-enough excuse to me.
This morning I awoke with the thought ‘Hey, since when did writing become work?’
Answer: When it stopped being fun. Continue reading
Commonly known fact: it’s April.
Not-so-commonly known fact: it’s Camp NaNoWriMo.
If you’re a writer, you’ve probably heard of NaNoWriMo–the once-a-year crazy writing frenzy that results in a flurry of novely things (some are more novel-resembeling than others). But you may not have heard of its summer-loving sister, Camp NaNoWriMo, so here is the breakdown of these two events: Continue reading
All the Bright Places puzzled me. While reading it, I was never sure what to think. After reading it, I’m still not sure what to think.
The story certainly shines with its own light. It’s about two teens, Violet and Finch, who meet each other on the roof of the school tower during a rough spot in their lives. It explores the irony of someone wanting to die but teaching someone else how to live and is based off a true experience the author had. It’s cute and funny–hitting upon some deep topics about loss and recovery in an elegant way. Continue reading
With possibly the most cliched title ever, this post will discuss one of my favorite things about writing–naming characters.
A character’s name can speak volumes about who they are, or it can say nothing. Sometimes the fact that the name says nothing, says everything. But that’s getting too philosophical for a Thursday.
I believe there are two general types of names: ones that someone else made up years and years ago, or ones that you make up. Continue reading
There are a multitude of things that make up a character. Physicality, goals, fears, and looks are just a few, but there’s a big one that often gets ignored.
Voice.
Sure, maybe it’s obvious when a character has a specific way of talking, but what about when the entire book is written in the main character’s voice? Sometime’s it’s really obvious, but other times it’s so subtle that the reader barely notices. Continue reading
The idea of keeping a journal or diary has been around since the invention of writing. Essentially, that’s why writing was invented–to catalogue information. Journaling just became a more private form of detail splurging; a place to connect with oneself on a deeper level, complain, and remember the good times.
The journal is exceptionally good at what it does. But it’s needy–it requires cultivation and it feeds off your time.
So the bullet journal (or BuJo) was invented.* Continue reading
“Well, I was dreaming until you woke me up…”
Dreams are weird.
On second thought, the above three words seem vague. I might as well make statements like, ‘life is weird’ (it is), so let me go into some more detail on the subject of dreams.
I would argue that our concept of fantasy, and our ability to imagine fantastical situations, comes from dreams. It’s an interesting idea–one’s database of sensual information is all that’s needed to create a myriad of bizarre situations. Perhaps that is the only difference between a creative person and someone who is ‘not creative’. The person with the greater imagination is just better able to re-combine their memories while in a lucid state; they don’t have to be unconscious to make stuff up. Continue reading
Politics are arguably the most annoying thing in existence (if one overlooks lukewarm coffee and knee-deep mud), yet they can make or break a novel.
As far as I’m concerned, there are two types of politics: personal opinions expressed by people in their everyday lives and all types of government.
Most books steer clear of government-driven politics, but they all take advantage of the other kind. After all, it’s emotion that ties us to stories. There is, however, a whole genre of books that wouldn’t exist without warped versions of government politics: dystopian. Continue reading
To my surprise, confusion, and delight I’ve been nominated for the One Lovely Blog Award. I’m not entirely sure how it works, but here goes!
Big thank you to the wonderful Cherish for nominating me!!! Go check out her blog, you know you want to: https://cherishsmithauthor.wordpress.com.
Okay, seven things about me that are not in my bio: Continue reading
All stories must have character growth.
Growth can be subtle: the character realizes something they didn’t know before. Or profound: the character goes from ugly, wimpy nobody to strong, world-saving beauty.
Most novels go for somewhere in the middle. But whatever the case, the character in the last chapter must in some way be superior to the person we met on page one.
Basically, they must have fixed or improved upon their flaws. Continue reading
