Search

Rainy Day's Books, Video Games and Other Writings

Open Search
Tag

writing

Over 1,000 Views

1,000 Views

So I’ve finally done it. After blogging for almost nine months, I’ve made it to 1,000 views. Well, I’m technically over 1,000 views now, but you get the point.

Wow, I still can’t believe it. But in a good way.

I’m happy to see that so many people are checking out my blog. That so many people like my blog and want to read it.

I started my blog over the summer in July. I started my blog as a way to continue writing after graduating from college to gain writing experience and as a way to improve my writing skills. I also wanted to meet other bloggers whose blogs were so inspiring that I would constantly feel the need to always write and become a better blogger.

Over the course of the almost nine months I’ve been on WordPress, I feel like I’ve found out a lot about my writing as well as myself. I’ve also discovered how much I enjoy keeping Vook: Books + Video Games up, finding the need to write almost every day like I used to when I was younger. I’ve discovered I love blogging and want it to become a big part of my life, possibly a big part of my career.

And I owe it all to my viewers. While I know I’m not the most active blogger on WordPress, I try the best I can to engage myself with other bloggers, whether that’s reading blog posts and leaving a friendly comment or participating in writing challenges like the two flash fiction challenges I’ve recently done and last year’s National Novel Writing Month.

So thank you. To everyone who read my blog posts, liked them, shared them with friends, etc. I owe getting over 1,000 views to you. Without my readers, I feel as if I couldn’t have gotten quite so far. So thank you for taking an interest in my blog. I look forward to seeing how much farther my blog goes and can’t wait to see what other opportunities in my blogging life await me.

0

Flash Fiction Challenge: Dragons

Red Firey Dragon

Via Chuck Wendig’s blog Terrible Minds, I’ve once again decided to do another flash fiction challenge. This time, the writing challenge is simple: the story I write must include a dragon.

So for this writing challenge, since April is National Poetry Month, I’ve decided to write a poem about dragons. Thank you for taking a look at this post and I hope you enjoy my poem!

 

Creatures of fire and brimstone,

Destroying the earth with their mighty talons

And breath that smells like death.

 

Red or blue,

Black or gold.

These creatures of various colors inspire nothing but fear.

 

Myths and legends,

Are told outside of campfires at night

About mysterious creatures who fly in the sky.

 

Protectors and defenders

Of hidden treasures

Hold secrets rarely worth keeping.

 

Shiny and sleek,

These creatures could very easily

Tear you apart with one mighty swipe.

 

With the strength of many men,

Dragons are some of the deadliest

Foes in the world.

 

Mysterious in their beauty,

These creatures of fire and brimstone

Eat other animals to survive.

 

Dragons are very dangerous,

So if you ever happen upon one,

Beware.

Beware.

Beware.

0

Writing Prompt: “I Never Loved Reading” Quote

To Kill a Mockingbird Scout Quote

Image via NDTV.

“I never loved reading until I feared I would lose it. One does not love breathing.” –Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

Inspired by zenandpi’s blog post on this quote, I decided I wanted to write about it too.

I can relate to this quote quite a bit. I discovered my love of the written word through reading a fantasy children’s book about people being able to bring characters into the world through the power of their voice.

I’ve already mentioned this on my blog on this post, but I feel like I need to reiterate on this once more. Reading has become a very big part of my life that I can’t imagine living without it. I’ve never yet feared reading being lost in my life, but that’s because I’ve never gone through a time period where I wasn’t reading a book, except whenever I wasn’t a lover of the written word.

But that doesn’t mean the thought of losing my love of literature hasn’t crossed my mind. Because it’s something all book lovers fear. That one day, we will read a book (any book) and discover that our heart isn’t into it anymore. That we can’t take in the words anymore and the story being told to us isn’t holding a special place in our hearts. That the world we’ve discovered we love so dearly isn’t as great of a world as we thought it once was and close the door on that world for good.

All readers fear that they won’t love reading anymore. Because it means something has changed inside of us and that we’ve lost a love we once sought. Because for readers, a book is like breathing. It’s something we can’t live without. And once that’s taken away from us, what will we have left?

0

Writing Prompt: Albert Einstein Quote

only-a-life-lived-for-others-is-a-life-worth-while19

I agree with this quote completely. I believe living your life for other people is worthwhile.

