Letting Go

Please, no, don't sing Frozen. That's not at ALL what I meant. I mean, really, we all know that fad passed quite a while ago.
Anywhooo...
I've gathered you here today to talk about poetry. Let me explain my reason for the title of this post:
For a long, long time, I've always focused solely on rhyming poetry. My mind told me, for some reason, that that was only the real poetry and everything else sucked. My mother, of course, didn't believe that. She is an English major who teaches a lot for my co-ops, and she absolutely loves poetry. Especially the non-metrical free verse stuff. In fact, she herself is a poet of the same type.
Yet in my stubbornness I refused to enjoy such poetry. I love writing, of course, and I really wanted to write poetry and be remembered as a great poet. But I had a lot of trouble writing it; they all were cheesy and quite awful, really.
Until I let go of my stubbornness.
Once I tried to write just a single little poem in a free verse form, a whole world was opened to me. I realized it was so sad I had been holding back all these years, because of a petty and foolish thought in my head. And suddenly, I realized that I could do incredible things.
Ever read E.E. Cummings? He's one of my mom's favorites, and he's known for his incredible free-verse that not only paints with words but also paints using the placement and form of the words and stanzas on the paper. He can make a little poem mean much, much more just by arranging it a certain way.
It's incredible.
Look his stuff up sometime. You won't regret it.
And for those of you who dislike poetry that isn't all rhyme-y and stuff, try to let go of that. Pick up a book of poetry, read it slowly, let the words wash over you. Or take a piece of paper and doodle with words, not worrying about what matches and what doesn't. Trust me. You'll thank me later.
I want to share with you some of my favorite personal poems I've written in free-verse. I really like looking back at them now, and I feel so proud, instead of embarrassed like how I always felt when I looked back at my older, metrical poems.
Remember, we're human. We're creative. Don't let your poetry be like "An Ode to Spot" by Data (TNG). That only works if you're actually an android.

A Time Ago I Spoke with the Winds

A time ago I spoke with the winds.

There was first Boreas,
fierce and cold.
His words were harsh,
his nature unforgiving.

Then Notos,
hungry for chaos.
Everywhere he went,
disorder arose.

Eureus, the poor east wind.
Unlucky, shy,
and disliked.
I think him quite misunderstood.

But my favorite, that is Zephyr.
The west wind,
warm and soft.
Esteemed above the others.
His embrace, his touch,
spring and summer's love.


The Importance of a Soul

The soul, the Psyche,
no greater invention of God.
For it holds the key,
the entrance to one's being.
What would we be
without a soul?
A shell, perhaps.
Living, animated,
but meaningless.
Or a carved marble man.
Beautiful, lifelike,
and yet, not
more than stone.


Welll, I hope you like the poems...yes, originals of mine ;)

Feel free to comment thoughts!

Picard out.

NaNoWriMo: Revelation

Before I say anything else...
HOLY SHCNITZEL ON A STICK I DID IT
Yes, dear reader, this is the truth. I have officially finished my first NaNoWriMo, and I have officially finished my first novel.
It was hard, it was grueling, but I did it.
Okay, so maybe I did change my word count back down to 35k. But that doesn't really matter, right? That's still a large amount of words. And it was still a full blown story, with plot and characters and EVERYTHING.
So be proud of me. How many of you out there actually won NaNo your first year of it? (Okay, so maybe a lot, but c'mon)
To celebrate, I...I don't know.
Maybe I'll not stay up until 11 every night, trying to get in my word count.
Maybe I'll immediately start writing another novel, now that I know what it's like finishing one (actually, this kind of is my plan...)
Maybe I'll go out and get fat on celebratory doughnuts with my writing partner Abby. (Also likely, we discussed this at the beginning of the month XD)
In any case, I'm done. I've finished a book, I know what it's like, I'm motivated to do that again, outside of NaNo.
Be proud of me, people. Trying to write through schoolwork, an obnoxious little brother at home, and craft fair prep is harder than you think.

So, until next time...

