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Confessions of A Writer #1: Writing is Hard

Writing Is Hard Work Dorothy Day Quote

Hello everyone! I hope you all are doing well today. So, after some thinking, I’ve decided I want to try something new on my blog. It’s an idea I’ve had in my head for some time, something that I haven’t really seen before on other writer’s blogs.

I want to write confessions about my writing experience. I want to talk about my own struggles as a writer and admit some of the things I might possibly do that writers shouldn’t be doing. I also want to write confessions about writing in general because there are a lot of misconceptions in the world about writing and writers and it would be nice to clear them up.

So for my first confessions post, I want to tell you that writing is hard. Even for writers like me who’ve been writing for a number of years. There are some days when I know exactly what I want to write about and get to work on it immediately. Then, there are the days where I’m at a complete loss for words so it takes me longer to get any writing done.

But it never gets easier. No matter how many years of writing experience you gain, no matter how many words you’ve written down. But what helps me get through it all is perseverance. I might have some days where I’m really struggling, can’t figure out what I want to write about. So I take my time with it. If in the moment I don’t feel like writing, I tell myself its okay, and come back to it whenever I feel ready. I don’t rush it or pressure myself to write because then I know it’ll never work out the way I want it to.

Another way I get through these moments of writer’s block is by doing something else. I find with myself that if I’m able to keep my mind distracted, my thoughts will flow a whole lot faster. Then, I’ll be able to write whenever I do feel ready.

Writing is hard work. Even for writers who’ve been in it for many years. We all have our moments where we’re struggling with it. But we don’t let that stop us from doing it because we love it so much. Each of us has different ways we deal with these moments where we feel like we can’t get any writing done. And once we get through the tunnel known as writer’s block, writing doesn’t seem quite as hard. That’s when the real writing gets done.

5

Book Review: Fangirl

Fangirl Book Cover

Rating: 4 stars

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan…

But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving. Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words… And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

I remember getting this book as a Christmas gift from my grandmother a couple years ago and when I read it feeling disappointed because it wasn’t as good of a read as I was expecting. But I decided to read it once again before starting to read Carry On and found myself enjoying it much better the second time around.

I don’t remember what exactly I disliked about Fangirl the first time I read it, but I can definitely tell you what I’ve enjoyed from this reading experience. One of the things I enjoyed reading this book a second time is how much I can relate to the main character. I don’t know if part of the reason I didn’t enjoy this book the first time was because I couldn’t relate to Cath, but after reading it again, I realize I can relate to her very well. For one, she’s an introvert like me. I can also relate to her because my own college experience involved me spending a lot of time in my room more than going out and socializing with friends. When I come to think of it, I didn’t really have a lot of friends in college anyway due to focusing so much on schoolwork and working at my job that I didn’t really make as much time to spend with friends as I probably should’ve. I also share Cath’s love of the written word and reading. I know most of her love for it is due to one book series in particular, but I still appreciate how Rainbow Rowell makes Cath so relatable to me. That she’s so relatable to me that I feel almost as if this book was written specifically about me. Even her sister Wren’s first year experience at college reminds me of my own sister even though we aren’t twins.

I also appreciate Rowell incorporating fanfiction into the mix. When talking about reading and writing, fanfiction is rarely incorporated into a story. I like how she includes fanfiction in Fangirl by having the main character be so in love with a series that she writes a story of her own with the characters, making them almost as if they are her own. It’s nice to see a story center around the world of fanfiction, something which I don’t really see too often when reading young adult literature. I like it too because the book series Cath is obsessed with sounds very similar to my favorite book series of all time Harry Potter.  Yes, there are obviously some striking differences between the two, but it makes it that much more enjoyable of a read for me because I feel like I can also escape into that world too. It also makes me even more curious about that world, wanting to understand why Cath likes that series so much.

What else I like about Fangirl is Rowell’s writing style. Her writing is very fluid, easy to read and makes reading this story that much more enjoyable to me. She writes like she’s a young adult herself, going through college and trying to survive the outside world. Every piece of dialogue between characters flows naturally, like it has its own unique place in the story. It’s almost as if she’s bringing all of these characters to life with each word written. It makes me feel as if I’m with Cath, following her journey as she experiences her first year of college.

