My Favorite Writing Spots

The idea that a writer ought to write in a coffee shop of some kind has been quite prevalent in this modern society, don’t you think? Whenever we picture an author in our mind, for example, the very idea of them typing away in the nook of one dusty cafe might show up in our mind unassumingly.

I, for one, am an example of those stereotypical writer. Although I might add that I don’t think writing in coffee shops is particularly cool or on trend, I want to emphasize that most writers, based on my experience, do like writing in coffee shops the best. Discounting the most comfortable writing space which is our own bedrooms, of course. But I digress.

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Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/two-women-sitting-on-chairs-in-front-of-each-other-887723/

And it doesn’t even end at coffee shops. Us writers write almost everywhere. I’ve watched a Youtube video of a group of writers who spent their vacation writing in an old castle. How amazing is that? Often times, the “writing spot” doesn’t even have to be grand or obvious like coffee shops and vintage castles. More often than not, you can find these lovely places in your neighborhood! Continue reading “My Favorite Writing Spots”

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Getting Back into Writing

Recently, it feels so hard convincing myself to write something new. You know, be it a novel, a short story, or even a short poetry. There’s always this inexplicable part of my heart that just wouldn’t listen, no matter how hard I try to tell myself to write. Something is clearly holding me back, and I don’t know how to fight it.

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Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/beverage-black-coffee-blank-coffee-365637/

Maybe the cause of such phenomenon was my fear of expectations. Of living up to a certain standard. Of not disappointing anyone with lousy, uninspiring prose. I’m constantly haunted by a phantom of failure—a projected hallucination of all the walls around me crumbling, should I fail to live up to everyone’s, and my own, expectations.

Continue reading “Getting Back into Writing”

My Personal Writing Project – ZINE

So I ran a small poll on Instagram the other day, asking whether I should write about the Zine I created vs. my favorite writing places. It was a close fight between the two, really, with this post edging the other by a hair. But a win’s a win, so here is the promised blog post!

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My zine: “Wonderland of Lost Souls”, and all the utensils I used to create it.

Now let’s cut the chase: what is a Zine?

Continue reading “My Personal Writing Project – ZINE”

My Favorite Snacks for Long Writing Sessions

It is no secret by now that my kind of writing sessions had always been long and torturing. Since I have to juggle with my day job and other side projects, I can only focus 100% on writing if I were to write non-stop. And that often translates into 5-7 hours of writing non-stop in front of my laptop, spare for that several times I go to the restroom or to refill my water bottle.

Source: https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/top-view-of-a-working-desk-with-open-blank-notebook_1281620.htm

Continue reading “My Favorite Snacks for Long Writing Sessions”

My Writing Rituals

If you are a writer, you might have heard of the term “writing rituals”.

A writing rituals, as the name suggest, is a set of activities that writers perform before actually doing some writing sessions, in hopes that it will get them into this so-called “writing mode”.

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There are a lot of theories discussing on how this would work. The general idea is that we can actually program our brain to get to a certain mood by always doing a set of activities until it sticks as a habit.

Think of it like how your body instinctively pick up spoon & fork before you eat. You didn’t even command your hands to pick them up, but because you have been doing the same thing over and over again every day, it comes naturally that you should pick up your eating utensils before you actually eat. Continue reading “My Writing Rituals”

Write Every Day: Yay or Nay?

Before I start, huge shoutout to Yarii and her extraordinary guest post last week. Yes, I am clearly inspired by her guest post when I was writing the title of this post.


One of the most popular—if not THE most popular—writing advice out there is write every day.

The idea behind this advice is simple: writing is tough, so the best way to counter that is to make it a habit by writing every day. It doesn’t matter if you only write a sentence or a whole chapter of your novel project; the fact remains that writing every day helps keeping you in the momentum.

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Writing every day sounds like every writer’s dream. But is it really the best advice out there…?

I talked in my previous blog post about how keeping in the momentum would help you tremendously in finishing your manuscript faster. So as you might have expected, I agree to this legendary advice—to some extent.

But, as is the case with almost anything else, there is a catch. Continue reading “Write Every Day: Yay or Nay?”

Writer’s Block; Fight or Flee? – with Yarii

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It is an extremely common case for writers to  face this semi-mythical thing called ‘writer’s block’. Some believe that it exists while some think that it is a myth.

For readers or people who do not write, it is probably difficult for you to imagine how it feels like to have writer’s block. to put it in a simple way, ‘I know what will happen but I cannot put it into words’, Get it? Continue reading “Writer’s Block; Fight or Flee? – with Yarii”

How I Wrote a Novel in 9 Days (Unspoken Words)

It is no secret that my productivity comes in waves, and an irregular one at that. Sometimes, it even bothered me enough that I had to organize a writing retreat in order to get back to writing.

However, I have to say that my experience in writing Unspoken Words was quite peculiar.

If you have been following me on Twitter, you would know that I completed the first draft of the book in just 9 days.

Yes, you did not read that wrong. Even I still find it difficult to believe at times. Sure, I completed my debut novel, 3 (Tiga), in 14 days. But never in my wildest dreams did I hope to accomplish the same feat in the near future.

Yet, in reality, I kinda… did.

And it wasn’t until months after completing the manuscript, revising the draft like crazy, and witnessing the book being displayed in bookstores, did I start taking notes of what could possibly be going on when I wrote the book.

Of how a writer with a very demanding day job could finish writing a book in just 9 days.

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I hate to break this upfront, but the key to accomplishing that is discipline.

Continue reading “How I Wrote a Novel in 9 Days (Unspoken Words)”

Of How Unspoken Words Came into Existence

When I ran a poll on Instagram the other day, a surprising amount of respondents requested for me to post more information about my upcoming book, Unspoken Words.

Some requested for information regarding the characters, some about my outlining process, and the rest were an equal mix between my writing process and publication date. The response, of course, took me by (a pleasant) surprise.

To be honest, I had been mulling over the idea of sharing more about Unspoken Words. And there is a good reason why I haven’t been as active as I wanted to be in sharing information about the book:

I didn’t know how to talk about the book without spoiling everything about it.

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Let’s just say, this novel is the most personal one I have penned so far, and writing it had been an emotional roller-coaster to me. Just like when I once wrote my debut novel, 3 (Tiga), finishing the manuscript for Unspoken Words actually left me in a state somewhat similar to being hungover. Continue reading “Of How Unspoken Words Came into Existence”

How Taking a Short Writing Retreat Boosted My Productivity

Disclaimer: this post will feature a lot of pictures, just so you know.

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A stunning art exhibition I found. I believe it was showcased in the Esplanade building.

I have mentioned in one of my previous blog posts that I wanted to go on a creative writing retreat. Not the fancy residency kind, of course. What I’m talking about is but a short escape somewhere. It should be far enough from my usual daily routine, but it also should be within my budget—so it shouldn’t be too far, either.

Last October, I was offered a cheap flight ticket to spend the weekend in Singapore.

I took it without hesitation.

Continue reading “How Taking a Short Writing Retreat Boosted My Productivity”