When you just can't write: Addressing Writers Block

Writer's block, that horribly annoying feeling when a blank page is daunting. I've been in a bit of a writing slump. Ideas have been alluding to me as of late.

The thing is that creativity and book ideas have always been this crazy spur of the moment ideas that I either trashed or was able to run with. It makes sense given that I deal with ADHD that inspiration to write would come this way. But, my reliance upon such ideas has now led me to a bit of a dry spell as far as my fictional works are concerned.

I also think that a lot of the creative block I've been experiencing has to do with the deterioration of my health. Sadly I just don't have as much energy as I used to for writing and schooling and everything else that is going on in life. After all, it isn't easy to be a part-time writer and still be producing content regularly. Part of that content creation also involves keeping the readers engaged.
I have found an interesting connection to not being able to do certain things. It seems to be a theme popping up in my dreams too. Recently I recalled a dream where I couldn't pick up food with a fork. It was extremely irritating. Sometimes the simplest things are what we take for granted until something blocks the everyday functions.

Here is another example, before the crash, I could run around and I was quite active with a regular exercise schedule. Then, an injury put a sudden and abrupt halt to these habits. Nearly two years later, even walking requires considerable energy and even mental effort. Losing my feet for a long time also meant losing my hands for nearly eight months. I lost a lot because of the accident. To be blunt, there are times when I wonder if the tormenting pain will end.

But, in all my wondering, I am reminded that without conflict in a story the characters have nothing to allow them growth or development. The breaking points for your characters may very closely resemble your own challenges in life. You may be writing in a roundabout way your own personal story of overcoming something that once felt impossible to you.

Very rarely does a story character become better on their own. They need the wisdom and experience that a mentor figure provides. So it is with finding your way in your own writing journey. You must have phases of self-discovery and encouragement of others. Learning from the near-fatal mistakes of those who come before us will also prevent us from making those same painful mistakes for ourselves.

To Write Well, Read Well

 I was taught this saying many moons ago during my years of traditional grade schooling. Yet, it is still true for me today that reading is a great source of both entertainment, ideas, and a way to observe the writing styles of others. I would even suggest that reading best-sellers are one of the best ways you can notice what makes a book a best seller for yourself.

So what can you do if you don't have time to read? It's understandable, for whatever reason, you may not have a few hours to sit down with a book. This is why I often prefer to use audiobooks during the school year. However, I haven't been the best at writing down the things I like and don't like from different authors. This is where reading becomes the most useful to you as a writer.

Some writers closely follow the model of the hero's journey, others deviate from it quite a bit. Looking for why is important! Look at why or why not the author's chosen writing model kept your attention. How could you implement something similar for your own work? Another thing to consider would be if you even know what the hero's journey is, and where it classically has shown up over time.

What else could you learn from reading the work of other authors? We could analyze theme, tone, plot, character development, backstory, climax and a host of other literary elements. Why would you want to do this? I promise that literary analysis isn't intended to take the fun away from reading a good book at all! Its purpose is to get you to slow down enough to read between the lines, to really think about what you are reading.

Keeping a record of your literary analysis notes will be huge in inspiring your own writing to become better. I had to analyze a few books in school a while back, at first, I will admit I didn't really like doing it. However, as I started to see real things that I liked, things that made a book stand out, I also saw that I needed to impliment these kind of elements into my own work.

Reading allows us to gain perspective and greater vocabulary as writers too. We gain real experience with another authors ideas though physical and tangible pages! Isn't that alone motivation enough? A lot of work goes into having a published work of literature! It isn't easy by any means, the challenge seems to still be my call to adventure.

Writing is my Therapy

It's really no secret that the act of writing is highly therapeutic to me. Its something I wish I had more time to do. Writing is an escape as much as it is a reality check. It brings deep emotions to the surface and it allows me to attempt to describe the intense visual wonders of my day dreams. But, those day dreams are not just visually engaging. The mark of a gifted writer is often the ability to create a world and then to place yourself within it to feel, touch, taste, smell and so on.

Writing somehow seems to connect me with all the elements of my true self, the nature of my humanity. Stories are built around conflict, unrest, dystopian and unpredictable conditions. It is the unknown that drives readers to keep reading those stories. It is challenging obstacles that build and develop characters in our favorite novels, even our most loved films. Yet, when faced with real-life obstacles, many of us feel alone, vulnerable, or possibly even hopeless.

The very thing that we know builds character suddenly becomes terrifying to us in the real world. Why? It is the unknown that builds tension, even anxiety. The real world endings are often far from a carefully crafted Novel. Things happen to us that are cruelly unfair. The bad guys do sometimes win, and they do sometimes feel as if to have stolen our thunder.

