Book Review - Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

  ★★★★★

  Overall, I liked this book... But there were a few things that stood out to me in negative ways. I'll get onto those in a moment, first I'm doing the good stuff!
  *I'm going to try not to have any spoilers here, feel free to read on whether or not you've read the book!*
  I think the character portrayal was great, even the not-so-important characters had distinct personalities and ways of speaking. Not to mention the wide array of characters, each which played an important part of the story! Deep, realistic people. Even the shallow-minded ones had depth.
  World-building as well, the small town setting was very well done! I could clearly visualize the setting, as well as the fact that the setting was a great fit to drive the plot forward. The amount of effort and time put into building a great world with realistic people paid off!
  The plot itself was pretty good... I'll get more into that later... But I liked the mystery and suspense that came with it. The foreshadowing of certain events, which both made them more suspenseful and believable, was very well done!
  Basically, the development of the characters, setting, and storyline was overall very well done.
  Also, the ending wasn't totally but also was totally unexpected. I liked that part.

  Now onto the things I didn't like so much... First off would be the length of the book. I feel like a lot of the middle of the book could've been trimmed, and no difference would've been made. It wasn't exactly boring, just unnecessary, and as someone who prefers books on the shorter side, I found that a little bit annoying.
  Also, some of the names... I've heard a mistake that you don't want to make as a writer is naming two characters with similar names, even just names beginning with the same letter. So why, please tell me, do we have Lena, Lila, Link, and Larkin?
  And another thing, just a personal preference but still something, the whole name change thing when you turn sixteen. If you're going to give me a whole novel with someone having one name, then in the middle tell me that that's not the real name and not tell me what that is, not only do I kind of want to know by the end of the book (Which I don't) but this serves no relevance to the plot aside from make the same point that a character's been making for the whole book. Also, I kind of got to know the character by this one name, and as much as I love names changing as a coming-of-age, here's-your-true-personalized-name sort of thing, I got invested in this character as X, if you start calling them Z I'm gonna become kinda detached!
  The plot in general, honestly, was a little cliche... I won't get into the specifics because this is supposed to be spoiler-free, but I could spot quite a few cliche points. True, they weren't flat out cliche, the author did at least try to add originality. But I still found it to be more like a mashup of a few popular tropes with a sprinkle of concealment. Again, this was a great book, I loved it, but I also wasn't motivated to go find book 2 at the library.
  Also... If this upcoming event is unavoidable and your whole inner conflict is based around not having a choice in this, why are you guys spending days on end trying to research how to stop it? If you can't stop it??

  Overall, I liked this book, but there was room for improvement. As there always is. I still enjoyed it, I just wish that some of the names and plot-points were given the same attention as the character building and setting!

★ Development (Characters, setting, etc.)
★ Foreshadowing/Plotline details
★ Totally Believable (Barring magic, supernatural, etc.)
★ Really Sweet Romance
★ Accurate Representation (Themes such as mental illness, abuse/bullying, war, etc.)
☆ Insightful Junk is Thrown In (Personal preference)
☆ Originality
☆ Character Progression
☆ Completely Cuss/Inappropriate Free

Tips For Writing Horror (Or Just Scary Scenes)

  Something scary happens in almost every book out there, whether that's an axe murderer creeping into someone's house or a loved one sending a cryptic and doom-filled note hinting at death is up to you and your genre...
  However, whatever the scare is, they all have the same basic elements to make them scary. It's a formula, as much as I hate those because they relate to math, it's actually a very helpful formula.
  Just going to note here: Horror is not my genre (to write), but my book does have a fair share of terrifying scenes! So if I say something contradictory to say, Stephen King, maybe listen to him over me... And tell me what I'm doing wrong. Because this is all personal advice as to how I make my scenes scary.

1. Add Some Foreshadowing/Suspense

  Adding some foreshadowing or some other tool to create suspense and a feeling of knowing what's happening in your reader's minds is a great thing to do. A great, if horrifically cliche example, is in a good amount of movies when the character starts out watching a horror movie (extra points if it has a similar villain to the one in the movie.) You all know what that does to your brain, especially when there's a thump upstairs. Do this in your book, maybe not with a movie, but have some foreshadowing event that can seriously creep your characters and readers out. 

  Not only does this help build suspense, but it also adds some credibility and relatability to the reactions. If someone is baking and listening to ABBA when they hear a thump upstairs, wouldn't it seem a little melodramatic if they're instantly terrified and sneaking around corners with a rolling pin? How about if they just got finished watching a horror movie and hear the same thump with the same reaction? Exactly, now you can relate and they seem to not be overreacting anymore. (Also, in the first example with the person in the kitchen, if the character doesn't seem scared your reader is less likely to be scared unless they know some solid fact that the character doesn't. Like if they've seen a scene where the killer crawls in the window and knocks a lamp off a table. Create suspense, or no one will be scared.) 

2. Get In Sync With Your Inner Fear

  How do you feel when you're scared? Heart racing, hands sweaty, maybe even like your chest is constricting a little? Do your best to put this into words, because showing the fear is more effective than saying "He was scared." 

  Do whatever you need to to make yourself scared, and write it all down. Don't use every detail in your story, especially if you're doing an info dump about every physical symptom of fear your character has, but sneak the details in subtly. "Her hand slid on the doorknob, too slick with sweat to turn it. She hurriedly wiped the hand on her shirt, chest tightening as the feeling she was being watched intensified. She had to get the door open!" Suspense, a problem, physical symptoms that aren't out of place, and a hint at what could be out there... 

