There's this meme going around where someone asks you about seven things and you're supposed to talk about it. My friend gave me writing, music, my nickname theskeletonboy, nicknames in general, food, laundry and numbers. These are my answers:
-writing
Writing is something that I honestly don't think I could live without. I define myself as a writer so naturally, it's a big part of my life. I've been writing since I was about nine, when one of my teachers said I had a lot of potential. I competed in a speech competition to have my story be the one read at eighth grade graduation. I didn't win, but it didn't stop me from pursuing it as a hobby and hopefully someday as a full-time job. I've written everything from nonfiction to essays to literary fiction, but my niche is in romantic noir. I love reading, and that's what fuels me to be a better writer despite the fact that I'm envious that their writing got them to where they are - published with a big publishing house with a lot of royalties coming from it. I only hope that someday I'll be able to do the same thing, I just gotta keep pushing.
- music
Music is something that means a lot to me. I wouldn't be able to function if I didn't have music playing. My favorite bands are a part of my personality and I'm always expanding my horizons. I like everything from death metal to pop, but my favorite genre is hard rock/heavy metal, whichever you'd like to call it. Some people call it rock, some call it metal, some just call it crap, but I love it. Avenged Sevenfold is and always will be my favorite band, along with Burn Halo, Eighteen Visions (RIP), Track Fighter, New Medicine, and an up and coming band called Dear Silence. Recently I've also gotten into Asking Alexandria and A Skylit Drive, along with a few others which I'd rather keep to myself. In essence, I just love music. Period. I've always wanted to be able to play an instrument, but I don't have the coordination, not to mention whenever I sing, my voice breaks like I'm still a teenage boy so I just satisfy myself by listening and appreciating.
- theskeletonboy
This is a nickname I've been using for about a year. It came from a very old recording done by Andy Biersack. He used to be an inspiration to me, but he's recently fallen out of favor in my book. Anyway, I digress. He was singing a song about a skeleton boy being lonely, I believe - the recording was shoddy and I cold barely hear the lyrics - and I'd been looking for a new handle online, and it just resonated with me. So, that's what I am.
- nicknames
I have a lot of nicknames. As stated above, the skeleton boy, is a nickname I've had for a few solid years .My most used nickname, though, has always been and will always be Joey. My full name is Joseph, but everyone calls me Joey. Some people have called me Grandpa Joe before, or Uncle Joey, or anything of the sort. I've also been called Jade, Syn - because of my love of Synyster Gates - and quite a few others. I suppose over the years I went through a lot of different names to find my niche and what I like to be referred to. It's Joey.
- food
FOOD. Okay, I can go on about this all day, every day. I love food. I could eat all day every day if you let me. Especially when it comes to something fattening and greasy, throw it my way. I could eat burgers every day for the rest of my life and be perfectly content. Aside from that, I do love pizza and I will never say no to eating steak. I also love sweets, like chocolate or sour candy. Also, chips. I am kind of a picky eater, but it's gotten better over the years. I'll eat things now that I never thought I would have, like putting red cayenne pepper into everything I cook. That's all thanks to my partner.
- laundry
Uuuugh, laundry. I love how it smells when it first comes out of the dryer, but the process of actually doing it? It's like pulling teeth.
- numbers!
I have a funny thing with numbers. I like putting them together to create different, bigger numbers. For example, there's this street sign that I almost always passed at least twice a week, and the numbers are 22135. I tend to add them up in my head and try to find patterns, like 10 and 4 and finally 13 because that's the sum of all five separate numbers. I also really like the time 12:34 and 11:11.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Thoughts On Writing With A Big Bonus Quote
"Being a writer is a very peculiar sort of a job: it’s always you versus a blank sheet of paper (or a blank screen) and quite often the blank piece of paper wins. It has no job security of any kind, and depends mostly on whether or not you can, like Scheherazade, tell the stories each night that’ll keep you alive until tomorrow. There are undoubtedly hundreds of easier, less stressful, more straightforward jobs in the world. Personally, I can’t think of anything else I’d rather do, but that’s me.
If you want to be a writer, write. You may have to get a day job to keep body and soul together (I cheated, and got a writing job, or lots of them, to feed me and pay the rent). If you aren’t going to be a writer, then go and be something else. It’s not a god-given calling. There’s nothing holy or magic about it. It’s a craft that mostly involves a lot of work, most of it spent sitting making stuff up and writing it down, and trying to make what you have made up and written down somehow better. …
It does help, to be a writer, to have the sort of crazed ego that doesn’t allow for failure. The best reaction to a rejection slip is a sort of wild-eyed madness, an evil grin, and sitting yourself in front of the keyboard muttering “Okay, you bastards. Try rejecting this!” and then writing something so unbelievably brilliant that all other writers will disembowel themselves with their pens upon reading it, because there’s nothing left to write. Because the rejection slips will arrive. And, if the books are published, then you can pretty much guarantee that bad reviews will be as well. And you’ll need to learn how to shrug and keep going. Or you stop, and get a real job."
