The troops in my WIP explaned (The first mages)

I see all kinds of challenges on instagram but because of the way I creat content on there I rarely join them.

So I though why not do them here? 

I've seen "How similar is your wip to mine". This post is inspired by it.

Let's get this started! 

I am writing a high fantasy thrilogy. And by that I mean I am writing a magical three book series about saving the world. 

Low magig system, which means the usage of magic is significantly little. The people in my world aren't using magic in their everyday life. 

Disaster kids group. You probably know this one. People with mutual tragic backstory. Sad kids becoming friends and fighting together. Helping each other, letting other help them both emotionaly and physically. 

The ghosts of the past. A past even which a character has not overcome. 

Semi-heavy world building. I have a little island-country and a few boundaries set. A faint idea of the country's place in the world and a number of cities and their places on the map and society. 

This is about as much as I can give you without spoiling. I very much hate ruining the experiance for people so I think I'll cut it short. 

A little something to wrap it up.

I've been working on this wip for four years now. To be correct different versions of the book. I don't have any of the original writing. It got lost in editing.

I hold it very close to my heart. It's like second home. I do plan on finishing it at last. If not this year then the next one.

It’s the only thing I'm working on at the moment. I have the second book in the original language I started it and the English version to switch to. 

I can not wait to have more of it translated so I can finally talk about it freely! 

Next post will be "My characters as writers". Stay tuned!

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Let's talk about the bro/sis conflict

As of today a stranger on the Internet thinks they can argue with me.

There was a post with the most cliche quotes and the person mention that siblings calling each other bro/sis is unrealistic and cringe.

For most it is but not for everyone. And I said that in the comments. Usually siblings come and even though they don't agree they understand that there is no right way to be siblings. 

But today was different.

This person's argument was that neighter they nor anyone around them who have siblings do that. 

And so I explaned that me and my sister do. Just the translation of what we use is incorrect. Because there's no such word in English. 

This person was like: "But we're talking bout English so you proved the point". 

Feel the facepalm please. 

Honey, just because in our language it's different doesn't eliminate what I said.

What me and my sister are saying to each other is variation of sister. We have words for older and younger sister. And if you translate our conversations to English we are still calling each other "sister".

Use that head on your shoulders to think. You can not tell me, a sibling who is calling their sibling with variation of sister that still means sister, that she is wrong.

I stopped it there. The person kept on going and even said that they never said it's wrong. But again "we're talking about English you proved the point". 

For me there's no point on going with the conversation after this. If you have anything to add I'm completely fine with this but don't say that siblings don't do that. 

Again, there's no ultimate way to be a sibling.

I'm not saying it's common. I'm not saying you should use it all the damn time.

I just want you to understand that "no siblings do that" is wrong. And if your characters do it, that's fine. 

My advice is write based on your experiance. And if you don't have that experiance ask someone that does. Go on forums and ask people with that experiance. Don't build your characters over one person's opinion. 

I don't wanna go too deep on this topic. 

I've experianced a lot of different sibling relationships with my family so I may write a post on that.

Bby bbies

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Me as a reader

I just finish Falling for Rachel, had a cup of water and a thought.

Before I give you a review I thought that I should explane my connection with reading as a whole.

After I was thought to read I really enjoyed it. I loved it and I read a lot. I even made my parents stop the car on vacation because I saw a book about wolves. Long story short they got me the book and I made myself sick by reading it in the car. 

After this happy childhood moments the presure begin. You know how everyone always tell you that you have to read? Get good grades? Yeah, that's what took the joy away.

I stopped reading.

I was a child who already liked reading. Why was it needed to tell me that it's important? Honestly that pisses me off. And I can see history repeat itself with my cousin. She loves reading and I can feel this being ruined for her by the same person who ruined it for me. 

I was not enjoying books for years. I didn't want to read. I honestly didn't.

I went trough most of school reading only what was needed for me to learn and go forward in the system. 

What came next? I was introduced to Wattpad. I started writing. It was match made in heaven. Finally enjoying something again. 

It didn't last for too long though. I was going through articles and can you guess what they all said? You should be reading if you want to call yourself a writer. This makes me sick, I can't stress this enough.

It’s toxic at this point. 

I started hating it at this point because everyone repeated the same thing. It's important. You need to read, you need to study, you need good grades.

Here ypu have it, I have hard time sitting to write.

I'm not saying the community is bad. It just repeats itself to a point where it gets annoying and the exact opposite of helpful.

And maybe I am at fault for ever going that deep. Maybe I shouldn't have read so many articles. I probably would've finished with The first mages now.

The turning post came when Bethany Meyer asked for beta readers. You should know her very well. I've mentioned her in so many posts. 

I was wondering if I should volunteer or not and if Bethany hadn't tagged me I honestly would've missed out on so much. 

Accident or not it was the little push I needed.

I read Robbin Centaurs and other bad ideas in the last days of my deadline. I sprinted through the book from both the presure and the engagement in the story. 

Not only is it a great book but it send me back to my childhood. To that fun times where I was reading about the wolves and imagining having a little baby wolf as a pet. And I repeat. Fun times. Tell this to kids. How fun it is to get a book and basicly teleport in someone else's world. Learn something new. 