But what I like the most with this book is seeing some of what Cath’s character writes and her relationship with Levi. I like that we get a little snippet of what Cath has written in the past as her Simon Snow fiction increases in popularity so we can see for ourselves how good of a writer her character is. It not only allows us to see her character write, but we are also given a glimpse into that world so we can see for ourselves why Cath loves it so much. I like her relationship with Levi so much because they go so well together. He’s someone when she first started going to college she got along with so well. He’s easygoing, friendly and you can tell he wants nothing more than to make Cath happy. The way the two of them interact together is great because it’s very relaxed and easygoing. To give a good example is whenever Levi becomes curious about Cath’s fanfiction and wants her to read some of it to him. She’s at first surprised that Levi wants to learn more about the world she writes about so much. But she does it anyway because she can see that he really wants her to read it. He’s just one of the characters in the story who seems to get her and they just seem really good together. So I like seeing their relationship grow.

While I overall enjoyed reading Fangirl, there are some criticisms I have about the book that I’m sure others have with it too. For while I like Cath’s character because I can relate to her, there are times when I feel like she’s too unrealistic or acts completely stupid. I feel like Rowell made her too antisocial in this book, almost as if she was trying to create a nerdy character that fits the typical nerd stereotype. To the point where she was avoiding going to the dining hall because of the amount of people that would be in there. To me, all of those moments she refused to interact with people was ridiculous because all the times she did interact with people she seemed completely fine, not at all like she was dealing with any social anxiety. I also think the way she reacted to Professor Piper accusing her of plagiarism was ridiculous. While I get that Simon Snow is a huge part of her life, I think she sometimes forgets she’s in college and that fanfiction doesn’t play a role in academics. This part of the story made me realize that while I do relate to Cath in some ways, she still has a lot of growing up she has to do and that Rowell didn’t really progress her character all too much throughout. While I do get where Cath is coming from, I do also think it would’ve been nice to see Cath have some sort of character development in the story.

Another criticism I have with this book is the lack of fandom in the actual story. We hear that Cath is such a great writer of fanfiction that she gets thousands of hits every time she posts a new chapter, yet we don’t really see her interact with other Simon Snow fans. It’s like she lives in this bubble with just her sister when it comes to Simon Snow that she won’t really let others be a part of. I at least expected her to act like she’s more involved in the fandom since she has such high amounts of followers. But we really don’t get to see too much of that in Fangirl, we just hear about it.  We also don’t really get an understanding of why Cath loves Simon Snow so much. I understand that she and Wren grew up with reading the books and watching the movies, but she never talks about why she loves this series so much that she feels like she has to write a work of her own about it. Again, we just hear about all of this but never get an understanding of why Cath loves this series so much. To me it’s frustrating because I feel like we are reading this story from her point of view, but aren’t being clued into important details that would really make this book shine.

I also have a problem with the ending. It feels like all of a sudden the story comes to a halt with no real conclusion or anything. Cath goes to the bookstore for the release of the last Simon Snow book, is reading it and then the story ends. I’m frustrated that this is how Rowell chose to end this story because I figured we’d at least see what Cath thinks and feels about the final book in her favorite series. Instead, the story ends with no thought provoking conclusion and we are left wondering what’s going through Cath’s mind as she finishes the last book. While it was an interesting way to end, it wasn’t the ending I’d have chosen.

Despite these criticisms I have for Fangirl, I definitely enjoyed giving this book another chance. It was definitely a much better read for me this time around than the first and can’t wait to finish reading Carry On.

3

If We Were Having Coffee: Taking a Chance on Life

If We Were Having Coffee 06

Hello everyone! I hope you’ve been having a wonderful week like I have. I know last weekend, I unpacked a lot on you about what’s been going on in my life lately. Chances are high that I’ll be doing the same this weekend too, but for different reasons. Some things I haven’t shared with you yet that I’ve wanted to share. Not because I don’t trust any of you, just had something else I had to do first before I could acknowledge what I’m about to share with you today.

