Creative Writing 1: First steps

Hi Readers! 

As I’m currently studying Creative Writing in hopes of gaining my Masters next year (pray for me), I’ve decided to create a seperate page to offer some Creative Writing Tasks readers can follow, write my own example answer, and provide all of my resources for further study. 

Introduction: First steps in creative writing 

There's a lot of steps that go behind creating a writing piece, and before delving into genres and perspective, it's important to know the exact type of creative writing project you'd like to pursue, as this will dictate the techniques available to you. 

The main choices are; Fiction (novels, short-stories, flash-fiction), Non-Fiction (memoirs, personal essays, journalism), Poetry, and Scripts (plays, films, radio dramas). 

Regardless of your project, all creative writing pieces require a process, which aids how one will be able to come up with their initial project idea. The core stages of this include Prewriting (brainstorming ideas by observing your surroundings or using prompts), Drafting (writing overviews and initial copies of your work), Revising (looking at the bigger picture of your work such as character development, plot structures and perspective), Editing (polishing line-by-line and refining grammar, word-choice, and literary devices), Reviewing (gaining feedback from workshops, writing groups, and beta readers). 

Task 1: Prewriting: 10 minutes 

'You could say it started with a phone call.' 

Focusing on the first step of creative writing, this task will be to come up with your project's initial idea. We'll be using the prompt: 'You could say it started with a phone call.' 

Whether you open your project with this line or use it in the climax doesn't matter. The task here is to just think of how you could turn this line into a project. Think of it like the forming of your hook, when someone asks what your story is about, it's main beats should be linked to this prompt. 

In subsequent blog posts, you can either continue the same project through the various tasks, or come up with something new each time. You don't have to follow the allocated times either, that's just to encourage making writing a short, simple, habit to fit in every day. 

(P.S: We'll be researching genre, characters, setting, dialogue, and other important bits in subsequent blogs, so this really, is just meant to be a short overview, but feel free to write down whatever ideas come to mind!) 

(P.S.S: Feel free to change up the prompt too! The wording doesn't have to be exact, and in the end, you might not even include it. Just have fun with it.) 

My answer: 

* Fiction project, short-story. 

* Three best friends, trying to uncover what really happened before waking up with amnesia after a night out together. They try retracing their steps, all beginning with the idea that it started with a phone call. 

* Main theme / plot: how far should we be willing to trust the people we've known all our life? 

* Example line: The only thing I could remember was Lill's voice on the end of the line, high-pitched and sparkly, talking about a party, then my mind cut to dead static. 

Want advice? 

As this is just meant to be a fun experiment or as a way to indulge in creative writing, don't worry about keeping your project in your own personal document or journal, but if you'd like some advice, feel free to comment your project ideas below and I'll respond with some tips & resources! 

Overall, thank you for reading, 

Alivia :) 

Happy Hallows Eve!

Hi Readers! 

Halloween is one of my absolute favourite holidays and I'm so excited to celebrate it tomorrow (and furthermore, tonight!) So, this is just a short post to say Happy Hallows Eve & Happy Halloween!! 

Some of my favourite activities I've done this season have been: 

* Baking mini apple pies 

* Decorating my bedroom 

* Hosting an aliens vs monsters party

* Indulging in Spooky media such as watching Creep, Over the Garden Wall, Jennifer's Body and Perfect Blue. I do wish I managed to fit in some more, especially reading-wise, but I got a bit swept away with uni work. 

For Halloween tomorrow, I'm going to watch even more movies with some of my friends and bake some ghost pizza! I'll also be dressing in my 3rd costume for the season, which will either be Regina George or Cady Heron from Mean Girls. 

Anyways, that's the entire post! Hope you enjoy the season. 

(P.S: If you're in a spooky mood, you should read my other posts on Halloween & the Horror genre under Mini Dives & Journals!) 

Thank you for reading, 

Alivia :) 

I f*cking hate Sundays

 

Hi Readers!  

It's the 25th of October, and you guessed it, a Sunday. In between scribbling in my journal, and thinking about what to write for my book (definitely not procrastinating), I couldn't help but think about how much I hate Sundays. Yes, the dreadful Monday exists, but to me, the supposed wonderful Sunday is so much worse. 

On a Monday, you have to wake up, tired, but prepared for the day ahead. On a Sunday, you wake up, tired, and stuck. You can't exactly fill out your day with a bunch of fun outings because everything is closed, you try and do a bunch of cozy, at home hobbies, but everything feels a little sad, tainted, by the exhausting day you'll have to partake in tomorrow. 

The day seems to last forever and speed away. Nothing feels consistent. Nothing feels exciting. It's just a bunch of everything filled into a day of nothing. 

I can't think of many ways to try and force enjoyment out of this day; having an extra-exciting Saturday can sometimes help ease the softness of a Sunday, but usually, after about two o'clock, I'm desperate to get out and do something else, but can't seem to find anything to fit. 

I've found a list of things to do to make the day feel better, I'm going to try them out and hope for the best. I've put the ideas below in case anyone else relates and wants to try something new! 