I will admit I didn't read a ton of books after that but I now have one more book behind my back. And I plan on readkng a lot more cause damn was that fun. 

Read because you want to and because you enjoy it. 

See you in the Falling for Rachel review. Spoiler free <3

Tell me what's your story with reading?

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Talking about my horror addiction

Another post where I'll do anything but admit that I have a problem. Next time I'm gonna talk about how fucked up my sleep schedule is!

So. Horror. Getting scared, and spooked out of your mind.

I've noticed this for a while but I'm gonna tell you how it progressed and why I think it is what it is.

So for a very long time I was obsessed with the idea of horror but dared not commit it myself. I had a list of movies. Both clasics and new gems that I wouldn't dare even think to start.

Ones I did start it though... I just kept on going. I still have a few that I haven't watched. Mainly because I have too much assignments to complete.

It happened on new year's eve a few years back. Me and my bff were gonna celebrate together so we decided to watch horror movies.

And because I didn't want to look like a weakling I put up with the horror.

Now my admiration for the genre has reached a new level.

The story repeated with The Texas chainsaw massacre. For the longest time I would not watch it. I was afraid. It is famous for as one of the best horror movies and I dare say of all time too. And all that "being banned in some countries". The reputation the movie has is much scarier than the movie itself but I still loved it and hold it as a favourite.

If you, like me, are scared of watching it, just do it. Believe me, it's worth it.

Now that I'm done advertising let's get real.

What both stories have in common is overcoming an obsticle. It gives me a feeling of victory. I believe this is one of the things that makes me come back to horror movies.

Another thing that I believe has more presure is the pure feeling of horror.

In a way it's relaxing. You get scared, you might scream a little. That's fine. Now you've expressed what you felt, and probably released some tention that was building up.

Being the person I am there's a lot of shit stacking constantly.

Horror movies help me to release that.

This is also why I like to watch horror by myself. With a company it's always less scary.

If I were to reccomend anything The Texas chainsaw massacre is on the top of the list. After that I'm not sure what to put. Maybe The girl from the photograph? It's more of psychological horror. As my sister said it's not a fantasy. This can legit happen. And that's what makes it scary.

Of course these are just what I could think of at the moment. With some more time ai can put together a great list. Call it "Sal's nightmares" and put it out there for people to enjoy.

Now let's wrap it up.

This is why I think I'm watching horror. Of course I'm not pushing against my will. I do enjoy tve movies. Maybe a little too much.

Get scared and see ya in the next one. Bby <3

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How I got my pen name

Writing this exclusivly because I got asked about it on instagram.

If you were wondering about it you can thank Bethany Meyer (a.k.a Scribbledfiction) for that. 

Saline Necrowood Stone is a pen name. If you thought it's my real name I'd be flattered.

I got Saline from a name generator. It connected it with water in some way. I don't remember. I just like the name. It gives me fantasy vibes. 

I do love horror but there's something about the fantasy genre that makes me feel free. It's the opportunity to creat anything and everything and still be right about it in your own world. You can't say I'm wrong it's my own rules. 

I made a short research though. Turns out Saline is more common as last name.

Now Necrowood connects to my slasher side. It gives me spooky vibes. I have no idea what it means. I saw it, my brain went "ooooh spoooooky" so I put it there in the mix as well. 

And Stone? It just flows nicely. 

I really didn't put that much thought into it as you can see. I didn't want to put too much into. 

I think I've been with this name for two years now and it's growing on me nicely. 

It feels like home when I think about it. At this point I believe that if you shout Saline I'll turn around even though no one has ever referred to me like that in person.

This is the story behind my nickname. And since I mentioned it I'll have to talk about my horror addiction soon.

Thank you for sticking till the end. I do apriciate it. 

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My crazy plan

If you know me for a while you will know that every now and then I'll come up with a crazy idea... That I eventually will give up on.

Today I'm gonna talk about the new insane thing that came to my mind.

Since I'm drowning in uni assingmnets but want to show off my insanity here's what I'm gonna do.

Speedrun uni work for 6 days and then speedrun NaNo for 7.

What ya think?

In all seriousnes I'm going to try this 😂 I've pulled off crazy shit before, why not do it now too?

For this to happen I will go on a semi-log off. I usually try to interact with people I like but for this to happen I will not do that till the end of November.

I did not suddenly stop liking you, I'm just stupid. I will still reply and upload but won't seek the connection.

If you ever text me during November note that I will try and use you as a procrastination tool 😂

And this probably will continue after NaNo. I want to change my habits and become more productive. I scroll pointlessly too much. And I don't like that.

It’s been on my mind for a while. It's just that I got inspired to really do it now.

So yeah. Productive Saline on the horizon!

I'm also lowkey freaking out for my December session. We're learning shit, I don't know how I'm gonna pull this off.

I might do a post with my goals just for the sake of posting something.

Bby

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Unus Annus

If you don't know what this means and your turning to the translator I will stop you right now.

