My Storytelling Mind

Much has happened since the last time I wrote. I feel a certain pressure to not be stressed; needless to say, I'm not really succeeding. This quarter, my last ever quarter of school, has been the craziest and least motivated quarter of my life. It's difficult to focus on the scientific names of dinosaurs when you know you're graduating, you're rejected for each internship you applied for, your computer has a nervous breakdown, and you lose two family members in less than a week. I don't like school. To be clear, I love learning. I love reading, working with classmates, and I even love writing essays (is there a job for that??); but I don't like busy work, attending seemingly unnecessary classes, or the stress of being graded. It's hard to stay motivated when you only enjoy half of the school experience. Consequently, a lot of my quarter was spent in stoic emotional turmoil or busy-work boredom. And I was tired the entire time. On a brighter note: it...

I will be the first to admit I have little musical talent. My parents and my brother all play various instruments - and have rather nice voices - but I've been left out of the gene pool on that side of music. However, classical music or film scores have been a passion of mine since I was young; I had more John Williams or Hans Zimmer on my iPod than whoever was popular during my middle school days (I'm hopeless in the contemporary genres). Around high school, I discovered online radio sites, like Pandora, which could offer lots of music I enjoyed while introducing me to new music. However, I also discovered that Pandora and Spotify are kind of annoying. I. Just. Want. Decent. Music. Then I discovered 8tracks . In a world of irritating online radio sites, here was one I actually had some control over. Here, I could create a real playlist that would then act as a radio: the actual songs aren't publicly listed, nor can you skip through more than three tracks at a time. ...

When one thinks of voyeurism, you might think first of Alfred Hitchcock (not that you shouldn't). In everyday life, voyeurism and observation are important parts of being a writer. I've often sat on a park bench, scribbling down bits and pieces of conversations as people passed or trying to come up with stories for various passers-by. Voyeurism is similar; living in a college apartment complex, I have insight into multiple apartments and I overlook a courtyard from which I can hear pretty much anyone walking by. Lately, there's been a consistent passer-by, at nearly any time of day (or night), who starts laughing. like, for real, bro? There doesn't seem to be cause for the laughter outbursts. They just start - large guffaws followed by small cackles, in that pattern - and keep going for a few minutes. And then he just stops. I never hear a television or radio or other person in the vicinity, nothing that could prompt such intense laughter, but there must be some...

"Well, he came to school like that, you see. Nervous and jumpy, tight grip on his bag, too, like someone could steal it any moment," the girl said, a large gossipy grin on her face as she leaned toward the man.  "He came like that, you say? Did you see him?" the man asked, scribbling in a small notebook.  "Well, no. But my friend nearly bumped into him as he came in, and he looked like he'd seen a ghost, she said," the girl replied.  "Tight grip on his bag?" the detective repeated. Find this blurb on Pinterest ! Photo: (c) Teen Wolf .

Let me start by saying I'm really not one for diaries or journals. I find it hard to open up, even if no one's reading. But I truly have a writer's brain - there isn't a single moment I'm not narrating my life, listing out things to remember, or envisioning a story I'm working on. Sure, I have notebooks. I have plenty of notebooks. I'll probably buy more notebooks at the next opportunity. My brain jumps around faster than a pencil; the only time I genuinely write in a notebook is during the drafting process. Or when I'm writing lists. Have I mentioned I'm a heavy lister? I decided I need a 'brain outlet,' something that I can dump all of my thoughts into - my research, my character naming jaunts, my blurbs, my daily mini-obsessions (documentaries, anyone?), and my creative juices for the day. Amid all the individual tastes of my mind, here you'll find writing prompts, lists, character creations, a glimpse at my writing proc...