Imagination is Writing

I was meant to write this two days ago, but time ran away from me when writing the other post and then life. Anyway, I want to share with you advice that helped me on my writing journey this year: thinking on your story is just as important as writing it.

All writers know how stressful it is to write at least constantly and concisely enough to get a story done. Some days you just. can't. write. Sometimes it is lack of time, writer's block, no inspiration, tiredness and plain just not feeling up to it (and many more). Sometimes there is a good excuse when not to write, others there is not. But here I am talking about the times when there is a good excuse not to write. 

I am (or was) one of those people who would put pressure on themselves to write nearly every day. And it stressed me out. If I didn't write at least a sentence, I felt terrible. Then I decided not to put pressure on myself if life didn't allow me to write. When the time came that I was able to write, it was much more enjoyable experience. (I also learnt to not feel bad when I couldn't write beyond a few paragraphs.)

I then (briefly) got into the habit of writing every morning except for Sunday, making that the day when I would take a break from writing. (Sometimes I would write on Sundays when I didn't write on Saturday.) That habit was the best I got with writing.

And I lost it. I have been writing here and there but not much. I hadn't write a word in my current story for at least two months. I did get a little depressed but I just couldn't write. And that was because of two reasons. One was, of course, life (as in study) but the other was because the story was a mess. The plot, the system, the politics, the science, the characters' standing in the aforementioned things... You get the idea. And because of that, I couldn't write anymore until I figured it out more. It was just plain too confusing.

Before I stopped writing, I came across a post by K.M. Weiland, where she said that the things that are related to writing are just as productive as writing itself. It was very encouraging at the time but it was more so when I couldn't get myself to write. When advising a friend about writing, my mind came across that little bit of wisdom again. And that time I took it to heart.

Every time I worked on the character questionnaire (for Blossom, which I still haven't finish 😂) or just thought on it during the day or before going to sleep (not advised), I reminded myself that it is part of the writing process and that I didn't need to stress myself out. In time, the story will come full enough to be written. I never gave up on writing, I was just having a break in writing so to write better. 

So if all you have done is think on your story, that's okay. It is all part of the process. I realise now that since my story is still rather new (an idea that came about at the beginning of 2020), I needed more time to think on it and only think on it. And since mainly thinking on it for two months (as well as being sidetracked by other ideas), I am ready again to start writing. It will just take a while to get into the habit again as well as working around study.

The main thing is to keep the enjoyment in writing (in all its stages). To treat your imagination sessions as highly as writing it on paper (or screen). Cause without those moments in clouds, you wouldn't have thought of all the ideas that came together into a beautiful and amazing story.

It is writing.

If you have any thoughts on this, I'll love hear them in the comments!      

Marvel Readathon

                           

                           Picture credited to Diamond

Today, I am excited to share with you the Marvel Readathon, hosted by Diamond! It is so cool and you should really try it out.

First things first, check out the original post! 

Marvel Readathon Announcement

Assuming that you did (seriously, go read it if you haven't, there's important stuff that I didn't mention at all), now I am going to share the books I picked out for this readathon.

For the first prompt, based on off Iron Man, I chose Six of Crows by Leigh Burdugo, the first book in the Six of Crows Trilogy (I thought this was a Duology, so that was a surprise).

For the second prompt, based off the Incredible Hulk (I haven't watched this movie), I chose Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson.

 

(If this is not green enough, I have others that will fit here too)

This book is also for the third prompt, based off Thor.

For the fourth prompt, based off Captain America, I chose With You Always by Jody Hedlund, book 1 of the Orphan Train series.

(This one will also work for prompt green and prompt Iron Man)

For the fifth prompt, based off Avengers, I chose Renegades by Marissa Meyer, the first book in the Renegades series.

(This one will also work with prompt Iron Man)

For the sixth prompt, based off Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (I have only watched the first season), I chose Reclaiming Shilo Snow by Mary Weber, the sequel to Evaporation of Sofi Snow. Cause some site said it was underhyped. To be honest, I had no idea what books were underhyped in my TBR, and so I was planning to skip this one. But then I decided to put the effort in.

(It should be noted that at present I don't have access to this book and will probably not read it in the end)

For the seventh prompt, based off Guardians of the Galaxy... well, to be honest, I have nothing for this. I can barely handle people talking in the background, so how can I read with music?! I'll just skip this one.

