I still can’t believe it. Hopefully this year won’t go by as quickly as the last one did.
I was considering what to post, and I decided what better way to start the new year than with a writing advice post that can (hopefully) motivate my fellow writers as we set goals and make plans for our writing journey this next year. So today we’re gonna be talking about writing voice. But what is it exactly?
Your writing voice is the style in which authors write their stories— it’s essentially what sets the tone of the story. It can depend on the writer’s personality, vocabulary, and other personal factors, and each writing voice is unique to their writer. Think of authors that you know— they all have unique writing styles as shown in their stories, and you may like or dislike a story because of its writing style.
Many writers struggle with ‘finding’ their writing voice. They may not be satisfied with the way they write or not know how best to structure their thoughts on paper. So that’s what I’m here to talk about today. Here are three ways you can develop your own writing voice!
1. Read
Every author has their own unique way of writing, so a good way to help find your own is by reading books by different authors. You may find some writing styles that you love, and others that you don’t love as much. Looking at different writing styles can make it easier for you to determine the kind of writing that you like and help you be inspired by other authors. If you find an author whose writing style you really like, it can be tempting to copy their style. But in my opinion, it’s impossible to perfectly copy someone else’s writing voice (unless you’re copying what they write word for word). There can be similarities, but there will always be a part of you in your writing, even if you’re trying to write in someone else’s style. Of course that doesn’t mean you should try and plagiarize another author’s work, but trying to write in another author’s style can be a good way to practice finding your own writing style.
You can also read over your old stories. While your writing style is probably different now than it was then, you may still find similarities between then and now. My writing style has definitely changed over the years, but when I looked back I found a similar tone in my writing style, which helped me to develop my writing style even more.
2. Experiment
After you’ve read different types of writing voices, experimenting with various kinds is a good way to develop your own unique writing voice. You can try to write more description or focus more on dialogue. You can try to write in shorter, more consice sentences or you can experiment with a more flowery, expressive style. You can try for a more serious tone or a more humorous one. You can write in a formal style or a casual one. Try out different narrative point-of-views— you may find that it’s easier for you to write in first person point-of-view than in third person, or vice versa.
It may take a while before you find something you’re satisfied with— I’m honestly still developing mine. That’s where the last step comes in.
3. Write
This one seems obvious, but just keep writing. Honestly this is the most effective out of the three as I’ve found from experience. You can read other people’s styles and experiment with different kinds, but in the end whatever you write is your writing style. Your style may change and you may not be satisfied with it yet, but it’s important to remember that what you wrote is unique because you’re the one who wrote it. There’s no such thing as a perfect writing style, but you don’t have to look far to find your writing style. All you have to do is write. Just keep writing.
This post ended up being later than I intended, but I managed to post it before 2024 ends, so I’m counting it as a win.
Also.
2024 is ending.
Wasn’t 2023 three months ago? 😭
Since my next post will be posted in 2025, I decided why not dedicate a post to this year even though I haven’t even had this blog for a year yet (which is a crazy fact on its own!). So let’s review 2024!
Blogging
I started to want my own blog when I discovered writing blogs not long after I began taking writing seriously. After seeing all the amazing writers posting about their stories, one of my biggest goals in life as a young writer was becoming a part of the blogging community and being able to show my stories to the world. But I was never able to actually start until this year, and it’s still crazy that I actually have my own blog right now.
I didn’t know what to expect when I started blogging, but it was somehow easier and harder than I thought it would be. I’m really grateful for all the support I’ve gotten, especially since I received much more than I expected. I hope to do more with this blog in the future and I can’t wait to see how my blogging journey continues!
Writing
Though this year hasn’t felt like its been the biggest for me when it comes to writing progress, looking back, I’ve made more progress than I thought. I started more drafts than I can count, and though I didn’t finish any drafts this year, I added a lot to both old and new drafts. My biggest accomplishment writing-wise was most likely successfully working on two different drafts at once without being distracted by fifty other ideas. My hope for this next year is that I will be able to properly set aside time to work on my projects. And if all goes well, hopefully I’ll be able to post more about them!
Life
If I had to describe 2024 in one word, the only word I can think of would be ‘full’. So much has happened this year that it would take forever for me to explain it all. While there have been many hardships and challenges this year, God has provided countless blessings as well. I’ve been blessed with amazing new friends and opportunities that I couldn’t have even imagined happening last year.
I learned a lot of things this year, but one thing of the biggest ones I’ve learned is stepping out of my comfort zone. I used to be a huge extrovert until the covid lockdown happened, and for the next couple years during and after the lockdown my extrovertedness switched to major introvertedness to the point where I lacked the confidence to talk to other people. But at the start of this year, I decided why not try to rebuild my confidence and see what happens? And I’m absolutely glad that I tried. Almost everything that happened this year wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t tried stepping out of my comfort zone. And while I’m not the complete extrovert I used to be, I’m happy to report that I am not only able to talk to people comfortably again but I quite enjoy doing so. So if you’re wondering whether you should step out of your comfort zone this upcoming year, I highly recommend it! You never know what amazing things are gonna happen because of it.
