Tag: writer

Writing prompt No. 2

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  1. In a rush, your character bumps into someone while not paying attention. Both knock a plethora of items onto the ground, jumbled and mixed together. They gather their things and continue on their way…. by the time your character gets home they notice that there’s something that’s not theirs.
  2. Your character needs to change appearances quickly in order to not get caught. There’s only a few things that they can grab to do so.
  3. Give your character a memory associated with the color maroon.

Here’s a link to the previous prompt. 

Writers, we’ve all been there…

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I wrote this thinking about the pressures and anxieties of being a writer. We unintentionally, or purposefully, put so much pressure on ourselves in order to be considered a writer. I guess this is somewhat of letter saying that if you’re struggling writing at this point in time, you’re not alone. You can get through it. We’ve all hit this point before. 

I hope you enjoy a bit of my ramble.  Follow me on my new Twitter and Instagram account. 

The intimidation of a blank page is scary enough, followed by your own doubts and potential self-sabotage. Grabbing a pen and paper or laptop is an escape –creating characters, worlds or simply expressing thoughts in short form.

We may or may not follow grammar rules — or we struggle along the way, never giving up.

This is what we wanted to do. What we tell everyone…

Trying to fit in a few words before or after working nearly eight hours. Either trying to find the drive to do it that day or night, or put it off.

Well, people may say you’re not a writer if you don’t write. I guess that’s true.

We know it’s not easy. We weren’t expecting it to be. We fall into slumps that can last for months on end; during that time we wonder if we can really call ourselves a writer.

And question if we really wanted to write.

Using resources, turning to YouTube/BookTube, walking through a book store can renew that fire…but how long will it kindle before dwindling or spreading like wildfire?

A well-controlled burn that makes it easy to power through. Or a dangerous one that leaves us spent, waiting for the next thing to spark us.

What we write for is a gold mine; gorgeously crafted words strung together like handcrafted beads to become a part of a necklace. It gets the compliments and praise we think it deserves.

Some of us could be dreaming about it. Stuck. Knowing exactly, exactly, what to write but the right words never seem to come when we want, or words are jammed pack together,  ugly.

What then?

Then it’s anxiety or maybe depression.

We keep trying and trying to keep going or stay motivated. Maybe we should stop.

But we should really keep trying. Keep writing. There’s that saying that someone out there needs your book. Don’t forget that it’s you too.

Progress update and discussion

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Mini Progress update:

Torque: Getting just a tad further along. I took time to focus a little bit on world building and looking at previous information I had down from years ago. I’ll have to decide if it’s relevant to the current or any future plots. My plan is to finish chapter 3 (2/3) and chapter 4 this month. I hope to be at chapter 5 by November and NANOWRIMO.

Ghost Kings: Ideas are still developing for this short story. I will post the first ‘chapter’ by Oct. 16.

Spirits: I’ve started writing the point of view for one of the characters, but it was difficult to move forward with it. I’ll need to do more world building before continuing.

Discussion:

Finding the right writing routine is difficult. Trust me. Any blog site or writing site that I go to seems to mention a routine and how it seems to produce the end product.

But I’m curious how this ‘routine’ works for others. Are you more likely to write on your own time or schedule in advance? Sound off below!

What’s next?

I’ll be writing about the importance of characters of color, a review on Scrivener writing app and hopefully a video on face casting.

Until next time,

XO Arisa

Writing Playlists and Music

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Sometimes in order to get in the mood to write, I like to turn on my music. I use it to focus and block out the background noise. I usually listen to my playlist that I made for my fanfiction more than the ones I’ve made for Torque or my works.

The music sets the mood for the scene I am going to write, whether it be for my fanfiction or writings. There are times when I get so obsessed with finding the right song for an “epic” scene, that I would spend at least a hour looking for the song. Sometimes, it takes longer to find it, which makes it harder to write.

There are some authors that create playlists for books – something that they listened to while writing. The only author  I can think of that has done it is Stephanie Meyer for Twilight. I remember when I was into Twilight, I would go on the website and listen to music. I think she used to express the feelings of her characters throughout the book, but I don’t remember what it was specifically for.

I think ever since then I started creating playlists for my characters or just for the entire work. I find it fun, but I feel like it does more harm than good. Like I said above, it’s distracting; next thing you know you’re searching for the right song(s) for three hours and it’s past midnight. (Haha, me.) I think I spend so much time trying to find the right music is because it makes writing a little less lonely.

I’m sure this is something that I will continue while I’m writing.

Do any of you use music to help with writing, or nah? Let me know in the comments below. If you want a link to one of my playlists, let me know!

Until Sunday, Ciao!

XO Arisa

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Title Evolution

WRECK THIS JOURNAL PT1

Intimidation of page numbers and word count

Pick that book back up! and NANOWRIMO

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Over the summer I had the pleasure of reading for fun. It’s has become increasingly hard to enjoy what I pick up and not close it because I have to do homework. I would never be completely immersed in what I was reading for that simple factor. And it sucks.

But when there is free time, take it and remind yourself why you wanted to write. I’m going to do a little more reading before I start to write. I would suggest something that is not in the genre you’re writing because ideas from the book a could magically make its way into what you’re writing. That’s no good when trying to make your work original as possible.

It’s hard to write what you want when you have projects and homework to do. Hopefully, as the school year goes on I will read for fun before I write.

NANOWRIMO is coming up pretty soon. Every time November rolls around I say I’m going to do it, but school wants to get in the way. I will do my best and I hope to start posting short stories then with summaries of other things I’m working on. Like my novel series, Torque.

Well, until next time, pick up a book. Or books.

Let me know if this is something you do before writing or you do something else to mentally prepare yourself.
XO Arisa