28 Things I Wish I Knew Before Becoming A Writer

28 Things I Wish I Knew Before Becoming A Writer...

1. Nothing will ever be perfect... Ever.

2. Even if you don't outline the plot, have a rough idea what you're writing about. 

3. Words are messy things...

4. And you won't always make sense. 

5. Find someone who loves writing as much as you.

6. There is no set way to do anything... Only Suggestions.

7. You will try and fail, try and fail, try and fail, try and fail.... Then maybe succeed. 

8. 3 AM is the best and the worst time to write. 

9. NO ONE (Unless they, too, are a writer) will understand why you write.

10. Friends and family will be the most and least supportive of you. 

11. If anyone asks you what you are writing, the easiest answer is to lie and say, "I'm writing an essay."

12. Coffee, Coffee, COFFEE followed by copious amounts of tea. 

13. Good music is the key. I recommend anything not written by Nicki Minaj, Justin Beiber, or anyone who has been featured in Seventeen Magazine.

14. Putting words on paper is easy. Making them make sense is not.

15. Don't procrastinate. In fact, procrastinate on procrastination.

16. You're still going to procrastinate.

17. When Writer's Block hits, try writing in a different room, house, or city.

18. Cafés are, in fact, one of the best places to write and edit. This is not just something Hollywood made up.

19. Writing is like exercising, you have to make time for it.

20. Writing everyday is the only way you get better.

21. Writing is like air- unpredictable, but constant, and without all of the calories. 

22. Read. Read, read, read, readreadreadreadreadreadreadread. Read as many bestsellers as you can get your hands on. Read bad books. Read good books. Read short books. Read long books. Just read!

23. Sooner or later, finish everything you write.

24. Nothing you write is crap. Ever. Even the bad stuff. The bad stuff teaches you what not to do.

25. Tell the truth when you are writing, and never write what you don't believe, even if it's not what everyone else thinks. 

26. In one way or another, little pieces of you are going to weave themselves into your work.

27. Never be afraid to say what you need to say. Sometimes words are better said on paper than from lips. 

28. Finishing something feels like this....

~Snowie

P.S. Love my use of gifs?

Late Nights With Snowie

Good god, allah, yahweh, babaganoosh, great spaghetti monster in the sky. I really should be in bed right now.

But I can't.

Wanna know why?

Because I feel like a freshman. And that's a terrible thing to feel.

Why, You ask? Because I keep waiting for someone to message me, and I know they won't. Hello, last semester of freshman year again.

On the bright side, I finished a novel just in time to start another.

Yeah, that's right. I wrote "The End" on the Night Stalker about five minutes ago. In all truthfulness, the last two chapters suck because I just wanted them done. But, that's just it. They. Are. Done. What, what!!! Four months for one complete revision. Hell, yeah. I'll take that any day.

More to come real soon.

Best of writing!

~Snowie

Another Video???

Seeing that this is the third video post on my blog in a row, I thought that I should talk about something writing related.

That is.... Camp NaNoWriMo! Yes, Camp NaNo is just around the corner, and this time you can pick your own word count! In other words, you don't have to write 50,000 words. You can write 500 or 100,000 words or 18,670 words.

The first Camp NaNo is in April, and the second is in July. This is fantastic because there is a two month break in between for editing and resting.

This year, I really hope to write three novels using Camp NaNo and regular NaNo. Just a few minutes ago, I had an epiphany about what I was going to write in April. My friend, M.L., just self published the first novel she ever wrote (I have no idea if you can buy it or not. If you can, I will hot link THIS). This got me thinking about the first novel I ever wrote called Arya Poisonhold. Arya Poisonhold was about an elf named Arya who finds a dragon... It was basically a rip off of Eragon. I love this novel to death, and tried to rewrite it multiple time. I never could get it perfect. I think I might try writing Arya again in April. It would be fun. I haven't written fantasy in a long time.

In July, I'm thinking about finishing my TNS sequel- Light. And November is still unknown.

Right now, I still have two more chapters in The Night Stalker. Speaking of the Night Stalker, I drew this....

It's Gail! From the Night Stalker! Just imagine orange hair and green eyes. I've wanted to draw her for a very long time. 

Best of Writing!

~Snowie

Nine Truths and A Lie

Just Can't Wait To Be King

Hello People Of The Interwebs!

Went Skiing. Kicked Butt. 

Well, hello again. You look quite lovely today.

It's roughly 10:45 P.M. on Sunday and I have school tomorrow. Not the most exciting thing in the world.

I just finished watching Radio Rebel which is a Disney movie about a shy girl who secretly has a radio show. Very moving. Not really. It was moving enough to make me want to blog something.

Well, I almost never do an Info Dump on what I've been up to in the past few weeks because that's not what this blog is for. I guess I just sometimes have to talk to someone, even if they are basically mute.

This probably sounds really, really cliché for two reasons- 1) When I am tired, I start to over think and tend to get a bit too emotional. I then end up regretting what I've said. 2) I'm listening to Mike Tompkins A Capella arrangement of We Are Young by Fun. We Are Young fills me with nostalgia probably because I listened to it all the time when certain events of last spring were playing out. Some people say that We Are Young is a terrible and crappy song, but I love it. I like a lot of music that people don't like. Or, at least, music people my age don't like. I think I have a fairly decent taste in music. My parents addicted me to music from the 70s and 80s. John Lennon alone, The Beatles, Billy Joel (It's Still Rock and Roll to Me), Elton John, Gary Wright (Dream Weaver), The Proclaimers, Roberta Flack. This love of old music is fueled by the only radio station that the radio in my bathroom can pick up. And yes. I do sing in the shower. My fifth grade teacher got me into Pop and Rap, and my cousins got me into Techno and Punk Rock. Green Day is amazing. I've been into country music for all of my life, and I've always had a deep love of film scores. Right now, I'm really into alternative music like Of Monsters and Men and Coldplay.