Someone did try to steal my thunder, my spotlight in my novel of life. It was cruel, unfair, unreasonable, and prejudice in nature even. Disrespect came from a lack of understanding me. Yes, at the time I had differences within me that could make me a complicated person to deal with from time to time, but still, I do not see why it had to be that way.

I'm trying to see challenges and discomfort in my own life as an opportunity to build Character, though positivity is not always my strong suit. I'm real and quite bluntly open about things like depression and anxiety. Those things are very real, and I have not only seen these illnesses in myself. Many of my friends have fallen victim to the terror of it too. Mental illness advocacy is something that deeply matters to me, it's why I did quite a bit of extensive research to write it as authentic as possible even within a novel that is of the fictional genre.


Mental illness though is a real challenge in our world outside of books. I simply gave it a voice by writing about it. Some may dislike how much I advocate against mental illness stigma, but, those are they who have not yet taken the time necessary to understand that they could one day save a life by knowing the warning signs of struggling souls.

Part 3: Tales of the Universal Knights!

Part One

Part Two

 Hi there readers, it's me, Kirsten, I took over the blog for Amanda Evergreen momentarily. It's me who that cuningly brilliant author has placed in the path of danger! She last left you wondering if I'd get off of Naha alive & having accomplished the Mission of my fellow Knights! I'm here to continue my own story today!

Anyway, this is how the story should actually be told...

I felt that I had failed in the mission that Patrick had entrusted me to do here on Nada as the native man stormed away from me, anger fuming from his splashing steps down the cobblestone road. I was frozen in foggy confusion mixed with the physical numbness of the rain that still drizzled from the night sky.

I needed to find the dralcons and drageels. It was high time that I put them all back on their own world, far from civilized systems. I was tired of the trouble makers interrupting my studious endeavors. Not that these creatures would care about respecting my will to learn at college. They were more trash the place with parties type. Known for bending and breaking the rules so far that there were no punishments pre-determined for their actions. So that's why I'm here, babysitting duty level like literally five million! I didn't have the patience for this at all today if you can't already tell.

Yeah okay, so mabey I'm not as good of a writer as my author, but, I'm taking control now! Whatever you do, don't let Amanda edit my work! I can't die okay! Seriously, I am too important to the story.

So, here I am, coming back to write, only to discover that my character has taken over my story!

Kirstein was unsettled by the man she met, she wanted to know why he would even bother speaking to a knight if he didn't like the Universal Knights. His purple skin was so new, it was both a wonder and an anomaly to her all at once. Space is a big place, a very big and very lonely place at times. No life can survive in space without being prepared to meet it head-on. These people would rather take matters into their own hands-on Naha. Though, I, Kirstein, doubt that Patrick would be listening to me.

I tried to connect to Patrick's communication frequency, but to no avail. Only static. I was panicked before the Nahadian told me that they didn't approve of the knights, but now the panic was rapidly confining me. The cold rain mixed with my shallow breaths made me dizzy until I felt myself falling.

I (Kirsten) awakened at the control center of the Universel Knights in Southern Utah. I knew where I was, but everything else was foggy. I didn't know how I got here. My eyelids dropped, trying to push me back into the realm of sleep, my appendages felt heavy as if there were weights placed on top of me. My arms stung as if thousands of needles had been placed into them. Then, it felt as if my skin was burning with hives, an itching sensation so strong that it burned with pulsing pain. There was an odd metallic taste in my mouth, the unpleasantness of it made me feel a bit queasy. I wondered if I had been put under by the doctors at the facility, but it seemed unlikely given that the knights had pulled me off of Naha.

Still, I couldn't get the Nahadian man out of my mind. He seemed to have lost hope that his own world could defend itself. I felt it was my duty to help them, even if they didn't want the help. My oath as a Univercail Knight was to protect all species across the universe, not just my own. I had a sense of belonging because of my oath, and I would die if neccicairy to defend the values of my Shyellian family lines. I didn't fight for the glory of war, I was a Knight for the honor of helping others. I joined the Knights for the purpose of saving my own people of Earth, and the innocent on Shyelle. If I was going to defend these people of Naha, I needed them to want my help though. Otherwise, they could turn on me.

It's kind of ironic that the very people I am trying to protect could be launching plans to kill me and my friends simply because we are part of an intergalactic union that is built on values of honor and bravery. I suppose it is also time we respected the wishes of those who don't want our influence, but I hate to leave the Nahadians defenseless against the drageels.