It means "One year". But not only that. Unus Annus was a channel that Mark (markiplier) and Ethan (crankgameplays) created and deleted after a year. They uploaded daily for an entire year. Didn't miss a day.

I've watched all the videos and was there for the last two hours of their live stream. 

The lesson was to be there in the moment because one day you might be sorry that you were not. Like this channel. If you were not there when it happened you can't go and watch the videos now. They are all gone.

But that's not the point of this 😂 I wanted to talk about the channel for a moment because it was something special. That had a point. It was created to be deleted. 

A lot of people got the idea of it and I did as well. I know what they did. I was there and watched it develope. But. I still haven't felt it. Like you know how an advice hits different when you feel what it's like? That's what I mean.

And the thing is, I won't feel it until I try it. So I will try it. 

Memento mori. Unus annus.

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I broke a promise

I ones became obsessed with outlining and so I tried planing my WIP.

I made lists, figured out plot points, connected different events. I went all in on that detective roll.

I later scrapped all that with one dialogue line. But that's not the point of this post. 

One of the lists that I made was "Immune characters" this means characters that will survive the series. It included the four MCs and one secondary character (mainly because they already died ones).

I never thought that when the plot burned down that this list will also go to ashes.

The character at the top of the list. The one that was supposed to be immortal, never go ill, or face harm. The one that ones was immune to my touch is now going to die.

My readers will be in tears if they read this. And I'm sure they'll try to deny it. I know I'm not mentioning names and gender but they will know who I'm talking about. 

There will be another death before this one but still. I will be crying as well for that character.

I send a screenshot to one of them and the reaction was, I quote "NO! YOU'RE EVIL! BAD! YOU NO TOUTCH THE BEBÉS!"

I hate to break it to you, but yes. I touch bebés, and I toutch bad. 

What is something you never thought you will write? 

Till next time hammer-on and jam along! 

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Talking about my coffee addiction

If you're one of the few people that view my story you know that I drink a lot of coffee. And today I'm going to tell you about how I got here.

It all started when I was a little menace, standing there menacingly. My grandma was watching over me that one time, left her coffee on the sink and made the mistake of leaving me alone in the room. And what did Sal do? Oh, let me tell ya. She grabbed a chair, grabbed that thing and dragged it on the floor creating a high pitched sound of true terror that could make your ears bleed. Then climbed up to sink level and took the cup in her hands. And then? Saline downed the whole thing in one go. Yup.

Then she returned everything to its original place and continued with her things as if there wasn't a dose of caffeine energizing her entire living.

Grandma came back, noticed her drink is gone and knew exactly what happened. It is not that hard to put two and two together. In this case a kid that has a hard time staying still and an empty cup of coffee that was full ten minutes ago. 

This is the start of the journey. 

I've been told by my mother that I used to go around the table and try everyone's coffee. I don't remember this clearly but I do recall something like that.

And just to be clear. I didn't start drinking coffee from a young age. Those were the two single things that had happened.

I actually started drinking coffee at 15. Me and my mom were making each other nescafe. This is what I liked for a solid year and I was not functioning on four cups a day. I was drinking coffee every other week. Which is the reasonable way of consuming coffee. But erm... I'm not really the sane kind of person.

One day I just upgraded to clear dark coffee and since then I've been sinking deeper and deeper. Titanic met an iceberg.

And still. No four cups daily. Surprisingly I was still reasonable and drank coffee only on the weekends when I was visiting my grandma. (not the one that left me alone with a cup of coffee on the sink)

This became a thing after I started university this October. 

Now I feel the need to say this. I am not really addicted. I drink coffee when I feel like it. It's not a love-hate relationship. Some may be surprised but I like the taste of coffee. Biter is kinda my thing.

Recently I've been drinking so much coffee because I want to. Not because I feel the need to. There's a fine line between addiction and normal want that I believe I still haven't crossed.

So tell me, what is your addiction?

Till next time hammer-on and jsm along!

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My November goal (+list)

I will not be joining NaNoWriMo. So sad, I know. But I still want to progress in a way.

So I collected a list of things to work on doing November. Now most of those I wrote with my WIP in mind so they might be a little too spesicif.

They are not ment to be followed day by day. There are 34 points and there's no month with that much days.

If you want to join me do which ever point you feel like. If you feel like you need more work on a spesific point you can do it as many times as you like.

1. What are you excited to write in the story?

2. Which character do you like writing? Why do you think is that?

3. Which character do you dislike writing? Why?

4. Add something to make them more enjoyable.

5. Brainstorm plot points.

6. Polish characters.

7. Relationship net.

8. Connect plot points and ideas.

9. Come up with different ending. See which one makes more sense.

10. Scetch the dull characters.

11. Scetch whatever connected to the story.

12. Write a post only for that wip.

13. Talk with someone about it.

14. Write a letter to yourself about the wip as if you were explaning it to a stranger.

15. Write a cute scenario with the characters.

16. Them losing someone they love (no matter what the love is)

17. Casual scenario.

18. Late night hang-out.

19. How they express love.

20. Their fighting style.

21. Short summery of the scene you're stuck on.

22. Now either write it or make it interesting to write.

23. Explane how they get along with the other characters.

24. Their story of how they met if it's not explaned in the story already.

25. Their roles.

26. What will go wrong?

27. Who is the strongest character and why? Write an example for both physical and mental strenght.

28. Now what are their weak traits.

29. Who is the weakest character and why? Again write examples for physical and mental strenght.

30. What are their strong traits.

31. Who is the most disliked by the others?

32. Their arc in the story.

33. Who's most liked by the others.

34. Their arc.

That's for now. I'm gonna update you on how I've been doing soon.