So that’s my 2024 review post! Who knows what 2025 holds, but I’m excited to continue this blogging journey with you. Thank you to everyone who has and continues to support my blog and I hope y’all have an amazing New Years!
It’s December already, can you believe it? Christmas is right around the corner and 2025 is almost here!
Also part 3 of Know the Novel is here!
If you’re a regular visitor to this blog, you may have noticed my complete lack of posting for the past few weeks. The reason is because several Unexpected Life Things™ ended up being dumped on me all at once in the past month, resulting in me not being able to post for a while.
Pretty much my mood for the last month
But things have finally begun to die down, so hopefully I can go back to my regular posting schedule (and warn y’all next time I decide to take an impromptu break).
1. How did writing this novel go all around?
Better than I expected! I did write less than I hoped in the last month, but the month before that was pretty successful so I’m happy about that. And progress is always a win!
2. Did it turn out as you expected or completely different? How do you feel about the outcome?
Window Lake: Since this is the second draft, I expected it to be the same as it was in the first draft, only with it being actually well-written this time. And… well, the overall story has stayed the same, but the characters (or character. Definitely not looking at Julia right now) are still trying their hardest to cause as many problems as possible.
Maple Row Cafe: As someone who honestly does not put a lot of work into worldbuilding, I was surprised by how much more time I ended up spending on the setting than I usually do in my stories. I actually really like the setting in this story and it’s a lot of fun to explore, especially since it leans heavily into autumn vibes, which is by far my favourite season.
3. What aspect of the story did you love writing about the most? (Characters, plot, setting, prose, etc.)
The characters! Is anyone surprised? I still love exploring each character and watching their dynamics with each other unfold in both stories.
4. What was your least favorite part?
Kind of going against what I said in the first answer, my least favourite part isn’t exactly related to the story itself, but it’s more my inconsistent writing habits. I was pretty consistent in the beginning but after a while life happened and all consistency went out the window. Hopefully after things start to die down consistency will be less of a problem.
5. What do you feel needs the most work?
I think that pretty much sums it up.
6. How do you feel about your characters now? Who’s your favorite? Least favorite? Anyone surprise you? Give us all the details!
Window Lake: Julia’s character has honestly surprised me in this draft more than anything else. She became a much more complex character in the second draft and it’s been a lot of fun exploring her more deeply. Aza is also much more chaotic this draft and Shak has already begun to try his best to keep the chaos to a manageable level.
Maple Row Cafe: When I first had the idea for this story, I honestly didn’t have too many plans for Abigail’s character outside of her connection with Owen and Hattie’s relationship. But almost as soon as I started writing, I knew she would be a much bigger part of the story than I’d initially expected. I also didn’t expect her to become my favourite character, but I think I ended up relating to her a little too much for her not to be XD Owen is also much different than I had originally planned, so it’s been really interesting exploring his point of view.
7. What’s your next plan of action with this novel?
I hope to continue to write both of them, but if I’m being completely honest it might sit in my computer until winter break when I actually have time to work on my personal projects.
8. If you could have your greatest dream realized for this novel, what would it be?
I would love to have them published, but I also think it would be awesome if they could become movies. I’ve always wanted to direct a movie, and it would be especially cool if I could direct my own stories. If only I had the money and time…
9. Share some of your favorite snippets!
Window Lake:
“I could show you around Velamyr, if you want,” Shak offered.
Aza glanced at Estral. “Can I join them?”
Estral frowned. “You know that puts you at risk.”
Aza stared at him with wide, starry eyes and a pout that would’ve gotten any other person to cave instantly. “Please?”
Estral looked away. “Nice try.”
The look was gone in an instant. “Aww, it usually works.”
“That’s because you always use it on Shak,” Estral replied.
“Hey,” Shak protested mildly.
Maple Row Cafe:
“So did you know me? Before, I mean.”
Owen hesitated. What should he say? Yeah, I actually used to be your boyfriend for a few years, but I ruined it when I broke your heart for a stupid reason, then you ended up in a car accident and that’s why your memory’s gone. Sorry about that by the way. “I did.”
Hattie brightened. “Really?”
“Yeah, I… yeah. But it was a long time ago…”
“That’s alright,” Hattie dismissed. “I can’t blame you for having bad memory. I mean, look at me, right?” She laughed.
Owen gave her a strained smile. If only he had bad memory. He knew it wasn’t her fault— of course it wasn’t, it was his own— but sometimes he couldn’t help but feel jealous. She got to forget about everything and move on, while he was left here with no choice but to remember all his mistakes.
It’s not her fault, he thought bitterly. You can’t blame her for that. And it’s not as if forgetting everything is necessarily a good thing.
10. Did you glean any new writing and/or life lessons from writing this novel?
Something I was definitely reminded of from writing both of these novels is to push through even when you don’t feel like it or when you feel like your writing sucks. It reminded me that it’s okay for your writing to not be perfect immediately and you can always fix it later. Sometimes you just need some time away from your writing to fully appreciate it and be able to genuinely work on it. I feel like that’s something I always need to be reminded of when I write.