I wished that I could talk to Uziel now as thoughts swirled in my unsettled mind. I longed for his strength, especially for a time as now when I felt that my own strength was fading. I knew that Uziel could assure me that I had done my best on Naha, and I honestly needed that reassurance now more than ever as I considered all the things I should have done.

With Wings of the Phoenix: Rising Above Less than Ideal Situations

 A Phoenix is a mythical bird said to rise from the ashes. A phoenix gains even more power as it rises again from the fire and ashes. So, could a phoenix symbolize the rebirth of something within ourselves? Something humanity is aspiring to?

The short answer is, Yes. But why? A Phenix must first pass through sorrow, pain, suffering, and even the intense heat of the flames before becoming reborn as even more beautiful than before. So it is with us as well in the middle of an experience that threatens to break us at the very center of all we believe. I've experienced a few events like this in life. From being hit by a car, to painful recovery, and to CRPS (Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome).

I could admit that the journey is hard, but those words I feel are far to megear to describe the enormity of what has happened to me over the last 18 months. In all it's worth, I've found that I'm not as invincible as I may appear to be on the surface. I mask a lot of darkness, and, I decided that it's high time to rid myself of its imprisonment. Grief, anger, frustration, Self-doubts and yes, even depression have deeply affected me in conjunction with my physical challenges after the accident.

Yet, I still believe that peace is possible because I have found it once before. Hope is also something that I know is waiting for me on the other side of this grief. Some people in my church say to just forgive and forget, yet, there are times that forgiveness can't and shouldn't come immediately. In order to truly forgive, a person must also accept what is and what they have no power to change. But, that is where I've been stuck for a while. I never have made it into the process of grief far enough to be open to other people's perspectives.

So, I also decided that it was time to do one of the hardest things for anyone who struggles with mental health challenges, which is to speak out about it seeking professional help. It's not easy for most to understand, I get that. But, for crying out loud, if you had a life-threating injery you would be in the hospital treating it right away. You wouldn't even think twice. If you had bones sticking out of you, it would be a clear indication that death is taunting you.

"Without hope, we have nothing"

- Shyelle Series

These posts exist with a purpose! I would not dare to write them if I didn't believe in the meaning of their messages. You see, I don't write just to have my words remembered, I write to expose ideas, opinions, conflicts, morals, and even life lessons. I write "as an act of hope." Words are freedom from the things you hide, from the silence I was forced into. I learned that words are powerful tools, and yes, even weapons too. Words can convey the most potent of human emotions.

To feel, that is the fire. It can be hot, it can burn us to feel loved, then to have it all crash down. Its risky and those of us who live with our hearts on our sleeves are often told that we are too emotional, too high matnience. But, when we shut out our emotions, we also shut out our humanity. As a whole, we are generally motivated by emotion. But, none of us can be happy all of the time.

There are days that I do wish that people saw my not so happy side. Why? Because most see what they want to see, not the suffering. Most people don't see the dragon of CRPS for what it is, the don't see the emotional pain left behind from the physical suffering either. I don't always believe that suffering is something to be ashamed of. It's alright to suffer, it's alright to have times rock ya a bit.

The whole reason this post talks about a phoenix is because it is ultimately your choice to rise from the ashes of adversity or not.

Today I Met a Time Traveler

 Hello, Fans and Readers! Today I am going to share my newest little project with you! Today I Ran into a Time Traveler is the title of a short story I have been working on and I thought it would be fun to let you guys join me in the writing journey for this project.

So without further wordy boredom, here is the first draft of the short story Today I Ran into a Time Traveler. I would love to hear your comments and suggestions at the bottom of this post! Also this draft is hand written so I had to scan it in.

Also, this is just part one of many to come so be sure to follow my blog via E-mail for continued posts!

So here's some questions for you guys!

1) Do you like the name Sabastion?

2) Did you like part one? Why or why not?

3) Do you think Sabastion is a Protagonist or an Antagonist?

If you have enjoyed this post you can check out my own novel here: http://www.lulu.com/shop/amanda-evergreen/shyelle-rise-of-the-dragon-kingdoms/paperback/product-23296355.html 

Can Alien Planets be found with the Luminescence Detection of it's Parent Star?

Can tiny differences in luminescence lead us to discover alien planets? My research this week yields to answer this question contrary to the answer I expected. I thought that I would find a simple answer of yes, when the moon blocked our sun on August 21^st, 2017 it got dark. So, that means that we can find exoplanets by observing the light patterns or luminescence given off by parent stars, right? While this scientific claim is in fact partially true it’s also wrong because this claim doesn’t tell us the whole story. Light observation alone cannot detect an exoplanet orbiting another star outside our solar system.