So I think I’ll start with that. This week, I made the not so difficult decision to quit my previous place of employment. I quit the job I’ve mentioned in the past that I’ve hated so much because there’s so much drama, and the environment hasn’t been healthy for me. To give an example, I had a panic attack at that job one day during one of our rushes. It was really hot there and just felt like I couldn’t breathe, but I couldn’t get a second to calm my anxiety down because we had a rush come through. It was so bad that not only couldn’t I breathe but I cried in frustration over it because I kept messing up everyone’s orders. I also had one night while I was still working there where I couldn’t sleep because I was having really bad chest pain. It was to the point where I was mentally debating on whether I should go to the hospital. I didn’t end up going, and the pain eventually went away. But it was still on the back of my mind even when I ended up being okay. There’s also the fact that management wasn’t necessarily the best and made it hard for me to even want to come in to work. There’ve been many days at that job where I was tempted to just walk out and not look back. Because management didn’t reprimand the people who weren’t doing their jobs. They also made a fuss at us about silly things, like complaining to my coworkers one day before I’d clocked in that we were using the bathroom too much. I found this out from one of my coworkers when I came in and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry about the whole thing. So instead, my coworker and I made the decision to time each other when we went to use the bathroom. It became our little joke because we just couldn’t take that complaint seriously.

This job was getting to the point where it was affecting my health. So I knew once it reached that point, it was time for me to get out of there. No matter what happened, I knew this place wasn’t where I wanted to be at in my life. While I had so many fond memories at my college, I knew it was time for me to go. To move on, to make a change in my life for the better by putting all of my effort into a job I actually enjoyed going to every day. To take a chance in my life and see where it takes me. Because while there were things about that job I enjoyed, there were even more things about it I was starting to hate. And comparing the two things together, I realized how much being there isn’t worth all of it anymore. I know life doesn’t always give you the opportunities you want and that you have to make the most of what you’re given, but you also have to realize to let go of things in life that are causing you pain too.

And that’s what I did once I turned in my two weeks’ notice.  I felt like this whole weight was lifted off my chest and this sense of peace washed over me. I was at so much peace that when I walked off campus, I skipped on my way back to the car. I was so giddy knowing I was done there for good that I felt like I could conquer the world.

The only thing that was good about that job is what I want to talk about now. I hate that I’ve kept this such a secret online these past couple months, but I hope this post will remedy that. During the course of these past seven months, I’ve been seeing someone. One of my coworkers from that job, to be exact. He and I’ve been talking to each other months after my last relationship ended in heartbreak. I knew him before because of the job, but I was attending college there so our interactions at the time were very few and far between. We didn’t really talk outside of work during those days because I was more focused on finishing my education and getting my degree. I was also seeing someone near the end of my last year of college until that relationship ended in heartbreak, and he wasn’t working there at the time. I don’t remember when he came back to that job other than it was after I had my heart broken by my ex, and I was still dealing with it. But we started talking outside of work. He was interested in being more than friends. At the time, I wasn’t because I’d just had my heart broken months before and needed time to get over my last relationship before getting involved with someone else. I didn’t think it would be fair to get in a relationship with someone when my thoughts were still on another man.

So we continued talking, using this time to get to know each other even better. It was during this point when I eventually realized that I was starting to feel the same way he did about me. So when he asked me out, I took a chance and said yes. I could sense these feelings were beginning to become something more and didn’t see a reason to ignore them anymore. It took me awhile to accept my last relationship ending, but I didn’t see the point in reflecting too much on it anymore. I realized instead of reflecting on the past, I needed to embrace the present in order to live for the future. If there’s a possibility I could build a future with someone else, why not try and see what happens?

William has become one of the best things that came to me from that job. He’s very supportive of everything I do. He listens when I need someone to talk my feelings to and doesn’t waver in his devotion to me and making sure I’m doing okay. He’s not only the friend I can always count on, but someone I find myself falling even deeper for with every interaction we have and every moment we spend together. We might not always agree on everything and argue from time to time, but we never go to sleep angry with each other. When things get bad, we talk about our problems and do whatever we can to sort them out. We don’t let our problems stop us from talking to each other. Instead, we use our problems as a way to see what we can do to improve our relationship and make adjustments where we see fit. We work together and build each other up instead of tearing each other down.