For the eighth prompt, based off Agent Carter, I chose Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi, the second book in the Legacy of Orisha and missing at least its third part (I am pretty sure that this series is a trilogy).

  

(this one too is out of reach at present. I am not sure if I can read this one during the Readathron)

(I am not sure Six of Crows count in this since the third one is more of a plan than a definite, so I won't include it here)

For the ninth prompt, based off Ant-Man (cute touch), I chose The Memory Thief by Lauren Mansy. I know for a fact that this book is a small read cause I saw a physical copy on YouTube.

For the tenth prompt, based off Doctor Strange, I didn't chose a specific book cause...

Magic is common in Fantasy, you know

(Plus two more I will show soon)

For the eleventh prompt, based off Spiderman, I chose this one again cause the main female character is 16.

For the twelfth prompt, based off Black Panther, I chose Before She Ignites by Jodi Meadows, the first book in the Fallen Isles series.

(Also works for the first prompt, and maybe the magic one?)

This one too will work for this prompt:

For the thirteenth prompt, based off Captain Marvel, again I didn't chose anything specific because...

(At least two of these has strong female characters...)

For the fourteenth prompt, based off Avengers: Endgame, I chose Siren's Song by Mary Weber, the final book in the Storm Siren series.

This one may or not be another I don't have access to. *cough* But in my defense, I finished all the books that I can at the moment and I am really in the stage of starting a lot of series, so...

(This one will also work for prompt green, strong female characters and magic)

Also this one too:

And the last and fifteenth prompt, based off Black Widow, I chose... all the books listed above. I am so super excited to read all of these! (Especially the ones I have been waiting to read for a while now.)

So, these are my future reads for the Marvel Readathon! Have you read any of these? Are you planning to? Want to join the readathon?

Here's the link again if you haven't check it out yet!

A Patch of Woods - An Old Writing Piece

Today, I am sharing a little writing piece of mine that I did ages ago for school. My mum was very amazed by it and so it was my first proud moment in writing. It was a sign that I could write well. I think it was around the time that I really started getting into writing but hadn't written beyond the first chapters of any of my stories yet.

I should also mention that I have no idea if this is still any good now. So, if you think it's terrible, that's okay, because it is part of my first works. First works are usually not that good. 😉

A patch of woods

I will never forget what that place felt like. It was a little spot filled with oak trees, clambered together. It was in the centre of the city, near an open-space park. There was a hedge blocking it from view and a fence blocking wandering souls.

I ignored the fence and jumped down on to the mossy ground. There was no sound except for a dripping noise. It seemed to mute the sounds outside, making it kind of eerie.

The smell of wetness was intense. It was also mixed with the smell of mould.

It made me feel like I was lost in another world or hidden from eyes. That made me uncomfortable. I was starting to feel damp inside, like I was there for a long time, still as a statue and had no cares. Then suddenly I jerked as I heard my name being called, completely bewildered, I shivered and walked away.

Well, I had some interesting word choices. 

A part of me wants to edit this thing but I know that it is better for you guys to see it in its original form. It would defeat the purpose of sharing this old work if I edited it, right?

Overall, personally I don't think it is that bad. Yes, it has issues. Yes, it could be better. And, yes, my writing is much better now, making me cringe a little. But this old writing also shows me how far I have come. My growth as a writer.

Any thoughts? Do you want me to share more of this sort of thing?     

Recycling + A Sort of Writing Update

I finally decided to write that post. The one that explains my writing mentions in a few of my posts.

I don't know about you, but I like to know what had happened to a writing project that had been briefly mentioned in one post or more posts. Especially the ones that suddenly don't get mention anymore (just disappear) and have been overtaken by other projects.

Okay, so the answer is that they are not being worked on anymore. But I still get confused by their fates. I wonder what had happened to them. I guess I am the sort of person who likes the explanations of why a writing project is never-mentioned-again-after-being-shared-and-it-has-gone-from-existence-from-the-writing-projects-page-without-a-word. But I also get it if it is uncomfortable to explain why a writing project has died and so I won't hold that against you at all. For me though, I knew that I had to explain what had happened to them. Cause otherwise I would be a hypocrite to get annoyed by others not explaining and then not doing it myself as I blog about my writing. It's just wrong on my part.