Everyone has someone in their life who completely cares about them. Even people who don’t necessarily believe it. Whether that person is a friend, family member, or significant other, there is someone who has always been a part of your life and made you the person you are today. Without that person, you feel as if you have no one to relate to.

That person in your life is who you should be living your life for. Not because they want you around, but because you care about that person so much that you wouldn’t want them to face any pain at your expense.

You live for them because you care about them deeply. Whenever you have moments in life where you’re facing life’s hardest challenges, you think of them. You think of what they’d do if in your situation. But you also talk to them about the situation because you know they’ll always have your back.

And you live on for this person because you’re selfless. You live on for this person because you care about them so much and believe they’d do the same for you. This person makes up all of who you are and makes each difficult day easier to breathe in.

So you live on. Even at moments when you feel too weak to continue, you push on because you care about someone so much you never want them to suffer. And by living life because of them, every painful experience is worthwhile.

0

Writing Prompt: “There is Nothing to Writing” Quote

HemingwayWritingQuote

I don’t necessarily agree with this quote. Not because I don’t believe that writing involves you putting all of your emotions out there. But because I believe there is a lot more to writing than what meets the eye.

Writing is a very lengthy process. It’s not something one easily does, unless they are in the mental state where words fly off the page. Whenever you are writing, you’re not only putting your thoughts and feelings into the story/words being created, but are also creating something new. Something others might not have written about just yet. Something that is truly, deeply yours.

But you don’t just feel when putting words down on a page. You have to look into your thoughts to figure out what exactly you want to do. You have to think about what you’re doing before you do it. In order to create a story, you have to think about what you want to write.

And writing isn’t very easy either. There’s a lot that goes into it. But most of it depends on what you want to write. If you’re looking to write a poem for example, you have to think about lyrical prose and how to get words to fit together. You can’t just write a bunch of random words and hope to make a poem out of it.

The same goes for a writer who decides they want to get a book published. They have to think about what genre of writing they want to create, what story they want to tell, character development, etc. Then do research if absolutely necessary to get a better idea of the world they want to create for their novel.

But at the same time, whenever a writer is creating a story uniquely their own, they do bleed on the page. They have to if they want their voice to be heard. This occurs whenever a writer decides to write their stories based off of their own personal experiences. In these type of stories, a writer is very much bleeding onto the page. They are putting themselves out there in the hope that their audience will listen to what they are saying and understand them better. This type of writing allows the writer to connect with their readers in a whole new way and allows them to wear their heart on their sleeve.

Writers can also bleed when writing their novels. Especially when creating a character in a story that is based off themselves or is someone they can personally relate to.

The only time I believe writing isn’t so hard is whenever I’m able to write about personal experiences of my own because those are the moments when I find words easy to express.

0

Writing Prompt: “Darkness Cannot Drive Out Darkness” Quote

MLK Quote

Only bad can be destroyed by good and only hate can be driven out by love. That is very true because the only way to destroy one thing is to do the opposite of said thing. That is the only way we’ll be able to live in a peaceful world.

You can’t drive out darkness with darkness because all that’ll do is bring about more darkness. Instead, you have to bring light into the world to push the darkness away. This can be done through doing good deeds to show that the world isn’t as dark of a place as people think.

The same can be said for hatred and love too. The only way to cast hatred out is by showing love. This can be accomplished by being compassionate and kind to the people around you, even the people trying to bring about chaos. By showing these types of feelings, positive change can be brought into the world.

But there is a problem with our society to where doing this is easier said than done. There is currently too much darkness in the world that even if people change their actions, it won’t be enough to encompass all of the bad. Because there are some bad people too who will never show light and love, being able to get rid of it all will be impossible.

But that’s okay too. Because while there is still light and love in the world, there is hope for a better and brighter future for us all. So while there is still darkness and hate, continue to fight it anyway and do the best you can to extinguish it. Only once you have given up will we be unable to fight it anymore. So do the best you can and only good things will be sure to come your way.

0

Writing Prompt: “Sometimes You Just Got To Stay Silent” Quote

Sometimes You Got To Stay Silent Quote

So true. My thoughts are really crazy sometimes. I don’t know what my mind is thinking half the time because it doesn’t make sense. One minute, I’ll be really happy, thinking about something I really enjoy. But in an instant, that happiness can quickly be taken away whenever something that makes me angry or frustrated happens.

But at the same time, silence can be golden. It can get a message across way quicker than saying something you might later on regret. It can convey what words can’t without you having to worry about whether you got your point across. I often deal with silence whenever I find myself dealing with someone who irritates or frustrates me. Often with people who’ve hurt me in some way because I usually don’t want to deal with them.

