Happy Thanksgiving!
I know it's been a while. Sorry. I'm going to make up for the absence...hopefully. I'm currently in the middle of editing this fantasy WIP that's kind of made me take a second look at the genre. If you know me, you know I write murder mysteries. I've loved reading them for years, and I want to be known as a mystery writer. Fantasy has never interested me like that. I find it boring and it's hard for me to get into. Over the last few months, I've started opening up to the genre. I've read A Wrinkle in Time (incredible book, BTW), These Hollow Vows (which, in my opinion, is awful and almost made me give up on the genre), and Throne of Glass (another incredible book). Before those, I tried Harry Potter and stopped halfway through book four and I'm a book and a half into The Map to Everywhere series. The book that got me writing my own, however, is The Lost Track of Time. This book, while it is fantasy, starts and ends in the real world. The fantasy realm that the main character enters is completely imaginary. There's no fantasy jargon that left me confused. It's a well-crafted story with great characters and illustrations. I say all of this because, in my small way, I want to thank the authors of these books (even These Hollow Vows). The stories mentioned above are crafted in such a way that you're not just reading someone's book. You're immersed in their world. Reading good books makes me want to become a better writer, and that I can be one if I continue to push myself. What are you thankful for?
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Long time, no post, am I right?
Sorry, I was finishing up my junior year of college. It was crazy, but here I am again, and I have things to say. Since Christmas break, I've been on a reading spree. I received and bought a LOT of books, and I needed to read them, so I did, and it was amazing! That's not the point. The point is that I branched out and read several young adult (YA) novels. If you're not as heavily saturated with the publishing industry as I am, YA has a fairly bad reputation of having a lot of inappropriate content for its audience. The YA age range is thirteen to seventeen, and a good amount of books targeted to that demographic have strong language, sex scenes, etc. present in them. That's coming from the secular side. On the Christian side, books labeled "YA" are considered cringe-worthy and preachy. There's seems to be no happy medium on either side. That being said, I've found some great YA novels that not only have a good story line, but are also pretty clean. In the Hall, With the Knife (Diana Peterfreund): In case the title doesn't give it away, this book is based off the board game and movie Clue. When I found this, I had to get it. I'm a sucker for murder and Clue. Peterfreund did not disappoint. The characters are all suspicious and they constantly leave you pointing the finger around the circle until the end. I had no clue who the murderer could have been until they were revealed. Plus, no sex scenes and there may have been five cuss words max. (And there's a sequel!) Catwoman: Soulstealer (Sarah J. Maas): When I picked up this book, I was automatically excited. I love Catwoman and anything remotely related to Batman, so this was a must-read. I was hesitant, too, because I'd heard that some of Maas's other books had sex scenes in them, but my friend who'd read it before reassured me this one didn't have any. Catwoman is an incredible book. Lots of action, deception, and several references to the other characters in the Batman-sphere, which I appreciated. There was a little more cussing than I would've liked, but it wasn't excessive, which isn't a bad trade-off in my opinion. Black Canary: Breaking Silence (Alexandra Monir): This is the fifth installment of the DC Icons series, and it's amazing! Black Canary's story has always intrigued me, and the story Monir wrote for her was fantastic. There were a few parts I found cheesy, but overall, it's a great read. Like the others, there are a few cuss words sprinkled throughout, but it's otherwise clean. Teen Titans: Raven and Teen Titans: Beast Boy (Kami Garcia and Gabriel Picolo): I don't know if you've noticed, but I love superheroes. Now, Raven and Beast Boy are graphic novels, but they're still targeted to a YA audience. I've been looking at these books for a long time. Raven is my favorite Teen Titan, and when I saw that the third graphic novel in the series is Raven and Beast Boy as a couple, I knew I had to read these two. I read them both within hours of getting them. The story, artwork--everything was amazing! They embodied both characters very well, and I was very happy about that. Plus, they're clean aside from a couple cuss words. YA fiction has a bad rep, but that doesn't mean all the books that are marked "YA" are bad. I encourage you to give these books a read, because they were all great, or take a chance on a YA novel that you might be looking at reading. If you read one of the books above or have read one of them, leave a comment below because I want to continue fangirling over them. :) Until next time, happy reading! It's safe to say I haven't been very active on my website as of late. One of the main reasons for that has been because I'm working on the fifth draft of one of my manuscripts. But, as the title of this post says, another big thing that's been taking up my time is reading! And I've read some great books so far this year.
