Photos all from PIXABAY except for my own picture of my cat (“Pepper”)

“I put it down on paper and then the ghost does not ache so much.”

The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros

“A Storybook”

  “Do you know if we have to write all of these about ourselves?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Oh.” I turn back to my computer at a loss.

  I don’t have stories to share. My life hasn’t been long or interesting enough for that. If they want me to write, I’ll write, but sooner or later I’ll run out of things to write about. I spend my time reading and writing fantasy while listening to music to give me inspiration. My inspiration doesn’t come from my own life because there’s nothing inspiring.

  Is fantasy what makes me feel like it’s all so boring? I write and I read about magic and adventures, but I’m just a student. I have a good family, I don’t have much school drama. And if I did have anything in the past, it clearly wasn’t interesting enough for me to remember it.

  I’m not the type to question my existence, that’s not what I’m doing here. I’m simply making it a point that there’s a reason why I write fiction. And my life isn’t bad, either. I love my life – It’s just not the substance for my writing. I don’t have a lover, I don’t have drama…

  But I think that’s okay. Not every life is like the storybooks.

“Starting A Story”

  I’ve always said that starting a story is the hardest part of writing one. So here’s the steps I take when I start writing. Most of this is going to apply to fiction, so keep it in mind.

• Find a premise
  The first thing to do when you’re writing is to figure out what you’re even writing about. Is it fictional, nonfiction, what genre is it, what tropes do you want to include..
• Where are we?
  Always know where your story takes place first. If you don’t have the world and its laws clear first, your characters will have inconsistencies between them and won’t mesh together like they should.
• What’s the main character’s motivation?
  I like figuring out what drives my main character(s) before developing them out. This helps me build them more into the story, and it makes them feel less like I just slapped a meaningless goal on them just to progress the story.
• Who’s story is this?
  Now we can make our main character. Use their goals and their world to fill out what they need. Who lives around them that influences them? What other characters inspire you for them? Do you have a certain way you want them to develop, or will you let them develop with the story? What are their major traits? What are their secrets?
• Supporting Cast
  Who does your main character know when the story begins? Who are their friends? Do they have enemies? Is there anyone important they used to know but haven’t seen in a while?

  This is a good place to start when you’re moving from scratch. Have fun, and happy writing!

“Author’s Influence”

  My mom and dad have a lot of influence on the way that I write things and the kinds of things I create.

  My mom is a logical thinker – I’ve picked it up from her. We don’t like to spell things wrong, and we don’t like to get meanings wrong when we write or when we talk. We also love to learn things, and we know that we’ll always be learning every day. When I write, I like to look up new ways to say things, and when I’m not sure if I’m using something correctly or understanding something, I don’t just scrap it; I’ll look it up or ask someone. Online dictionaries are my best friends.

  My dad introduced me to fantasy genres and myths. Because of him, I write things with magic and mystery. He also introduced me to RPG worlds, and it has led me to make my own worlds. He showed me music that influences my inspiration. My stories all find themselves in magical settings with characters who control their own magic. I make new rules for those worlds that change how they act and what they can do.

  Most of all, my mom and dad support me. They support my creativity and want to see it continue. They read what I have about my worlds and my characters, even if my mom isn’t so interested in lore. I’m grateful to have them around me, and I hope that if I do end up making a book that they’ll be the first to read it.

“It’s Raining Right Now”

  It’s raining right now. I’ve always loved the rain. I find I’m most productive when it’s raining. I like to listen to the pattering on the ground or the roof, and it makes me want to write or read or draw something. The rain makes my mind just that little bit more quiet.

  My favorite characters in my writing all have a certain trait in common: they love the rain. I like to project something from myself onto the characters I write to make me connect with them, and something consistent is that the ones I get the most attached to all love the rain as much as I do. We can sit on the other side of the window and just listen to it, and there just isn’t any more noise we need.

  Sometimes when it rains I just want to go out with an umbrella and walk around aimlessly. Other times I’d like to just stand out there and let it pour on me. It’s that, or I listen to my own common sense and stay inside, listening through the glass and drinking a cup of warm tea or hot chocolate with a sketchbook or a journal or maybe my laptop.

  Look at that. I’m finishing up my last stories, but I still have so many more ideas. Well, I suppose it is raining right now.

“Pepper”

  When I was born, there was a calico cat in our house. Her name was Josie, and when I was 8, she passed away, 16 years old. Since I had a cat around all my life until then, I’ve always had a love for them.

  We got another cat a little before the pandemic, or B.C., as I like to joke (Before C19). Her name is Pepper, and we got her from someone over an hour away.

  When we got to the house, there were animals everywhere. There was an iguana cage, a fish tank, two dogs, 3 snakes under the couch (maybe more), and the cat. The house couldn’t have been big enough for all of them, either. It was a single story, only around 4 rooms if I remember correctly, and at least 2 people in there too. The rooms were like jungles with everything happening everywhere. It was never quiet, and there was always something moving.

  It might be the fact that the environment had so much going on that Pepper is such a social cat. She’s always begging us for attention, and if you’re giving it to someone else, she wants it too. She’s almost like a dog, too; she likes stomach rubs and sitting on people’s laps, or running around with a toy in her mouth yelling at you to play with her.

  She’s sitting on my lap as I write this, sniffing at my desk. She keeps pushing on my arm trying to get my attention. Well, I suppose that means I should give some to her and end this here.