So there’s the final Know the Novel post! Fingers crossed that my posting schedule will go back to normal after this and in the meantime, hope y’all have an awesome Christmas ❤
You can never convince me the Muppets Christmas Carol isn’t the best Christmas movie
I’m excited to finally show you guys more about my projects and the progress that, surprisingly, has actually happened. FicFrenzy, a writing event hosted by the same amazing Christine Smith who made Know the Novel, has been extremely motivating for writing. I love the FicFrenzy group a lot and it’s so encouraging seeing everyone working on their projects together.
So now that I’ve actually made some progress on both novels, let’s take a look at what exactly I’ve been working on!
1. How’s the writing going overall?
Honestly, better than I expected! It was a bit difficult to make a lot of progress in both projects, but it was also a lot easier than I expected since if I ran out of motivation for one project, I could easily switch to the other one. This week was slower writing-wise than I hoped, but I made way more progress in the first couple weeks than I expected to make during the whole of FicFrenzy so I really can’t complain.
2. What’s been the most fun aspect about writing this novel so far?
The characters! Because what else? It’s been so much fun rewriting Window Lake, especially since the characters are far more well developed in this draft and equally as chaotic (actually probably even more than they were). I got a much deeper look into one of the characters and I didn’t think I could love him anymore than I did, but here we are. And it’s been a blast writing Maple Row Cafe and really meeting the characters for the first time.
3. What do you think of your characters at this point? Who’s your favorite to write about?
Window Lake: I covered this a bit in the last question, but it’s been so much fun getting a deeper look into each character since it’s the second draft. I’ve only written from Julia’s point of view so far for this draft, but it’s been an absolute blast and I forgot just how chaotic this girl is. I finally pinned down her arcs and motivation so it’s been much smoother writing her than before, but she’s also the most intent on derailing the plot and causing far more problems than she or anyone else needs.
I think this gif sums her up best XD
But as much as I love her, I’m really excited to explore some of the others’ POVs— particularly Shak’s and Aza’s.
Maple Row Cafe: Since this is the first draft of Maple Row Cafe, I didn’t really know what to expect when it came to the characters. But the further I got into the story, the more I fell in love with them. To start, Abigail had much more depth from the start than I thought she would and I honestly love it. Her relationship with her uncle is very interesting to write and I relate to her a lot more than I anticipated. I had a lot of fun with Owen’s point of view (the first time it switched to his point of view he was having a mental breakdown, so y’know, fun times) and Hattie is chaotic already and I love it. And two characters who weren’t supposed to have too big of a role in the story originally became very important side characters and honestly, I’m not complaining.
4. Has your novel surprised you in any way?
Window Lake: I wasn’t expecting to be surprised while writing the second draft, but some characters decided to reveal things they hadn’t in the first draft so that was definitely unexpected but also helped me to nail down a lot about their characters.
Maple Row Cafe: The two not-so-important side characters becoming important side characters shouldn’t have been surprising considering how many times that happens in every single one of my stories, but it still managed to surprise me anyway. They were only really supposed to appear for a few chapters, but now they’re an extremely significant part of the story and I’m honestly here for it. They’ve only appeared in a couple chapters so far, but their dynamic as a duo is already so much fun to write and I can’t wait to explore it more!
5. Have you come across any problem areas?
Window Lake: The biggest problem is trying to write it in a way that makes sense, since I unfortunately can’t pound out a bunch of nonsense and call it a day for this draft. I like to think I’ve been successful so far, but we’ll see what future me thinks about that.
Maple Row Cafe: Abigail and Owen’s relationship was actually a lot more difficult to write than I anticipated. Seriously, you’d think it’d be easier to get two reluctant introverts to interact with each other and actually develop a close relationship. But they’ve managed to communicate thus far so hopefully that continues for the rest of the story. XD
6. What’s been your biggest victory with writing this novel at this point?
Actually writing! Seriously though, I’ve written way more than I expected and that’s definitely a reason to celebrate.
7. If you were transported into your novel and became any one of the characters, which one do you think you’d be? Would you take any different actions than they have?
Window Lake: I would definitely be Aza, since she’s a bookworm, absentminded, and has no idea what’s going on 95% of the time but is enjoying the ride anyway. She also fully supports Julia’s chaos, which would absolutely be me. I’d probably take the same actions as Aza but I’d definitely be more stressed about everything.
Maple Row Cafe: My answer when I started writing would’ve been Owen, but the more I write of Abigail the more I relate to her. She’s a lot more ambitious than I am so we’d probably take different actions, but otherwise we’re a lot more similar than I thought we’d be.
8. Give us the first sentence or paragraph then 2 (or 3!) more favorite snippets!
Window Lake: Opening
Julia Woodstorm hurtled through the front door of her house with a loud crash that could’ve been heard in every corner of Gald. She was fortunate that the door had been left partially opened, since if it had been closed properly it would’ve been knocked straight off its hinges, and her mother wasn’t willing to pay for yet another door replacement.
Snippet #1
“Aren’t you going to help me?”
