Category: Writing

Posted in Writing, Writing Prompts

Writing Prompt – Taste

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

30-day-flash-fiction-challenge

[You can find the link to the image here. I’m starting with Day 18.]

The floor tasted like dirt. The only reason why I knew it was a floor was because my face was cold and the tiles bit into my cheek. I spat out a few times but the grimy pebbles were still there.

It wasn’t like oh-let-me-try-some-dirt-because-I’m-five-years-old-and-I’m-curious- type of dirt. No. It was more like my-mouth-was-open-when-a-truck-load-of-dirt-suddenly-dropped-from-the-sky type of dirt. What was the difference? During one of those times you can’t even remember the experience. The one time well, it isn’t something you easily forget.

Groggily, I opened my eyes. What greeted me was a pair of wooden legs. I blinked a couple of times and realized I stared at the legs of a chair. Right. I was in the kitchen. There was no way I could forget the pale mustard color my mom liked to decorate with.

There was no strength in my body. Even lifting my head a few centimeters from the floor took every ounce of strength I didn’t have. Paper plates, red cups, and napkins were everywhere. A slow grin pull my lips. Graduation parties were no joke.

I couldn’t remember how many people had attended. Only a handful or two had been invited. Nothing special. Just something for my friends and I but so many people kept showing up. I hadn’t known the majority of them. Someone had spiked the punch. Weirdly enough, I don’t even remember drinking.

Somewhere in the distance, I heard the lock click. My eyes snapped open. It suddenly dawn to me that if the kitchen looked like this, the other rooms in the house probably looked the same or worse.

The door screeched open and stopped. I closed my eyes as dread settled on my shoulders. It’d been nice that my parents had agreed to a small party and promised to come home later than planned. Now, they were going to kill me. I wondered if the college would refund your money due to death.

 

 

 

Posted in Writing

One Bullet Point at a Time

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

It’s week two of the new year and, so far, there’s good progress coming along towards my goals. I’ll admit that getting into a routine again is proving to be a little difficult but there is progress and that’s what really matters. For the most part, I’ve been trying to solidify concrete plans to accomplish said goals.

The way I’ve done this is by making a To-Do List of what I need to do. That might mean that I need to get through five pages of line-by-line edits or maybe go back through a story and check for consistencies. Certain stories have that have their own To-Do List. I’m only focusing on one story at a time.

Last year, I couldn’t focused on one initial goal and that caused a few issues for me. I felt all over the place with no much direction or how to get there. I’ve learned my lesson and I know how that indirection affected my work and goals. I’m trying to do better and hopefully, this method will help me get a bit more organized.

On a side note, my resume and cover letters have gone out to, hopefully, future jobs. All that is left is to play the waiting game. I’m a bit used to that but, at the same time,  it isn’t the greatest game. I wish results were given quickly as oppose to a later time but that’s how it is.

All I can do now is keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best.

Posted in Methods, Writing

The “Art” of line-by-line Edits

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

As a writer, I have many problems such as wanting to rewrite even the first sentence of a newly started story. Or even stopping half through the middle of a story and wanting to start over because I didn’t add one small detail while knowing full well that this is just the draft. I have many more problems but I won’t go into too much details otherwise we’d be here all day. But I will say that all those problems tend to boil down to one thing in particular and that is: editing.

I’m not ashamed to admit that I spend more time in the editing process than anything else. Now, I know that’s not a particularly a bad thing but, because it’s me, I tend to obsess about it way too much. Editing, like anything else, needs moderation. Most of y’all know that I have too many projects and I have issues with committing to just one project – my reasoning for this is because I like to have the flexibility and there’s always the need to be productive because I don’t want to be stuck on only one story. I need to be busy- and it seems like I never get anything done.

Believe it or not, I happen to have progressed in the editing process. I’ve entered the line-by-line edits. This isn’t particularly something I have dread but it means there is progress. Unlike before, I’m not changing the content of what has already been written. If anything, I am trying to make the writing clearer. How’s that any different from rewriting?

Well, to put it simply. I’m simply adjusting the grammar. I’m looking for repeated phrases as well as making sure that the sentences are pulling their weight. This means that I’m cutting down on those fill in words that can be replaced with others that work better. A sentence can become shorter but still convey the same meaning as the before but better.