William truly knows how to make me happy. He makes me feel not so alone and lets me know I’m loved. I hope I do the same as he does for me. As our relationship continues to grow, I know he’ll be there for me even in the darkest of times. I hope to do the same in return because I hate to see him hurt and care about him very much.

William, if you’re reading this (which I’m sure you will be at some point) I want you to know I love you so much. You’ve made these past couple months some of the happiest for me. I want you to know I care so much about you and can’t wait to see where our relationship will go from here. We might have some moments where we want nothing to do with each other, but I know we can work through whatever hoops life decides to throw at us. As long as you have my back, I know there isn’t anything in life I can’t accomplish. But I can’t imagine doing anything in life without you. Thank you for having my back these past couple months and being the rock I needed to get through some of the most difficult moments of my life.

The reason we kept our relationship a secret online is because we both still worked at that job. We weren’t sure how they’d feel about us dating and figured it would be best not to say anything until we both got away from there. But we didn’t keep it completely a secret. Our closest friends and family knew about our relationship. We just didn’t post anything about it online until this week when we both decided to quit that job. It was something we both wanted to do for the longest time now, and figured there’s nothing keeping us from doing it now.

I’m completely glad to have someone in my life like William. He’s really one of the best things in my life and I couldn’t be any happier. If I get the chance and with William’s permission, I hope to have a picture of us together sometime in the near future posted here on my blog.

There really isn’t too much else this week that’s happened for me besides quitting my job and William and I making our relationship official online. Or let me put it this way, anything that isn’t quite as exciting or interesting that you’d like to know about. I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend and can’t wait to hear about what’s happened in your life this week.

1

If We Were Having Coffee: Room Reveals

If We Were Having Coffee 05

It’s been awhile since I’ve written one of these posts once again. A lot has just happened since the last time, and I just didn’t have the chance to share everything with you. We painted our whole upstairs, which took roughly two weekends to do because of me having to go to work. We also had our carpeting upstairs because it was starting to look outdated. Then, my older sister moved back home last weekend so I was busy because of that too.

But like I promised, I’m going to share the room colors for me and my sister’s rooms. I’m sure you’re interested to see how they turned out.

Painted Room Laneys Room

For my sister’s room, which no longer has the desk because it’s been moved into my room, we chose a dark green that she and Mum both liked. Originally, Mum had picked this pistachio green color that she thought would brighten up the room. But it didn’t turn out quite the way she expected so she talked to my sister and they both agreed on this color.  I actually like this color in my sister’s room because the way she has it looks really nice.

Painted Room My Room

Painted Room My Room 2

Now for my room, I chose blue! A blue that when I look at it reminds me of both the sky and ocean. The blue I picked isn’t quite as light as the pictures make it out to look, but it looks really nice with our new carpeting, which can be seen in the first picture.

Along with painting and carpeting, my room is now completely rearranged. We’ve moved a lot of my belongings around to give me more space, and it turned out splendidly. I have my bookshelves and television on one wall and my bed is now close to the window so that I can have cool air blowing on me. I also have the computer and desk that was once in my sister’s room since I no longer have my laptop, which allows me easy access to it whenever I want. Everything else is tucked away, either in my one big dresser or in one of my closets. Overall though, I’m really enjoying my room. It feels completely new and more adult and gives me more space than I expected to have.

If we were having coffee, I’d also tell you besides doing a room reveal, I’ve been doing a lot of other things too. Like usual, work has done nothing but keep me busy. My other job is supposed to be starting back up soon. But I’m hoping to get more hours at my new job so I don’t have to go back there again. I’ve also started rereading one of my favorite trilogies, which I wrote a blog post about a couple weeks ago along with started to watch Pretty Little Liars, which has been quite a pleasure to enjoy. I’ve also been listening to this podcast I heard about through one of the bloggers I follow called What Should I Read Next? which I’m debating about doing a review of. It’s something different from what I normally write about here, but it still has to do with books, which is why I’m really considering it. But I haven’t made up my mind just yet if I’m going to do that or not.