NaNo Log: Day 11

Ayyy I'm actually keeping up wit dis lyfe. (Insert other stereotypical teenage gobbledygook here.)
Yes, I am sick, and yes, I did get to stay home from co-op today. THOUGH I'm not *exactly* caught up (that would take many, many straight hours of writing), I did get quite a bit done today. Sooo....

Day: 11
Total Words Written: 8,546
Words Written Today: 1,546
Words Left: 36,454
Favorite Line:

“This is Mission Control.” Said the man’s deep voice. “Ready for liftoff?”

            “Affirmative.” Marcus said solemnly, nodding approval to Preston beside him.

            “Starting engines now.” Preston turned a dial and the ship roared to life, rumbling beneath our feet and over our heads.

            “T-minus 60, 59, 58…”

My breath caught as the countdown started. I had nothing to do for now except strap in and organize myself for launch. Red strapped in next to me.

            “45, 44, 43…”

Preston’s fingers flew over the keys and buttons on his panel. Marcus sat in anticipation, his hand poised over a little numerical keyboard.

“39, 38, 37, 36…” Sitting back, Preston set his left hand on the armrest and lingered his other hand over a final lever. Marcus’s fingers started to tremble. Suddenly he sat bolt upright, bright, intense fear in his eyes. His hand dropped from the keyboard.

“What are you doing?” I yelled at him over the tremulous noise.

“I can’t…” Marcus looked back at me, pleading.

“23, 22, 21…”

“You have to!” I screamed. The men on the other side of the screen were apparently oblivious to our situation. Preston and Red were alarmed, but neither could do a thing.

“15, 14, 13…”

I unstrapped myself and stumbled over to the captain’s seat. Marcus sat, statuesque and white as marble.

“10, 9, 8…”

 I tore him out of the seat and strapped myself in. He tripped over to my own seat, and fumbling with the buckles, managed to get himself tied in.

“5, 4, 3, 2, 1…Please key in launch code ‘030’.”

I did as he said, my fingers typing in the numbers as quickly as possible. Nodding, I signaled Preston to complete his final launch duty.

“Liftoff.” Preston threw the lever forward, and we were instantly pressed against our seats at the sheer power of the craft. I wanted to turn my head, to see Marcus as he sat behind me in my own seat. But since the force did not allow me too, I could only imagine his face.

A face of pure fear, of pure shame.

Heheh, sorry for the extensive writing excerpt. I'm just really thrilled with this part :) So, pray that I keep up on the writing a lot a day, because it's necessary. VERY necessary. The motivation is so hard, ya know?

Anywho...see ya!

NaNo Log: Day 10

So, I, uh, KIND OF wrote today. Just a leetle bit. WAITWAITWAIT before you judge, I'm getting sick AND my brother's still home and crying AND I'm still behind on school. And obviously, NaNo isn't my mom's priority for me, right now. But I did what I could, with what I had, where I was. (Teddy Roosevelt, anyone?)
And although this sickness is supposedly just a cold, I'm kind of miserable. Maybe mumsy will let me skip co-op tomorrow, and I will be able to catch up on schoolwork and writing.

Day: 10
Total Words Written: 7,000
Words Written Today: 464
Words Left: 38,000
Favorite Line:

“Good-bye, and good luck.” The official nodded pertinently and strode through the middle of our group. At the other end of the bridge he gave a neat salute and disappeared into the dark corridor. We were all alone now.

LOOKIE LOOKIE HOW BEAUTIFUL THOSE NUMBERS ARE SO EVEN AND PERFECT hehhhhh...

                                          /\ Me right now.../\

Why, yes, that IS how I look at 9:00 at night, sick and wearing no makeup.

Gollum must leave you now. Gollum says goodbye.

NaNo Log: Day .........8?

