Maybe not a professional, but on my way!

When does one have a right to call themselves a writer?

I'm not a published writer, but I still think of myself as a writer. 

Whenever I watch movies, I can't help but think of how I would write some particular scene. I'm not even kidding, I do it all the time, and it's actually quite entertaining. 

I feel like I think like a writer does. 

When I read a book, I fold the pages that have chapters/sentences/phrases/dialogues/monologues/anything that I feel like will be useful to me later. I'm not talking about copying someone else's work, because that's about as unethical as you can get, but learning from the people who have already achieved the goal that I've set for myself: they've published a book. 

Recently I bought a notebook from Powell's (you can find a pic on the post 'I Heart Powell's') and I've turned it into a planning-book for the project that I've been working on for the past few years. That's me, organizing my thoughts on paper for the first time. I am absolutely stoked and so excited to see what will become of it. So far I've explained the plot in about 10 pages, and I'm not finished yet. 

And this is me, a person who becomes overjoyed about a notebook.

Guess I am a writer :)

W is for WORLD

We have come a long way since people thought the Earth was flat. 

Now you can be anywhere in the world, and your family and friends are only a phone call away. You can even contact them via internet and see them while you're talking. 50 years ago, who would have thought? You don't even have to go that far back.

The world is getting smaller as we speak. More doors open to us. More opportunities.

I recently talked to someone who said she'll never ever travel again. She had made the decision voluntarily, not because she was forced to by anything. I'll be honest, I can't remember the reasons she told me, because I was too shocked that she would make a decision like that in the first place. That anyone would. Why wouldn't people want to see what this world has to offer? Why wouldn't they be open to widen their horizons? 

I understand that some aren't able to do much because of limited resources. The financial situation isn't great anywhere now. And trust me, I know what it's like to stretch every penny. I can't even afford my rent right now. And I'm not kidding. But I also know that when there's a will, there's a way. 

When you have a passion for something, it's hard to understand the point of view of those, who do not share your passion. I cannot understand people who don't want to get out there, but I respect their decisions. It's their life. 

My life would be empty without a getaway every once in a while. 

This fall couldn't come soon enough.

What to write about.... ?

I feel like lately I haven't written about anything that interests anyone but me. Sorry about that ;(

 Once again, I am reaching out for you all. I know what I like to write about, I know what I like to read about... And I would like to know your views as well. Some of you may read my blog because of the fact that I write about whatever I want to, and that's great. I've never wanted to brand my blog, which is why I'm giving you the opportunity to influence on the upcoming posts. 

So, you know the drill. Please leave a comment if there's something you would want me to write about besides the things I'm already writing about, or if there's a topic you want to read more about. I will commit to this and write about every single thing you suggest. How does that sound? :)

Please note, that I've added my email-address to the side bar, so if you don't want to leave a comment, but still want to say something, feel free to email me! 

awaiting for... something :) 

-I

About Writing

I have been writing stories, songs and poems since I was ten years old. That means I have kept a hobby for almost thirteen years. It's by far my most beloved thing to do, so I wanted to share something about it with you. 

I'm not a patient person. I want things done now, not in the next five minutes. This has been a bit of a challenge for me when it comes to writing. I used to be even more inpatient than I am today, so what would happen was that immediately after an idea presented itself, I would start writing it. I was hoping to develop the story as I wrote. I would come up with the names of the characters along the way.

Never happened.

As you can imagine, I eventually got frustrated and didn't finish anything I had started. Occasionally not being able to come up with finished pieces I would give up writing for a few months. I really wish I could go back in time and slap the stupidness out of myself. 

Building patience and learning to take things slow has been the biggest change I've had to do over the last couple of years. I'm still hatching this one idea in my head -been doing so for almost 2,5 years- and I'm still not ready to start writing it. This is the best thing I can do about it, just let it stew. Also, building the characters is very important. Let's say, for example, that I write a story about a 35-year-old man. Without creating a "voice" for the character, there's a risk I'll end up writing about him as if he was me. Get it? I would be writing about myself as a 35-year-old man, he would do things as I would do them, not as he himself should do them. So you can see, it's important to make sure the characters have their own voice, their own characteristics, their own personality. It doesn't matter if you don't agree with the character. If you find yourself in a situation like that, it just means you've succeeded in creating a whole new person. 

Writing can be overwhelming, no matter what you write. Sometimes you can find yourself so deep in it, that the problems in your imaginary world become problems in your real life. There's a saying that goes something like this: You'll know you're doing great at your job when your personal life is going down the drain. No matter how much I love to write, I'll try to maintain a sense of reality of some kind :) Sometimes I do live in my own little world, but it's ok, they know me here. 

I've been writing since I was ten. Does it make me a professional? No. 

But I'm not a rookie either.

P.S. One new reader! Welcome! :)

Speak UP! Share!

Ok. I want some interaction. Stalking is great, I love being stalked (only on blogger, peeps), but now let's see who has the guts to talk. 

Here are various phrases and questions. Pick one (or more) and answer/react to it by leaving a comment. 

(Seriously, I won't bite, you know...)

1. I have two more shifts at my current job. I'm kinda sad :(

2. The best book I've ever read is...

3. Once I was watching a documentary about lions, and one of the cubs was partially paralyzed. The poor thing was just dragging his back feet trying to keep up with the others, and you could see he was miserable, because there was only so much the others could do for him. I became mad at the shooting crew for not helping it. The last image was of the ground, the dragging marks the little lion had left on the dirt. Then the marks stopped. He couldn't follow the others anymore, and some other animal must have killed him. It made me cry, I hate seeing animals in misery. 

4. I think Lily and Robin are kinda annoying in the show How I Met Your Mother.

5. I have a love-hate relationship to NYC.

6. Which Starbucks beverage is your favorite?

7. The greatest thing that's ever happened to me is...

8. If Hunger Games was real, would you volunteer for someone?

9. I'm very interested in self-publishing. Any ideas/recommendations/thoughts?

10. I love peanut butter&jelly sandwiches... yet I haven't had one in almost four years. What's wrong with me?

There ya go... Go nuts.

xxo

just because

My friend and I had an interesting conversation today about talking. Why can't one just throw a topic out there and then talk about it with others without someone taking it too seriously or personally?

Sometimes when I'm writing, I tend to worry what others might think about it. Say I write a story about a girl who turns into a prostitute to pay herself through medical school. Does it mean that I accept prostitution? No. I never depict anything I don't really have to, but sadly, with the world being how it is, having my characters live in a perfect world isn't something readers would buy.

I think the same applies with conversing -why can't we talk about something just for the hell of it? You can always express your opinion, but judging others shouldn't be your job. And if you don't want to take part, that's cool too. Just don't make others feel bad when they've actually done nothing wrong.

When I read, I don't think about the author. I think about the characters and the way they're acting and handling their lives. Fictional or not, they become alive when I read. For me, it marks a successful writer when I'm able to relate to the characters and see the world through their eyes. After finishing the story, all I can think about is how wonderful a job the author had done with it. Not "why would he write that" or "does he really think so?". The beauty of being a writer is that you can create characters with their own minds, you can create whole worlds if you want to. What you write, doesn't necessarily reflect your own opinions. You just have to agree enough to make it work, and more importantly, make others believe in it, too.

Some might not agree with me on this, but I don't really care. What good does it to me to just sit around and wonder if someone's going to approve of me or not? Instead I could go out, meet my friends and just be. If there's a silent moment, I could say something completely random and see how they react.

Try it, might be fun :)

xxo