Progress

I just thought that I'd update everyone and say that I have made some progress on my new "Atlantis-inpsired story. I have two tests coming up (one today actually, the other tomorrow), and I really need to devote some time to studying for those, but I do hope to knock out a good 500 words today at least. I'm really liking one of the characters I created. At first he was going to be this one character that sort of just drives the plot forward, but then he sort of just became more and more prominent the more I wrote and suddenly everything I envisioned went out the window. I had to retool the whole story, which is okay because I like this new version much better. So ........... I guess that's it?

Listening to Taylor Swift. I know that's random, but I love this new album and everyone needs to buy it. Do it. No disappointment.

Songs of The Month - October 2012

So it's that time of the month where I list songs that influenced me at some point in my writing or that I just enjoyed. The last few times I did this they weren't really influential, more or less something really fun to listen to. But, alas, here I go.

1. "Paradise" - Lana Del Rey. This was supposed to be on her new Paradise Edition of Born to Die but for some reason it was cut. I found it on YouTube one day and loved it. Not really influential, but I love this woman. She's so dark and moody and puts me in a great frame of mind for dark settings. However, this song is ironically happy, so no mood-setting for me.

2. "22" - Taylor Swift. It's so fast and poppy and just .............. omg. I'm buying her album the moment it comes out on Monday. That's all there is to say about it.

3. "Atlantis" - Ellie Goulding. In case you didn't notice, but my last post was written due to this song. So for a more in-depth analysis, check out that posting.

4. "I Almost Do" - Taylor Swift. Yes, she is on this list twice. This song is also amazing. It reminds me of a character I am writing at this moment. The song is about a girl that really wants to call her ex and tell her that she still loves him, but she won't do it. At the same time, she wonders if he thinks about her and wants to still be with her. In other words, this is a song about pride. No one ones to be the one that goes back to an ex saying that they made the mistake. Yet, it is not a super-sad song. It's more ponderous. Still, it's not happy either.

5. "Curiosity" - Carly Rae Jepsen. Just a supper fun dance-y pop song. I like it. It's about someone who is curious to see if they will work out relationship-wise with someone they like. Not super deep, but fun to sing and dance to.

Atlantis

So last week Ellie Goulding released a new CD titled "Halcyon." It is an amazing CD and I think that everyone should give it a listen. It is filled with atmospheric vocals and ethereal sounds. There is definitely something for everyone.

I mention this because a highlight on that album is "Atlantis." You don't know this about me (however you will soon in about 4 seconds), but I have a miniature obsession with Atlantis.

Okay, a huge one.

Ever since I was young I have always imagined Atlantis existing, dreaming up wonderful dreams of a land below the waters where technology prospered and nature thrived in unique and strange ways.

But lately I have forgotten that. My mind delved into strange places that, although were interesting and something I enjoyed, they never seemed to give me the same excitement that I had had with Atlantis. It was as though my youth had been outgrown; by physiology this is certainly true, but to an extent an author never really grows up in the mind.

Upon hearing Ellie Goulding singing in such a high (almost indecipherable) voice, it is both evoking and beautiful.The words don't matter. It is the atmosphere the song creates, the beautiful build-up to the few lines that most everyone can understand: "where'd you go?"

And then it hit me: where did my youth go?

And then I realized it lay with the subject of the song: Atlantis.

It seems as though my creativity had been revived, simply by hearing this song. Sure, there were moments in the past few years where I was very happy with what I had written. There were characters that I loved to hate and hated to love, paragraphs and sentences that put a tear in my eye. But those times were far and few between, not like when I was in grade school when I would come home and immediately hop onto the computer to write everything I had thought about during the day: dragons and crystal caves, darkness and light, swords and shields. My mind was firing on all cylinders, incapable of being stopped unless physically forced from the computer chair.

Those moments are rare today. And it depresses me. I love writing. I love it with all of my heart. It brings me joy in days such as these when I can forget the world and go into my own that I created. But it's harder to find time like I used to. It's harder to imagine a new world when reality and its hassles has too much of a pull.

Atlantis has excited me much like it had when I was young. That doesn't mean that everything I write from now one will be about Atlantis. That would be strange, because I certainly do have other ideas that in no way could work there. But the song (and the following thoughts I had while listening to it) seemed to have re-energize my creativity in a way that I have not experienced in a long time.

So thank you, Ellie Goulding. I owe you the world.

My world.

New Story Excerpt

Hello, everyone! This is the beginning to the new story I have started writing that I incidentally figured out how to write it! So, I hope that you enjoy this small little snippet, and let me know! It's currently untitled. 

"They had been warned the portal was closing every time they entered it. They had been warned, and they chose to ignore it.

Jack and Lila had found it by mistake one evening as they stole out into the night, Jack without worry and Lila without a lamp. The forest was gloomy, intimidating, and Lila, ever since she was a little girl, was frightened of the dark.  Jack was on a foolish, ever-ongoing quest to prove his devotion to manhood. The two were youth personified, the sort of thing you find in stories about attraction and love, where two destined humans intertwine the Fates’ strings and become one strong polymer of adoration.

But everyone knows that the Fates not only made string, they cut them as well."  

So about how bad I am ...

I have no excuse for my absence other than the fact I suck at life.

Well, not really. But yeah. School kind of got in the way of a lot of things, and ... well, that is a good excuse, but still. I promise -- and this time I sincerely mean it! -- to get on more and post more things. 

I was recently inspired by an Ellie Goulding song this week (more precisely, yesterday) and thus, I have been thrust back into the clutches of writing. It's a strange new style for me. It started off as a short story, and somehow I now think it is developing into a novella, which will probably make its way into a full-time book at some point. 

I'm considering starting to map things out now. Like, book-wise. Chapters, characters, etc. It might help me and keep me on track. Sometimes I just ... forget things. And if I seriously take a good 30 minutes or an hour to think about my story, I might resolve plots that I usually push aside and say I'll take care of when I get there. 

As in the case with this new story I'm writing (I sort of actually have two going actively, three if you want to count another one that I started but randomly stopped because I couldn't plan it right), I can't seem to get it JUST right. It's almost good. I can sense it has potential. But I feel like now I need to go back a little bit from where I started, or expand the scene out a little. I don't know. I'm still thinking about it.

As for the other story that I'm seriously considering about tackling next, I have to map out a whole continent and name cities and stuff. Any time I write in a place that is not Earth (which is usually 90% of the time), I do that before I get 2 or 3 chapters in. It helps me understand where I am.

Anyway, I am going to head out writing right now actually, so wish me luck and I will see you soon about my next topic, which will be about the song "Atlantis." I feel like I need to explain it.

Tyler