3. Introspection

  To avoid your writing sounding melodramatic, which happens to be a problem for me and many other writers, use introspection. This is a useful tool which can add the needed emotion to your writing without either showing or telling (using too much of either is what makes your writing sound melodramatic) as well as add originality to your character. Everyone feels fear or hurt in basically the same way, but not everyone responds the same. 

  Introspection is basically running through your character's thought process in a way that shows their anxiety or determination or whatever it is that they're feeling. Here are some examples: 

  What could he do? Run away and not come back. He'd be thrown out soon enough anyway. He'd joked with Delia about it, but he could become a newsboy, spending nights in one of their lodges. It was better than working at a funeral parlor. How long would it take to pack? (Ripper by Stefan Petrucha.) You can see the worry and despair here, can't you? The hurry and extreme solutions? Emotions and physical feelings aren't brought up at all, yet you can clearly see what's being felt here. 

  As of right now, I was wondering how long before I went crazy. But what was crazy? Hallucinations, delusions, voices, they couldn’t be worse than right now. Voices would be welcome. Laughing maniacally, not caring, that wasn’t crazy either. Not here. Maybe crazy didn’t happen here, maybe you just got used to the place and outsiders wouldn’t understand. (Book 2 of The Parasites That Live in The Cracks by Jaci Knight. Me.) What emotions and information do you get from this example? I'm not going to tell you this time, studying without hints is more beneficial than being told the answer...

So that's introspection, use it! It's how you make character-original scenes and convey emotions without becoming repetitive and melodramatic.

4. Don't Overdo It

Don't draw things out too long, don't add too many gory scenes, keep things new as much as you can while remaining on the same plot-point. If things are too drawn out they'll be boring (bad) and if there are too many gory scenes they'll either lose their effect on the reader or become too sickening for more sensitive readers (both bad).

This is where outlining is beneficial, you can see where the story is heading and avoid overdoing anything before you start writing! I'd say if something happens more than twice, it's definitely overdone...

Some good books to read if you want to see how to do this are Misery by Stephen King and And Then There Were None by Agatha Cristie. In Misery, you can see how to have someone in the same room with a psychotic lady keeping them under control for an entire novel without it seeming drawn out. It's amazing, really... In And Then There Were None you see a great example of how to kill off ten people without it becoming repetitive or boring (plus a great mystery!)

5. Write What You Know

What scares you most? Writing about what's most terrifying to you will come across as much more scary and realistic than writing whatever's popular right now... If you're afraid of spiders, write your worst nightmare with giant spiders! If you're positive a serial killer is hiding somewhere in your house, maybe call the police and then write about it!

For me, I did this without even realizing it... My worst fears revolve around feeling trapped, so what happens? My characters go to the worst prison ever, and not only that, but they're immortal so there's no escape. Except they do escape, but then they're stuck being mentally messed up and miserable... Therefore trapped again in their own minds. It comes across very realistically! On the other hand, in the scenes where they could get seriously hurt they act like they couldn't care less. Which maybe could be due to the fact that they're not going to die, but could also be that getting hurt is a very minor concern of mine. (Editing in the process of fixing that!)

So for you, write about what scares you most and it'll come across as truly terrifying. Trust me.

6. Read

Read a lot of horror. This goes for literally any subject, by the way... If you want to write something, read a lot of it, especially what's popular or a classic. Read with an analytical mind, even if this means stopping at the end of every page or chapter to think about what went into what you read, what the author did to convey the feeling, etc.

Read and learn...

Words To Remove/Replace In Your Novel

  Words are great, words are my absolute favorite, but some of them need to die. They just bug up your writing, making it look sloppy and overly crowded. The thing is, these are words that you'd never notice... Like up there in my second sentence, "They just bug up your writing," there is a word that very consistently sneaks into everything I write and is totally unnecessary. This particular word, which can almost always be deleted with no negative impacts, has appeared in the unedited draft of my novel 601 times. Technically, that's only 0.6% of my novel, but that's 0.6% of my novel that I could safely delete and only one word out of the hundreds of words I shouldn't use. In case anyone's still wondering, that word is "just".
  So anyway, here's a list of the words you should delete or replace and why!

1. Filter Words

  These are words that filter the experience of your novel, making it less immersive for your reader. These are usually sensing words (felt, smelled, saw, etc.) and it's fairly easy to remove them! 

  Example: "I heard the iced blades of grass crunch under my feet." would be "The iced blades of grass crunched under my feet." See the difference? Easy enough to fix, right? 

  Here's a list of the most common ones to look for: 

• Heard
• Saw
• Felt
• Thought
• Smelled
• Touched
• Wondered
• Etc. 

This counts for all tenses of each word! (See, saw. Hear, heard. Feel, felt.) 

2. It

  Nobody likes clowns... Nah, nobody likes it. It is a bad word. As in, the word it is totally non-specific and not descriptive, not to mention how the word can cause confusion if used in the wrong context! 

  And you know what? This word is literally everywhere... In my book, geez this is kind of embarrassing, it appears 2,978 times! (Please keep in mind this is the draft, I am most definitely editing that out...) 2.8% of my precious book is a completely useless word that I hate! 

  So anyway, take the word it out of your book, it (ugh I did it again! Oh, and again... Ha..ha...) is a very non-descriptive and lazy word. Here's an example... "My head was clearing, but I wished it wasn’t." --> "My head was clearing, but I wished the clarity of what'd happened wasn't materializing in my mind." See? Replace "it", and you're forced to have more descriptive writing.