So what project I am talking about today? Well, I doubt that many of you know what it is. I only mentioned it twice and it was around in the writing projects in the first months of blogging. I believe it has been gone at least two months (not including this month). So if you don't what it is, that's fine. I will be talking about another current project here as well, so stick around for that. I think you want to know about it. 😉

What happened to the Cost of the Throne project?

Well, I will admit that when it was shared on the writing projects page, it was already a bit of a dead project. But I didn't want to let it go at the time. I was hoping to revive it. But it become more and more a dead weight in my creative mind and finally I let it go. And, boy, it was so relieving! I'm glad that I did but also sad to see it go.

What does this has to do with a new project?

I don't know if I am a rare species of writer with doing this, but I like to "recycle" my old ideas into new ideas. As in that I take old characters' names, maybe a bit of worldbuilding, and placed them in a whole new story. The plot would be different, the overall world would be different and the characters' personalities would be different. And very likely that order of importance would be different too. But part of the new story's foundation is on an old idea. 

I did that with my current Mind and Soul project. I had been thinking on this idea for a while now when I decided to let go the Cost of the Throne project. I think the reason I was able to let go was because I had the brilliant idea to reuse my character's names and the setting from my old story. And the transition went perfectly. It was like I found the missing pieces to this story's puzzle. It only strengthened the new story into something I deeply hope to write (and finish) one day.

(And yes, Taavetti is still the protagonist, which I believe is a first.)

Before you go and live your life, I want to list some pros and cons for recycling old ideas. As everyone needs to know what they are going into, right?

1. Con: Sometimes the old idea is too demanding to be part of a new idea. This means that the old idea is making you think of the old story too much and is clouding the growth of the new story. That is when you trash the idea and create a whole new idea.
2. Pro: It can add depth to your current story idea. It can just add that little extra layer to your world and your characters.
3. Con: It can stop you from moving on. Sometimes we really need to move on from old project for our growth. Realise when you need to leave every idea behind.
4. Pro: It helps with the growth of the story. I notice that when I add ideas, new and old, into a story it makes it that much more better and stronger as a book.

This is for now. Bye.

What is your opinion of explaining or not explaining dead writing projects? Your opinion of recycling ideas?

Liebster Award and Sunshine Blogger Award

                                     
                                     

I picked this up (okay I stole it) from R.M. Archer. (Who, particularly if you're a writer, should definitely check out!) I am pretty excited about this cause these are tags that everyone seems to be doing! I knew I had to do them at least once in my blogging life, you know?

Anyway, the rules:

The Liebster ones - 

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you. (Thanks R.M for letting me take it!)
2. Display your award. (above ^)
3. Answer the questions you were asked.
4. Nominate 5 bloggers.
5. Ask 6 new questions.
6. Let your nominees know they were nominated.

The Sunshine Blogger ones - 

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link back to their blog so others can find them. (Thanks R.M. again)
2. List the rules and display an award logo on your blog post.
3. Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you.
4. Nominate 11 new blogs to receive the award and notify them by commenting on any of their posts.
5. Ask the nominees 11 new questions.

The Liebster questions:

1. What's your favourite ancient myth and why?

I don't think I have ever read a full myth before. I do know about a few (which have decided to escape my mind). So I don't know.

 

2. What are your thoughts on conspiracy theories (as a group)?

I don't have much thought on them except for they are usually really ridiculous.

 

3. What are three things you would do if you knew you couldn't fail?

Oh, this is hard... Well, I don't know if this is cheating, but I would still do writing. I would also travel all over the world (literally everywhere) and tell the gospel. And I would fix racism worldwide.

4. What's something you have an irrational dislike of?

Leeches. I cannot dislike sharks, snakes, spiders or mosquitoes or whatever else but leeches... just no.

5. If you could go on a 3-day, all-expenses-paid trip, where would you go?

Finland

6. Who's your favourite musical artist?

Toby Mac. He's the type of artist that I can listen to his songs again and still feel complete joy in listening to them. And would be in the mood for them on most every day. And enjoys listening to just his songs in a row. No one else in between.

The Sunshine Blogger questions:

1. What's your favourite type of flower?

Lilies? I'm not sure I have a favourite but lilies are really beautiful. 