Before, I mentioned that I noticed that I used a lot of passive writing like “was running” or “was reading” instead of ran and read. The line-by-line edits have also helped me noticed more of my passive writing and, because of it, I can change it to a much stronger verb. The goal is to make the writing clear and stronger.

I’ve found that changing my mentality to “let me read through this and see if it makes sense” helped a lot. To me, it is different from all the other times I’ve read the story because, back then, I reread every paragraph and scene to decide whether or not that belonged there or if I needed to move it somewhere else. Plus, as long as I keep it mind that this reading is for clarity, I can make it work. If I’m confused over something then, I know my readers will be confused.

There’s no easy way to line-by-line edit or to edit in general. Sometimes all you have to do is sit down and do it. I know what works for me and I know the type person I am with certain things and I can work around that. I believe that writing leads to self discovery of yourself, your skills, and your passion. They way you write and edit all depends on what works best for you and no one else.

Though a bit redundant, find what works for you. Take it one step at a time. I find that putting too much on my plate doesn’t make me productive. It makes me stressed out because I want to everything at once and I know that’s not possible.

Like all the good things in life: do in moderation.

Posted in Writing

2019 Resolutions

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

It’s a start of new year and for some (or most) it’s a clean slate. As for me and the plans I have, that hasn’t changed. If anything, they’ve been slightly altered.

A new change that I have to focus on is getting my teacher certification and all the steps that must come first to get there. I’m excited and nervous at the same time. It’s something new and mysterious but I think I’m ready for it. I don’t know what the future will bring, hopefully, it’s good stuff, and luckily, I am support by a lot of people that care about me.

Second, I have to plan a wedding. -.- It just so happens to be mine (yaye). That, in its own, speaks for itself. Don’t really have a date yet since the venue kind if dictates that. Got most of the guest list and I’ve been looking at venues and found a few. To be frank, there doesn’t seem to be enough time for everything but I’ll make it work, somehow.

The goals for my writing will remain the same. At the end of the year, it took the back burner but I did accomplish one goal and that was to finish writing the story I don’t like (the Vampire Prince goes to High School) on wattpad. I’m very proud of that mostly because my fans helped me get through it.

There are other novels I need to work on and I’ve revisited a few older ones. Have you ever felt like it wasn’t time for that story to get written? Or mayne your skills and execution of such story wasn’t there? I believe that’s what happened to me and now, I think I’m ready.

I’m eager to start the new year. Hears hoping is better than last.

Posted in updates, Writing

The Journey so Far . . .

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

It’s been almost a month since I’ve posted anything after NaNoWriMo. Believer or not, I have been very busy. Just this week I took my TeXes Content exam.It was the most tiring exam I had ever taken. The mental exhaustion was all too real. However, I’m excited to say that I passed all portions of the exam. I’ve never been so surprised in my life. At least, that part is over with. A new journey begins.

After NaNoWriMo, I read through the study manual and studied on Certify Teacher. I had to cut back on some hobbies. We’ll see if it was worth it tonight when they post my scores. It’s a bit nerve wrecking but at the same time, I’m not anxious or nervous. I’m not going to freak out or anything.

Remember when I mentioned how I entered a Screenplay competition over at Sweek? Well, I wasn’t one of the finalists. I didn’t take it too hard but it would have been nice to be mentioned. It was a nice learning experience.

Other than studying for my exam, I have gotten a lot of things done with writing. Despite the fact that NaNoWriMo ended, I’m still working on the rewrite for TVPGTHS on wattpad. I’m turning it into a story that I actually like. There’s been some ups and downs with it.

I mentioned before that I have so much content to work with. At times, I have trouble deciding what to cut and what to keep. There have been some major edits of scenes and events but the core is still there. I remind myself that this is the rewrite and so it doesn’t have to be absolutely perfect but that’s not easy to believe. I tend to try and put the best version at the beginning and improve it through editing but I don’t think it has ever worked that way for me. It’s just too much pressure that I put on myself.

With the holidays around the corner, I hope to finish up the rest of the story. Getting sick didn’t exactly help with progress. But, is it really “being sick” if all I had was nasal congestion and no other symptoms? Regardless, it still didn’t feel great and progress was slow. At least now I can breathe better and stay asleep longer.

Overall, an exciting journey awaits me. A new chapter is opening and I can’t wait.