Tye looked at her incredulously. “I came here to make sure you wouldn’t die, not help you with your project.”
“Well, you’re here, and I need help. So logically, you should help me.”
Tye just stared at her. Finally, he groaned. “Why do I put up with you?”
“Because I’m amazing,” Julia replied, leaning over the pile of papers on the floor and sifting through the ones nearest to her. “Now come on.”
Tye glared at the floor for a few moments. Then he sighed heavily and straightened. “Fine. What are you looking for?”
“Anything that has to do with a ‘Window Lake’.”
“Right, let me just look under the ‘w’ section. Oh wait, they didn’t alphabetize every single scrap of paper that’s lying on the floor.”
Julia rolled her eyes. “Thank you, I couldn’t tell.”
Snippet #2
“The queen requires your presence immediately.”
Estral grimaced, muttering something under his breath that Julia couldn’t quite catch. He glanced at Shak. “Make sure she stays out of trouble. I’ll be back soon.” His eyes narrowed. “I hope.” And with that he disappeared, closing the door behind him.
“Why does he assume I’m going to get in trouble?” Julia exclaimed indignantly.
Shak raised an eyebrow. “Were you going to?”
“Probably, but that’s besides the point.”
Maple Row Cafe:Opening
When Abigail Hudson first asked her uncle if she could stay for the fall, his first response had been “who is this?” After sighing heavily, she replied that the person who had just asked if she could have a place to stay was, in fact, his only niece and not some random stranger who had happened to find his contact information.
Snippet #1
“Where’s your uncle?”
Abigail grimaced. “He… left. Early.”
“Lucky,” Jay muttered, loud enough for both girls to hear him.
“Come on, Jay, it’s not that bad.” Robin gave Abigail an apologetic smile. “Sorry about him. He’s just grumpy because he can’t leave yet.”
“That’s because you said I can’t,” Jay grumbled.
Robin raised an eyebrow. “I thought you said I wasn’t the boss of you.”
“You’re not,” Jay replied. “I’m just nice enough to listen to things you say sometimes.”
Snippet #2
“Look, I’m sorry about running out like that.”
His apology was met with silence. After the pause stretched out for several seconds, Abigail spoke again. “So. Are you going to explain it, or…?”
Owen grimaced. “I don’t think tonight’s a great time to explain it.”
“Do you do that with every person you talk to or was it just Hattie?” Abigail asked. “Because if you do it with everyone, you might wanna get help for that.”
9. Share an interesting tidbit about the writing process so far! (For example: Have you made any hilarious typos? Derailed from your outline? Killed off a character? Changed projects entirely? Anything you want to share!)
No characters have died! (So far.) Writing two different projects at the same time has definitely been an interesting experience, and while I’m not sure I would recommend it for everyone, at least I know it’s not impossible. I’m not sure I’d do it next FicFrenzy, but I wasn’t originally planning on doing two projects this event either so I guess we’ll have to see!
10. Take us on a tour of what a normal writing day for this novel looks like. Where do you write? What time of day? Alone or with others? Is a lot of coffee (or some other drink) consumed? Do you light candles? Play music? Get distracted by social media (*cough, cough*)? Tell all!
So yeah, in case you can’t tell, it’s almost physically impossible for me to keep a sane routine. But if you must have an idea of what my “routine” looks like, most of my writing days will look like this:
1. Wake up
2. Procrastinate everything I should be doing by going online
3. Procrastinate writing by studying
4. Procrastinate studying by writing
5. Get a giant rush of motivation around 10PM-12AM and write
6. Go to bed at an unfortunate time
Some days I get a hundred words or so, others I pound out a couple thousand words, and sometimes I get no words at all. It varies from day to day but I’ve made progress on both of my projects, so I guess it’s working. I always listen to music when I write, usually one of my WIP or mood playlists, and there’s definitely a lot of drinks (coffee included) that are consumed while writing. And yes, I absolutely get distracted by the internet and social media whenever I write.
So there’s part 2 of Know the Novel! Good luck to everyone still making their way through their projects. You got this!
I may have started writing the second draft of Window Lake’s first book already, and that got me thinking about first chapters. The first chapter is obviously very important to the story and, honestly, a pretty hard part to write. But how exactly do we write it? What do we need to include in order to have a functioning first chapter?
So in honour of the FicFrenzy (a writing event for those of you who don’t know) starting next week, I decided to talk about the five important parts of a first chapter. Let’s dive right in!
1. Hook
Ah yes, the infamous hook. The thing most writers get stuck on for five years because we can’t figure out the perfect first line. It can be easy to obsess over making the coolest line ever, but honestly I think writers tend to overcomplicate it (and yes, I am guilty of doing this too). The point of a first line— or more accurately, the first paragraph— is to pique curiosity and/or tell us something about the character or world. It doesn’t have to be the best written line in existence, as much as we would like it to be. It can start with an action, a piece of dialogue, or honestly anything that gets the reader to ask questions. If the reader starts asking questions, that means they want to know more, and if they want to know more they’ll keep reading.