That's the end of my little ramble. I just hate Sundays. 

A Horrific Piece

Hi Readers!

With Halloween inching closer, I thought it would be fun to write a piece on Horror, taking a mini dive into it's history as a genre, and application to the modern world.

What is Horror? 

Horror is defined as a medium that is intended to disturb, frighten, shock, or disgust its audience. With various sub-genres based upon what causes the fear and how the story is told, Horror is an incredibly vast tool that can entangle itself into most stories. 

The history of Horror is intrinsically tied to real-world anxieties, evolving from ancient folklore to a highly sophisticated academic medium for contemporary societal critique. Due to it's distinct reflection of localized regional anxieties, Horror differs around the globe. Beginning with ancient folklores, evolving into medieval literature, gothic literature, and modern horror.

This is portrayed by the comparison of Mesopotamian Mythology's epic, Enuma Elish, which features Tiamat, a primordial goddess of saltwater, who emobides the fear surrounding chaos and destruction, and the Norse Mythology epic of the monstrous Fenrir wolf, whose insatiable hunger for destruction represents uncontrollable anarchy.

Furthermore, Horror may be frequently used as a mirror of politics, reflecting state-sanctioned terror and systemic oppression, such as through the history of witch-hunting. In the early modern period, the fear of the supernatural was weaponized by religious and political authorities to enforce social conformity, suppress bodily autonomy, and marginalize vulnerable populations, particularly women.

As societies modernized, these externalized mythological monsters transitioned into psychological and societal terrors that directly mirrored changing cultural anxieties. For example, the Cambridge Companion to American Horror explores how Horror's focus on the body may stem from the modern American state's restrictions of freedom according to race, gender, sexuality, etc.

Therefore, taking this into consideration, it may be found that Horror is not only a genre that many enjoy for the thrill of being spooked, but for unveiling the darker truths of our societies.

My love for it

I don't actually know where my love for Horror began. My first memories of the genre is only in fear of it. I can remember hiding behind my curtains while watching 'Monster House' with my cousins, and having various nightmares of my baby dolls coming to life after watching 'Toy Story' and scratching our DvD of 'Nine' so my brother couldn't put it on anymore because their soul-functions scared me. 

Paranoia and anxiety has followed me my entire life, a gift from my loving, but overwhelming, Mom, trying to prepare me for a life in Johannesburg, where the crime rate sits at 89.6 out of 100. Constantly reminding me of current, horrific, events depicted in the You Magazine, and always watching some kind of true-crime documentary, she kept me well educated in violence. 

Somewhere along the line, my fear of Horror became an obsession--it posessed me with anxiety and yet, I couldn't stop indulging. 

I'd like to say that I overcame my fears and figured out a way to quell my sheltered idealogies, but I think the reason I love it so much, is that it feels like another way for me to prepare. Watching slashers, or home break-ins, murderous ghosts and vengeful demons--opens a kind of doorway, allowing me to almost act within these scenarios and create gameplans. How to be the final girl, the lone survivor, the one who gets to tell the tale. 

As I've started learning more about the craft of storytelling, the hidden societal critiques have only made me love the genre more. Now, not only can I feel like I'm ready for an apocalypse, but I can judge our rigid, pathetic, social norms too.  

Due to this, I've decided to list some of my favourite Horror books, shows, and films that delve into this shadowed part of humanity below, with open suggestions being available on my Recommendations Page!

Overall, thank you for reading,

Alivia :)

Journal 1: Season of Renewal

Hi Readers! 

Welcome to the first post of my Journal Prompt series, where I find an interesting journal idea, write my answer, and encourage readers to write their own :) 

As it’s Autumn, I wanted to find something that spoke to the beautifully creepy season of Halloween and the time of renewal, thus, approaching release, reflection, and the quiet preparation of Winter. 

(PS: I did some research for the introduction behind Autumn but there’s no footnotes available on Blogger, so I’ve just pasted them at the bottom!)

There will be 4 sections to this journal prompt: 

1. Release: Write a list of heavy thoughts or draining habits that you could shed. 

2. Harvest: Write a list of things that you are grateful you have gained. 

3. Halloween: What are some aspects of this season that you enjoy, and how will you implement them this year? 

4. Quiet: How can you shift your focus from your current habits to a slower, calming routine? 

Enjoy! 

An Introduction

Hi Readers! 

I'm an aspiring writer, navigating university, publishing submissions, mental health, and life in general. I'm interested in everything to do with reading, film, and social studies. 

This blog is just a place to put down a bunch of random little thoughts so there might be some writing tips, agent submission advice, short stories, poems, journal prompts, baking recipes, book and film reviews, etc.! 

My goal is to become a published author and better my craft, whilst, making a fun place to put out my progress. 

(PS. Although I will be including academic references within some of my posts, I'd like to reiterate that I am not a professional and that most of my yapping is only subjective opinion! A lot of my writing and or editing may not be perfect either, using this space as an informal journal. There is also no use of A.I on this page whatsoever to my knowledge.) 

Hope you enjoy, 

Alivia :)