Heheh. Sowwy. Life's just been a little crazy for me. IT'S NOT PERSONAL, I PROMISE GUYS I'm totally behind on my word count, too.
A little summary of my life craziness right now:
The little bro just had a surgery. A BIG surgery. So I've been spending many nights and days with friends, trying to get school done and write while not completely shunning the peeps. It's hard. BUT luckily, on Friday night my friend had to babysit so I got an hour and a half of writing in and caught up a bunch. Yay! So please pray, people, I need it right now as does my fam.
And now...

Day: 8...though I've missed logging what, 6 days?
Total Words Written: Haven't finished my writing for the day, but I suppose I should try to get the base down so you get the idea: 6,382
Words Written Today: 548...heh, again, not finished for today. But I got SO much done on Friday, almost 2k, I believe so DON'T JUDGE
Words Left: 38,930 OHMIGOSH GUYS LOOK WHAT
Favorite Line:

            It was the day.

            The morning sprung bright, glistening with dew and the sound of careless birds singing. I woke up in a puddle of drool on my pillow, still half in my uniform and my arm draped over an open textbook. But the grogginess in my eyes soon cleared up.

            “The day!” was all I could think. “The day! The day!”

            As I brushed my teeth and smiled into the mirror, “The day!”

            As I arranged my light travelling cases by the door, “The day!”

            In every sound, in everything I thought or saw or tasted, “The day!” Nothing more excited had ever happened, it seemed. My life before this, truly, was simply the rising action to the climax of today. I felt a rosy flush in my cheeks and a sparkle in my eye. Nothing could compare to this feeling. Nothing.

Be proud of me. I had to spend like a whole day or two this week trying to find out how to get a relationshippy talk not sound like it's a bunch of Jr. Highers. Thankee Abby, for being my writing partner <3

Aloha!

NaNo Log: Day 2

So, again, late at night-ish, I finish my writing for the day. I'm gonna jump on the bandwagon and make a little log template for myself, to keep track more easily.

Day: 2
Total Words Written: 2,414
Words Written Today: 1,229
Words Left: 42,586
Favorite Line:

"A gasp caught in my throat. The sphere, as shown from the scanners, was not a star or other heavenly body, but instead a planet.  

A planet about ninety million miles from the closest star.

A planet with a diameter of about thirteen thousand kilometers.

A planet like Earth."

 

As I'm sure you've noticed (or not, I don't know how attentive you are), I've bumped up my word goal from 30k to 45k. As I was writing, it just seemed like it was going to be very short, and since it's a sci-fi, I wanted to make it a longer story. Of course, there's a chance I'll change the word goal back if I find I won't have enough content to cover it.

I'm equally as stoked with my story today...but not so much with the writing. It's difficult, sometimes, especially in a sci-fi that deals a lot with technological descriptions. Ever read "Citizen of the Galaxy" by Heinlein? There's literally a whole chapter devoted to explaining the delicate inner workings of the space ship and it's culture. It's still my favorite sci-fi, though. So I though an appropriate geeky meme would fit in nicely with this.

If you don't get this, you're dead to me.

Just kidding. If you don't go watch MST3k* right now, you're dead to me.

*Mystery Science Theater 3000

Adios, peeps. Enjoy life and stuff.

 

NaNoWriMo:Genesis

It's here, people.
It's really, truly, finally here.
My first NaNo has begun.

So, I'm gonna attempt to update my log *at least* once a week, if not every day or so. And I'm sure you can tell, since it's 10:00 at night, that I've spent much of my day writing and also my night writing.
And, congrats to me, I've managed to knock off 1,185 words TODAY.
Maybe this isn't impressive to you, but I'm SO proud of myself.

I have to admit, I wasn't that thrilled with my story plan yesterday and the day before. I was actually scared, scared that I wouldn't like it at all as I tried to write it and have to come up with something new very, very quickly.
But after writing today, I'm really in love.
I'm in love with the story.
In love with the characters.
In love with the relationships.
Really, truly, finally in love.

Thanks for reading. I hope I haven't distracted you from your own NaNo and gotten your word goal all off.
Sayonara.