— Neil Gaiman: On Writing
I agree with Neil, because there's nothing in the world I'd rather be doing than writing, even though it's not easy to keep going when the rest of your life's got you down. The fact is, though, that writing can take you away from whatever's going on in your real life and put you in another universe for a few minutes, a few hours, or even a few days. It's my chance to build a whole new world.
It's a great attitude, to respond to rejection letters with more determination, and that's what I've done before even though sometimes all I want to do is rip my manuscript to shreds. It's better to channel whatever I'm feeling into something beautiful, something better than what I'm feeling.
I know for a fact that I'm never going to stop even if I do have to hold down a demure job for a while until I can become the next great America bestseller. I hope someday that happens. I am determined to make it as a writer that everyone knows and loves. Right now, I'm just a blip on the radar.
If you want to be a writer, write. You may have to get a day job to keep body and soul together (I cheated, and got a writing job, or lots of them, to feed me and pay the rent). If you aren’t going to be a writer, then go and be something else. It’s not a god-given calling. There’s nothing holy or magic about it. It’s a craft that mostly involves a lot of work, most of it spent sitting making stuff up and writing it down, and trying to make what you have made up and written down somehow better. …
It does help, to be a writer, to have the sort of crazed ego that doesn’t allow for failure. The best reaction to a rejection slip is a sort of wild-eyed madness, an evil grin, and sitting yourself in front of the keyboard muttering “Okay, you bastards. Try rejecting this!” and then writing something so unbelievably brilliant that all other writers will disembowel themselves with their pens upon reading it, because there’s nothing left to write. Because the rejection slips will arrive. And, if the books are published, then you can pretty much guarantee that bad reviews will be as well. And you’ll need to learn how to shrug and keep going. Or you stop, and get a real job."
— Neil Gaiman: On Writing
I agree with Neil, because there's nothing in the world I'd rather be doing than writing, even though it's not easy to keep going when the rest of your life's got you down. The fact is, though, that writing can take you away from whatever's going on in your real life and put you in another universe for a few minutes, a few hours, or even a few days. It's my chance to build a whole new world.
It's a great attitude, to respond to rejection letters with more determination, and that's what I've done before even though sometimes all I want to do is rip my manuscript to shreds. It's better to channel whatever I'm feeling into something beautiful, something better than what I'm feeling.
I know for a fact that I'm never going to stop even if I do have to hold down a demure job for a while until I can become the next great America bestseller. I hope someday that happens. I am determined to make it as a writer that everyone knows and loves. Right now, I'm just a blip on the radar.
Monday, April 16, 2012
On Pottermore and Inspiration
So I decided today that I was going to start blogging more, and so here I am. Today I joined Pottermore, the newest interactive Harry Potter activity. There's so much more information concealed within the online game, and it made me realize that J. K. Rowling has such an intense imagination and it reminds me of why I became an author in the first place.
Reading things like Harry Potter and Pottermore inspires me to want to make my own world big enough to make everyone fall in love with every little nook and cranny of the world that I created, want to know more about every little character so I can create a backstory for each and every one that I've dreamed up.
Pottermore is a lot of fun, because you can make potions, cast spells, and my two favorite parts: getting a wand and being sorted into a House. The questions it asked were fascinating and it ended up being pretty accurate. I always thought I'd be in Slytherin, but it turns out it sorted me into Ravenclaw and I suppose it makes sense. My wand is a 12 3/4 inch Maple wand with Phoenix Feather core, and it's supple. I kind of suck at duels but I'm all right at potion-making. It tells me a lot about me, and it's amazing that one person was able to dream up something that makes up my entire childhood.
I only hope that someday I can create something that touches even a fraction of the people Harry Potter has touched.
Reading things like Harry Potter and Pottermore inspires me to want to make my own world big enough to make everyone fall in love with every little nook and cranny of the world that I created, want to know more about every little character so I can create a backstory for each and every one that I've dreamed up.
Pottermore is a lot of fun, because you can make potions, cast spells, and my two favorite parts: getting a wand and being sorted into a House. The questions it asked were fascinating and it ended up being pretty accurate. I always thought I'd be in Slytherin, but it turns out it sorted me into Ravenclaw and I suppose it makes sense. My wand is a 12 3/4 inch Maple wand with Phoenix Feather core, and it's supple. I kind of suck at duels but I'm all right at potion-making. It tells me a lot about me, and it's amazing that one person was able to dream up something that makes up my entire childhood.
I only hope that someday I can create something that touches even a fraction of the people Harry Potter has touched.
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