2. Protagonist (+ relationships)
This is arguably the most important thing to include in your first chapter. Introduce the protagonist to your readers and show them who they are. Let the readers learn something about your character as soon as they meet them. It doesn’t have to be in the very first sentence of the book, obviously (unless you want it to be), but establishing what kind of person the character is early on can help readers connect with them more easily. Introducing your character in the first chapter is also important for their growth later on, since it gives readers an idea of what they’re like in their normal life before whatever adventure you throw at them gives them a chance to grow and change. The growth won’t hit as hard if readers don’t know what the character was like from the start.
Another point related to characters that I haven’t seen talked about often when discussing first chapters is introducing important relationships. Now this doesn’t mean introduce every single character your protagonist will ever meet within the first chapter, but if there is an already existing relationship that’s important to the story, it might be a good idea to establish it in the first chapter. If there are other characters your protagonists will meet later on who are important to the story, then you should leave those to later chapters. But introducing a pre-established relationship can help us get to know both characters better.
3. Goal
Give your character a goal— give them something to want. It might be the driving force for the story, or it might be a smaller goal that makes way for the main goal to be introduced. Either way, the goal should help move the story along. Having a goal is a great way to help us care for the characters more, and therefore be more interested in the story as a whole.
4. Conflict
Conflict is another good way to make readers care for your character. Don’t introduce too big of a conflict though— you want to save the worst (or best) of your conflict for later. But a smaller (usually internal) conflict can give readers a look into the mind of the protagonist and is also a great way to push them toward their goal. An example of this is Bilbo in the Hobbit. In the first chapter he struggles between choosing adventure or staying in the comfort of his home. It’s obviously not the largest conflict in the Hobbit, but it helps us get to know Bilbo better and therefore care for him more.
5. Setting
Another important part of the first chapter is establishing the setting. It can be easy to just dump all the information about your world into the first five pages and be done with it, but info dumping can be in the way and even be a turn off for some readers. Of course it doesn’t hurt to have some information about the setting in the beginning, especially if there’s something special or unique about it, but having too much can be distracting to the story. A good way to show setting in the first chapter is to have characters interact with it. This is a great way to introduce parts of a setting without throwing it in the readers’ faces, and it can also help them learn more about the characters and how they interact with their environment.
So there it is! Hopefully this is helpful for anyone starting a new project or draft. Anyone else starting a new project soon or just started one recently?
Recently I was nominated by the amazing Diamond for two tags, and I’m really excited to share it with you guys! I decided it would be easier to put both of them in the same post rather than making two separate posts for each tag, so hope you enjoy!
Write a short story, poem, or flash fiction inspired from one (or more) of the prompts of the person who tagged you.
Make 5-10 of your own prompts. They can be anything: phrases, single words, quotes, pictures, music–get creative.
Have fun! (and let me know if you do this so I can read yours).
Tag 4-8 other bloggers
I was originally planning to write a completely new story with the prompts, but then I read them and realized the one I wanted to write worked a little too well with a certain character of mine, so here we are. (Did I write this at midnight? Yes. Am I going to cringe at it in the future? Possibly. But am I posting it anyway? Absolutely.)
The prompt I chose was: “This wasn’t how this story was supposed to end. “
He stood alone in the middle of the crumbled city, the stone cold and unforgiving beneath his feet. The silence was interrupted only by the whistling of the wind— a stark contrast to the cries and screams that had filled the air only a few minutes before. He stood alone, staring at the now empty space in front of him, the space that had once been filled with familiar faces marred with anger and betrayal. His sword had fallen out of his hand long ago, lying forgotten on the ground near him. He didn’t have the heart to pick it up.
He almost felt numb. Everything that had happened felt like a dream. He wished it was— he wished he could wake up and find his friends again and laugh about how ridiculous his dream had been, because how could something like that ever happen?
The silence was deafening now. He’d always hated silence— even since the beginning he’d filled the quiet moments with music and the sound of his own voice. Then he was contented to hear the sound of comforting voices, of laughter and banter, and the silence was long forgotten. But there were no voices now, no music, and he didn’t dare speak aloud, because if he did the reality of the situation— the reality that it was over— would only hit him harder.
Something broke inside him, and the overwhelming guilt and pain threatened to swallow him whole as he fell to his knees. This wasn’t how this story was supposed to end. Their story was supposed to end with laughter and joy and long-deserved, well-earned peace. Not with a city on fire with no one inside left alive. Not with the rubble of a building that was never meant to be a tomb. Their story wasn’t supposed to end.
So where did it all go wrong? Was it the moment he had let her stay in the city while he was away, where he couldn’t protect her? Was it the moment he had stepped foot into that building and the rest of them had followed after? Was it some random moment, some careless mistake that he hadn’t noticed, where it had all started to go downhill? Or were they doomed to fail since the beginning, since the minute he laid eyes on them, wondering who in the world they were and not realizing they would become his everything? Had all of this been to give him a fleeting glimpse at happiness, only to have it ripped away from his grasp the moment he became too comfortable?
And for what? He’d only been trying to fix it, trying to fix something that was never supposed to happen. In the end, it had cost him everything. Now he was left alone in the aftermath with nothing but the knowledge that he’d lost every good thing that had ever happened to him, and he had no one to blame but himself.