I’ve also ordered a couple books and eclipse glasses from Amazon, both of which have already come in the mail. The solar eclipse is supposed to be coming here on August 21st, so I needed to get glasses to make sure I can view it safely. The books, however, I bought for my own reading pleasure for in the future. What books I’ve bought I’m not going to say because I don’t want to spoil it for you. But after I’m done reading the trilogy I’m enjoying, these books will be the next ones I’m going to read and write reviews about once I’ve completed them.

I’d also tell you I’m finally doing something I probably should’ve done years ago: learning how to drive. A friend of mine had me get behind the wheel the other day and back out of where he parked only to drive forward and have me park somewhere else. The main reason I haven’t tried to learn to drive sooner is because the thought of it scares me. I don’t necessarily know what about driving scares me, it just does in a way I can’t explain. The only thing I can say is that I have a bad feeling about it for some reason. But I’m finally taking the steps to learn it anyway to the point where I’ve downloaded the manual that I need to read before I take the permit test. While I’m still nervous about the whole thing, I’m going to try the best I can anyway to be the best driver I can be.

Other than that, I haven’t done too much else. I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend. I would love to hear all about it.

1

Writing Prompt: “If You Actually Require Success” Quote

Writing Prompt Requiring Success Quote

Originally, this post was going to be Chuck Wendig’s Flash Fiction Challenge from last week, which involved using Inspirobot to generate a random quote to use for a fiction piece. However, after much contemplating, I noticed I haven’t done any writing prompts for a year now. So I figured why not get back into the spirit of writing them again, using this quote generator?

This quote was actually the first one this generator produced for me this morning and I found it very fitting.  I agree with it too. I really think the best way to find success is through yourself. It’s looking in the mirror and telling yourself you can do something and not letting anything stand in your way.

I’m someone who lacks self confidence. Every day, I struggle to tell myself I can do anything I put my mind to. And I can see how it affects everything I do from my writing to the way I feel about life and the world around me. It’s something I’ve been struggling with for years, yet can’t ever seem to get it to go away, no matter what I do. I try the best I can to move around it by acting positive about things even when I don’t feel like it. But that’s the most I can currently do.

What helps me get through it though is the support of those who I care about the most. Those people who let me know how much they care, that I can do anything I set my mind to make it so much easier to kick my lack of self confidence to the curb and show the world what I’m capable of. What also helps is someone else telling me I can’t do something. For some reason, that challenges me even more because it makes me want to prove that person wrong.

But at the same time, I think you can be successful without believing in yourself. With the struggles I have with my own self confidence, I know I definitely have been successful with things I never thought were possible. I know over the years I’ve surprised myself with what I can do. This blog is definitely proof of it because I never thought I’d get to this point in my writing. I never thought I’d be a blogger, that I’d be sharing my words and thoughts with the world through WordPress. Yet, here I am doing exactly what I never thought was possible for me. My blog is a constant reminder that even with lack of self confidence, anything is possible as long as you reach for the stars anyway. And that you can be successful at it too.

0

Two Years Later and All I Want to Do Is Write: Reflecting on My Blogging Journey

Two Year Blogging Post Image

On July 28, 2015, I made a decision that changed my writing life in ways I never imagined. I created this blog, which I’ve found has grown for me as a wonderful space for me to write about the things I love.

Over this second year, I’ve learned just as much as I did my first. I learned more about my blogging space, realized that my blog’s name and appearance needed an update, and made the changes necessary to make my blog appeal to others. I came up with a name I personally connected to so that others could find ways to connect to me and would want to follow my blog.

I also realized how much I enjoy using this writing space to write, even at times when I don’t feel like writing. Lately, I haven’t been writing as many posts as I’d like. Part of that is due to having a busy life: adjusting to my new work hours, things going on around the house such as painting bedrooms and replacing carpet (speaking of which, I’ll definitely have a new #weekendcoffeeshare very soon where I talk about all of these things), basically life is keeping me hectic right now. So one of the things I hope to do within the next couple weeks is get more writing done here.

My overall experience this second year has been amazing. Like the year before, I see that my writing is improving with every post I publish. I also find myself wanting to write more, to just keep writing whenever I find myself itching for it. I also hope to do a variety of writing. I don’t want this blog to forever be a place for just book reviews and video game posts (though I haven’t been doing much video game playing lately so that’s something I’ll definitely have to work on). I want to branch out, use this blog as a place to experiment and try writing about different topics. Maybe even do more fiction writing and poetry, whenever the mood strikes me. As the years go by, I want to grow with my blog and my writing to continue improving with each word I write.

