Tag: writing

NaNoWriMo 2018 Prep: Setting Up a Writer’s Notebook – Part 2

~ Alicia Lidwina ~ 5 Comments

We’re less than a month away from NaNoWriMo, everyone! In the last post, I’ve talked quite extensively about how I set up my writer’s notebook in preparation of NaNoWriMo—especially in defining the project statistics and brainstorming for the story. This week, we’re going to tackle the heart of any novel: the plot.

Read more: NaNoWriMo 2018 Prep: Setting Up a Writer’s Notebook – Part 1

The plot is what makes your story. It is what happens to your characters, and also what happens after it happens. It is the action and reaction, the cause and consequence of everything that transpires inside your fictional realm. It could be the most exciting part of writing a book, as well as the most frustrating.

 

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Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/brown-wooden-desk-159618/

Personally, I’ve never been a good match with plotting. More often than not, I would know all about my characters, locations, and even wrap up my research for the project—but still, have no clue about what happens inside my book. Sounds crazy, I know, but it happens all the time. Continue reading “NaNoWriMo 2018 Prep: Setting Up a Writer’s Notebook – Part 2” →

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NaNoWriMo 2018 Prep: Setting Up a Writer’s Notebook – part 1

~ Alicia Lidwina ~ 7 Comments

Happy Preptober, everyone! In this week’s post, I’m going to share with you how I set up my writer’s notebook for my NaNoWriMo project.

Yes, I have decided to participate in NaNoWriMo 2018.

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In case you didn’t know what I was talking about, which I highly doubt, especially if you’re reading my blog, NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, is a global event in which many writers from all over the globe take on the challenge to write an entire novel of 50,000 words within the month of November. Preptober, on the other hand, is what NaNoWriMo veterans use to call the month leading towards NaNoWriMo—October.

Now I’ve talked quite extensively about how I used a Midori Style Traveler’s Notebook as my writer’s notebook last year, but I’ve decided to shake things up a little bit for this year’s challenge. Don’t worry—I still use my Midori Style Traveler’s Notebook regularly. I just thought that for NaNoWriMo 2018, I would need a separate system to organize my thoughts about the writing project.

And since I am planning to start a new project, I thought that I could use the occasion to share with you guys a more in-depth look at how I build my personal writer’s notebook. Continue reading “NaNoWriMo 2018 Prep: Setting Up a Writer’s Notebook – part 1” →

My Favorite Writing VLOGS on Youtube

~ Alicia Lidwina ~ 2 Comments

I have this strange hobby of learning how other authors work on their projects. This sometimes means stalking their Instagram feeds, or even their Twitter pages. But one of my favorite pastimes, aside from blog walking, is to watch Writing VLOGS on Youtube.

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Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/mokup-smartphone-technology-phone-34407/

There is just something so productively encouraging about seeing how other writers struggle, and finally, emerge victorious from this figurative war against their writer’s block, for example.

That being said, here are some of my favorite Writing-related VLOGS I’ve found on Youtube. They might prove to be either educational, inspirational, or both. Please enjoy this master list! Continue reading “My Favorite Writing VLOGS on Youtube” →

My Writing Playlist: Maybe Everything

~ Alicia Lidwina ~ 5 Comments

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The Cardigans – After All

Aoi Teshima – Lullaby of Birdland

Anggun – Fly My Eagle

I wrote the majority of Maybe Everything when I was heartbroken. So quite naturally, the songs featured in this writing playlist are the songs I used to listen to during the moments when I couldn’t stop thinking about my romantic interest. Even now, I still recall the evenings I spent during my commute just listening to the songs and staring out the window—wishing fervently for the pain to end.
Continue reading “My Writing Playlist: Maybe Everything” →

My Favorite Writing Spots

~ Alicia Lidwina ~ 5 Comments

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” →

Getting Back into Writing

~ Alicia Lidwina ~ 4 Comments

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” →

5 Books That Got Me into Writing Fiction

~ Alicia Lidwina ~ 2 Comments

Looking back, I had always been the storyteller of the family.

I remember talking to my grandmother on a rainy day, or during one of those unfortunate days when there was a blackout and we couldn’t do anything but gather by a candle in the living room and chat until the electricity’s back on again—I had always been the one telling stories, whether they be from my own experiences or pure fiction.

But I have to admit that I owe a major bulk of my interest in storytelling to my hobby: reading.

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Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/white-ceramic-teacup-with-saucer-near-two-books-above-gray-floral-textile-904616/

And as I am writing this post, I feel overwhelmed with disappointment that I don’t read as often as I used to, just like I had mentioned in my recent post. Reading used to be what defined me; it shaped me into the person I am today. It would not be an overstatement to say that I owe my whole interest into creative writing to the great books I read during my childhood.

Here are five of them, in no particular order: Continue reading “5 Books That Got Me into Writing Fiction” →

My Favorite Snacks for Long Writing Sessions

~ Alicia Lidwina ~ 2 Comments

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

~ Alicia Lidwina ~ 8 Comments

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” →

My Writing Playlist: Unspoken Words

~ Alicia Lidwina ~ 2 Comments

KEMUNING

Femme – Kajiura Yuki (梶浦 由記)

Shizuka na Hibi (静かな日々) – S.E.N.S. Project

Lost Memory – S.E.N.S. Project

Itsuka Dokoka de (いつかどこかで) – Hama Takeshi (濱剛)

Deja View – S.E.N.S. Project

Since I completed the first draft of this project during Lebaran Holiday of 2017, I didn’t really need the music so much. But still, there were some really difficult scenes that prevented me from going on a full writing sprint at times. These songs were what I used to listen to whenever I was feeling stuck at writing a certain scene. Continue reading “My Writing Playlist: Unspoken Words” →