Till next time hammer-on and Jam along!

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The magnifying glass

If you follow my instagram activity you'll know what I'm talking about.

Recently I mentioned that it was gifted to me with a joke and today I'm going to tell you what it is.

Before I started wearing glasses (I have astigmatism, low percent) I always kept the phone close to my eyes. My grandpa started joking that he was gonna get me a magnifying glass so that I don't look at the screen this close. To make it even better my writing is really tiny. So the magnifying glass would be needed for two things.

I really took it only as a joke but I guess he sensed that and took it as a personal challenge to make it real. 

Next week when I come for the weekend he hands me that magnifying glass.

Since that moment it has taken some damage on the glass and the base, but it's still usable and in one piece.

This has become a bitter sweet memory with a pain on the heart.

No hammer-on this time, stay safe and get at least two opinions on your health.

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My WIPs

I started university and have a shit load of assingments to do so let me procrastinate with this post XD.

Today I will introduce you to my wips. In other words tell you how many drafts I have started and get emberassed about it later. 

Here we go!

1. Newfound Myght 

Status: Not started

-Of course, starting with the main wip. 

Newfound Myght (English edition) is the first book in "The first mages" series. If you follow my blog you know how much this book and the characters in it mean to me.

Here I introduce you to Sarah and her friends. Their journey of reconnecting begins. And while they try to clean the rust off of their friendship they also try to understand a deadly illness that is killing mages. This illness is caused by mages they call "Spell thiefs". They don’t know who these mages are, and they also don't know how to save the ones who are slowly dying. All of this while fighting off demons, who're trying to gain access to the magic portal. 

2. New era 

Status: Draft

-New era is the second book in "The first mages" series. While the first book was about reconnecting with old friends and resolving their problem this book is about finding this friends and fighting a war of magic. While they were trying to solve one problem another was hiding in the shadows and broke them apart. Now the few that are left have to rebuild what was broken and prepare for the big fight which will give the mages power over the demons. Or maybe the demons will take over and enslave all that walks, breaths, and talks.

3. Tales of broken kids

Status: Draft

-Tales of broken kids tells us stories about The first mages. Sarah's years undercover, how Bary got to Mandoned, and how the Heil brothers got to where they are. This book might be perfectly useless but I do have fun telling stories that otherwise would've been only a side info. 

4. The healer, the hunter, and the mesmerist

Status: Draft

-Book one in "Lost magic". The magic, the world around it, and the people affected by it had been gone for so long that the stories about them are just legends almost forgotton in the modern world. There are a few that know the stories. And they're all part of the magic. Recently it's making it's way back into the world. The creatures are being born again, brought back to life by this old era. And the responsibility to find balance with the new changes falls on the shoulders of three strangers. Their problem? They have hard time becoming friends with each other. 

5. Pray with E

Status: Draft

-A standalone (hopefully) where the predator (the Devil himself) plays with his prey for the first time. His favourite victim slowly becomes the person who knows the most about him and the only one he's comfortable with sharing what his life before becoming the Devil was like.

While he slowly accepts that he will never be able to kill Prey her hope for life slowly fades away.

6. Raffael and the red wolf

Status: Draft

-As the title says this is a book about Raffael and his red wolf. If he had a choice he would've had a dog. But he broke a law. Him and Wolf both used forbidden magic, which leaves a permanent mark. To escape a death sentense Raffael takes the wolf and runs away.

Now what did we find out? That I have a problem XD.

How many wips do you have? And what are they about?

Till next time Hammer-on and Jam along! 

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I made some changes...

Sooo... I made some changes.

I will no longer post tips, or maybe just not focuse on this niche of the blogging community. Bethany Meyer explaned it better than I ever will so go check her post on the topic.

Long story short I don't think I know enough to give tips and it's overwhelming.

But, I will continue postin my opinion, real life stories, and short stories. These are much more fun to write and I will no longer be ashamed that I have more of them than I have tips drafted in posts.

Another thing I'm considering. I don't read writing tips on daily bases but I do my research from time to time. I can either assemble a post from what I've learned or tell you a story about how I got in the research hole, give links to good articles and hopefully make you laugh along the way.

Also reading and writing logs! Either monthly or when I am like "Damn, it's been a while. Better rant about what I read/wrote."

I've also tweeted a lot of funny/meme-ish scenarios about my WIP? Meme posts? Am I too cheeky? HahahaAhahAHaHAHAHA I HOPE NOT!

I have a blog post in mind. Basicly ranting about what I did as an amature and why I'll avoid genuenly good tips to get back in this energized amature state.

Anyways, thank you for making it this far, I hope you like the changes I make and stick around for the new era of this blog.

