LIZORAE

Yeah, yeah, we've all heard that we should add a moral to our stories to make it good. It's just so cheesy. And it's hard work. And opens you up to criticism. Who listens to it anyway? To that I say, all good points. I can watch something with absolutely no and here's the moral of the story, kids!  and still like it. Let's be real, we all can. Is it really necessary to have a message? There may be some spoilers from the  Ranger's Apprentice  and  Little Women  series. During quarantine, I've been reading John Flanagan's books and the Little Women saga. Quick: comment your favourite characters. Either or all series! They're on completely opposite sides of the theme spectrum. Flanagan's books have almost no moral and  Little Women   borders preachy. I love both series, but is there a difference? Oh absolutely. The unconscious effect: A difference in treatment   Action scenes are epic, especially when they use objects m...

Maths time! Wait, don't run away! It's a good one, I promise. What do you get when you have a virus and a musical obsessed author who likes Disney? A Disney medley parody about writing during quarantine! A couple nights ago, I was in bed and without thinking, lyrics to this parody came into my head. I have no idea why they appeared, but it came so suddenly and so memorably that I couldn't get it out of my head. I couldn't keep it in. I had to let it go. When You Wish Upon A Star If you write dystopian That features some kind of plague Take this time to take some notes 'Cause we're in one now Under The Sea  The people are forcing you to- To stay inside all day long now What are you to do except to write your Next blockbuster story book (ah!) It's not much, I know. To make this post a bit longer, I found an awesome Disney medley by DCappella . You have to check them out because their covers are awesome! (Be Our Guest, Beauty And T...

Have you felt like your writing isn't yours anymore? Maybe you feel like it's another author's writing. Maybe you're trying to break out of that stiff, formal writing teachers force you to use. Looking at you, essays. Whatever the reason, here's some tips on how to break out of your fake voice and get into your real voice. Some time after school, I was chatting with a friend. It was normal small talk. The weather's nice, life is great and I have a steady supply of chocolate. Then my friend told me that I sound formal. Pfft, what? When I read over my writing, I realised my friend was right. I didn't consider myself to be too formal. Before the epic essay heist (I reckon all schools have it), I didn't talk too formal either. Because of all the essay writing, it changed how I naturally wrote. I didn't want to sound like a scientist  formal because that's not me. I spent time trying to break out of it and honestly, I'm still trying. Bu...

You'll hear this a lot in your writing career. Writing isn't a real job. No one reads books anymore. Stop writing and be an Instagram influencer. Or something. Stop the lies. Writing is a legit job and we authors have a purpose. We play one of the most important roles on Earth, if I do say so myself. 1. Our purpose. "The purpose of a writer is to keep civilisation from destroying itself." - Albert Camus   I  love  this quote. It makes me feel powerful.  You got it. Source: Giphy Not only do you have power, your job as an author is to tell the world about their problems so they can fix it. Unlike other people *coughpoliticianscough*, writing done well is much more discrete and readers are less likely to slam you or your book down the trash. I'm not saying you won't gain haters. you probably will and that's the harsh truth of it, but it a way, it's more real. Take Zootopia for example. Read the reviews. They say they went in ...

It's Lizorae's first fifth week of the month! For every fifth week, I'm going to share what's been going on with my blog and general updates. This is something I haven't seen any other writing bloggers do, but hey, let's break the system! I think doing these updates will help connecting with you guys because what's this blog for without you? If you're here just for the writing tips, I get you. But stick around for a bit because I'll get to the best posts so far. Milestones  On December 2019,  I set up Lizorae! I had no idea about branding or how to use social media or what the blogging biz is like. But I soon learnt. I'm still not an expert, but I'm definitely more confident. Since then, I've changed my branding an embarrassing three times. Within three months. And I'm probably going to change it again. I know it's not really the best way to go, but I'd rather do it know in the beginning than later. If I could go...

Recently, I read a novelty book series. I'm not going to name it because it's not a story I would recommend to other people, but it was the only book I could find at that time. Even though I'm not naming, I'm still counting this as a Lessons From The Media post. One thing that stood out from this series was the typography. It was... interesting  to say the least . (Read: it was way too distracting and hard to read.) From this book, I've come up with a list of seven typography sins you must never commit. 1. Overpopulation of caps.  Source: Imgur Having caps lock on for any part of text is bound to get attention. That's the point of capital letters. (Apart from the start of sentences and Proper Nouns.) It's also why some authors think they should use caps for EMPHASIS and for shouting matches. No. It can make your book look amateurish and like you're trying too hard. It's not a good impression to make. Worst of all, it's hard to re...

Bloggers, vloggers and entertainment tip givers are shooting down cliches everywhere. Watch out for this cliche! Watch out for that cliche! But there's one form of cliche almost no one goes for: the minority viewpoint. I'm talking about how so many stories are told from the major group instead of the smaller group. I'm talking about how so many stories are told from a classic good instead of a classic bad. Get ready for my challenge for authors to start writing the flip side. A Little Backstory A while ago, I've been reading a bunch of historical fiction about the World Wars. Do you know who the main character was in almost every one of them? That's right. Either a Jew or an evacuee. Sometimes a male soldier.  Source: Tenor Eventually, it became the same thing over and over again. A Jew and their family became devastated by German soldiers and the Jew suffered throughout the whole story. However, they stolidly kept fighting and surviving until the...