Oops, that ended up being a lot more depressing than I intended. And yes, I left out names because I’m really mysterious and definitely not because it was more fun that way. Can you tell I like writing characters having a mental breakdown soliloquies?
Prompts:
We’d broken at least ten laws so far.
“If you wanted to borrow my flamethrower, you could’ve just asked.”
He’d told them that it was an accident.
“Promise me you’ll be okay.”
These two were going to be the death of me.
The Sunshine Blogger Award
The Rules:
Display the award’s official logo somewhere on your blog.
Thank the person who nominated you.
Provide a link to your nominator’s blog.
Answer your nominator’s questions.
Nominate up to 11 bloggers.
Ask your nominees 11 questions.
Notify your nominees by commenting on at least one of their blog posts.
What is a singer that you keep hearing about, and maybe you know a song or two, but you want to start listening to?
Laufey. I have a lot of friends who love her music and I’ve heard snippets on the internet, but I’ve never sat down and properly listened to one of her songs. I guess this is a sign for me to do it!
How has blogging differed from your expectation?
I first started blogging around two months ago (isn’t it crazy that’s it’s already been two months? Time flies!) and honestly it’s somehow everything and nothing like I expected. It can be a struggle deciding on what to write each week, but once I start writing it’s hard to stop. It’s definitely been an experience so far, and I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes in the future!
What is a memory from this year that is one of your favorites?
This is a really hard one! So much has happened this past year that there’s absolutely no way I can pick one. One of my favourite ones was serving as a counselor at a three-part kids’ Christian camp for two weeks. I loved every single one of my kids and it was a lot of fun hanging out with the other staff before and in between camps.
If you could see any artist in concert, who would it be?
Ooh, I would honestly love to see a For King + Country concert. I feel like there are a bunch of others but theirs is the first that comes to mind.
What is a movie you would recommend to anyone?
Christopher Robin— it’s one of my comfort movies. It’s such a cute film that’s an easy watch, and as someone who grew up with both Winnie the Pooh and too many stuffed animals to keep track of, this movie holds a special place in my heart.
What is your favorite dog breed?
I feel like this one changes on a daily basis, but right now it’s definitely Corgis! Have you seen them??? Have you seen a baby Corgi?????
Do you prefer fall or summer?
If there’s one thing you need to know about me, is that fall is my all-time favourite season. Summer is great for ice cream and time to hang out with friends, but fall is hands down the best. Like c’mon, you can’t beat the autumn vibes!
Would you rather never read a new book or never watch a new TV show again?
Okay, to be fair, the question is a new book or show, and as someone who always rereads and rewatches the same fifteen things, these aren’t too bad options. But it’s still hard to choose… I’ll probably choose never watch a new TV show again because there’s just too many books I want to read.
What is a piece of slang that annoys you?
Oof, there’s honestly a lot. The ones that annoy me the most are probably the newer slang. As a Gen Z, I do use slang, including some more recent ones, but there are some that I’ll die before I ever use it in a genuine sentence. One that annoys me would definitely be ‘sigma’ (I feel physical pain having to write it here) because unfortunately I hear it a lot in my daily life which is… not ideal, to say the least.
What is your favorite vegetable?
Either carrots or tomatoes. Honestly though, carrots are one of those foods that I can eat nonstop and probably never get tired of. I know some people say they taste like dirt but I like the taste and the crunch is so satisfying??
Would you rather live in a place with distinct but extreme seasons, or a place that has a comfortable climate yearround?
Hmm, I’d probably pick one with a comfortable climate because it saves me from having to have different clothes for each and every season lol.
My questions
What’s your favourite type of weather?
What is the worst food combination you’ve tried?
If you were caught in a zombie apocalypse, which two fictional characters would you choose to help you out?
What’s something you wish you could tell your past self?
Which countries do you wish you could travel to?
What book/movie/show do you like because you grew up with it? Do you think you would still like it if you read/watched it for the first time now?
Which music artists did you grow up listening to?
Do you listen to non-English music? If so, what kind do you listen to?
What’s your favourite month?
How many languages can you speak? What language would you like to learn?
If you could have one fictional item, what would you choose?
People I nominate for both tags: You!! Or basically anyone who wants to! (Definitely not doing this because I’m very lazy lol).
Anyone else still waiting for fall weather? I definitely am! I’m severely lacking in colder weather and falling leaves and I’ve been waiting for it to come since it ended last year.
But in the meantime, Hobbit Day is just around the corner! And as a big fan of Middle Earth, I obviously have to celebrate it. Did I use Hobbit Day being this Sunday as an excuse to write an entire rant about Lord of the Rings for a blog post? Absolutely. I tried to keep this post mostly to Lord of the Rings so that it wouldn’t be way too long, but I just had to add my opinion on the Hobbit movies (and why I actually enjoy them. Please don’t come after me!) So have fun reading this rant and I hope I don’t bore y’all with it lol.