Till next time hammer-on and jam along!

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Why I don't write with pen and paper

          The short answer is because it's simply not for me.

     The long answer has a story.

          Ones upon a time I was a writer happy writing on her phone.

     And ones upon a time my sister was like "Hey, why don't you write on paper? It's easier for me, you also won't damage your eyes as much."

     So I dug up that old notebook I thought would fit the job. I wrote six chapters there. SIX CHAPTERS. It was all fun and all until I had to write all of that in digital format. Let me tell ya, I was exhausted after this. After only one chapter. Don't ask me how I handled the other ones.

          Anyways. It's been years since this happened. I now have that same notebook infront of me. I will write short stories in it. Everything that won't be a chapter and is just a practice will be written in this notebook.

          If it's not for you, if you don't feel it will work. Don't force it. Do what feels right to you. 

     If you like the idea and wanna try it go for it. 

          Alright amazing creatures. Till next time Hammer-on and jam along.

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The series that thaught me everything in my writing

          "The first mages" was originally the name of just the first book then, later on, became the name of the series and the first book got renamed to "Newfound might". Probably will be renamed when I start translating or writing it in English.

          With The first mages, when it was still just one book, I learned not to let people's opinions get to me. When my classmates found out I'm thinking of writing a story they laughed. We were really young all it took was one kid to start making fun of me and all would follow. At that moment I gave up before even starting. I didn't think of writing for a long time. Not until my literature teacher made us write a short story for whatever. Now I didn't write this short story on The first mages but it was enough to show me what writing really should be. A joy that only the power of words can give you. 

        After getting back home that day I started writing my first book which later became my first series.

          This book taught me that I'm not a writer who can easily write stand-alones. After getting towards the end and feeling that need to write more for this story I should've known. Just when I started thinking it will end after the second book an idea for a third one came to mind. And so on.

        I learned I am not a planner. Making a complicated plotline, thinking of every little detail isn't my type of plotting. I prefer to write a simple short story and let the details come on their own. This is also something that changed lately. I am not making extremely complicated plots, I just want to do this little bit of plotting to make my books cleaner, easier to edit, and that little bit more interesting.

          With it now being a series I learned never to write two books from the same series at the same time. And of course, this rule applies to sequels. If the book is with events that happen after the first one you are gonna want to finish that piece before starting the next one. My character should've been with her magic eyes already stuck onto her but no, I had to multitask the wrong thing. Of course, I didn't leave it like that but I'll talk about this in a second.

          This series also showed me the painful beauty of rewriting. Almost finished with the second book I decided to go back and change it all. add more details, fix plot holes, and all of that just to realize I want to rewrite the whole thing after finishing the third book. I am currently in the process of rewriting the second book. The first edited draft was written in a childish style. I will forever love it but I gotta move on from it and give myself space to grow around a more complicated plot with better pacing and character arcs.

          I also learn how to write in English with The first mages series or at least the prequel of it Tails of broken kids. It's the new aspect of writing I'm excited to explore. It gives me this beginner feeling and motivation that I had writing the first book of the series back at the end of 2016.

          The series has one more thing to teach me. Either translating or rewriting in English. I am this close to finishing the second book and moving on the third. After this, I have only one book to write in Bulgarian and it's (hopefully) my first stand-alone.

          The first mages series is my ultimate journey, it will forever stay my favorite and I will never stop loving it. Sarah is the character closest to me. My first character. I knew her name and personality before even writing the first chapter. I still remembered her name when I wrote that short story for literature class. Her story and relationships have changed a lot. She first had a loving family and now I seriously don't know how she is keeping her shit together. She taught me how to flaw my characters and make them grow.

    

    

          Thank you so much for reading this post and getting to this point. It truly means a lot to me. Till next time hammer-on and jam along.

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A pantser's take on plotting

        Being the usual 'figure out the story as I go' type I never clicked with any plot methods. I tried basic structures, some messy planning I came up with, and the Three act one I didn't even bother with. For the three years, I've been writing (four years anniversary this December) I have given plotting only so many chances. To be honest it probably failed because I didn't try it for real.

        I tried plotting because every blog post I ever read said "Only start writing the story when you have the plot figured out". It was until late in my writing experience that the inclusive inspirational posts for pantsers started to pop out.

        This affected the young me. I can assure you the exact moment writing stopped being so easy was when I started reading writerly articles.

        Now I am not giving another chance to plotting because of a writer I adore or I just decided I will try it. The two reasons are my obsession with Supernatural and the Paranormal Activity movies. This shit connected as fuck!

        So after I decided to try plotting I didn't turn to articles this time. Instead around this same time, writerthreats on Instagram had started to do online courses. So I signed up, they reached out, we had a little chat, and now I am writing this blog post.

        What we talked about and what ideas I had after the talk is for another post.

        One of the things we went over was writing a summary of your chapter to avoid plot holes. I do the same shit but before writing the chapter. It is an easier start into the writing session and the three of us agreed on it.

        So I started thinking why is that?