When I get a new song, I listen to it on repeat for hours. Somehow I manage to not get bored. Weird, right? This entire post is being written with We Are Young repeating over and over.

Well, where I live, we do this little thing call Speech. There two types- Large Group and Individual. My large group (Choral Reading. We read chorally.) went to State and received a 'I'. Individual districts just ended yesterday. I went with two pieces in the categories of Spontaneous Speaking and After Dinner Speaking. Not as easy as they sound. I managed to get a 'I' in both, so I'm headed to State. My After Dinner piece was about Socially Awkward People. According to the people who've seen me preform, it's really funny and I'm an adorable person. I was the perfect person for the speech because I am about the most socially awkward person you will ever come across. I'll have to put it on Youtube, but I think I'll have to wait until after State is over.

Last night was also our school's Cabaret program. The theme was Disney songs. I love Disney songs. I didn't actually sing, I worked in the Sound Booth. I don't know what it is about the sound booth. It's one of the places I feel most at home in SH, that and Narnia. SH drama people know what I'm talking about.

So, my friends are amazing people. I actually have friends this year! It's exciting. Two of them are seniors, and they are going to leave in a few months. I'll miss them a lot, but I don't think this will be the last year I'll see them. There's only really one Freshman in our group. Pretty sure he has a little crush on me. I don't mind. He's a nice guy. There are a lot of things that are different from last year. I do miss last year's seniors a lot. They were really amazing people. This year there is one senior- J. He's a nice guy. I guess I consider us friends... Sort of. We talk some. I think he's had a rough year. Things with his first girlfriend didn't workout so well. And, his schedule didn't workout well so he had to drop band. The band teacher wasn't very happy and now they aren't on very good terms. Not J's fault. Now Js not going to prom. Not any of my business. I was just being a wallflower. I saw, and now I think I understand.

I can't remember if I told you guys, but I now compose music. The music teacher said I have lots of natural talent. Actually, he said I have good phrasing, which is uncommon for a person of my experience. Which brings up my dilemma. Music and writing are my life. They are the only things that have ever made me really happy, but at the same time I want to know what makes stars rotate and why black holes eat light. So, which do I do?

Well... I guess I should go to bed. It's nearly 11:30 PM and I'm supposed to run with S tomorrow. I could talk for hours, but this post seems really long already. Tell me what's up in your life down in the comments. I would love to know. Really. Good, bad, happy, sad. Just get it off of your chest.

DFTBA

Best of Writing,

~Snowie

P.S. Go check out this BLOG and convince him to keep posting. 

the perks of being me (A Book Review)

the perks of being a wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

The Book

Book Cover 

I've been meaning to write a book review on this book since the beginning of January when I first read it, but I wanted to wait until the movie came out on iTunes. 

I just want to say... Wow. This is one of my favorite books in the world, right up there with Harry Potter. 

For me, there are three main reasons for this book's amazing-ness-

1) The Characters. The characters make the story. Don't they? The three main characters are Charlie, Sam, and Patrick "Nothing". In the beginning, Charlie is a quiet freshman with no friends except for an English teacher named Bill. Charlie has trouble fitting in, and no one really pays attention to him. Then he meets Sam and Patrick who are step siblings. They are wild and slightly insane, but very lovable. All of the characters are extremely life-like and so sad. 

2) The Psychology and Philosophy. the perks of being a wallflower seems like a really easy read (I read it in less than three days), but the book gets into some very deep topic like rape, suicide, drugs, drinking, and the question "what is considered socially acceptable?" One of my favorite parts was Patrick's story. Patrick is gay, and he is in love with a guy who pretends to be straight. His story shows the effects of society thinking that gays are socially unacceptable and "unnatural". the perks of being a wallflower isn't all bad though, Stephen Chbosky also discusses feeling "infinite", like nothing can stop you and time has stopped; true friendship and relationships, love, and when someone should or should not speak up. There are two quotes from the perks of being a wallflower that I love- "We accept the love we think we deserve" and "And in that moment, I swear we felt infinite." There was also one sentence that completely sums up the entire book- "So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I'm still trying to figure out how that could be." 

3) How the story was told. The story is told through letters that Charlie writes to an anonymous Friend. In his first and last letters to the Friend, Charlie tells the reader that "she" said the Friend would understand. I always thought that the "she" might be Sam. If you've read the book, please tell me who you think "she" was. I really want to know. At first, I thought reading letters would bother me because I thought the who story would be a tell not show situation. Charlie (or rather, Stephen Chbosky) actually gets very descriptive and the story comes to life. If I was the person receiving Charlie's letters, I would feel very special. 

There is only one part that I didn't like about the book. Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention. Throughout the book Charlie keeps mentioning his friendship with his Aunt Helen who died in a car crash. He also says that he's getting "bad" again, but Charlie never outright says what "bad" is and why it is happening. This "bad" thing makes up the majority of the last few letters, too. I was very confused and I didn't get what "bad" was until I watched the movie. I mean, I knew there was something wrong with Charlie mentally, I just wasn't sure what or why. 

Despite my inability to understand the "bad", I would still give perks of being a wallflower-

Since this was becoming a very long post, I'll probably review the movie next week.

Best of Writing, 

~Snowie