Characters
Something you’ll figure out about me, if you haven’t already, is that my favourite thing in any story is always the characters, especially when it comes to their relationships. I honestly don’t even know where to start when it comes to the Lord of the Rings. I love each and every one of the characters and it’s really hard to pick a favourite. (I do have a soft spot for Pippin and Faramir especially though.)
I feel like there are some underappreciated characters when it comes to Lord of the Rings though— namely Frodo and Boromir. I’ve seen them both get hate or be appreciated less than other members of the Fellowship for different reasons, which makes me sad because I love these characters. Okay, to be fair, when I first read (and later watched) Lord of the Rings, I didn’t exactly like Frodo either. But after countless rereads and rewatches, I don’t think he deserves the hate that he gets. Sure, at first he may seem weak, especially because in the end he wasn’t able to throw the ring into Mordor. But if you really think about it, Frodo was honestly one of the strongest people there. Seriously, he carried the ring of power for literal months before it finally corrupted him, when it took significantly less time to corrupt the others who had or were even near the ring. And he didn’t even have to take the ring to Mordor. Even though it was his duty to take the ring to Rivendell, no one expected him to carry it all the way to Mount Doom. And yet he volunteered to do it anyway and actually managed to carry it till the end, despite how much it tortured him. Now that takes plenty of courage and strength.
And then there’s Boromir. Of course, Boromir made some mistakes and he was corrupted easily by the ring, but I feel like that’s all people focus on when it comes to his character. They forget how he was a great warrior and an even better brother to Faramir, and redeemed himself by fighting and sacrificing himself in order to save Merry and Pippin. If it hadn’t been for Boromir, Aragorn and the others wouldn’t have known that Merry and Pippin had been taken by Orcs, and without him Aragorn would have no hope in the race of men. Boromir deserves appreciation!!
Besides the characters, I absolutely love the relationships the characters have. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli are an iconic trio; Merry and Pippin are an absolute riot; and I don’t even have to say anything when it comes to Sam and Frodo. I love seeing the characters support and inspire each other as well as others as they go throughout Middle Earth. I just love Lord of the Rings. (Could you guys tell?)
I could go on for way longer but it would take a novel’s worth of pages to explain absolutely everything I love about Tolkien’s stories, so I’m gonna leave it here so I don’t bore y’all more than I probably already have.
Worldbuilding
One of the things I appreciate most about the Lord of the Rings trilogy is that even though J.R.R. Tolkien is known for extensive worldbuilding (and extensive descriptions of said worldbuilding), he doesn’t let it take away from any of the characters or the story. I feel like many fantasy writers can get too excited about the world they created that they use the story as a way to write about the world, instead of the world being a place for the story to take place in. But even though Tolkien has an extremely complex world that we get to learn a lot about throughout the story, he’s still able to keep the focus on the story and the characters.
In defense of the Hobbit movies
Now we come to the extremely controversial part. I know the Hobbit movies are very different than the book and obviously the book is amazing. And yes, I did read the book before I watched the movies. But. I actually like the Hobbit movies.
Obviously, they’re not at all perfect. I have my complaints when it comes to them. (Especially when it comes to the attempted romance between Kili and Tauriel. That was… not it, to say the least.) The violence is a bit overdone in the third movie (which, to be fair, is kind of reasonable since it is a battle, but I feel like they overdid the bloodiness of it). It gets a bit absurd at times. But the movies took my love of the characters from the Hobbit and raised it by a hundred.
One of things I appreciate most about the movies is that they actually did something with not only Thorin’s death, but especially Fili’s and Kili’s. They took the time to get us attached to these characters, which made their deaths hit harder even when we knew it was coming. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Hobbit book, but Fili and Kili’s deaths didn’t really hit me in the feels when I read it. First of all, we never really get the chance to know or really care about their characters in the book. And second, their deaths are sort of offhandedly mentioned? And Thorin’s death doesn’t really have the same impact in the book as it does in the movies, at least in my opinion. Even if the movies aren’t the best, I still love how we get to focus more on the characters and really get the chance to care about them. (Not that we can’t care about the characters in the book, obviously, but you get what I mean.)
Another thing I actually liked is that we get to see what Gandalf is up to while the rest of the party are on their adventure. I thought it was an interesting addition (and yes, I know it wasn’t in the book like a whole lot of things in these movies, but I still enjoyed it!).
So yeah, I get why a lot of people don’t like these movies, and even though there are things in it that I could complain about too, I still enjoy watching it. (Also the soundtrack!!! You can tell me you hate the movies but you can’t hate the soundtrack. C’mon.)
So that’s my probably way too long rant on why I love Lord of the Rings so much (and why I don’t hate the Hobbit movies)! Anyone else looking forward to Hobbit Day? I totally didn’t use this post as an excuse to remind everyone of its existence… (Seriously, go celebrate it!!)
I can’t believe it’s September already! (Seriously, where has the year gone??) I’m definitely excited for fall to come, especially since Japan only had about two weeks of fall last year.
Today I was feeling nostalgic so I’m gonna talk about my favourite childhood books/series! If I listed all the ones I liked this list would probably be too long, so I’m just gonna list my top 5 favourites (in no particular order).
