Hey, I'm Rachel and I'm terrible at introductions. I'm 23 (almost 24) years old and I've had a passion for writing since i was a little girl. A few months ago, I started posting my short stories, poems, and some life updates to a blog. This has been the most fulfilling thing I've had in my life. I've also learnt that I really need to work on my grammar, which I've started doing. This past week I've decided to cut my posts back to every 2 weeks instead of every week since I have a book that I'd like to get finished this year. In addition to writing, I'm also i fairly active gamer and reader. I'm currently reading Dracula and I'm loving it. In fact, I've found some classics more entertaining and engaging than most of the current fiction I've read. Anyway, I don't really know what else to put here so I'll say goodbye. Feel free to reply to the thread if there is anything you would like to know about me
Hello Myths. You say you are a 20-something. Did you study in college or at a university; if so, what was your favorite class? Do you have a favorite topic for your poetry? If you need some inspiration, I ask you to write a poem about your first day in college/university (or when you graduated high school, if not applicable). Well, whatever the case, I look forward to your replies. (I am grammatically challenged and want to get better, too.) Cheers! Oh, and welcome. ~#A
I haven't graduated from University. Due to my current financial situation, I'm unable to attend. I did complete 2 English based units for a Bachelor of Journalism though. I'd love to continue the degree one day but I'll have to wait and see. Honestly, I love writing about death. I have a poem about a guy who commits suicide to escape the voices in his head. A lot of my writing is based around this subject. For the next few weeks I'll be posting stories about break-ups though. I usually just draw on my everyday life and because i happen to have a lot of internal anger, I find it easy to draw on for my stories. I may love classical literature but I know that, at this point, I'll never be that great haha But who knows, maybe one day
Thanks for the reply. I am sure you can achieve much. Feel free to toss the internal into the external We like suggesting, and I like suggestions. I am not a writer of any books. However, I am learning more about my drive to depict with words. The key word is "learning." Back to you: As I mentioned, I am not a story writer. How long does it take you to complete one of the aforementioned stories? Do you cram, take tons of breaks? Do you fight writer's block (<check my spelling)? If so, aside from internal inspiration, where do you break that confounded barrier!?
I tend to bust out roughly 1 story a week but lately it's been slow. I got 2 written this weekend alone. Honestly, i used to get most of my inspiration from the intense fights I had with my boyfriend. I'll have to keep you posted on current inspiration since we're working on fixing our relationship. I will say that I thought of a road rage story today thanks to a man who verbally abused me for parking my car in a spot that he apparently wanted. Even though I "cram" I do also take lots of breaks. I get distracted really. I'd like to say that i fight writers block but when it strikes, I've found it extremely hard in the past to work past it. On those days, I draw a prompt out of my prompt bin and hope it sparks something. I'm constantly changing them so they're always fresh.
I gotta say, I don't really draw much inspiration from specific stuff in my life. And I find it especially weird to be taking most of your inspiration from a single source in your life.
Welcome to the forum! Have you read other gothic novels than Dracula? I'd recommend Matthew G Lewis's The Monk and Ann Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho. They can be a bit weird to a modern reader, but also weirdly charming. Here's our New Member Quick Start to get you started. Hope to see you around! -Kat
Honestly, at the moment, I just write whatever I find easy to write about. Death is my thing. It's surrounded me from a young age and turning my anger into something useful is something that everyone, including my therapist, applaud due to my past. You can find it weird all you like, I find it rather therapeutic. I've read Frankenstein and Edgar Allan Poe's collection. I haven't really read much other Gothic fiction but I love that you suggested something and I will definitely go out and buy the book the second I can
That wasn't supposed to be a criticism. More something I wonder about. I'm sure the writing experience is different for others; it's quite a personal experience
I'm sorry, I don't mean to come across hostile, I just get criticized for that a lot. I always thought it was a common thing to draw on, I know a few writers who do, but it's only for my short stories, purely for venting, my book is a different story. I guess i write about my life because I can choose to make the experience as fictional as I like. I have stories that are based round my depression, some involving suicide. They exist purely because I had the thought at the time. The personalisation of some of the stories might be why I'm nervous about people reading some of my earlier work but lately I've been taking an element of an event and putting it into a completely fictional setting.
Thank you for expounding. I am sorry for the close run-ins with death as a child. Don't let your past dictate your future. But you already know this. Accept the reminder I totally understand the lack of focus thing. I do not mean that I get your particular battle(s). But I have my own battle of the mind, minute by minute. It is crushing. I want to escape it, but as you said, writing what's on the mind can be therapeutic. It is for me, at least. I look forward to reading your stories. If you need ideas, pull my ear. I never mean disrespect, so if I come across that way-- correct me. Welcome, again. ~#A
When I said i was surrounded by death, I didn't mean near death experiences. I've been lucky there. Within a short amount of time I lost my dad and my nan. 2 people who played a major part in raising me. I spent every day with my nan until the day she died basically. needless to say, at the age 14-15 it was rather traumatising.
Horrific. I don't think I could endure that. By the way, I did not mean that you nearly died. I meant that the subject matter, in some way, was closer than wanted as a kid. And I get, now, that it was mainly as a teen (older kid).
It was fantastic to draw on when I first started but now that I've moved past it, to some degree, I have to find new things to inspire me. But when in doubt, anger and pain is where I turn
I tend to draw on imagination myself. But I lace it with what personal experience that I can to increase the authenticity.
I definitely do draw from real life. It rarely shows in my work in a real-life kind of way, but real events do cause me to ponder certain aspects of the human condition that give rise to fictionalized representations of the concept if not the actual event itself.