If I had to give advice to a new blogger, I’d tell them to just keep writing. I’d let them know there are going to be days when they don’t feel like writing and that’s okay. I’d tell them not to get discouraged, to keep trying because giving up is not an option. I would also tell them that if you love blogging enough, everything will work out as long as they keep patient and keep going with it. I’d also tell them that when they aren’t writing blog posts to read other bloggers. Because what other bloggers say might be a good source of inspiration for your next blog post, even if you don’t realize it or you can make connections with amazing people who enjoy the same things you do. Oh, and to comment on other blog posts too. Not only to let a blogger know you’ve enjoyed their work, but to start a conversation, to continue being involved in the blogging community. All of these things are lessons I’ve come to learn during my two years here at WordPress.

While I’ve yet to know what this next year of blogging has in store for me, I’m currently happy with the way my blog is right now. I have a good group of followers who are supportive with my posts, and I’m continuing to enjoy the writing process when it comes to blogging. I can’t wait to see what this third year has in store for me because I know it’ll be just as great as the others.

10

Rereading Memories: The Inkworld Trilogy (Inkheart, Inkspell, Inkdeath)

Inkworld Trilogy Book Covers

Growing up, I didn’t always have as deep of a love for the written word as I do now. When I was a child, I actually spent most of my days playing video games and watching television. It wasn’t until one of my English teachers mentioned Inkheart in the sixth grade and I read that book during the summer that my love for the written word manifested into what it is today.

If you’ve read my blog post How I Became a Reader and Writer, you’d already know this. In that particular post, I talk about Inkheart’s influence on me. I’d like to further continue that conversation by saying that I feel like the Inkworld trilogy as a whole has taught me so much. It has taught me not only about myself and my own reading preferences, but also some important lessons every writer should at some point learn.

I say all of this because I’m currently rereading this trilogy once more and want to have an open discussion about the Inkworld and its influence in my life. Because while Inkheart out of all of the books in this trilogy really shaped me into who I am, I believe Inkspell and Inkdeath also helped contribute making me into the fantasy loving person I am today. This trilogy taught me lessons no other series (well, maybe except for Harry Potter) has taught me. Every time I read these books, I find myself discovering something new within their pages.

Inkheart opened me up to the idea that there are books I’d enjoy. As a child, I didn’t enjoy reading quite as much as I do now. But this book in particular sparked an interest in reading for me I never truly experienced anywhere else. It made me believe in the power of the written word, and that fantasy was truly the genre I was destined to enjoy. I read this book at a time when I still felt like I was a child, right before things changed in my life for the worse. It’s the first book that truly spoke to me, made me want to open myself to becoming a more creative person and brought about a spark in me I didn’t have before.

Inkspell completely set my imagination on fire. With its detailed description of the Inkworld, I found myself drawn to its pages, wishing I could go to this world myself, despite its many dangers. This book especially drew me into the fantasy genre because I could feel the magic all around me as I followed Meggie and the rest of the characters into this enchantingly dark world. Like Inkheart, I found myself continuously flipping through the pages to find out how this book would end, wanting to see if things would turn out alright for everyone involved. I read this book at a different stage of my life than whenever I’d picked up its predecessor. I was struggling because my life had been turned upside down and I needed a book to escape. This book was perfect for what I needed because I wanted to get away from the real world and this book helped me do exactly that.

Inkdeath made me realize that I can be the hero of my own story. It also taught me that every character in a story has an important part to play, even if you don’t realize it at first. This book also taught me that even when things seem bad, there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel. To never give up hope, even when that’s exactly what you want to do. For me, this book came at a point in my life when I exactly needed it. I was dealing with some difficult circumstances and this book helped me believe in myself and made me realize that I’m the hero in my story. And that when things seem dark and scary, there’s always going to be light too.

Rereading this series once again many years later, I find the child within me coming alive. I’m reminded of why I want to be a writer to begin with, and find myself inspired to keep writing even at times when that’s not what I want to do. I’m reminded of where my love for the written word truly came from and try the best I can to never forget that.