3. Yep, Gonna Bring These Up...

In the writing community, it's virtually impossible to not hear about this... Don't use adverbs! As in, the words that describe a verb. Ran quickly, Jumped lightly, etc.

But why shouldn't you use these? You learned them in school, right? It's because in general there are better words you could use to get the same effect, and using too many of these can make your writing look cluttered. Instead of "ran quickly", you could either assume that running is fast and leave it there, or replace the words with "sprinted", "Dashed", or some other synonym that better describes the pace. Same with "jumped lightly", you could use "sprang", "leaped", or "hopped" for a better, more compact and clean way of saying the same thing.

4. Of That, Just

That and of, same as just in the first paragraph, is sometimes really unnecessary... Sometimes you do need "that" in a sentence, but many times your writing will make just as much sense without that.

Here's an example: "It was obvious that she was happy." --> "It was obvious she was happy."

"All of the puppies were sleeping." --> "All the puppies were sleeping."

Get rid of the words, your writing will just be a lot cleaner because of it!

5. Really, Very...

These words weaken your writing, they're more unnecessary clutter words. I won't go too into depth, but a lot of the time they're kind of like adverbs. You use them to emphasize something when in reality you could just use a single, more impactful word. Or just delete the really, very unnecessary word!

6. Sit Down...

Seated? Not reading this while standing for whatever reason? Good... It's totally irrelevant, but whatever.

If you use "sit down" or "stand up" in your story, you can safely delete the up and down. "Sit." "Stand." Obvious enough, readers get the point, I didn't know you could sit any other way than down, so... Yeah!

7. Then

  Then is like a filter word, it makes the action slow down and seem like the reader isn't actually there... "I kicked out at him, then rolled to avoid his punch." --> "I kicked out at him, rolling to avoid an incoming punch." Not the best example, but you see the point? More immersive, more punchy (I'm not apologizing for my pun), the action just flows much quicker! 

8. Start/Begin

  Yet some more unnecessary words! (Are you seeing a pattern yet?) These are usually used to mark the start of something, but often it isn't necessary to do this... For example, "The cat started to purr." --> "The cat purred." or even better, "A gentle rumble rose in the cat's throat." 

9. Sudden

  Sudden makes your action less sudden... Much like then. It just sticks a wrench in the surprise! "Suddenly, something flashed before my eyes and collided with my head." ---> "Something flashed before my eyes and collided with my head." The sudden is like a warning, and your readers brace themselves for whatever's coming, effectively killing all surprise. Without the sudden, they don't see it coming any sooner than your character does, meaning they'll be just as surprised! 

10. Redundant Phrases

  These greatly affect your final outcome; it's an actual fact and unwelcome added bonus of these phrases that in real life we repeat again as figures of speech, clog up your writing and are hard to find in close proximity. 

  Yeah, that sentence was really forced sounding... How many redundant phrases can you pick out? Or basically, words that each on their own could effectively describe the thing but somehow seem to make sense when paired? There were five redundant phrases in the above sentence, and in every case of you remove on words from them the sentence still makes perfect sense! 

  Since they're 1. redundant and 2. clog up your writing, you should just delete one of those words... Easy enough. 

Here's the after version of the above sentence, which takes one of the words out of the phrase...  These greatly affect your outcome; it's a fact and unwelcome bonus of these phrases that in real life we repeat as figures of speech, clog up your writing and are hard to find in proximity. 

11. The

Is this a surprise? Yeah, me too. Be careful with this one, because "the" is a common word and also commonly needed! But sometimes, it's just as unnecessary as "then"... For example, "The wind whispered through the branches." --> "Wind whispered through the branches." (Don't use that in your novel; wind whispering in trees is cliche, especially if it's a spooky scene!)

"The" is not always necessary, and if a word doesn't need to be there... Destroy it.

12. Almost, Rather, Somewhat...

Again. Like an adverb, these words only clutter your writing! You can always rephrase the sentence, just delete the word, use a more descriptive word, there are a lot of ways to get rid of these words.

To be clear, this doesn't count for all uses of these words! If a character would rather do something else, that's okay, but if the sentence is rather crowded then you need to get rid of the word! (Rather used as a wish/want of someone is okay, rather used as a word to describe something is not okay.)

13. Last Note

That's all the words I've found that you should avoid in your writing! But here are the last few notes... This is not for every instance of every word. There are places you have to use certain words, and using some words in small portions os perfectly fine! You can use adverbs, just very sparingly. As with all advice, take it with a grain of salt and use your head. Definitely use advice, but think for yourself too!

Thanks for reading, leave a comment or contact me if you have any questions or you know any words that should be on the list! Or just leave a nice comment, that's good too, or even a not-so-nice comment, if you don't mind my sarcastic replies or the fact that it won't hurt my feelings in any way. Thank you!