        The longer you hold something in, a thought, an emotion, the heavier it gets. And so the longer you have this idea in your mind the harder it gets. Writing two-three sentences of what should happen in this chapter gets the thought out and before your eyes. So now you're no longer just thinking of it. It's out in the open, you see it and now you can start working on it with ease.

        Following this same chain of thoughts, writing never gets overwhelming. Our heads just get full of ideas. The craft stays the same, what changes are the number of tools you have on your belt. And you have no idea which one to use first.

        I don't know what to think of first and that annoys me. Because there are a ton of things that should happen before the end, I know where I should stop but I also want to include a few sub conflicts to make them blend with the third book smoother, but I also should be writing because otherwise, I will never finish this second book, but wasn't knowing the end supposed to make it easier?

        Are you understanding what I'm trying to say? Is it overwhelming? It should be.

        This kind of thinking is what I feel like is my main problem when it comes to the keyboard and writing in words in that empty document. It all stacks on me and by the time I start writing it's already too much. So I pull away from the laptop, minimize the window and play yet another horror movie, get scared, and release all that stress I've been holding in.

        And then I get no writing done, I beat myself up, and feel like shit for both not writing and beating myself up.

        This is not healthy. And it wasn't until Mel Robbins posted this video about how her morning routine failed that I started to take it easy on myself. This happened right before I took a week off social media. Sort of.

        Let me tell you something. This week off I wrote almost every day. It wasn't easy but it also wasn't as bad as it ones was. I used to really not want to write. I would get sick thinking about turning on the laptop. Lately, it's still hard to start and even continue writing but now I want to keep doing it. Not because I have a word count to fulfill or a goal to accomplish. I have a story I kinda want to write and show to people.

        I've settled for this plotting idea. It won't be anything extremely detailed or complicated. Just something simple for a person who won't stick to her own rules and probably change her mind a hundred times. A.K.A. me and Brian.

        Anyways, thanks for stopping by. Until next time hammer-on and jam along!

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I accidentaly cut a toxic person out of my life

     Here's the backstory.

     I am posting my story in Bulgarian on Wattpad (currently not). I had written ahead and asked if people would be interested to read and not wait. Except my best friend two dudes wanted to join so I made a group. Every Sunday I'd send them everything I've written for the past week.

     Now what happened to make one of the guys leave had nothing to do with my work.

     The kid is easily annoyed, has close to no chill unless you catch him in mood. And he's never in good mood.

     You know messanger added a new feature. More of the love themed emojies would float and I was gushing over it in the chat. He started to type in repetedly "Stop" and of course I wouldn't stop, this is the cutest thing I've seen in a while.

     He threatened to leave the group. Just after that the other boy whined because his emojies wouldn't float. So I made a screan record in the chat to show him. Meanwhile whiny dude probably thought he is the shit around town and made a scene of leaving the chat.

     Believe me when I tell you I physicly laughed at my screen. Huge weight fell of my chest and now this chat is one of my favourite places.

     I didn't contact the guy who left and I will not. Even if he wants to get back in the group I am not adding him again. It's now a sacred place I do not want to ruin.

     My whole point with this post is to not repeat to you "Cut toxic people from your life". I'm sure you understand why this is important but it doesn't connect with you on a deep level.

     I didn't feel the meaning of this until after I was no longer in contact with this dude. I've thought of this before and I will say it.

     The best advice in the world will mean nothing to you until you experience it yourself.

     So don't just read advice. Try to see why it is adviced.

     I did it by incident and now I have a safe space for myself.

     Till next time Hammer-on and jam along!

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Rotten mind

    Furious screams echoed from the first floor. It was calm just a second ago. What changed? Ah, yes. The older sister got home. Poor girl, she never got her rest. Never kept quiet like her younger copy. It's not fair that she gets away just because she never speaks up. And when she does never continues the arguments.

    But she doesn't have it easy as well. She wants to be strong and independent, to protect herself. When the time comes she just looks at the ground, focuses on her own breathing, and isolates herself in a space where she should be safe. She never is. Her family's negativity stacks along with her helplessness, it rots her insides, spoils her head, and makes her cry for no reason.

    A trait or a flaw?

    When both negative and positive get compared it always turns out to be a flaw. And the young girl knows that. It's more than clear for her that this state she is stuck in is not healthy. Still, there never is enough strength, power, and confidence to break out of this cycle.

    And so she continues listening to the argument from the floor below. It gets heated. You could easily recognize tears in her mother's voice.

    Of course, she thinks it's her fault. Who's else would it be? Her sister was traveling today because of her, she got frustrated because it's her day off. And so, she was a little spiky on the phone when their mother called. If they had stayed home if the younger sibling had gone on her own. But, no. She couldn't travel alone. Her insecurity and anxiety are too strong. She had to be held by the hand her whole life.

    Some times she considers that she isn't the only one to blame. That she didn't raise herself there might be other reasons for the ways she is. Then she remembers it's all her own choices. She chose her life to this point. She has to choose better if she wants things to be better.

    Her head may rot down but at least her family will get this little bit happier... right?

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What I want to change

     Recently I've been feeling oppressed. Not only from what's going on in the world. Huge part is just my personal life. The world's crazyness just puts more weight on.