As a writer, Inkheart taught me some of the basics when it came to character development. I learned through the pages how to create life-like characters who I could imagine standing in front of me. I learned about dialogue, how to make the words that come out of a character’s mouth sound believable, even when you have a hard time with it. I learned voice because of Mo/Silvertongue and Meggie’s ability to read characters out of their stories. I could imagine the way they talked, almost as if they were using their gift in front of me.

In Inkspell, I learned about world building. I learned how to create a place so believable that people could see it in their imagination. About making things detailed so that when someone is reading your story, they can see it themselves without you having to give too much away. I also learned how to further advance the plot of your story so that the reader doesn’t lose interest along with including interesting information that’ll make your reader want to continue reading. Learned to end stories in a series with a cliff hanger so that my readers will want to read the next installment to find out what happens to the characters.

With Inkdeath, I learned about conflict. I learned how to build up conflict so as the keep the reader hooked. I also learned how to surprise readers by making the unexpected happen, such as having minor characters play a crucial role in the story arc. I also learned how to kill off characters only to bring them back changed in their development.

Each book in this trilogy offered so much to me as a writer. But this trilogy as a whole also taught me so much about myself and the things I enjoy. It made me realize how much reading and writing mean to me that it’ll always have a special place in my heart. I hope others enjoy this trilogy as much as I do every time I read it.

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If We Were Having Coffee: Sorry for the Long Absence

Coffee cup and book on the table in the morning

Good day everyone! I hope you’ve all had a wonderful week. I know I’ve been pretty absent from my blog these past couple weeks. I’ve had a lot going on in my house that’s resulted in me being away from writing on here for a little while. But I’ve also been adjusting to my new work schedule too. However, I’m going to try the best I can from here on out to write more frequently. After all, July is the month I started my blog two years ago (July 28, 2015) with my first book review of Phenomenal: A Hesitant Adventurer’s Search for Wonder in the Natural World. So you’ll definitely be seeing more posts from me in the near future, that’s for sure.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that I’ve had a lot going on. We’ve been making some changes to our house, such as having our upstairs trim painted white, outlets changed so that when we plug things in, our cords won’t fall out, and having an AC unit put in my bedroom because it gets really hot in there. We are also talking about painting me and my sister’s bedrooms to make them look the way we want. It’s kept me pretty busy doing things like go through my clothes to see if there’s anything I want to get rid of and rearranging drawers to make more space and keep my room organized.

I’ve also been having an inner emotional battle with myself lately. It’s because something happened this week that’s made me realize how careful I truly need to be in who I trust. I don’t feel like necessarily talking about it just yet because I’m still dealing with it emotionally and the whole thing makes me sick to my stomach to think about. This is all I’m going to say about it for now though because I’d much rather be talking about happier things. Just know I’ll be alright eventually and that once I’m ready to talk about it I will.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you my sister is moving back home very soon. When she was home for Memorial weekend, she had a job interview for a job in her field and she’s been offered the position. That’s the other reason Mum wants to paint both our rooms. So that when she moves back home, both our rooms are already painted and she doesn’t have to move as much stuff to do it. She’s also going to have our carpeting upstairs replaced so that all of our rooms upstairs (except the bathroom) have the same carpet. It’s going to be nice to see my sister again and to have her back at home. I’ve missed having her around so it’s going to be nice to have her here.

I’ve also been watching more YouTube videos and recently started reading one of my favorite books that started me into wanting to be a writer Inkheart, which is actually the first book in a trilogy. Once I’ve finished rereading these books, I’m probably going to do a blog post about the trilogy, which I’m still trying to work on now.

That’s pretty much it, right now. I’m really excited to see how the color I’ve picked out is going to look in my room and can’t wait to see how the carpet is going to look once it’s been done. I hope you’ve all had a wonderful week and will talk to you again soon!

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First Impressions: The Sims FreePlay

The Sims Freeplay Image Two

I’ve been playing this game for several weeks now, not sure exactly if I wanted to write about it in the first place. But after some much needed thinking, I figured why not?