When Inspiration Hits

A few days ago I got a book from the library called The Pocket Muse. I discovered it from my friend Mariesa, and decided to check it out.
Oh boy.
I knew the basic idea of it, and I thought it was pretty cool. Then I read it.
And everything hit.
On every page, a word or a picture speaks to you. In the back of your mind something formulates, no matter how simple the prompt.
It was incredible.
So here's a little story I was inspired to write by this incredible little book. I hope you enjoy a real taste of my writing.

Invisible Voice

He was a nobody.

He was typical, average, unknown.

He sat in the back of the class, speaking to no one, getting good-but-not-perfect grades.

He had bland brown hair and bland grey eyes.

He was invisible. No one knew who he was, nor did they care to find out.

He didn’t seem to care, either.

But at night, he would climb out his window with a black mask and dark clothes to shield him against the shadows.

He would be out, for an hour or so, then come back and fall asleep.

In the morning, somewhere in the city, a bright mural would appear, of a smile, or a person, or a word.

They spoke for him.

His voice seemed invisible.

But it wasn’t.

Well, I hope you enjoyed that incredibly short little story.
Let it be a lesson to you:
When inspiration hits, don't stop it. Don't push it back down.
Do something about it, even if it means getting up in the middle of dinner. (I hope your family understands.)



Creating a World- How to Make Your Setting More Than a Place

Let's look at some of the most beloved stories of all time:
Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit
Eragon
Inkheart
Alice in Wonderland
Fairy tales of all kinds

What do these stories all have that make them classics, to be remembered and read for years to come?
The answer:
The setting.
Sure, there are plenty of good books out there. But often we love them most for the characters, or the story. But one of the most important parts of a good book is the setting.
What these books have is not just a place, not just a cool time.
They have a whole world within their pages.
And I'm here to help you put that in your story, too.

Okay, so I'm not some big giant best-selling author. Not even close, in fact. But I have some experience creating worlds. That was one of my favorite things to do when I was growing up. My older brother and I would sit together and draw maps, with interesting names and stories behind them. Those were the first worlds I ever made.

Ever read Myst? If not, do so NOW. The whole basis of those stories are the worlds, worlds that people write and are able to go into and explore. As a writer, that should be your goal.
My awesome writing buddy Abby and I went to a writing workshop a few weeks ago at the EMP (Experience Music Project) in Seattle. The point of the workshop was the create worlds, characters, and plots for sci-fi/fantasy writing. The teacher was a published author, which was pretty cool :) We had a really good time, I think, and learned a lot. It was awesome talking with other young writers and learning about their worlds and ideas.

I've had a story world that I've been working on for a long time now. It started out just being a story, but then I had so many ideas that it turned into a whole world. I call it Morpheus. So I'll run you through some of the basic ideas for creating a unique and interesting world, and use my own world for examples.

#1: Create a unique custom
You can have a world, sure. It can be really pretty and full of jungles and beaches and oceans. But is it memorable? I think that the best way to create a memorable setting is have one aspect that really stands out. For me, specifically, that is a custom or tradition that the local culture embraces and bases a lot around. In Morpheus, that custom is birth tattoos. For the first week of a Morphean's life, the parents will watch it very closely, and learn about it's personality. They then make a decision on what tattoo the child will have. There is a whole encyclopedia of these birth tattoos. Of course, every tattoo means something different, and there are too many to write here. But another part is the placement of the tattoo. Chest=emotion, jaw=wisdom, shoulder=strength, forearm=ability, and torso=religion. (I'm still working on these, mind you!)
You see now? (Sorry, I kind of went off on that...I'm very passionate about Morpheus :))

#2: Have a landmark or central point
I think this is a very obvious one, and not that difficult to utilize. It's kind of the idea of having a capital city. In LotR, what is an aspect of the world that stands out? The tower of Sauron, of course. It represents the center of the evil empire. Same with, say, the dwarf's mountain. Or the elven palaces. For each state of the LotR world, it has a distinct central point. In Morpheus, that central point in the city Eris, or "the rose of Morpheus." It is the capital city, a bustling hive of activity and politics. However, another central point in the story is the beast's lair. That is the center of the evil, barren side of Morpheus.