How To Write Great Villains and Antagonists

  There are bad guys... And then there are bad bad guys. As in, they suck. They're cliche. They're not convincing and nobody can take them seriously, nevermind conceive them doing any great damage! But how can you avoid the cliches? Make your bad guys good? Well the first step, figure out what they are... A villain or an antagonist.
  There is a difference, they aren't exact synonyms. Here's the difference... The villain is bad, sadistic, hurt people, and would be considered a bad guy by anybody from any point of view. The antagonist, on the other hand, isn't "bad". The antagonist just has conflicting goals with your main character, and may not go about fulfilling their goals in the best way. But the antagonist isn't evil, they just don't agree.
  Here are some examples from popular books, if you need a little more clarity into this...
*Hunger Games* President Snow - Villain (purposefully hurts people with no apparent regrets, kills anyone who opposes him, etc.) vs. Tributes - Antagonists (Will kill/steal from Katniss, but they're not sadistic (most of them) and really just want to survive)
*Harry Potter* Voldemort, Bellatrix, Other Death Eaters  - Villain (Kills/tortures for fun, do I need to go on?) vs. Snape, Malfoy - Antagonist (Weren't the nicest people, but had genuine friends/goals/lives. They just had major disputes with the main character.)
*Eleanor and Park* Richie - Villain (Abusive, vile, no apparent reason, likes making Eleanor miserable.) vs. Tina - Antagonist (Bully, but for a clear reason, and shows nice side later on. Differing opinions and desires, opposition, but not mean for no reason)
  That enough examples? I hope so because now I'm moving onto how to make each of these great. Be sure to know which your character is because they require different components!

1. Backstories

  Yes, basic, right? There's a reason and a good one at that... Any character that shows up in your book that impacts the main character or even appears regularly should have at least a basic backstory. This should definitely include your bad guys.  (But no, let's not pull a Dr. Doofensmirtz, that amount of backstory dumping won't be appreciated in writing!)

• Antagonists. Your antagonists should have a backstory just like any other character, as in, you don't need some tragic incident to give them extreme hatred. Sure, if you need something bad to have happened in their pasts then do that, but these are just people with differing goals who oppose the main character. They can have a perfectly happy life, as long as they have something that leads them to disagree with or have competition with your main character. So make them like any other character, they're not totally evil! 
• Villains. Villains, on the other hand, need a reason that they're irreversibly evil (or at least close.)  Abusive past, a lot of loss, whatever. Just try not to make it too cliche because that makes everything the villain does look cliche. Reading Harry Potter is a good example of this, Voldemort (aka Tom Riddle) has what seems to be a cliche backstory until we find out all the details. Make a lot of details, because face it, there are only so many ways a character can have a traumatic enough childhood to turn them into a villain. Or, on the other hand, you could always make them a spoiled snob who didn't get what they want one time, making them angry enough to kill everyone! (Good luck making that one look realistic...) 

2. Personalities

  Yes, they need a personality. Most bad guys are kind of the same... *dude dressed in black surrounded in people tied up and gagged, ranting his life's story and plans to kill everyone, occasionally with "Mwahahaha!" thrown in.* or *pretty blonde girl with a gang of other pretty girls terrorizing your protagonist because they like the same guy.*  Pretty much, right? Give them a personality, fears, insecurities, just like any other person... And you're a lot more likely to make them the terrifying menace they're supposed to be! 

• Antagonists. Again, your antagonist should be just like any other character you create. They need a complex personality that revolves around more than their hatred/opposition of the main character. Their personality should include room for less-than-kind behavior, because unless your protagonist is some sort of thief/murderer/etc. they might have a little trouble getting in a fight/argument with a saint. 
• Villains. Personalities and villains aren't usually seen together, and that's sad. Because what's more terrifying than someone who kills people mercilessly? Someone who could be mistaken for a normal person who kills people mercilessly. This is often used in crime stories or TV shows based on real life/serial killers because it adds an extra layer of suspense, but there literally no reason you shouldn't do this too. Unless you're writing a villain like Lord Voldemort, give them a personality so they can blend into the crowd when they're not busy killing people. Or, for that matter, just to make them stand out against other villains who all have the same basic personality and look. 

3. Motivations

  Should I need to say this? No. Do I need to say this? Yes. Your bad guy needs a clear motivation, and it needs to be consistent with the amount of damage that they do.  If your villain is evil because they love to be evil, then you really need to reconsider your villain here.

• Antagonists. Some commonly seen motivations for antagonists include having the same love interest as the protagonist (Tina from Eleanor and Park), being pitted against the protagonist by something out of their control (Some Tributes from The Hunger Games), or has some argument with the protagonist that doesn't amount to murder but adds a lot of tension (Malfoy and Snape from Harry Potter.) You can get creative with these motivations, those are just some basic examples! They shouldn't amount to any deaths (except maybe by accident) and your readers should be able to sympathize with the antagonist if they try to. 
• Villains. Villains can be difficult, because what makes someone want to go on a mass killing spree? Most likely a mental disorder; I recommend watching a TV show like Criminal Minds that deals with motivations as to murders. You don't even have to bring up exactly what's wrong with your villain, but as long as people can see their motivations and they don't look evil because you need some tension in your story, you're good. I find it easier to write villains with a mental disorder because I can understand that better, even though I've never brought up exactly what that disorder is. This got a little off-topic from motivations, but here's where it ties in: No sane person can have a good enough motivation for murdering a lot of people unless they're a suicide bomber or something of the like. Even then, they have some at least partially delusional belief that they need to kill people, that it will be for the better if those people die, or they simply enjoy the act of killing. Motivation + some lack of morals/logic/etc. = believable villain. 

4. Character Progressions

  Every character that matters in your book should have character progression, including the bad guy. This can be good or bad, they can have a redeeming arc or the last straw that sends them way overboard. For example, in Harry Potter, Snape (arguably) has a redeeming arc where we see his motivations and some hidden feelings. He's more than a jerk now, he's somewhat relatable.  Then Voldemort, on the other hand, we can see his progression from an orphan who lacks empathy to a globally known menace who everyone fears. Even in each book, we can see where he gets worse, up to the last book where he's excessively paranoid and has no second thoughts about butchering a whole school full of children. Basically, your bad guy shouldn't stay the same during the whole book. 