     I no longer love Twitter like I used to, don't even want to open Instagram anymore. Facebook I don't care about at all.

     To make things a little lighter for me I put to practice the mentality of "Don't open it if you're not going to creat" basicly don't log in social media if I'm not going to put some kind of content there.

     I want to get back my safe space and create more productive habbit for myself.

     I will be uploading weekly here, and on Wattpad. The book's "Take my soul back" basicly a summer of my week. What I've been up to, some hilights of what I've accomplished. Whether it's writing related or not.

I don't really have much more to say so see ya on Sunday. Till next time Hammer-on and jam along.

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How I started hating tomatos

     It started a couple of years ago. I don't know what happened, what influenced me at the time but one day I just didn't feel like eating tomatos. The other day as well, and so on. At some point I just decided that I hate them and that was it.

     It had been months since I started hating tomatos and the doubt came along side my family's "You ate tomatos just yesterday!". No aunty, I ate tomatos just six months ago!

     It just so happened that all my doubts were erased that same night.

     I was doing something on my phone and my sister gave me a cucember to eat. But there was this little piece of tomato on the fork as well. I didn't see it.

     The moment I ate it I made a face that I could only guess was the most ridiculous one I can pull off. My sister started laughing and saying "I'm sorry" and I could only wonder "What did I just eat?!"

     I was sure I hate tomatos after that night.

     This is how I started hating tomatos and all I have for this post. Untill next time hammer-on and Jam along!

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If you feel presured by the community this will help!

          I really want to talk about this cause I don't think it's been said enough.

We all go around and read blog posts when we wanna kill some time and feel productive. We read tips, we flap through some more posts and we find ourselves reading the same tips. It's ok, some tips repeat because they work and are helpful.

        But!

        It's not always the case.

        I am not a plotter and I'm sure people like me will relate when I say that either annoys you or depresses you when you read this: "You have to have your book planned before writing it!".

        You shouldn't follow this advice to do your writing right! I'll even format it as a quote just to be more clear.

You shouldn't follow advices to do your writing right!

          It is an advice for a reason. Advice or tip it doesn't matter, you can either follow it or go about your day without it. Those are the two paths! And because I am me I am experimenting and finding another way. Don't do that if you get frustrated easily.

        I can joke around all day but this won't change my point. Your way is valid no matter what it is. If it works for you it's right. Everything else is someone else's experience. Have your experience with an advice and if it doesn't work for you it's ok.

        A lot of people talk like their way its the only truth under the sun and for them it is. They go on to talk about why it works and you're just like "Yeah, sounds about right". And then when it doesn't work for you you think you did it all wrong.

        You didn't. This way is just not for you. Find your way and tell people about it. Skip everything that doesn't sound right for you.

        A bit short this Monday but I really wanted to share this because I need to hear it myself. Telling it to others is just easier.

          So this is all from me for this post. I hope it helped you if you needed to read it and until next time hammer-on and jam along!

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4 things to expect when writing in a new language

          Since I started writing back in 2016 my main language has been Bulgarian. I had no confidence in my English to start writing stories and to be honest I still don't. I probably wasn't going to try it in the near future but a short talk with a really dear stream to me changed my mind. Or at least got me curious enough to start and see where it goes.

          I've been writing in English for a few weeks now and here is a list of some things that I experienced while still adapting. Also, some tips that helped me to go through it.

          1. You will have doubt.

        You will doubt your choice. After all this is a change. Just a different language right? What's the worry for? It ain't that easy. You've developed connections in the language you have been writing until now. A person close to you might be reading your drafts, they might not know the other language and you don't want to let them down. You're just getting yourself anxious at this point.

• You need to take a deep breath and realize that all this is not real. Another person will start reading your drafts, you are not letting anyone down. People will find something to read. You're just afraid to make a change because you already have something going, some kind of an established safe space. You fear that if you step out of this place you won't be able to create a new one. That's not true.
• Ask people if they want to read something from you in this different language. And if they say yes you should have a short story or prologue or whatever ready. You can ask on the internet for strangers to check out your work, it's not as hard to get people around you as you might think it is.

          2. It will feel weird.

        Obviously, I know English well enough to talk with people but story-telling is something else. When you've been writing in another language you've developed a voice with that other language. And suddenly needing to change phrases to have a meaning in another language doesn't feel as right. It will not sound like you. You will feel like someone else is controlling your hands and it's not you the person pressing down the keys. And this feeling won't go away for just a week.

• What I can advise you is to just get to know this new voice, this new person that you become when you change the language of your keyboard. Just be ready for a long process of adaptation. Most of all don't think about it too much. You will eventually get used to it. This is said from a person who has been writing in English for about two to three weeks.

          3. You will feel lost.

        When I made that change I had a few scenes in mind for the story. I didn't have the starting scene so this one sort of happened on its own. The best example I can give is that you're just being introduced to the writing world and all you want to do is write. I had moments when I didn't know what to write but pushing through was easy.

Just keep going. Push that bit a little harder. It's not that hard to write in the early stages.