One series (yes, I read the entire series in a month) that I've read is the Tales of the Haunted Mansion series. The books are based off the ride in Disney World, and each book follows the deaths of some of the residence that reside in the mansion, and even give insight to some of the grave markers you see while waiting in line to ride the ride. I'm a huge Disney fan, and an even bigger Haunted Mansion fan, so finding these books while looking for Christmas ideas for my parents was a huge surprise and an instant must-have. I could go on and on about the shear amount of detail put into each volume of the series, or the mysterious mansion librarian, Amicus Arcane, who's presence in each of the four books is just as important as the over arching plot that comes to light in the fourth book, but I think it would be more fun for you to experience it for yourself. Seriously, for middle-grade novels, they're creepy and made me ask "Are you sure this suited for young audiences?" Of course, it's a book about the Haunted Mansion, so toeing the line makes sense. And I'm a wuss, too, so take my opinion for what it's worth. I highly recommend Tales of the Haunted Mansion to anyone who loves Disney and a good scare. I'm telling you, this series is by far one of my favorites. These books got me excited to read again, too, so you can imagine how dear they are to me. If you decide to read this series, leave a comment down below and tell me what you think! See you next time! I don't know about you, but I've always struggled with finding out who I am, and being confident in myself. My whole life, I've felt like I've chased my own tail trying to figure out my identity. So many people have told me what they think I should be, and I've always listened, not realizing they know me about as well as I did (which is, not well). I was too busy trying to live up to the expectations of my family and friends to stop and ask, "Is this really what I feel called to? Do I believe this about myself? Who am I, really?"
It also doesn't help that I'm indecisive. It's taken the first twenty years of my life to grapple with the fact that my identity comes from God, not from the family I was born into, the friends I hang around with, or the occupation God called me to. Once I had that solid foundation, and believe me, I'm still working on staying firm in that truth, it came time to wait on God to reveal Himself to me. I know what you're thinking: I'm supposed to be finding myself, not God. But that's the thing with us weirdo Christians; we have to prayerfully wait for God to reveal Himself to us so that we know first and foremost who we belong to. And He did not disappoint. The Hall directors for my dorm decided to do a short book club thing for J-Term. (If you're not familiar with the term, J-term is a three-ish week semester in the month of January, where you can take up to four credit hours or study abroad.) Now, I love books and reading, so I wanted to join one. The assistant hall director, who was in charge of the group I'm in, chose the book "Scary Close" by Donald Miller. In short, it's about intimacy and learning how to be open and trusting in friendships, family, and romantic relationships. To be completely transparent with you, I knew immediately this was the group I needed to choose because trusting people in general is not one of my strengths. What I found as I read through this book, while I don't share a lot of similarities with the author and his life, I realized one thing we have in common: there came a point in both of our lives that we became too careful. For Miller, it was because of new-found his success as a writer. For me, it was trusting people who didn't value me or my writing. I've been hurt so many times by other people for a variety of reasons that I just stopped showing myself and talking about things I'm passionate about. I normally don't like talking to people because, in one way or another, I end up walking away from the conversation with a bruised heart. And I can't do that anymore. In chapter eleven of his book, Miller outlines this "list of new freedoms" after his decision to strive to be himself. All of the things on his list are things I want to work on, too, like being passionate and strong in my beliefs and being okay with the fact that I'm going to be wrong from time to time (list found on page 148 of the book). I encourage you to read "Scary Close." It's given me a new perspective on myself I've never had before. You can find it on Amazon if you click here. You can find Donald Miller on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram if you tap the underlined social media titles, and I will see you next time! Happy Writing! I love the idea of to-do lists. They seem so organizational and official. And the dopamine rush you get when you check something off? Amazing.