I started playing The Sims FreePlay because I wanted to play a Sims game. I wanted to immerse myself back into this world where I control the actions of the characters I’ve created. Where I was given total power over the choices I made and could see the consequences of my actions play out in front of me.

In this version of the game, which comes on your phone or tablet, your main objective is to build a town full of people of your own creation. You build all sorts of homes and locations for your Sims to either visit or work on their career in order to make some money so you can further create. Along with creating these places, there are quests you can fulfill to your own discretion which will gain you more items, hobbies or locations to unlock. It’s up to you what you do in your town, but you also need to make sure to satisfy your Sim’s needs as well.

What I like about The Sims FreePlay is that it’s free. Unless you want to spend money on this game so you can get these different types of points to progress on your tasks, you don’t have to spend any money on this game whatsoever. You can play the game without spending any money and I like it because I don’t want to spend money on app games if I don’t have to. As you progress your town, you also earn Simoleons and XP for each of the buildings you’ve created whether it be homes, businesses or career locations. I think this is a nice feature in this game because it allows you to earn money without only having to invest in a career and gives you more experience points.

I also like that you have so many choices of things to do in the game. You can complete tasks whenever you want, though there’s a time limit to gain certain items if you don’t complete tasks by a certain time. You can also choose which buildings you want to build as long as you have enough Sims living in your town. Some buildings cost more money and need more Sims in the town than others, which can sometimes be a pain because it could be the exact building you need, but you need one more person before you can start building it.

In The Sims FreePlay, you also have a variety of hobbies you can choose to complete. These hobbies are things like cooking, fishing, fashion designer, and woodworking, just to name a few. What I like about having these hobbies is that you can unlock more of them by completing certain quests. However, the downside to these hobbies is that your Sim can only focus on one hobby at a time. I don’t know yet if that changes after you’ve mastered the hobby, but I find it to be very inconvenient because whenever you try and learn a new hobby, you lose all the progress you made on the hobby you’d worked to master before.

The Sims FreePlay Fishing Hobby

What I like the most doing in this game is completing these tasks. I like them because they are interesting and can level you up faster. I also like them because you see your Sims doing all sorts of interesting things. For example, while I’ve been playing this game, I’ve been focusing on the Sim I created in my image to start learning the spell casting hobby. I did this by completing one of the quests in the game and just following every objective that has to do with spells or magic. This now allows any of my Sims to learn magic or brew potions if they choose.

However, I do have some criticisms for The Sims FreePlay too. One of my criticisms is that skills like painting and playing the guitar advance your career instead of counting as hobbies. While it’s nice because you can get promotions for your Sims faster, I wish they could be counted as hobbies instead because that would be more realistic. Instead, they are activities you can do that count towards career promotion.

Another criticism for me of this game is that it’s way more time consuming than any of the other games. What I mean is that when you go to do certain tasks, you have to wait a certain amount of time until what you’re doing is done. So for example, a task that takes 5 minutes won’t be completed until that time has passed. Unless you have points you can use to get these tasks done faster, some tasks you’ll have to wait for hours until they’ve been finished, which can be a pain when it comes to completing these quests. Especially if you decide to do them under a time limit to unlock certain items. I usually complete them whenever I feel like it and don’t worry about stuff like that, but I feel like it can still be a pain for those who want to get tasks done at a faster rate. In the other Sims games, you can usually fast forward time so this isn’t an issue whenever you play. But for those who want to complete things at a faster pace, just know you might not have luck with that.

My biggest criticism for this game though is the style options. In this game, there really isn’t a whole lot of clothing and hair options for your Sims. Everything is pretty basic, making it extremely difficult for you to make unique Sim characters as you continue building up your town. I’m hoping as I continue to play this game that I’ll be able to unlock even more unique clothing and hair options so that I can try to make my Sims look different from each other in the future. But right now, my options are pretty limited.

But overall, I find myself enjoying this game as much as I do the other Sims games I’ve played in the past. It’s to the point where I’m starting to play the Sims game I have on my PlayStation 2 again in the hopes of progressing further than I ever have before. In many ways, you could say I’ve become hooked to the Sims again, which has never been that much of a struggle before. I highly recommend this game if you are looking for something casual to play or if you’re looking for a Sims game to play but don’t know where to start.

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