2. Do you play video games? If so, which is your favourite?

Yes. Minecraft.

3. Have you ever mistaken an oatmeal raisin cookie for chocolate chip?

I don't think so, no.

4. Are you currently procrastinating on something?

Doing the character questionnaires that are really helpful for me.

 

5. If flying cars existed, would you buy one? Why or why not?

No, because flying around in a car looks terrifying (movies have not really made me want to have them).

6. What's your least favourite book genre?

Erotic romance 

7. What are the top three books on your TBR?

Rule by Ellen Goodlett, Circle of Shadows by Evelyn Skye and Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi

8. What's the last book you rated 5 stars?

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

9. If you could take a class on anything at all, what subject would you take?

Aboriginal culture

10. If your life had a soundtrack, what songs would have played in the background today? (it's acceptable to answer with whatever's been stuck in your head rather than what makes logical sense ;) )

I am Satisfied with My Care by Henry Jackman (From Big Hero 6), Ends of the Earth by Marcus Warner and Favourite Song by Toby Mac. (These actually sort of make sense)

11. Would you rather have a bunch of friends you can hang out with often but don't talk to very often, or a few friends you talk to all the time but rarely get to see?

The latter. I think it is more important to be able to talk to them than seeing them often. And a few intimate friends than a bunch of friends you're not close to. 

My Liebster questions:

1. Disney or Dreamworks?

2. What is an underrated mythical creature that you know of?

3. What is something you want to see more often in books?

4. What is something that always annoys you that appears in books/movies?

5. A favourite childhood song?

6. What is something you want to see happen in the future?

My Sunshine Blogger questions:

1. Summer or winter?

2. Autumn or spring?

3. Do you like thunderstorms?

4. How should superheroes be like?

5. Do you mentally correct sentences or texts so you properly understand it?

6. Horses, dragons or mermaids? Why?

7. What is one thing cool for you?

8. What animal is too weird to be real?

9. Notebooks? Yes or no?

10. Hardbacks, paperbacks or eBooks?

11. Do you know what gum trees are? (You can't look it up until you have answered the question)

Tagging...

You, the reader, if you somehow have not done these tags yet and you want to. Go ahead. I give permission for you take it without being accused of stealing. It's official.

Any comments? I love hearing your thoughts!

The Original Outstanding Blogging Award

My first real official tag! I was in the list.😀

I was tagged by Jenna.

The rules:

1. Provide the link the creator's original award post. (very important: see why in step 5)
2. Answer the questions provided.
3. Create 7 unique questions.
4. Nominate 10 bloggers. Ensure that they are aware of their nomination. Neither the award's creator nor the blogger that nominated you can be nominated.
5. At the end of 2020, every blog that pings-back the creator's original post will be entered to win the 2020 Outstanding Blogger Award!

 This award was created by Colton Beckwith. The original post.

 

The questions:

1. Would you rather be a vegetarian or only eat meat?

While I love meat a lot, I would still choose to be a vegetarian because there is more variety out there and the fact that I don't like eating meat by itself. 

2. What's a habit you'd like to break?

Getting distracted? Is this a habit? I don't know, but if there is anything I want break out of, it is getting distracted easily. 

3. What's your biggest unpopular opinion (about anything)?

I feel like I could have an unpopular opinion, but as it is I have no idea as I haven't stumbled upon something that everyone agrees with and I'm like, "I don't".  

4. What's something that encouraged and/or inspired you this year?

Well, there are so many little things. This might sound strange (maybe this is my unpopular opinion) but Covid-19 has been encouraging and inspiring for me. God has pointing out stuff that I properly wouldn't have seen if not for Coronavirus. Also I had more time to think on my stories, relaxing in my thoughts and wandering outside before it got too cold. Also I love all the encouraging things that people have done in supporting others who are/were struggling with Covid-19. That is why I made a short post about them a while ago. 

5. If you could meet three fictional characters, who would they be and why?

This is hard... One would be Cinder from Lunar Chronicles (Marissa Meyer) because she is such a cool and admirable character. Plus, I could ask her questions about what it is like to be a cyborg. Another would be Brienna from the Queen's Rising Duology (Rebecca Ross) because of *spoilers*. The last one would be Smoke from FHE series (by yours truly) because why wouldn't I want to him!? After all the time we have spend together, seeing him for real would be so awesome! (I would probably faint from shock if I did.)