• Antagonists. Antagonists have two choices: Show the hidden good side, or turn into a villain. Under stress, usually near the climax, they can either reveal their kindness that they have and only just came out in the time of true struggle, or have that last snap when they go from an opponent to an enemy. Whichever happens is really your choice! 
• Villains. It is really, really hard to turn a villain around and have them join the good side... It's possible, but you need a really good explanation as to why this merciless murderer suddenly turns around and is a perfectly nice guy. It's much easier to make them more paranoid, more angry, more blood-thirsty, whatever, and have them either die or go to jail in the end. Again, all your choice, whatever works with your story! Anything is possible if you can make it believable! 

So that's what I've got on villains and antagonists! Basically, give them the same level of character development that you give your protagonist and everyone else who matters in the story. 

*Disclaimer: The image is not mine! I don't know whose it is, but all credit goes to the rightful owner!* 

How To Take Care of Your Mental Health as A Writer

  Writers, or any other creative type of career, are often associated with mental illnesses... As well as bust some myths about that, I'm going to share how you can stay mentally healthy as a writer.
  While plenty of creative types to have mental issues, it isn't a qualification and plenty of people are perfectly healthy! However, there's a reason this association exists... I don't know the exact science behind it, but there are reasons that writers or artists are more likely to have a mental illness. Maybe it's all the stress that can come with these jobs, or that we spend excessive amounts of time locked away in a dark closet (or is that just me?), or don't have enough social interaction with people who aren't beta readers/critique partners/editors... But there is a connection, so be sure you take adequate care of yourself!
  First thing, I just want to say, I am not a psychologist/psychiatrist/doctor (yet, working on it!) so be aware that this is just personal experience advice. This is not grounded in science, I have done no research here, this is just what works for me as a writer who has had depression.

1. Mythbusting

  The myth that I'm busting today... If you treat your mental illness, your creativity is going away. This is not true, not in the slightest! Creativity is a part of you, your personality, just you as a person. Unless you whack your head or turn your brain into mush or something, the creativity is here to stay. Mental illness, on the other hand, is a mixture of negative mindsets and chemical imbalances in your brain. It's not a part of you, it's temporary, and the only thing that's going to change when it goes away is that you'll be happy! 

  So if you have or suspect you have a mental illness, go talk to someone. It's not going to hurt your work, I promise. On the contrary, it will help because it's really hard to write in the middle of depression or when you're having an anxiety attack! 

2. Time. Give Yourself Time. 

  Here's the #1 tip I've got; give yourself time. Fun time, downtime, relax time, whatever you need. But don't write all day, because as fun and enjoyable as it is, it's bad for you mentally. You're more likely to get depressed if you sit in the same place writing all day, not to mention the impact that can have on your relationships. 

  Take some time each day to take a walk, go out somewhere, talk to someone, do yoga, anything that's active and gets you out of the house. Activity, outside, and socializing are important factors to staying mentally healthy, and physically healthy as well!

3. Sleep. Do the Thing. 

  I get how hard it can be to stop writing and go to sleep, it's like your brain just works better at night. I'm currently writing this an hour past when I should be asleep and laughing at my own irony while feeling like a horrible hypocrite. But anyway, having a regular sleep schedule and getting enough sleep is huge. 

  Not only does sleep make you happier, give you more energy, and significantly improve every facet of your help, but there are like a million studies on the effects of sleep. It can improve your memory, you retain more information from studying then getting a full night of sleep than staying up too late studying. Lack of sleep can improve your chances of mental illness, not to mention that you're more likely to hallucinate if you are seriously sleep deprived. I could go on for a whole blog post about sleep studies, they count as psychology and I love them. But I'll stop here, you probably get the idea... 

4. Don't Be Afraid of The Help

  If you have an existing condition, don't be afraid to get help. There's seriously nothing wrong with taking medicine to make you happy or getting therapy. There's a stigma about having a mental issue, and then when you try to fix it that's a problem somehow. Don't listen to people, mental disorders are valid and real issues that deserve valid and real solutions, not people telling you you're stupid or weak or whatever because you tried to help yourself. 

  You're an important human being, treat yourself like it. 

5. Stop Worrying. 

  Yes, I'm aware of how hard that is. Don't worry, those words make me laugh, they're so impossible... But see if you can. Just give yourself permission to be imperfect, to be a human, to fail sometimes. I did this once, I just told myself that I was doing this for the experience and not to succeed, just to prove to myself that I could do this. The cool thing is, that not only did I succeed, but I didn't have all the stress that usually comes with doing anything. 

  Mindset hacks, that's what I use. "You're going to fail sometimes, and worrying won't stop it from happening." "You're doing this to prove to yourself that you can put yourself out there, not to succeed." etc. 

And always, always, always remember... You're important, you need to take care of yourself, and as amazing as your book is it is NOT more important than your mental health! 

How To Write Accurate Mental Illnesses

  So this is an increasingly popular thing in books now... But many people just can't get it right. Mental illness. Be this depression, anxiety, hallucinations or flashbacks, or just general trauma related issues, it's super easy to make your book unrealistic and therefore more hateable.
  The thing is, unless you've had the mental illness there really isn't much of a way to understand them. It's just one of those things that has a lot of misconceptions, a lot of myths, and a ton of misunderstandings.
  It is, however, possible to accurately portray your character's mental illness! Here are some tips and methods to do this, without personal experience in the matter...

1. RESEARCH

  Seriously, research. Research symptoms, statistics, risk factors, diagnosis, everything! And once you've researched all the medical/psychological facts, then search up people who've had your illness talking about it. Their experience, if/how they got over it, how they felt, everything.  