That being said, when I write out a to-do list, whether it’s for getting certain homework assignments done during the day or even an over-arcing one for breaks in between semesters, I never seem to get anything done. Take this blog post for instance. I was supposed to post this three weeks ago! It frustrates me to no end, and I wish there was a way to combat this sense of failure I feel when I look at the pad of paper sitting on my desk full of tasks yet to be done. No, not every day needs to be a productive one. Writing for me comes in times of intense inspiration, and there are always slumps that come along with that. It’s part of the process. And I did have fun today, spending time with my family, cooking, and exercising. I just wish I’d gotten at least one thing done that I’d set out to do. There’s still some time left, and I’m not going to waste it. I’m gonna go check off a couple of things before I go to bed tonight. Again, like this blog post. Even though it wasn’t even on the list for today, but whatever. If I don’t see you before, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and happy writing! I’ve gotten to a point in my life where looking at old photos makes me sad.
Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate where I am now, and I’m glad I’ve grown to a place of maturity. I’ve met amazing new people and gone on cool adventures. The lessons I’ve learned in life are ones I’m glad to have been taught. Every once in a while, when I look at pictures from my past, I want to relive those moments. I crave, just for a second, I could go back and be in that point in my life again. The ones that really make me reminisce are my action shots from my time in show choir. It was a great period in my life, even after the countless hours we spent going over choreo, vocals, and all of the performances and competitions we had throughout the school year. Over four years of high school, I spent 1,250 hours in show choir, and it was worth it. While I don’t miss high school, I miss choir and the people I did it with. Sadly, I lost contact with a good portion of the people I ran around with. That’s not anyone’s fault, obviously; life took us all in different directions. Part of me wants to have a reunion. I wonder if we could do that. Looking back over that time, I realize no one really knew who I was or what I wanted to do with my life. They know me, but they didn’t know me. I doubt there were many that knew I was passionate about writing until after I graduated and started building my platform, and I know for a fact most of them would’ve never guessed I write murder mysteries. Maybe I regret not coming out of my shell as much as I should have. And, maybe it’s for the better I didn’t. Still, I wonder how some of my friendships would’ve been different if I did open up a little more with my choir friends. Or I’m totally in my head and overthinking again. If you haven't heard already, I'm back in quarantine for the second time this semester. Yay.
Honestly, it's not that bad. I'm doing all right, staying positive despite the fact I've missed all of my floor's big traditions because of both of my quarantines. My biggest problem right now is lack of motivation, since the semester's almost over and I'm stuck at home for another five or six days. For my peers at school, losing motivation this close to the end isn't uncommon. To help combat this, for myself and for others, I've comprised a short list of things that I do to help me get things done and rebuild my motivation. If you're in the same boat I am, hopefully some of these things I do can help you, too.
These are the big three things that help me get motivated and get things done. These might not work for everyone, so keep that in mind if you decide to try any of my tips out. Let me know how well they worked for you! What are some things that help you when you're lacking motivation? Write them in the comments below, and as always, happy writing! It's National Novel Writing Month, or NaNo WriMo, and I don't know about you, but I feel PUMPED! I've been looking forward to this all year and I'm ready to make progress on one of my WIP's!
That's what I would say if I actually knew what I wanted to work on for November. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited and I want to participate in NaNo as much as the next writer. I just don't know what to work on. Plus, I'm in the middle of the hardest stretch of the semester, and between papers coming due, trying to get my grades up in my classes, and who knows what else, I'm afraid I don't have time. Meaning if I want to get things done writing-wise, I need to be smart. Here's my diabolical plan to conquer NaNo and crush school at the same time.
