…with Masaladas And Awkward Silences.

study moods

sleepy dawn

open windows

listening to lo-fi

wearing pyjamas

planning your day, creating to-do lists

the sky is pretty

spring breeze

coming back after a walk

drinking a glass of water

getting a head-start on the assignment

the great feeling of productivity, ah

cozy evening

sitting on your bed

rewarding yourself afterwards with a bath or chocolate

highlighting with your favourite markers

warm tea or cocoa next to you

night vision

it’s way too late, but you gotta finish that essay

rock music all the way

everything is a mess

you’re gonna be okay though

cinnamon afternoon

drinking coffee

doing some math exercises

listening to a chill/coffeehouse playlist

scrolling through tumblr in your little breaks

[x]

stay alive not because your mother will never stop crying but because you can look up at the sky on a sunny day and see the clouds moving by and you’ll take a moment to wonder if it is because the earth is spinning or because the wind is blowing stay alive so you can answer that question stay alive so you can ask someone else that question, then wow them by knowing the answer or be wowed that they already knew it as well stay alive because you’re never too old to look up at the sky and see figures in the shapes of clouds a cumulonimbus that looks like a dog will never fail to make you smile stay alive not because your father will blame himself for the loss of his baby but because your favorite band might come out with a new song or your favorite show might get renewed for a new season or your favorite person might like your tweet on twitter stay alive because the future is unclear and that may seem terrifying, not knowing what’s to come, but it’s worth taking that chance gambling is never a safe bet but the house always wins and you, my dear, are the house stay alive not because your best friend will never forgive themselves for losing you but because of the feeling you get when you do see your best friend that calmness, that peace, that happiness – that feeling is genuine happiness and yes, you are capable of experiencing it you’re allowed to experience it you’re allowed to be happy stay alive because you’re allowed to be happy and there are countless reasons to feel that joy radiate like sunbeams like licking melted ice cream off of your hand as it drips from the cone or the way the world slowly changes from green to orange in autumn or seeing the first snowfall of winter or that first sip of a hot beverage when you’re absolutely freezing or wearing your favorite underwear or finally seeing the Big Dipper at night or the perfect amount of Parmesan cheese on top of your pasta or your pet crawling into your lap stay alive because at least one of those things make you happy and you should experience it one more time stay alive not because i’ll miss you but because one day life will feel the way a brand new notebook feels - intimidating, but exciting and more importantly, a fresh start stay alive because you deserve to be around for that fresh start

(cc, 2017)

Being the oldest

Parent 1: You have to set an example for your siblings!

Parent 2: You have to become successful and earn a lot of money.

Parent 1: That's why we came here, to live a better life and let you have a better future.

Parent 2: So study something useful and choose a good career. That's your only goal right now.

Parent 1 and 2: Don't disappoint us!

Oldest sibling: *nods sadly* Okay

How fucking annoying is it when you feel so restless with creative energy but you can’t decide what to do with it and when you finally try to create something it comes out shit so you just give up and sit there being all creatively annoyed and jittery.

TOTK - Eternal (part 1)

part 2 here

I made a little zine!

You can download and print it yourself here

How to Plot A Complex Novel in One Day (It WILL take all day)

Now first, I have to say, that the plot you’re able to come up with in one day is not going to be without its flaws, but coming up with it all at once, the entire story unfolds right in front of you and makes you want to keep going with it. So, where to begin? 

What is your premise and basic plot? Pick your plot. I recommend just pulling one from this list. No plots are “original” so making yours interesting and complicated will easily distract from that fact, that and interesting characters. Characters will be something for you to work on another day, because this is plotting day. You’ll want the main plot to be fairly straight forward, because a confusing main plot will doom you if you want subplots. 

Decide who the characters will be. They don’t have to have names at this point. You don’t even need to know who they are other than why they have to be in the story. The more characters there are the more complicated the plot will be. If you intend to have more than one subplot, then you’ll want more characters. Multiple interconnected subplots will give the illusion that the story is very complicated and will give the reader a lot of different things to look at at all times. It also gives you the chance to develop many side characters. The plot I worked out yesterday had 13 characters, all were necessary. Decide their “roles” don’t bother with much else. This seems shallow, but this is plot. Plot is shallow. 

Now, decide what drives each character. Why specifically are they in this story? You can make this up. You don’t even know these characters yet. Just so long as everyone has their own motivations, you’re in the clear. 

What aren’t these characters giving away right off the bat? Give them a secret! It doesn’t have to be something that they are actively lying about or trying to hide, just find something that perhaps ties them into the plot or subplot. This is a moment to dig into subplot. This does not need to be at all connected to their drive to be present in the story.  Decide who is in love with who, what did this person do in the 70’s that’s coming back to bite them today, and what continues to haunt what-his-face to this very day. This is where you start to see the characters take shape. Don’t worry much about who they are or what they look like, just focus on what they’re doing to the story. 

What is going to change these characters? Now this will take some thinking. Everyone wants at least a few of the characters to come out changed by the end of the story, so think, how will they be different as a result of the plot/subplot? It might not be plot that changes them, but if you have a lot of characters, a few changes that are worked into the bones of the plot might help you.

Now list out the major events of the novel with subplot in chronological order. This will be your timeline. Especially list the historical things that you want to exist in backstory. List everything you can think of. Think about where the story is going. At this point, you likely haven’t focused too much on the main plot, yeah, it’s there, but now really focus on the rising actions, how this main plot builds its conflict, then the climactic moment. Make sure you get all of that in there. This might take a few hours. 

Decide where to start writing. This part will take a LOT of thinking. It’s hard! But now that you’ve got the timeline, pick an interesting point to begin at. Something with action. Something relevant. Preferably not at the beginning of your timeline - you want to have huge reveals later on where these important things that happened prior are exposed. This is the point where you think about what information should come out when. This will be a revision of your last list, except instead of being chronological, it exists to build tension. 

Once you’ve gotten the second list done, you’ve got a plot. Does it need work? Probably. But with that said, at this point you probably have no idea who half your characters are. Save that for tomorrow, that too will be a lot of work. 

After you’ve plotted the loose structure of your novel from this, see my next post to work on character! 

I am so worried about what's happening in the news and politics even though I can barely understand them. How it will effect me and my family. What will the future be for us? It causing me so much anxiety that I can't help but cry while home alone. Does anyone else feel like this?