  The better an understanding you have, the better you'll be able to write this. Immerse yourself in the world of whatever you're researching, ideally while remaining sane yourself (not calling mentally ill people insane, just clarifying! Some are, sure, but not all of them... And it is possible to give yourself mental illness by being too obsessed.) 

2. Don't Make It A Character Trait

  Mental illness is not a character trait. It does not define your character. Create a fully functional, healthy character, just like any other, and then add the mental illness. Because people with depression do not identify as depression, they still have a personality that's unique, they're still them. The depression can come in and change them, hide certain aspects of them or make them more irritable or something, but they're still the same person. 

  Just as it's not a character trait, this should not be their only weakness or negative trait! If you take the mental illness away, they shouldn't be perfect. The should still have something else that brings them down from perfection, be that a fear or greediness or any number of character flaws. It can be complementary to the illness, but it shouldn't all be the illness. 

  A last thing along these lines, is that the illness shouldn't be the main topic of concern about the character. Think of it more like a physical illness, like let's say they got their foot chopped off. You aren't going to constantly bring up the missing foot, that's repetitive and stupid, but if the character is getting up to go somewhere then by all means bring up their annoyance or sadness at the handicap! And same thing with forgetting it; if your character consistently has trouble getting down the stairs then make it consistent. Don't make them breeze down those stairs because their loved one got home or something dangerous is happening! Same goes for mental handicaps, they don't stay at bay because it's convenient. 

3. Don't Romanticize It

  Mental illness isn't pretty, don't make it that way. Guys aren't going to be more likely to love someone because they're depressed, they aren't going to see an arm full of cuts and want to kiss them, they aren't going to see a girl have a panic attack in the cafeteria and think it's cute or hot (And if they do, that's just sick...) Mental illness is not attractive, and that's part of the reason people who have it try to hide it. They're worried that nobody will like them.
  Yes, there are sweet and caring people out there who will try to help and love mentally ill people anyway. Having mental illness doesn't make someone unlovable, because it's not a character trait or permanent part of the person! But on the other hand, if you're dating someone who is consistently pushing you away, hurting themselves, and being reclusive in their dark room... Be realistic, if that's just your love life and you're supposed to accept it, you would probably move on. Not to mention that the majority of these books take place in high school, meaning that there's school, future planning, social life, family, all these other things! Realistically, nobody who knows what's good for themselves is going to stick with a mentally ill person who is giving them close to nothing, making little to no effort to recover, and is pushing the person away.
  Also, mentally ill people usually don't make it obvious. Depressed people smile anyway, anxious people try to act relaxed, schizophrenic people don't go around announcing what they see or hear, and nobody yells how they're feeling or what they're thinking either alone or in public. It takes very special circumstances and people for someone with a mental illness to open up and talk about it, and this will not be two chapters after your characters hook up. In fact, people with mental illness usually only tell anyone either (A) once they've recovered or (B) when they're so deep into it that they might commit suicide and are scared.

4. If You Can, Have Someone Check It

  If you know someone who has had the mental illness, who was/is close to someone who has it, or is a psychologist specializing in mental illness, have them read your book when you've finished the first draft or so and see if it's accurate. Nobody is a better judge than the people with direct experience in that field, and they can really help you. 

  Ask specifically if the thoughts and feelings are accurate, if they could tell what's wrong with the person if they were never told what the actual illness was, and if the reasons behind the illness are valid. Take any feedback to heart (with a grain of salt, and maybe some pepper) and don't be afraid to make changes. 

5. Recovery Process

   Recovery is a process. It's not a matter of finding your soulmate and snapping out of it, it takes time! Time, work, motivation, ups and downs, it's not easy. If your character meets the perfect person and within two chapters is functioning like a normal human being with no trace of illness, then you need a reality check. 

  Here's what it takes to recover, and this is assuming that your character has that choice... With some things like bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, there is no cure or way to get over it. Treatments can help, but it's there to stay. 

  But let's just say your character has depression. That's what I had, and here's what it took for me to recover... First, I had to care. Originally, I didn't care, I had no motivation to get better. I had to find a reason to recover. Second, I had to take action. You can't just sit there and think about it, you have to do something. Whether that's move around, eat, dance, write, or anything but lie in bed and feel miserable, is up to you. Or get help, talk to someone, family member or psychologist, even a close and trusted friend. But take action. Third, keep it up. That can be hard, it's like walking through a swamp, which is how depression is often depicted. It's a struggle to stay up and moving forward, but you have to keep moving or you'll sink back to where you were. And that happens, you can't be strong constantly, you get sucked back down and need to re-find your motivation. It happens. But after you go long enough, you get out of the swamp. You have firm ground under your feet and energy returns, and suddenly things are just brighter! 

  That's just the basics, by the way, it's harder than that. And even once you get out, you have to stay out. Your mind reverts to old patterns under stress, and sometimes I find myself back in the swamp when something bad happens. It's still a possibility, and the patterns remain in your mind for a long time. New patterns have to be made and reinforced before you can stay mentally healthy. 

6. After The Recovery

   As I said above, your mind still gets pulled back into the mindset of mental illness. It can come back, just like someone who beat cancer is more likely to develop cancer again. But since I already went over that, I'll leave it there.  

