Writing

Review of ‘The Haters’ by Jesse Andrews

/ Sonora / Leave a comment

Screen Shot 2018-08-06 at 11.10.12 AMSex jokes, cynicism, and risky formatting choices all crammed together in a chaotic masterpiece of a book? Yes, please.

Not many books can make me laugh out loud in public, but The Haters did so repeatedly.

I’m a big fan of Jesse Andrews, ever since I saw the film version of Me and Earl and The Dying Girl and immediately bought the book. A close friend of mine pre-ordered The Haters and kindly lent it to me as soon as he’d finished*. So my expectations were very high, considering how much I loved Jesse Andrew’s first novel. Continue reading →

Hello Writing, My Old Friend

/ Sonora / 2 Comments

I need to figure out how to prioritize my life.

If you live a well-organized existence and feel as though you’re doing everything you’ve ever wanted to do, I applaud you–please tell me how you do it.

Cat potato

He’s a cat potato.

As for the rest of us, trying to choose between working on the novel that university has pushed under the bed, cleaning under your literal bed, or that tricky bit of revision, ultimately results in deciding just to eat breakfast. This lifestyle is not working for me, so let’s re-evaluate. Continue reading →

Writing Prompt #1

/ Sonora / 2 Comments

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 →

NaNoWriMo vs. Camp NaNo

/ Sonora / 1 Comment

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 →

What’s in a Name?

/ Sonora / 1 Comment

printable-name-tags-r0zxxuni.jpgWith 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 →

Whose Voice is That?

/ Sonora / Leave a comment

IMG_20170316_165432There 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 →

Bullet Journaling–New-Age Craze

/ Sonora / 4 Comments

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 →

Dream Sequence!

/ Sonora / 2 Comments
img_20160728_220801121

“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 →

Dystopian Politics

/ Sonora / Leave a comment

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 →