          4. It won't be good.

        As much as you will want it to be good it just won't feel right. You will be using a lot of repetitive phrases, words, and all that. You will want to rewrite it later on the second read. Change some words and all of that. And punctuation will be a nightmare if you don't find a handy cheat sheet.

• For words use the translator and Word-up. It's an app that shows you words and articles with them. That is if you transition to English. Word-Up helps with English only.
• For phrases just read whatever from natives. Always look up what the phrases mean and/or ask to be sure. You will get far and eventually you will become fluent in writing this new language as you are in your mother tongue.

          Starting a story is like putting a new upgrade to your writer profile. You might want to start with short stories to explore this new tab of your hobby. Or a story that unfolds like a collection of short stories. This is how I would describe Tails of broken kids.

          Before I forget. You can now follow how I progress in my wips in the "Writing progress" page I created. You can see how many chapters are written and how many words a chapter is plus the status of the books. Both of the ones I'm updating are in drafting process for now.

          That's it from me for this article. Till next time hammer-on and jam along.

          

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5 Tips to add diversity in your writing routine

          I have a hard time keeping my focus for long and being a fantasy writer that means it will take me ages to finish a story. However there is a way around this.

          1. Short stories.

        I can't recommend them enough. Short stories are great for getting to know your characters better and much more. In this case they are the perfect variety tool. You most likely have scenes in your head that will be really cool but probably won't make it to the final draft. And that brings me to the next point.

          2. Write the scenes you dream of.

        Open a new folder and name it "Scenes and short stories that probably won't make it to the final draft" or whatever you come up with. It can even be "Folder of doom". The idea is to open this folder and blur out everything that you've been anticipating for. All those scenes that always come up when you sit down to write. Usually those scenes are followed by the thought "But they probably won't be relevant to the plot". It's your lucky day cause they are relevant to your Doom folder. Plus if you ever need them they will be a few tabs away.

          3. Make use of different locations and timelines.

        Of course, that is if your story allows it. In Tails of broken kids I have three different places to talk about with two different timelines happening. I practically have three different stories going on in one world. I started this book for the sake of writing in English and so far it's been great having it around. The series it's part of I will gush over in another post.

          4. Start another book.

        I know a lot of you will frown at this tip. I understand your worries and it's totally fine if you don't like this tip.

        The idea behind it is to take one of those ideas that are always in the back of your head and distracting you and give it space to breathe and expand. It doesn't have to be good, it doesn't have to follow a plot, and it doesn't have to make sense. You are writing it to remind yourself that writing is a wonder on its own. And this tip won't really work if you apply it with the mindset of getting more done. And of course, it won't work if you start 15 different stories. All you need is just one.

          5. Start a blog for just whatever.

        You might be getting tired of writing stories all the time. Give your brain the break it needs from imagining. You may start a lifestyle blog and tell people stories from your life, or cooking blog etc. It doesn't matter what it is about so long you enjoy doing it.

          That's it from me for this post. Till next time hammer-on and jam along.

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5 Reasons to write short stories

          Short stories are one of the most powerful tools in the hands of a writer. They can be finished for less than a day and vary in lengths.

          1. They give you a feeling of accomplishment. 

        How long have you been writing on that draft but the end doesn't seem to be near? Probably months. It might feel discouraging. 

        It's not the case with short stories. You can finish one in less than a day. A short story can be as long as 100 words. There is no rule of how long it should be. Finishing a short story might give you the motivation you need to continue working on your main story.

          2. They give you diversity.

        If your focus is like mine you can't continue work on one thing for long periods of time. Or if you do it crosses all borders of normality to a point where you forget to eat or go to the toilet. When you feel tired of your story search for a writing prompt or write for whatever you feel like at the time. Loosen up a little and then continue writing on your main story.

          3. You get a chance to explore your characters better.

        Recently I found myself unable to write because I didn't feel connected to the characters I was writing about. With short stories, I was able to overcome this resistance without pushing too hard. I almost didn't have to make myself sit in front of the laptop.

          4. You explore different outcomes.

        You may be a little torn between two love interests or a couple of different ending. What do I know? You can write in short what these ending and see which one you like the most and write towards this ending. You can write a short story with all the different love interests and make up your mind from which you'll have more benefits. And if you're still lost after doing this practice I... don't know what to tell you. 

        My point is, you can write an outcome without having to write through different events towards it and then realize this is not where you want your story to go. You can even explore different character arcs which I encourage you to do.

          5. You can use them instead of a complicated outline.

          If you're anything like me, you give a little frown to every person who highly recommends you to write a detailed plotline before starting work on your story. If you don't feel like doing that you can write a short with all the details you have in mind and later on add more. Either like notes or highlighted text if you're working from a computer. I like calling this "thee pantser's plot".

          Of course, you don't need to follow those tips, you may put your own meaning to short stories. And if you make up your mind to try them don't feel obligated to do exactly as I have written. Short stories may benefit you in a different way or you may not be a short story person as a whole. I know I am not most of the time.

          That's all from me for this post. Till next time hammer-on and jam along.

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How I tried to quit writing

Obviously the ettempt to quit writing was a failure but it's a story I would like to tell you.

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