  By the time you get out, you're different. For example, I'm much less sunshine and butterflies than I used to be, I'm more empathetic towards people because of my experiences, pretty much nothing scares me anymore (Depression gave me a certain lack of care in what happens to me, and an increased pain resistance, both of which kind of stuck once I recovered),  and my sense of humor is dark and sarcastic. While it was a bit of a shock to everyone to see me go from smiley-happy-princess-kid to depressed-but-hiding-it to dark-humor-horror-loving-yet-happy-and-kind, I think that in essence I'm still the same person and the changes aren't negative ones. Your character doesn't have to be darker when they recover, they could be lighter because they're happy to be out. They could be a wiser version of who they used to be. As long as there's a character growth that makes sense, you're good. 

  That was a whole long few paragraphs, but your character's journey should be similar. They aren't going to be same person coming away from the experience, it isn't going to be quick (it took me at least six months, if not more), and they need a solid reason. Something they could gain or lose that they genuinely care about. 

So that's what I've got on mental illnesses.  If you have any questions or anything to add, feel free to leave a comment or contact me! Thank you!

Tips on Killing Off Characters

  A lot of books include death... As in almost every book I've ever read. Death is a part of life, and also a common factor in stories! Want to motivate your character? Kill someone so they want revenge! Want to break your character? Kill someone. Do you need them to be emotionally challenged? Kill someone! Or do you need to strike fear in the readers' hearts? Brutally murder someone!
  The thing is... Killing people isn't always that easy. What if you're a good person? What if you like the character? What if you just need some pointers on how to do it right?
  You're in the right place... I have plenty experience along these lines.

1. What If I Like The Character? 

•   Ask Yourself... Is This Necessary? Is it necessary to the plot to kill this character? If that character lives, will they inhibit the plot from moving forward or will your main character have no reason to move the plot forward? If you don't want to kill a character, check that it's a need to do. See how their death or life affects the story moving forward. Sometimes that character is just destined to die, sometimes that death is unnecessary. And be honest with yourself here, if you aren't then your book WILL have problems! 
• It's All In Your Head. Yes, I just said that. I know how real your characters can feel, how much you can genuinely love them, but be real with yourself. They're a piece of your imagination, and some words on a page. Killing them doesn't actually kill them, they're not real. And technically they live on forever in the chapters where they're alive. If it makes you feel any better, of all the characters I've killed, I think I've been upset for about five minutes and then that was it. 
• Outline, Plan, Whatever You Wanna Call It. If you outline your story before you write it, you should know who's going to die and have time to prepare for it. Or even better, give that character quirks that annoy you (More on that in a second!) But anyway, if you know that they're going to die, you're less likely to get attached to them. 
• Make Them Personally Hate-able. By this, I mean make them say phrases that annoy you, wear colors that you hate, etc. Don't make them excessively rude, or make cruel jokes, but just give them subtle little things that annoy you personally. For example, if I'm going to kill a character, they might wear bright yellow, use the word pet peeve, spell words out like T . H . I . S, or be indecisive. All of those things might mean nothing to my reader, but seriously, by the time I get to killing them I'll be happy just because I don't need to be annoyed anymore! 

2. What If Killing Isn't Your Thing? 

• Reconsider Writing That... If killing off fictional characters makes you upset... Then first of all, you must be some kind of angel, and second, maybe you shouldn't be writing this book. Reconsider your story, see if there's another way you could motivate your character, etc. 
• Do It Subtly. If you were explaining a death to a two year old, are you going describe the bloody details or are you just going to say "She's gone now." ? You don't need to graphically describe the scene, or even have your character witness it, unless it's necessary somehow.  You can just make it simple, someone comes up and says it simply, "They died in a car accident." 
• Practice. Yep, practice. After a while, you won't even be phased by it. Whether you write scenes that'll never be used or if you just stick it out in your book, you'll get used to it. Trust me. 

3. Tips For Death Scenes. 

• Don't Overdo It. I love blood and guts as much as anyone; one of my characters gets their guts eaten by rats while they're fully conscious. Fun, right? But don't overdo it. If each chapter has buckets of blood, not only are you going to seem unrealistic because where's all that coming from?! But there are three kinds of readers... The ones who will become numb to the blood and find the rest of your bloodbath kind of boring, the ones who will be sickened and stop reading your book, and the sadistic people who you really don't want to give those kinds of ideas to. So definitely do blood and guts, just not every chapter and not overly dramatized. 
• Avoid Cliches. I shouldn't even need to say this, but I and every other writing blogger/YouTuber/etc. out there actually does need to say it. Avoid cliches. Does the dying character grab your main character's hands and desperately choke out their undying love or some cryptic message? It's cliche. I could think of quite a few stories that do this, and actually I don't remember any of the titles because they all have such similar plots and all that they aren't memorable. Make something newer, unique, or even just a twist on a cliche. (Cliches are cliches for a reason; to a point people love them! But once they've seen the same basic thing twenty times, it gets old. Make your own version of an existing cliche!) 
• Get A Visual. No, don't kill someone, but you'd be surprised what kind of pictures you can find online. Look up wounds and dead bodies and whatever you need, because you get to describe that and the better you know what it looks like the better. Use details. 
• Read. The more you read, the better. Read death scenes, take what you like and dislike about them and use it. Does it make you cry? Analyze that and recreate it, emotion is the ultimate thing to go for in your writing! If your reader feels emotion, which they should at a death scene, then you're doing your job and they're more likely to recommend your book to other people! So find what makes you emotional, and use that. 
• Here's For Realism. Here's some sad tips from someone who's actually seen death. Yes, horrible, I know, but here's to being realistic - The last breath is usually not a deep breath, or any different from any other breath, except that it's not followed by another. Shaking the body feels extremely disrespectful, unless your character doesn't know that the person is dead don't make them do that. And from a medical standpoint, still don't have the body be shaken because it would further injure a hurt person. Flies arrive surprisingly fast, and they're a repulsive detail. Use that. Dead bodies literally smell just like garbage in a dumpster. If someone happens to drown in frozen water, their eyes lose all color and turn a milky white. Stiffness (rigor mortem) takes place fast, like in under five minutes. If someone (an animal, like a cat) gets hit by a car, the body isn't just a bloody mess. Bones stick out, it's like a bloody pulp with fur and bones in it. Blood doesn't stay bright red and runny for long, it clots really fast and turns into more of a dark rust or reddish black. When you see a dead body, there's a shocking sense of how it's just a body and not your friend anymore, it's just different somehow. The disbelief comes later. 

