Tag: dabbling in the art of writing

Posted in Gamernation News, Writing

The Supporting Fans

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

As my pre-service training comes to an end for my teaching certification, it’s starting to get a bit rough. A lot of things aren’t lining up the way I thought they would. This also means that my writing has been effected more than I would like to admit.

However saying this, there is a bright side. I have done some article writing for Gamer Nation News. It’s a website created by gamers for gamers. We play and reviews games. My articles deal with Dungeons & Dragons and you can find my latest article here.

I am also close to finishing a story I have on wattpad. For those who might not know, I don’t like it. It’s not my best work and half the plot was made up week to week. Even the name is terrible. *cough* The Vampire Prince goes to High School *cough* The title says it all. It really is about a vampire prince going to high school.

Anyways . . .

Despite all of this, the story has fans and they seem to really enjoy. They’re the reason why I have been able to keep going with it. Without them, I would have quit a long time ago. Unfortunately, I have yet thought of a way to thank them for their support.

As a writer, I believe that what it all comes down to. It’s all about the support. Support can come from anywhere and anyone, even yourself. For me specifically, it comes from the story’s fans. They make me feel guilty for not posting on time because they’ve shown so much love for the story. The least I can do is post every week for them.

Even though I don’t like this particular story, I’ve learned a lot from writing week to week. I have made the plot up on the spot and I think, that’s going to help me in the long run. I have pushed through so many writer’s block because of said plot and that’s something that I can transfer over to my other writing. Even if I have no ideas what’s going to happen, I’m going to keep writing.

Sure, my other writing might not have the same support but then I think about the support it will have in the future. I think about the potential of that support and that keeps me going. While the lack of support would never make me quit writing, it’s nice to have someone appreciate your work.

 

Posted in Writing, Writing Prompts

Writing Prompt – Superhero?

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

superhero

I grabbed a fistful of her blouse and pulled her back.

“I did not just spend four hours touring the entire city looking for the perfect bakery for you to get squashed by a car.”

Sheepishly, she looked up at me, her phone still in both hands. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

 

Posted in Resources, Writing

Resources -Writing A Scene

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

It was a very busy weekend as school is starting soon. I finally got my background cleared so I can observe classrooms. All in all, life has been progressing well. Here’s a post for writing a scene. You can find the original here.

scene

Posted in Writing, Writing Prompts

Writing Prompt – Galoop

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

pet

It was a strange creature. And very small. At first, I didn’t notice it but the constant galoop, like the sound shoes make when they’re soaked, gave it away.

Puzzled, I pushed away from my desk. Last time I’d checked, no one had entered my room. Maybe I left the water running in the bathroom? Even as I turned around, the dark spot on my carpet narrowed my gaze towards it.

Have you ever mistaken a pile of clothes for a creature? That was my first impression of this thing, whatever it was. Except, it was the middle of the afternoon and I didn’t have any pile of clothes on my floor.

I scoot around it and the creature just watched me. It wasn’t really watched. It had no eyes or anything that would look like a face. It was a blob like Bob from that monster movie except this was dark in nature. It reminded me of a mood ring, oddly enough.

It was the way the darkness swirled around like a bubble’s shine. There wasn’t just one color is a mixture of every color and that made it look dark.

‘Galoop,’ it went. The colors swirled again revealing a dark yellow color.

Slowly, I backed away towards the door.

‘Galoop.’

The blob stretched its whole body like a tentacle and occupied a space closer to me. So, it wasn’t just going to let me leave.

What were the odds my neighbor would knock on the front door right now? 0% as luck would have it.

“Hey, er, little guy. Where did you come from?”

I wasn’t expecting it to reply and I’m glad it didn’t. It stretched out once more and moved closer. Bit by bit, I opened the door and lead the blob towards the living room. My apartment was big. It was meant to be efficient. As I stepped back, the blob moved forward.

Suddenly, it came to a stop. The colors swirled on its body and turned Green. It stood in its spot for a good minute before spreading across the floor like a tortilla.

‘Galoop.’

“What are you doing now?”

No answer. Good.

“Isn’t your owner or evil creator missing you?”

Again, no answer.

The blob moved around the floor galooping wildly. I dodged around it and like a vacuum it went around the living room then moved towards the kitchen. It took me a good while to notice that my floor looked cleaner even after a good clean.

The creature formed back into the blob. This time it was completely violet. So, it liked eating dirt? That was strange but useful.

The blob stayed with me for a few days. At times, it went back into tortilla mode and “ate” before becoming a blob again. I called it Jr. and it seemed to like the name. In my free time, I combed forums, local news, international news for any information on Jr. but I never found anything.

Even though Jr. was handy around the place, there was just something odd about it – er – him? I still didn’t know if s/he had a gender or maybe Jr. just didn’t. That was fine too. It didn’t really matter. I just wanted to know where it came from.

Posted in Resources, Writing

OTP Scenarios – Character Development

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

As a writer, I try to make my characters as 3D as possible. Sometimes, I’ll fill out entire questionnaires out for them on what they like to eat, what they do on their day off, what sort of music they listen to, etc. However, doing that for everyone can get a bit too much. I don’t always have the time and it gets a bit boring. Plus, I don’t want to force myself to do something.

Instead of filling out questionnaires, I try to picture a particular character in different scenarios. I find that this method is a bit more helpful because it lets me envision the character in motion. These scenarios can also be done with couples, friends, family, etc. Plus, they’re easy to alter because they’re in my head. Sometimes, I write them down in my idea notebook but most of the time, I don’t.

Some examples of the scenarios I envision are: Who would order drinks while the other grabs a table? How would s/he do if they found a cat stuck in a tree? Would s/he go to the store at night if they were craving ice-cream? They aren’t always like that but you get the picture.

There are various websites out there (like tumblr) that have really good scenarios and prompts to take inspiration from. In my spare time, I browse through these

Sure, there are some scenarios between my characters that would never be included in the actual story but it does help with their development off the page. New ideas tend to sprout and give me a healthy dosage of inspiration. While it doesn’t always happen, I like continuously think about ideas and what’s going on the page next.

Plus, I like having an idea of what to write before sitting at my computer. It’s a way that I prevent myself from staring at a blank page and wondering what I should write. It keeps my stress levels down and I feel more productive. If I k ow what to write, I get more writing done in on sitting.

Overall, scenarios work as a form of exercise for me. I can use them as creative prompts for my writing and my “creative” mind is always sharp. Sure, I give myself breaks but always thinking about writing and stories is really fun for me. It’s one of my favorite pastimes.

It also helps during any sort of road trip or errand. I get motion sickness so I can’t read or write anything. Having scenarios play out in my head keeps me entertained and occupied.