CAMLIN WRITESA Blog About Creative Writing |
In the United States, it is a tradition to declare one or more resolutions for the new year on or around January 1st. I don't often participate in this tradition for pessimistic reasons, but this year I'm going to give it a go. My resolution:
Write every day. After all, the only way to become a better writer is to practice.
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Hello. My name is Camlin, and I am a grammar geek. I don't expect most of the internet to sympathize, but I love grammar. The ways in which we choose to structure our sentences is fascinating, and super important. I mean, it usually isn't life or death, but it serves a valid purpose: clarity. Good grammar is the difference between immediately understanding a sentence you've only read once, and having to read the same sentence several times before deciphering its meaning. Unfortunately, even I often find myself at a loss to determine the most grammatically correct form of a sentence. The rules are too inconsistent, or the sentence is so unusual that I haven't memorized the correct way to structure it. At that point, I either have to rewrite my sentence to avoid the issue, or I have to look up the rules. Take today, for instance. I had...something of an existential crisis regarding my overuse of hyphens. Just a quick update here. Chapter One of Muggleborn is officially live! Please check it out here, or through the [MUGGLEBORN] tab above.
For those of you who don't know, Muggleborn is a Harry Potter fanfiction I'm writing. The setting is J. K. Rowling's, but the cast is mostly made up of my own original characters. Five years after the Battle of Hogwarts, Alyssa Barrett finds out that she's a witch. Born to muggle parents, she knows nothing about the wizarding world. Read the story to find out what becomes of this new Hogwarts student! With eagerness, Camlin I'm a perfectionist with a fear of failure. To my mind, if I never start something, I haven't failed. Similarly, if I stop a project partway through, then I haven't yet failed to achieve perfection. But if I get to a point of completion in a project and it's not perfect, then I must keep going until it is absolutely perfect, or I have failed. Obviously, this is not an ideal worldview. It causes stress, leads me to procrastinate, and means that keeping up my motivation for a project is difficult. The end result is that I'm lazy, depressed, and possibly going nowhere in life. However, I haven't completely given up the fight. While I'm inconsistent about employing them, I know several ways to help myself keep putting one foot in front of the other.
I also enjoy creating my own stories. However, it is here that we come across a dilemma. I entertain too much self-doubt, and I lack a writer's discipline. Many fantastic stories swirl vaguely through my mind, but each time I try to pluck one and put it to paper, it dissolves into fragments. Sooner or later, I become discouraged and stop trying to fit the fragments back together. My stories are never finished, if they're ever even started. I'm told to keep plowing on and to practice. But without a whole story to tell, my motivation always withers away. The answer to this dilemma? I'm honestly not sure. But I have some ideas, and that's what this blog is all about. |
AboutA blog all about my experiences a creative writer. Includes grammar tips, dubious writing advice, and more! ArchivesCategories
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