#3: Culture, culture, culture
Again, very obvious, and slightly redundant. But IMPORTANT. Taking from LotR, again, and especially the Hobbit, you see a lot of culture which separates each species from another. The dwarves are hard-working metal smiths and miners. This attributes a lot to their culture. You see them as very determined people, never ones to give up. And artisans. Also (umm might be a spoiler) the greed of riches you see in Thorin. Okay, I'm having a hard time explaining this. Sorry. But you get it, right?

#4: Personification
A great way to sum up a culture or world is to personify it in a single character. This is actually a very common practice. In traditional folk lore, the hero is the embodiment of the common people and their goals and dreams. Take Robin Hood, for example. He's the hero, of course, and he is the hero because he cares about the common folk's well being. He is a representative of them. My character Kephas is somewhat of an example of that. He is the son of the mayor of Eris. Eris is beautiful and thriving on the outside, but every rose has it's thorns. Kephas has a connection with the commoners that the other politicians do not. He sees the truth behind the glory of Eris, and knows he has to help the common people. His virtue, as well as any folk hero's, is the virtue of the people. Kephas means "rock" in Greek, and he shows that by being strong-willed and steadfast in his belief.

#5: Tie it in to a known culture
This is incredibly common, if you look hard enough. In the world of Firefly, everything is Asian influenced. In the background you can see Chinese characters, and when the crew swears it's in an Asian language. Inara's clothing and, well, job is highly influenced by this. Her, ahem, companion job is a reflection of the geisha, which is really just a glorified prostitute. The Klingons of Star Trek are also Asian influenced. Look at the modern clothing in Next Gen or DS9. It is very samurai-like. The idea of warrior's honor is similar, as well as the hand-held swords and other weapons the Klingons use. Morpheus is very Grecian in it's culture. The characters all have Greek names, the definitions of which fit carefully into their personality. (See Kephas above.)

Thank you for reading! I hope this helped and inspired you to create a new world for your characters and readers to live in. Feel free to post your own worlds and ideas, as well as any comments on what you think makes a good world.

Picard out.

Meet the Family (or just the cat)

So, this is my cat, Luna. My friend, my child, my love. Or maybe frenemy would be a better way to describe our relationship. That day when I saw her picture on the PAWS website was the first day of the end of my life. You can probably guess what we were thinking when we saw her. "Just look at her! So incredibly beautiful, funny, sweet. The most incredible soft gray coat and golden coin eyes. What a perfect cat!"
And then we brought her home. That's when the "fun" began.
She had been a stray, of course, and was actually only about a year old when we got her, though the shelter told us she was about two years old.
I, of course, wanted a cuddly cat who would curl up next to me on the couch as I read and sipped tea. Ah, such fantasies. Ah, such ignorance.
We soon discovered her true nature. If we tried to pick her up or touch her, she would hiss, scratch, and run away. She was paranoid and afraid of everything, quite a contrast to her mean-ness. She wouldn't eat like a normal cat; instead of eating a little of what's in the bowl and leaving the rest for later, she always gobbled down everything. She had gained ten pounds after the first week. It was really hard, those first weeks, and we weren't sure what to do with her.
But we pushed through it.
Okay, so I'm writing this like it's some sort of redemption story. It's really, really not. She still does all those things.
But I love her more than anything. She's a little better at tolerating our love, now. We feed her hardly a scoop of food a day; she's a little chubby but not too bad.
She's also absolutely hilarious.
That's mostly because of her paranoia, I think. She'll come around the corner, stare at us, and if we make one step toward her, she makes a funny little grunt and takes off to the other side of the house. If I try to pick her up or pet her, she get's very vengeful. I'll walk away and she'll literally be on my heels, attacking my legs and feet. Or she'll wait, and then run across the room to jump up on the chair nearest to me, her paws hanging off the edge and her eyes wild.