6. If you could get three authors to write a book together, who would they be and why?

Nadine Brandes, Rebecca Ross and Marissa Meyer. Because, as they are the authors who wrote three of my favourite books/series, I think together they would write some pretty amazing stuff. Their world-building, plots, characters, writing styles, etc all blended together? It would be such an epic book. 

7. (hehe yes I'm asking this question again it's important okay?) Are you #teamwaffles or #teampancakes?

I like both pancakes and waffles, but I like pancakes more because I was raised on them. 😀

My questions now:

1. What sort of protagonist would you be? The fighter, the outcast, the anti-hero, the arrogant then turned humble, the one who makes a lot of bad decisions, the compassionate one? (feel free to add one your own if none of these fit.)

 2. What is one creative strength of yours?

3. Sunshine or rain for a superpower?

4. Favourite number and why?

5. What is your favourite type of fictional character?

6. What is your least favourite genre of a book/movie?

7. What is your opinion of fairies?

Well, I can't do ten so I'll tag...

Julia

Maybe Nicole and Elizabeth?

And anyone else reading this who wishes to do this cool award. 

That's it for now and thanks for reading, paper adventurers! 

The Fictional Vacation/Would You Rather Tag

I stole again from Nicole, cause she got such cool tags up her sleeve. 😀

Anyway, the rules:

1. Include the graphic Madeline made.
2. Answer the questions.
3. Tag some other people if you feel so inclined.

Would you rather...

Train with other demigods for the summer in Camp Half-Blood OR attend Hogwarts to learn some spells for a semester?

Hogwarts. I prefer the world where Hogwarts exist and it's more of my type of place than Camp Half-Blood.

Go on an epic quest through the lands of Middle-earth OR be crowned a king and queen for your bravery in Narnia?

This might have been hard, if being crowned a king/queen was not unappealing. I just don't want that sort of position. So, yes, I choose the Middle-earth epic quest.

Fly with Peter Pan and his Lost Boys in Neverland OR have a crazy tea party with the Mad Hatter in Wonderland?

 Even though Once Upon a Time (and another source) has ruin Peter Pan for me, I would still choose to fly with him and his Lost Boys over Wonderland. I'm sorry, but Wonderland and everything about it freaks me out. As long as I have a nice version of Peter Pan, I should be good. 

Get trapped in the world of Jumanji OR be forced to dress up and attend a party at the Capitol of Panem?

No Jumanji, thank you very much. Especially the board game version. Terrifying! But since I haven't read or watch The Hunger Games (it is buried somewhere in my TBR pile), I am plunging into unknown territory and may be getting myself into such an awkward position. Oh, well. Anything but Jumanji.

Sample all the candy you'd like at Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory OR have a nice stroll with Pooh and his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood?

Willy's Wonka's Chocolate Factory terrifies me. That is definitely a pass. Also, the Hundred Acre Wood is such a beautiful, nostalgic place and I think I would enjoy hanging out with Pooh and the gang (as long as he agrees not to have his head stuck in a tree or something.)

Head out on a gold-hunting expedition to El Dorado OR hop in a submarine and explore the lost city of Atlantis?

Well, I have to say that both of these movies (and their worlds) are amazing. But I would prefer to see Atlantis over El Dorado. I would pick ancient advanced technology over gold anytime.

Skip through the merry town of Oz OR have a nice walk through the kingdom of Camelot?

Again Once Upon a Time ruined Camelot for me but I still prefer it over Oz. The Kingdom of Camelot is much more my sort of place than the strange world of Oz. 

  Get sucked into the world of Fantastica and go on an epic journey with Bastian OR get sucked into Inkworld and travel the land with Meggie and her friends? 

Well, I didn't think much of the Neverending story (and I have the belief that it does end. No one can convince me otherwise). But I did enjoy Inkheart a lot (one day will read the book). So I would choose Inkworld, despite the fact that it can be really dangerous. (But no good world is without its danger, right? 😉)

These were surprising easy to choose between. I guess it helps knowing the stories?

Hmm, people to tag... I will just tag -

Jenna

and be on my way. Goodbye for now. 😊