In loving memory of...

Memories live on. Book dedications live on.

Do souls live on?

Ra hihzoo narahh gisluhev ra sezev olhog. Renenvimhob.

The plot thickens

Some people who know me (okay, everyone who knows me) might say I've lost the plot. With regards to an old story of mine, they'd be right.

If you think that nearly 200 pages on Microsoft Word with a handful of colourful characters, some witty lines and a dark undertone would create an amazing, award-winning story, you'd be wrong. Okay, well maybe in general you get a good story but in my case, you get a really long and confusing one.

There are witches. Half vampires. Fairies. Demons. And predictable romances. It screams inexperience, oozes clichés and reeks of poor planning. I re-read it now and just want to throw up from the sickening chunks of urgh.

In my defence, I was 14 when I wrote it. But really, that's no excuse. It makes me worry about the kind of rubbish I write now, four years later. In another four years I guess I'll know.

What I want you to take away from this is: if you're going to write a long story, iron out the details and ask yourself "why is this happening?" before anything is set in stone. Then scribble all over it and start again on a fresh piece of paper. You'll thank me one day. I hope.

Ideas

When I have a really good idea - it could be a spectacular plot or a unique character - and it doesn't work, I get frustrated. The idea was awesome so its failure is baffling.

I don't simply throw the idea away and start again though. I keep it, preferably writing it down so I don't forget. Then, when I get another idea that doesn't work but is just as thrilling, I put the two together.

It doesn't matter if the two (or three or four) ideas seem completely incompatible. Find a way to merge them into one super-cool-ultra-idea and that's an idea to be proud of. It's guaranteed to be unusual, different and something people would be interested in . Who could ask for more?

So I urge you not to throw away ideas; put them in metaphorical (or even actual) storage until you have another to go with it. You never know, you might end up with something great.

My interpretation of this concept, using Paint. 

Discovery

Earlier this week, I happened to find some poems I wrote last year that I had completely forgotten about in an old notebook (I've had two more since). One was funny, one was sad and another used psychological terms that I utilised for the A-Level exam.

The funny one was a Sonnet based on the number thirteen. I don't remember why. It was written in the tiniest scribbled handwriting I've ever seen from myself, and every other line was heavily crossed out. It was so difficult to read but quite worth the effort, if only for my nostalgia. For your pleasure, I shall type it out for you:

Unlucky number thirteen,

It's always a bad sign;

Avoided - you know what I mean,

No-one cares to give it time;

Up there with black cats,

And stepping on cracks,

Spilling salt on mats,

Giving a mirror a snap;

Unlucky number thirteen,

Gives people a good scare;

And is additionally keen,

To make you worse for wear.

But thirteen is a number I will never hate

It is after all, my birth date.

Bad news, good news

Still no Internet on my laptop. I'm going to get a new one soon; the one I have is probably 90 in computer years.

On the plus side, having no Internet has meant I have next to no distractions from writing. Four chapters to go until the entire first draft of my current story is complete! That's got to be a cause for celebration, right?

Of course, I look forward to the long nights editing. Because that's always fun.