But sometimes she's sweet.
She follows me around the house. I'll move from one room to another as I work on school; not a minute later I'll hear little paws beating the wood and she'll appear in the doorway. She often will climb up next to me (not too close, mind you) and fall asleep. She's absolutely obsessed with peanut butter and popcorn.
If I make peanut butter toast, she can hear the jar being opened. She'll run into the room meowing and purring, then she'll jump up on the table in the kitchen, come to the edge, and sit meowing and looking at me with those big old eyes. When I bring the knife over, I hold it above her head so she jumps up, puts her paws on my chest, and stands there licking the peanut butter. That's when I pet her ridiculously soft belly :) Or when I have popcorn. She'll come up right in my face when I'm sitting on the couch. Then she'll wait for me to get a piece of popcorn, and try to paw it from my hand. It's quite adorable.

Gosh, I love her so much. I used to have awful panic attacks when she was outside. I worried so much about her not coming back that we stopped letting her out at all.

(My little brother. I'll write about him soon.)

Luna really means a lot to me. I talk to her a lot, and she just sits there staring at me with those beautiful eyes. Then she usually bites me or scratches me. But nonetheless, I really do love her.

I hope you enjoyed learning about my cat! She really has quite a personality. Which means she has many nicknames...:Luna-Tuna, Loons-Toons, Loony Lovegood, Luna-Luna, Draco Malfoy (their personalities are very similar, yes? Mean on the outside but wimpy on the inside. As well as being beautiful <3)
Thanks for reading!

How to Get Inspiration When Everything is Boring

The scenario:
You've just heard about a great novel writing contest. Or it's October and you want to do NaNoWriMo next month.
So you sit down at the table with a notebook, a pencil, and your laptop.
You arrange your fingers on the keys, ready to type, and...
Nothing.

This is, sadly, a very common situation. I've run into it myself more than once. There's something about the excitement, the pressure, of a deadline that makes your brain go absolutely blank.
And how the heck do we get past this?
Here I'll list a few of my favorites techniques, guaranteed-not-guaranteed to get you writing in an hour. (It's worked for me, but hey, you ain't me, are ya?)

Tip #1: Get your jam on.
This is my favorite. Music is incredibly inspiring, whether it's the words or the feels.
Take some time. Go to Spotify, pick out some music, (either old favorites or a new atmosphere playlist) and close your eyes. Pay attention to how it makes you think or feel. Listen to the words; they tell a story.
Inspired yet?

Tip #2: Take a long drive.
This has always worked for me, even if I'm not looking for story inspiration. It doesn't even have to be a long car ride, it can be ten minutes long. (It does help to have music on as well, but is not required). Look out the window. Take in the scenery. People watch. My grandparents live out in the country, and I absolutely love the 2 hour long drive it takes to get there. You can see the leaning old barns, and the cute country houses with the white railing and big porch. You can see the dense forests, full of mystery.
I think there's something about driving that works really well for getting the creative juices flowing. The constantly changing pictures out the window? Perhaps. When everything moves at high speeds you have to stop nitpicking and look at it as a whole.

Tip #3: Word doodle.
By this, I'm not telling you to shut up and write. What I mean, is, keep a journal by you at all times. When utilizing the other tips, what I most often get is a phrase, or an idea, that sticks. Write it down. The shorter, the better. Take the name of a song, or a band, write it down. Think up a cool title and base everything on the feel of it. Sometimes you can just...imagine. You'll get this when it happens for the first time.
Lemme show you what I mean. Here's the current notes I have on my phone:

Indigo Shadow

Make Believe Kings

Auctioned off our memories

Bottled emotions, memories, etc.

Flickering between times

Mirrored maze

Mirror balcony

Introduce the common cold to aliens

Uncertain Days

Jack Frost + the other seasons...The Season of Discord

 

You get it better, now? This is my main source of ideas, of inspiration. Try it sometime.

(P.S. Try not to steal these. But, hey, if they inspire you to come up with something NOT too similar, feel free to use that. We're creative, right?)