A WRITER'S JOURNAL

Greetings, my friends.

If there is one thing I have too much of, it is journals. (Not books. One does not simply own too many books.) There are big ones, small ones, spiral notebooks, hardcovers, lined, blank, patterned, everything. Too. Many. I can't ever use all of them, but I recently found a purpose for one I bought simply because it is beautiful (it's Hobbit-themed with Thrain's map imprinted on the front,. Also, it was on sale).

I'd heard of Writer's Journals before but never really considered starting one myself simply because I was sure I would never keep up with it. Knowing me, that was a pretty realistic worry.

My friend Nele started an Art Journal sometime last year, which is basically the same but for artists. It is kind of like a diary but in creative form, meaning the owner transfers thoughts and emotions into artwork. Although that can be very personal, Nele was so lovely as to show me her work every now and again, and as always, I was extremely jealous of her skill and talent.

A Writer's Journal can work the same way, like a diary, but I thought that if I were to use mine like a diary I'd just end up writing down reports of my days and whine about my problems. So instead I decided to use it to practice skills and build up my confidence when it comes to writing.

So I wrote and signed a commitment, swearing I would work on my journal at least every Tuesday and Friday to avoid abandoning it - so far, that has worked very well, I even exceeded my goal. As of today, I wrote a sense-experience account of a walk through nature, a list of why I write like Shakespeare, a poem on why writing is hard, and several sort-of-short-stories based on creative prompts I found on the Internet.

And guess what - I'm proud of all of that. I like what I created. And that's a new feeling. I might even share a few of those pieces here on the blog, which is terrifying as I usually only publish FanFiction online. I can read through what I've written before and not cringe at clumsy sentences or bad choice of words.

My journal is helping me to gather the courage to create because I'm basically forcing myself to do it. I feel way more confident and also I pay more attention to the world around me, simply so I can find something new to write about. Inspiration comes more easily now.

I can only recommend starting a creative journal of some sort, be it for art or writing or photography or music (although you may have to change the physical journal to a metaphorical or virtual one). It certainly did not harm me at all and I am slowly building up creative confidence - at least, until I look at Nele's drawings again.

See you soon (hopefully)!

Jojo

FICTION ADDICTION

So, YouTuber danisnotonfire recently uploaded this wonderful video about what fictional characters and universes do to you.

Incidentally, Fiction Addiction is one of my Fields of Expertise.

The basic concept of Fiction Addiction is that if you consume too much material of a specific fandom too fast, this fandom and with it the fictional universe and its characters become part of your life up to the point that they might feel much more real to you than the actual real world.

No, honestly, I'm not kidding.

Now, a lot of people don't take this seriously, usually those people who have never experienced this kind of total self-sacrifice that is a fandom. To those people, I can only say I'm sorry for them. Really. I pity you.

Fictional characters can be very good friends. They don't just leave you without reason (unless they die. Which happens a lot in certain fandoms). They don't argue with you, they never turn their phone off and they don't mind you waking them up in the middle of the night. They are incredibly good listeners because they never interrupt you. If you know them really well, they will even answer your questions. Not without reason do we ask ourselves: What Would Captain Picard Do?

But, as with every addiction, there are unfortunate side effects.

Sometimes you are so absorbed in this fictional universe that you start mixing realities. Suddenly, you're incredibly annoyed that you cannot inherit the family house because even though you're older than your brother you're still just a girl and sons come before daughters when it comes to heritage. Suddenly you draw your pencil and try to inflict the Tickling Curse on that guy in your class that you can't stand. Suddenly you wonder why the photos on your wall don't move.

And then there's the "It's Over"-Effect.

This is what happens when your fandom is no longer updated. That means there's no new books anymore, the show was cancelled, you name it. Or maybe it's just over for now and you have to wait for, like, an eternity until your heroes return to the page/screen.

Do not underestimate the "It's Over"-Effect. It's devastating. It leaves a hole in your heart and in your world. You wonder what the purpose of life could be if you cannot continue watching Downton Abbey right now. Especially if it's over forever. I mean, honestly, what are you going to look forward to now?

I don't know how to cure that. I'm still busy trying to recover from multiple bouts of Potter Depression and I'm suffering from severe Doctor Who and Sherlock withdrawal (and that although the DW finale was only yesterday). So don't expect any real help.

But to lighten the burden there are a couple things you can do:

1. Rewatch. Reread. Reboot.
2. Watch or read interviews. Making ofs. Background material. Blogs.
3. Create art. Record songs. Write FanFiction.
4. Join a forum or even a Facebook group. Talk to people. Works like support group.
5. One word: tumblr.

Good luck. I'll see you around (unless I'm busy with a Doctor Who marathon. In that case, hush, don't interrupt).

Jojo

TAG-CHALLENGE-SOMETHING!

'Ello.

So, a very good friend of mine from over here tagged me in a so-far-nameless blog tag like, ages ago (sorry!). The point is to state 11 facts about yourself, answer 11 questions, make up 11 questions and then tag 11 other bloggers. I'll leave out the last part because I don't know 11 other bloggers for the life of me. So yeah. Figure that out.

11 Facts About Me.

1. I talk to inanimate objects. Like books. Or my computer.

2. Both my desk and my comfy chair are more like... storage space. All the business happens on my bed.

3. If I don't like the first two chapters of a book, I don't finish it. Unless it's for school.

4. I reread good books multiple times.

5. I have about 300 books on my shelves but because I reread most of them so often, I often feel like I don't  own any books.

6. I like poetry. Weird thing, huh?

7. My brain is constantly working in several different realities, depending on what I'm currently reading/writing/watching.

8. I am terrible at drawing.

9. I used to have piano lessons but although I love to play piano I am just not good at it.

10. I don't like my knees. They are not aesthetically pleasing to me.

11. I am incredibly glad this is the last one because hell this was difficult.


11 Questions asked by Nele from nelephantastic.

1. If you could be a Disney princess, which one would you be?
I would like to be Mulan, but really, that's not gonna happen. I'd probably be Belle from Beauty and the Beast. 'Cos BOOKS!

2. What do you do when you're incredibly tired?

Sleep, I guess? Or drink cocoa. Lots of cocoa.

3. Which language would you like to speak fluently?

Hindi. Or Japanese. Or Sindarin (that's Elvish). Or Klingon. Sigh. So much to learn.

4. Which book/film would you never give away?

Of those that actually belong to me and not my parents, my signed (and partly dedicated!) copies of John Green's books. Or my beautiful edition of the Lord of the Rings. Or the Black Magician Trilogy. Or my entire collection.

5. What is your favourite season (as in, time of year)?

Autumn. See the post below.

6. Where would you like to travel someday?

Japan. And Greece. And India. And Rome. And Edinburgh. And Narnia.

7. What is your best childhood memory?

Watching The Jungle Book with my parents. I still almost cry when I watch that now because it's basically my childhood.

8. What is your favourite quote?

"My thoughts are stars I can't fathom into constellations." ~ John Green, The Fault in our Stars

9. Who do you admire and why?

Oh, that's a tough one. I'm going to say Joanne K. Rowling because she brought magic into my world.

10. Crisps or chocolate?

Chocolate. Because it cures sadness and there are more chocolate varieties that I like than there are crisp varieties I like.

11. What annoying habit do you have?

Cracking my knuckles.

As I said, I won't tag anybody, so there's really no point in me figuring out questions to ask. There's another post coming up, though!