Until next time, happy writing! As of October 21st, 2020, I've been a writer for five years.
This is a crazy accomplishment for me, and it doesn't feel like it's been that long since I started. It seems more like a fever dream than reality. I've grown so much over the last few years and have been given so many great opportunities, and I couldn't be happier with my career thus far. To celebrate, I want to use this week's post to talk about some of the best lesson I've learned about writing for each year of my journey. This is stuff anyone could find helpful, whether you've been writing forever or you're just starting out, so I hope you enjoy! Year 1: Just finish the story. When I was writing my first book, I started writing a couple more along side it. I was able to keep them straight in my head, but every time I divided my attention between all of my other WIPs and whatever new one I started, I felt another small strain on my creativity. I'm not saying starting a new story while working on another is bad. There's nothing wrong with doing that, especially if you're feeling burnt out with your current idea. I recommend doing it sparingly, and write the story you're passionate about. Year 2: Writing as an act of escapism isn't bad. Toward the end of my second year as a writer, I started writing the first Dynasty River Mystery. I thought I wanted to write it to remember my summer working at camp. Now that I'm older and a little wiser, I was writing it out of escapism, not because I hated my job, my bosses, or the people I worked with, but because of one person in particular. I thought it wasn't okay to cope with what I was feeling through writing for a long time. I was very wrong. If I didn't try to understand what I felt through the written word, I don't know where I would be today. It is healthy and therapeutic. Year 3: Kill your darlings. I'd written a Disney adventure book and handed it to a friend in my major to look it over. When she handed back what I'd finished so far of the second draft, she looked at me and said, "Yeah, you need to cut the first three or four chapters." That stung. I'd slaved over this book and put in hours of research and writing time, only to get it thrown back in my face. Now that I'm older, again, I know that it's the second draft. Of course, there are a ton of edits that have to be made. And, now that I'm thinking about it, I really want to work on that manuscript. I might do that when I have time later this semester. Year 4: Be bold. I went to my first writer's conference. At the time, I had six manuscripts under my belt and was shocked when people thought it was weird and impressive that I'd written so much in a short amount of time. Even the editor I'd talked to said it was impressive! What? And, in my boldness, I approached him and showed him the first Dynasty River Mystery (the first few pages of the third draft, to be exact.) And he offered to edit the first chapter of the manuscript! Even now, that still amazes me that he saw potential in my little mystery book. Year 5: Persistence. July 2020, I helped out with Taylor's Professional Writer's conference. It was so much fun, and I got to see some friends in the process. We also had enough open slots for one-on-ones, so I was able to talk to an agent who was there as a lecturer. She and I hit it off very quickly, and I loved talking to her. She wanted me to send her my proposal for Dynasty River Book one, and I did. She said it wasn't quite ready, but she's willing to look at it again. I still can't wrap my mind around it. She wants to see my work again. I'd been pushing this book for a while, and she's interested. Always keep trying, because it will pay off eventually. Looking back over this list, I still can't believe it's only been five years. I wouldn't have gotten to where I am without Taylor's Professional Writing program. If you're interested in learning more about it, click the link here. (It's a shameless plug. I love the department, faculty, and students here, and I want more people to hear about us.) I hope you enjoyed and found this helpful! Comment down below if anything helped you! Keep writing! Welp, I definitely meant to give my blog new content last week...
Sorry for the lack of activity over the last two weeks. I, along with the planning committee of the PWR department, are preparing for our Fall Professional Writing Retreat. It's going to be great, but it involves a lot of work, especially from the chair and co-chair (I'm the co-chair this year). That's fine! We're fine. :D I haven't done a update post in a while anyway, so here's what I've been up to:
Also, who's thinking of doing Nano-Wrimo next month? Let me know in the comments! Hope you all have a good week! |
L.P. MetzgerJust a girl with a dream, but you already knew that. Archives
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