In a scientific review article by Drake Deming and Sara Seanger I found this bit of information. “The exoplanet, 51 Peg b was discovered by measuring the line-of-sight velocity of the star as it orbited the center-of-mass of the system.” In simpler terms the light detection alone did not lead to the discovery of 51 Peg b. This proves that the discovery of exoplanets has to be done by a combination of factors and mathematical calculations. What these two authors are claiming is that by using the Kepler law of planetary motion as a guide the calculations were able to prove the existence of 51 Peg b. However, they did need to observe the light being blocked from the parent sun of this planate first. This lead scientists to the theory that there was a planate there, but to prove it they had to calculate how much light was blocked in relation to the normal light being emitted from the parent star. From here they could calculate the mass, size and velocity of the star and the planate making a transit in front of the star.

I also found by reading in a second article published by Australian Geographic the same information that I had found in my first article about light only being able to detect the wobble and light radiation discrepancy of stars and not exoplanets. At least, not directly. The article from Australian Geographic brings up an interesting point. If light can be omitted by the exoplanet itself, it will become undetectable. This could also apply if the planate where to have a light reflecting surface such as our moon.

Third, only a small percentage of exoplanets can be detected at this time because only about thirty presents of our observable star systems have planets close enough to their suns for us to detect a light discrepancy. The first exoplanets to be discovered where known as Hot Jupiter’s, large gaseous planets that are extremely close to their stars also block out a significant amount of light compared to an earth sized planate.

Fourth, “The increasing accuracy of spectrometers makes it possible now to detect planets down to masses of a few Earth masses.” However, the problem with these methods is that only planets who are close to their stars are detectible at this present time. Originally, scientists went about looking for exoplanets by looking for a small wobble in the star’s orbital path. The gravitational effect of a planate on its parent star is that the small traces of gravitational attraction pulls the parent star in a small circular path towards the planets that orbit it. Because this method produced not very accurate results it was abandoned. The wobble of a star was hard to detect until recent technology improved detection ability’s. Now the wobble of a star is used as evidence leading to the prof of the presence of an exoplanet but just like light differences, it alone does not prove the presence of an exoplanet either.

Finally, to sum up, I have found that light pattern observation alone cannot discover an exoplanet. However, by building on the knowledge that an exoplanet can indeed block the light of its star we are able to mathematically calculate its presence.

Sources and References:  

Article One: Deming, D., & Seager, S. (2009). Light and Shadow from Distant Worlds. Nature, 462(7271), 301-306. doi:10.1038/nature08556, Accessed on 9/29/17,URL: http://web.a.ebscohost.com.byui.idm.oclc.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=7&sid=2e24db39-471c-4832-8838-2f1cfcab8c90@sessionmgr4009

 

               Article Two: Watson, F., (n.d.) Planetary Stealth Mode, Australian Geographic, Accessed on 9/29/17 from URL:

http://web.b.ebscohost.com.byui.idm.oclc.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=10&sid=94b2e3c5-1db3-4eaf-a75f-a7ba5116605a%40sessionmgr120

Article Three: Ron, C., (7/5/2005) Space Research and Technology, Accessed on 9/29/17 from URL: <http://web.a.ebscohost.com.byui.idm.oclc.org/ehost/detail/detail?vid=15&sid=2e24db39-471c-4832-8838-2f1cfcab8c90%40sessionmgr4009&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=33006345&db=aph

Article Four: Beust, H., Bonneau, D., Mourard, D., Lafrasse, S., Mella, G., Duvert, G., & Chelli, A. (2011). On the use of the Virtual Observatory to select calibrators for phase-referenced astrometry of exoplanet-host stars. Monthly Notices Of The Royal Astronomical Society, Accessed on 10/3/17 from URL: http://web.b.ebscohost.com.byui.idm.oclc.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=6&sid=94b2e3c5-1db3-4eaf-a75f-a7ba5116605a%40sessionmgr120

 

Video One: Crash Course Astronomy Episode 27: Exoplanets

Phil, (August 6^th, 2015) Crash Course Astronomy Episode 27: Exoplanets [Video File]. Accessed on 9/30/17 from URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ATtD8x7vV0&t=184s

(The reason I have cited this video is that I used it to gain some background information of my topic, the information provided in this video was confirmed by my articles from reputable sources. However, it is a source of information, therefore cited to give credit to where credit is due.)