Challenge!

Sorry I can't post until now. I swear, the world's determined to keep me from having enough time to make a half-decent post. Ah, well, at least I have time. In case anyone cares, this is the last time I'll ever have every post I've ever written on a page. Yay me!

I have a writing challenge for everyone (including me) this week. By 11:59 on Friday, I want everyone to have written at least 2,000 words. This is going to be hard for me since school days aren't my best writing days. Once you reach my goal, email me and I'll post whoever gets their word count the fastest on Saturday. Good luck!

Kirah

An Outlet

To lack feeling is to be dead, but to act on every feeling is to be a child. -Brandon Sanderson

How do others get their emotions out?

I'm just saying that because I feel like sometimes the entire world spins around me- no one really noticing or caring; while I want to explode from all the feelings that want to push out. The thing is, a lot of the world puts emphasis on not having emotions: if you skip, you're immature; running is overeager; saying you need help makes you stupid or a wimp; expressing the anger you feel means that you can't control yourself; you can only cry if you're a girl and if something horrible has happened; and you always need to explain yourself and make perfect sense. Obviously, reality's expectations are built entirely on idealisms. Because here's the fact: we are human. And humans have emotions. If I yelled and screamed every time I felt angry, you would think I always felt angry. Which can be true. A lot.

Oh, did I tell you that I get my emotions out through writing? Speaking is my filter between emotions and logic. Followers beware!

Kirah

Perfect

This is a poem I wrote a little while ago. Hope you enjoy it!

Perfect

How could someone be perfect?
How does one join this special sect?
Imperfection is easier
Red eyes and ruddy cheeks and tears
That's what imperfection is

Perfect people never stumble
While speaking they never mumble
Maybe if I never speak at all
And stay as silent as a doll
Maybe I'll be close to perfect

Flawless ones never think badly
Of those who act quite madly
Maybe should I cease my thoughts
Anger would be rare- patience bought
Maybe I'll be close to perfect

Perfect people don't waste motion
Upon small problems or notions
So should I case to move today,
I'd sit perfectly still, they'd say
"That girl is close to perfect"

Should they build a statue of me
Standing still in serenity
Remaining high above the rest
Challenging time to its test
Maybe that statue would be perfect
But I certainly wouldn't be

Longhand and Laziness

Let me tell you, Writer's Laziness is just as hard as Writer's Block, if not worse. I wrote for hours on Saturday, and since then I've done nothing. This week hasn't been great for me writing-wise. I guess it's a good thing I have this blog, because otherwise I'd have a writing productivity of zero.

I plan to finish the chapter I wrote on Saturday and write the first scene for the chapter 2. If I fail at this, Mika, JK Archer, and Katie have full permission to yell at me. However, I'll be writing it longhand and revise it as I go along, so I could fall a little behind. Don't judge me for writing longhand- JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter longhand, and then typed it up on her typewriter (who here needs to google it to know what that is?) and wrote it a third time because she couldn't afford to make copies. I don't plan on doing that, but I this is my fourth time rewriting the chapter.

In summary: Laziness is bad, longhand is good, and I hope I can avoid being severely yelled at this weekend. One day left!

Kirah

Characters

Let's face it: as people, we have flaws. We have pet peeves. We don't get along with others all the time. We yell. We get annoyed. The human mind is a scary thing, and I rarely find an author brave or skilled enough to conquer it. Of course, it's also very hard. And, as people, we want to believe that we are all brave little heroes inside that run around with sharp objects to save the world.
Um, nope. Not me, at least. I could probably try running around with a sharp object, but I would probably trip. That would not only be messy, but also kind of embarrassing. I understand that we have to idealize people a little bit, or else all the heroes would've run away and left the damsels in distress sitting there with the villain.

There are a few things that make fictional characters a little bit more believable:
1. We aren't black and white good and evil. Actually, this usually isn't a problem with good guys, but with the antagonist.
2. Most people stumble. I happen to do this a lot more than normal people. However, if you do happen to make your characters trip, please make sure they aren't holding anything sharp.
3. At least someone hates your main character. I have a certain type of personality that grates on my nerves, and I hope I'm not the only one.
4. Everyone makes bad decisions and messes up.

In my writing, I need to improve on this, too. I have written one character that makes a lot of bad choices, and sometimes he rises to the top, but he also crashes and burns. It makes writing interesting. As for the rest of my characters, I really need to polish some of them a little bit more.
Hope this helped!

Kirah

To be or not to be?

To be or not to be; that is the question. -Shakespeare

I'll admit it: when I first heard this, I was really confused. When I was younger, I would start thinking about that and wonder what it meant. I commented about it to a friend, and she said, "It means 'To write or not to write?' is the question, not 'Am I a good writer?'" I really like that- and I've been writing nonstop to make it the best of my abilities ever since.

However, there's a second part in this that also applies to writing. "To be" words (is, are, am, seem, were, was, seemed) are a big no-no, I've learned. They do more telling than showing, so it can ruin a sentence. If you look in some popular writing today, you can probably find a few "To be" words in the text, but there won't be very many. Coincidence?

While writing, I usually keep it vaguely there in my head that I should try to avoid these, and then I go back and change them when I edit it. It made my writing a lot better, and it'll do the same for yours, too.

Next time someone says "To be or not to be; that is the question" . . . When it comes to writing, the answer is definitely Not to be!

Kirah
(Can someone count how many times I used a "To Be" word in this post?)

First and Foremost

Hello, my name's Kirah. I'm a teenage writer, and I'll be using this blog to post writing and get feedback, update my life, and hopefully get and give a lot of help for writing!

A little bit about me.... I was born in Kansas, live in Utah, and play the piano and violin (but not at the same time). I spend a lot of time writing; I mostly do fantasy. I've actually only been writing stories since fifth grade. My first story was called Hyrania, and let's be completely honest: it was horrible. I open it and laugh at my overdramatic writing and horrible dialogue. I've tried writing stories with people, but it failed because I wanted the stories to be mine and I couldn't bear to share the twists I had planned in the part with the people I was writing with, so they'd write and I'd cut in and try to change it. For some reason, the book never worked out...

My rambling aside, welcome to my blog! I hope that you enjoy it as it progresses!

Kirah