Silence is a good way of conveying to someone you have no words for them because you don’t want to say exactly what’s on your mind. Oftentimes, I find myself not talking to people who’ve hurt me afterwards because I know what I want to say. But I also know that if I say exactly what I’m thinking, it’ll hurt them and I’ll regret it.

So instead, I keep my words close to my heart and wonder how differently things could’ve gone if I’d only just spoken my mind.

0

Terrible Minds Flash Fiction Challenge: Seven Deadly Sins

Inspired by Chuck Wendig’s blog post on Terrible Minds, I’m going to write a fictional story about a man named Jack who embodies all seven of the deadly sins. I’ve never done one of these flash fiction challenges before so I’m really interested to see how this goes.

 

Hello, my name is Jack. And I am going to hell.

I know everyone has heard of the seven deadly sins: lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride. They are the sins that determine ones place in the deadly underground known as hell.

Unfortunately, I’ve been blessed with the unlucky curse to embody all seven.

Lust whispers in my ear at night whenever I get into bed, asking me if I’m really going to go another night without a pretty woman in my bed. I try the best I can to ignore this voice, but it never goes away. So at night, I’m out, enjoying the nightlife and looking for another woman to add to my notch belt.

Gluttony slaps me in the face every time I eat. It asks if I’m really done eating that last plate. Whispers, are you sure you don’t want any more? like a lost lover. So I always go back for more until I’m sick with disgust at what all I’ve just eaten. But I still go back anyway, knowing I’m going to regret it later.

Greed can be found in all of my latest purchases. I shop like a woman at the mall, buying all of the latest and greatest gadgets for men. Even things I don’t need I purchase, knowing I’m not going to use them but feeling the need to have them anyway. I know I don’t need the money anyway because I make plenty of it.

Sloth follows me around like a lost puppy every time I go into work. I hate my job, so I make myself look busy around my coworkers. But once their backs are turned, I go back to being unproductive. I spend my work hours doing nothing but stare at my computer screen, wishing the day was already over so I could continue with this unproductivity back in my lonely apartment. I hate work and I hate life so I don’t see the point in doing anything productive anyway.

Wrath buzzes around in my head like an angry bee every time I drink. I’m an alcoholic at heart. Alcohol is the only thing that can numb my mind until I can feel nothing at all. But it also makes me aggressively angry about everything. So I take my anger out the best way I can: smashing and destroying everything directly in my path. This normally means my precious possessions get destroyed in the process, but I make plenty of money anyway and objects can always be replaced.

Envy is my best friend. I feel it with every fiber of my being whenever I see other people laughing or having a good time. I have no interests or hobbies other than drinking, sleeping with beautiful women and buying expensive things with the extravagant money I have at my disposal. I have so much, yet own nothing worthwhile. And wish more than anything for something more. So I’m envious at other’s fortune in life.

Pride comes as a reminder that I do have a lot in life. Look at all of the things you own, it whispers quietly in my ear. And pride is right. I do have a lot of nice things in life. I mean, how many men can say they have the latest and greatest things life can afford? How many men can buy the best alcohol money can get you and buy as much of it as there’s available? How many men can have sex and eat as much as they want and still go back for more? Pride hits me whenever I’m at my lowest, reminding me of all of the nice things I own and saying that I’m lucky because not too many people have what I do. And pride is right. Pride is always right.

Hello, my name is Jack. And these are all of the reasons why I am going to hell.

0

Writing Prompt: “Happiness is Not the Absence of Problems” Quote

Tumblr- Inspire

I feel as if I can both agree and disagree with this quote. I feel like happiness can come from dealing with your life’s problems. But at the same time, I also think happiness is more than that.

I feel like happiness is your ability to deal with your problems. If you have issues in your life that need to be taken care of, dealing with them can make your life so much easier. It puts a weight off your chest that allows you to continue with your life. It makes life less stressful so that you have one less thing to worry about.

But I also think happiness is more than that. Happiness is what you make of it. It’s what you make of your life and the opportunities you’re given. If you aren’t happy, it’s because you aren’t thankful for the chances you currently have in your life. But also can be because your life situation isn’t the most ideal and are struggling to get through every day.

Happiness is what you make of it. You can only be happy whenever you look at life with an open mind and be thankful for what you have.

0

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