And that's what I've got for you on death. It sure is fun, isn't it? And here's a last tip - Things happen fast in these scenes a lot of the time, especially if it's a fight, so be sure that your reader can keep up!

Funny Writing Quotes and Stories

  We all need a good laugh every so often... So before I go into my whole killing characters, writing gory scenes, writing horror, and all my Halloween things, here's some funny humor!
  Not all of this will be funny to all people, but most (fiction) writers should get a kick out of it... Some short stories, some quotes I find on Google, but nothing that I don't personally find funny!

1. 

  My Sister: "Okay, so I'm doing a 30 day Halloween drawing challenge. So if you see pictures of my character gouging their eye out or something, don't worry." 

  Me: "Oh, don't worry about it." 

  Sister: "So you're not gonna think I'm crazy or something?" 

  Me: *looks up from writing the scene in my book where rats eat someone's intestines while they're alive and conscious* "Oh no, not at all." 

3. 

  *writes all day and gets stuck* 

  *spends hours trying to figure out what needs to happen* 

  *tries to go to bed... GOT IT!!* 

  *seriously regrets the fact that I share a room and can't stay up all night* 

  *forgets by morning* 

2. 

  Me: "Hey guess what! I'm revising that book I wrote a year ago that  you liked, it'll be like a totally new book and so much better!!" 

  Friend: "Wow, cool! Can I be in it? Can this character not die? Can I have a free copy when it's done? 

  Me: *having almost finished revising and having zero reason to add in another character, knowing full well that that character can't live because it destroys the plot, and having $0.45*  "Right... I'll see what I can do."  *while rolling my eyes because none of that has any chance of happening*

4. 

When you have more novel ideas, outlines, and maybe half-finished manuscripts than friends. 

5. 

I could insult anyone from the 1800s accurately. I could also insult anyone today and they'd have no idea what I mean, and then I can walk away laughing. Right, I mean, who knows the difference
between a vazey, fustilarian gnashnab and a murit old church bell? I do!


Thanks Jamie, I love the insults from your era.

6.

Being a dancer and a writer sucks. Because music is my inspiration for both.

7.

Anyone: "So what's your book about?"
Me: "Have a seat..."
*two hours later*
Anyone: *asleep*
Me: "...So now she's really messed up, and is trying to push everyone away, and - Oh, I'm probably giving away too spoilers, sorry! Or... Being boring... Okay."

8.

My sister: "Hey, let's look at funny stuff on Instagram!"

Me: "Okay, go get your tablet."

Sister: "No, it's dead, let's just use your laptop."

Me: "No! Let's get... Oh my tablet is dead too... Okay fine."

Me: *types I*

Search recommendation history: Insults from the 1800s

Sister: "Why were you looking up that? Hey I have an idea!" *grabs laptop* *types H*

Search recommendation history: How long does boom-slang snake venom take to kill you? How do you make someone unconscious with your hands? How much does someone bleed when you stab them in the stomach?

Sister: "Oh, wow. What are you doing?"

Me: "Maybe if you read my book you'd know."

9.

*listening so closely to how people talk that you forget what they're trying to tell you*

10.

Writer's Block: When your imaginary friends won't talk to you.

11.

Me: *having conversation with fictional character in real life to get used to how they talk and stuff*

*door opens*

Me: "I'm not talking to myself!"

Whoever came in: "Well... Who are you talking to?"

Me: "Sabrina and Jamie."

....: "Who??"

Me: "The main characters in my book, we were talking about how much of a bad experience flashbacks and hallucinations are."

.....: "....They aren't real, how are you having a conversation? And why would you know any of that stuff?"

Me: "How rude... You obviously aren't a writer, and obviously haven't been reading my book!"

12.

How do you irritate a writer? the list is to long too fit hear

13. 

If you hurt me or anyone I love... I know 5 ways to knock someone unconscious without a weapon, millions of countless ways to kill you, exactly how to avoid suspicion while perfectly framing your parents/bf/gf/friends, and if necessary how to make it look like you had a heart attack without drugs. It's for your own good when I say leave me alone. 

14. 

  In response to #13, that's all assuming I have the physical strength, balance, and accuracy to do what's needed. Which I know every detail of, but considering that my fingers and hands are the single used part of my body I don't know how successful I'll be. 

And that I wouldn't be tempted to taunt the cops to feel like my book characters. 

And that I mentally have what it takes, because I have more experience dealing with the after-effects of murder than carrying it out. 

So basically... Pretend I'm scarier than I am because I have knowledge. 

15. 

  If you're anything like me,  you like words more than numbers, which is exactly why you didn't notice that I switched 5 and 7. 

Did you just go check? Good. Because it was actually 2 and 3. 

Did you check again? Well congrats, that changed your whole life a lot. Numbers always do. Numbers are useless...