Sunday, March 28, 2021

Train traveling shenanigans

If you follow my instagram you know I will be writing a series of train traveling and what might help you when writing one.

But I want to set the mood for it first.

A few years ago I was traveling every weekend. Take a train immediately after school every Friday and the last train on Sunday. 

We moved in the city where my school was so in order to meet with friends I had to travel back to town. 

I'm not complaning though. I love the little city. I grew up there.

From time to time me and my best friend will be traveling together. Nothing unusual about this. 

But. Three stops before ours the train literally stoped. I don't know what'd happened but it wasn't going to move until an emergency team had come to fix it. And we were stuck on the station. Three stops is a lot of time to be walking. 

Me and my best friend were sitting with this adult man. And you will not guess what we started talking about to kill time. 

Wounds, of all things. We discussed everything you could think of. Seriousness, what hurts more, what injures more, types of bleeding. We basicly practiced a biology presentation.

We forgot there was someone sitting with us and then we turned. If there is a "Oh shit" face we defenetly had it. 

And the man was visibly uncomfortable! He probably went home and rambled about what happened to his wife.

We would've been there probably more than an hour, sitting awkwardly but the earlier train returned to drag us from the small station. 

To my knoledge they fixed the problem in our city since it's the closest with more than two rail options. 

But I will never forget this, it's too precious! 

Feel free to tell me your stories! 

Monday, February 8, 2021

Gushing about my VIPs

I was wondering if I should say betas but it would've been disrespectful.

The people I'll be talking about today are legends and real mvps. They deserve a post just for them. 

I call them VIPs because every beta reader after them will stay just a beta reader. If I ever publish I'll give them a copy as a gift. With special wishes. 

I'll start with how we got to this point.

My story with Wattpad is on and off and I'll probably leave the site permanently knowing what they are like. 

But... 

The last time I uploaded there I had gone quite far in the story and there were a lot of chapters that won't be uploaded soon. So I asked if people want to see those chapters. 

I set a limit to three people, and mark that my bff was already reading because of reasons I'll talk about a little later.

I didn't think three people would show interest but it happened in a day.

One was Venom/Malice/OB that's the nicknames you'll see me refer to him. Mostly Venom.

Another one was a person that later left and I didn't want to add him ever again.

And the third person never reached out again so it's all cool. 

Both Venom and my bff have been a great support. If they haven't been such cheerleaders I would still be writing book one. 

Venom is one of the most positive and pure people I've ever met. And I really mean it.

He read what I had in less than two days. And has been asking questions randomly ever since.

Recently he asked for the document of the first book because Google docs hides your documents sometimes. This is probably the third time he rereads this draft and this is one of the few reasons I believe that the story is worth putting the time in.

It’s been an insecurity of mine for so long and knowing that someone is going back to read what I've worked on is more than enough to lift my spirit up.

Venom remembers my characters better than me at this point. I forgot one of the secondary characters had a little brother!

There is only one character he's not invested in and it's because I'm the one guarding him from bad things. He says that the character is not suffering like the other ones. 

Which is true. 

He started noticing subtle details that I left just for fun and I'm a little spooked now.

Okey the second person I wanna talk about is my best friend. 

She has been around since I started. She's read the first ever version of my WIP. 

Except me and her I don't think anyone knows how it went. People started coming after I edited it and started uploading again.

She has seen the worst of me. Both writing and personality.

She stuck around when I was hyped and wanted to be better. She helped me revise and develope the magic system.

If I was alone writing would've been yet another hobby. 

I worked to be better because she was there to watch. And here I am today.

Working on the English version to hopefully publish it and have it reach more people.

This girl wasn't there only for the good, no no. She was the only person to see through my stupidity and warn me that taking up on so many projects ain't a good idea. And didn't even came to say "told you" when I admitted my defeat. 

When I told her that I've been trying to figure a way to write more she turned a ear to listen and help when I get stuck.

She's been keeping my back for every person that's dragged me down in one way or another. 

She is also my bridge to reality cause you gotta come back from time to time.

For those two I'll do everything I can to keep in touch. They are ones in a lifetime friendship and a ones that last on top of that.

If you stuck through all of this, thank you. I hope you find beta readers that you want to call VIPs. 

Thursday, December 31, 2020

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!

Saturday, December 26, 2020

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

Saturday, December 19, 2020

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?

Friday, December 11, 2020

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

Wednesday, December 9, 2020

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. 

Friday, November 20, 2020

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

Tuesday, November 17, 2020

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.

Friday, November 13, 2020

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! 

Friday, November 6, 2020

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!

Sunday, November 1, 2020

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!

Friday, October 30, 2020

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.

Thursday, October 22, 2020

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! 

Monday, August 31, 2020

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!

Friday, August 21, 2020

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.

Sunday, August 2, 2020

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.


Sunday, July 26, 2020

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!

Friday, July 17, 2020

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!

Sunday, July 12, 2020

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?