The Mysterious Benedict Society series
I’m pretty sure this is the series I read first out of the ones on the list. The first book was actually a book I had to read as part of my homeschooling, and I loved it so much that we got the next two books. (I’m also pretty sure this is when I started reading books in the span of a day.) This series is near and dear to my heart and I’ve reread it countless times (and listened to the audiobooks on repeat. If you’ve read the series but haven’t listened to the audiobook or just like audiobooks, I definitely recommend it!)
When I heard that a fourth book was being published a decade after the third one, I didn’t really know what to think. I loved the trilogy as it was and I didn’t want it to be ruined by another book when it was already amazing the way it was. I decided to read it and honestly it wasn’t bad at all. I still think that the trilogy was good enough on its own, but the fourth book was a fun addition and it was cool to see Reynie, Sticky, Kate, and Constance dealing with the struggles of growing up. It isn’t my favourite book in the series but the theme is incredibly relatable and it doesn’t really feel out of the place in the series.
I was also excited when I heard they were making a show, though I didn’t know what to expect. But I watched the first season and I actually enjoyed it! It was definitely different from the book, but I didn’t mind it too much and honestly I really liked what they did with Martina Crowe’s character. (My biggest complaint is that the guy that played Milligan looked a bit too old, but otherwise I enjoyed it!) I haven’t watched the second season yet, so that’s something I should probably get around to doing (right after I get through my incredibly long list of things I should watch lol).
Lord of the Rings (& The Hobbit)
This was probably the first book series I was well and truly obsessed with. There were other books I’d loved before, but nothing topped my Lord of the Rings obsession. I was obsessed with the books, the movies, and even got halfway through the Silmarillion before 11 year old me’s head was filled with too many names and historical events of Middle Earth that I eventually gave up. I also read a good deal of the book’s appendices for some reason. I may have also tried to learn Elvish at one point, but I gave up almost instantly. I still love this series to death, obviously, including the Hobbit. (Also please don’t attack me, but I actually like the Hobbit movies. I know it’s not accurate to the book at all, but I still really like it as its own movie trilogy.) I’m gonna keep this one shorter because if I kept talking about it this section would take up too much space lol. (But if y’all want me to rant about Lord of the Rings some other time I will gladly do so!)
Little Women
This one I first read when I was a bit older, but it quickly became one of my favourite books. The main reason I loved it (and still love it) so much is because of how much I related to Jo March. As a kid who was on the tomboy-ish side, loved writing, and had some anger issues, I instantly latched onto Jo as one of my favourite characters in fiction. And honestly, as I’ve grown older and gone through some of the same struggles Jo did, I might even relate to her more than I used to. This book definitely holds a special place in my heart and remains one of my favourite books probably until the day I die.
I also love the movies based on the book. My favourite by far is the 2019 version, which quickly became one of my comfort movies.
Inkheart series
This was another series I read a little bit later in my childhood, but I really loved this one to the point where I kept borrowing it until I finally got it for myself. I was always really fascinated by it and how it made writing and storytelling a huge part of its story. It’s not the best trilogy out there by any means, but this is one of the first stories I chose to read for fun instead of getting it from my parents or it being part of my school. It’s a fun trilogy that I loved to reread and I’d say it’s worth reading if you haven’t already! All the books are pretty good, but the third one, Inkdeath, is my personal favourite. (There is a movie based off of the first book. It wasn’t a groundbreaking film, but it’s pretty accurate to the story and I enjoyed watching it!)
The Chronicles of Narnia
Ah, yes. The book series every Christian (homeschooler) kid read at some point in their childhood. This series has a special place in my heart for a number of reasons, but it’s also just really good. The books I reread the most were probably The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; The Horse and His Boy; and Prince Caspian. I used to read this series all the time, but honestly I haven’t reread it recently (which is definitely something I have to do). I also love the movies, especially Prince Caspian, which is probably my favourite out of the three.
There are so many good characters in this series. I love all the Pevensie kids dearly, Caspian is awesome, and Shasta and Aravis have an amazing dynamic. But my favourite character is easily Reepicheep. (Like, come on. It’s Reepicheep!)
So that’s my top 5 favourite childhood books! If there were any books on this list that you loved as a kid, come talk to me! What were some of your childhood favourites?
My name is Em and welcome to Another Writer’s Notebook. I’m a Japanese-Canadian homeschooler living in Japan and an INFP who loves chocolate, coffee, and aesthetics. I’m also a Christian who loves writing, reading, dancing, movies, music, and getting to know people. (*subtle hint to come talk to me*) I’m a big fan of Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, Little Women, Pride & Prejudice (1995 version of course), a whole lot of musicals, and many other things that would take too long to list. I also have the tendency to get obsessed with random things very easily. (My current obsession is raccoons.)
Here I’ll be talking mainly about writing, but I’ll also include talks about books and movies, my life in Japan, and the occasional rant. I’ll also post about whatever projects I’m working on— my current WIP is the Window Lake trilogy, which I’ll make a separate post on soon.
Another Writer's Notebook 