LIZORAE

Hey authors! So much has happened in the two months since our last update. As I'm writing this, this post is almost seven weeks overdue. I'm going to be writing this as if this time gap never happened. Better late than never, right? Let's get to!    Updates  Life will become even more busy over the next month. New posts won't be published until two months later. Thank you for waiting! :) As life doesn't seem to want to stop throwing hurdles, you're probably going to see more Fandom Chat posts. They're going to be different from the ones I have done before. Instead of ranting, they're going to be more review-esque. I have a carefully planned starring system that works well in theory. Let's hope it holds out, lol.  That means less information centred posts and more opinion centred posts. It will be much easier on my mental health because they take less time to write. Hopefully you'll enjoy the new direction! Leave comments telling me what you th...

Dear Evan Hansen.  The musical is out. The book is out. The movie is coming out this September. And boy does this musical deserve the hype.  It's a pop style musical, and I talked about it in my 10 Musical Recommendations post (which you should totally check out). This post is going to be formatted a little differently from usual. Instead of a LFTM or FC type post, this is going to be more like a review. Let me know if you enjoy this style.  As usual, all spoilers will be marked, so no fear, Gandalf is here. (You can ignore the last bit. It rhymed and I thought it sounded cool.) More so than usual, this is a review, so everything here is simply my opinion. You can agree or disagree respectfully.  Let's get to! Disclaimer: Involves discussion of sensitive topics. Viewer discretion is advised.  Enjoyability | ⭑⭑⭑⭑ Let's start off with the most important thing. Did I enjoy it? Well you can go ahead and smash that YES button. I was hooked from start to finish....

Am I late to the party again? Yup. But I've finally read it. The first  Red Rising  trilogy by Pierce Brown. The whole series was a ride. From the moment I picked up the first book, I leapt into the cart and prepared for the journey. I was strapped in and determined to love the series.  Spoiler alert, I was in no way prepared for what the series gave.  Here's a list of my jumbled feelings on  Red Rising . Be ye warned for spoilers.  Let's get to! 1. Darrow  So I have a thing against the mainest of main characters. It's an irrational bias, I know. But I enjoyed Darrow. For one thing, he's not as cliche as I thought he would be. I expected him to be something of a special snowflake who becomes more powerful than the Golds. He still got a load of sweets, but it wasn't enough to make him pretentious in my eyes.  He has a wife. He starts out already married and without the usual teenage angst. He's settled down through and through. That's something ...

Filling your creative well is vital for all authors. But don't only take inspiration from books. There's loads of other mediums, obvious ones being movies and TV shows.  Last month, we discussed ten  webcomic recommendations . This month, it's musicals. And boy do I love musicals. The ones on this list are my top ten favourite musicals, in no particular order.  Let's get to!      Disclaimer: The images are not my own or stock images. Most of the descriptions are summarised from stageagent.com . 1. Hamilton   Genre: Hip hop, historical Content notice: Mature themes Description: It's the story of the forgotten Founding Father of America, Alexander Hamilton. It's his journey to power in the setting of the American War of Independence. Filled with gags, total bops and an emotional dump truck, Hamilton is non-stop. That's right, we're kicking off with arguably the most popular musical for our generation. This has taken the musical theatre world by storm, ...

Transcript - 7 Steps To Writing Fast Start early. Use as much time as possible. Have a plan. Save you from changing your mind and a gazillion pages. Type or write fast. Scribble, but make it legible. Skips parts you don't know. Come back to them later. Write what you know. Save you from researching. Don't be afraid to ramble. Editing can fix that. Don't edit while writing. It's more important to get things down than to make it perfect.

People are always hyping up likeable characters. You'll see lists on how to make a character more likeable. How to encourage readers to adore your characters. How to let readers root for your characters.  But is making your character likeable important? Is it really as necessary as it seems?  Let's get to!  What is likeability?  The first thing you need to know is what  likeability is. Google defines it as: "pleasant, friendly, easy to like." It's true, but broad. When it comes to books, who does the character need to be pleasant and friendly to? Who needs to easily like them -- the characters or the readers?  Here's the most common criterias. These are all valid ways of choosing likeability, but I'll be judging them on how necessary they are to a reader's experience.  The readers should like them in real life.  Importance Rating: Low For a character to be likeable in this way, the reader wouldn't mind going out of hot chocolate and cake with t...

Authors need to read. It's a necessity of writing. While books are the best option for authors, you also need to take some hints from other mediums. Like movies, TV shows and video games.  Also, webcomics. I haven't read many physical comics, but I've tasted tonnes of webcomics. There's a goldmine on Webtoon, but you can also find some individual sites that hold absolute gems.  So here's a list of webcomics I love.  Let's get to!  Disclaimer: The information in this post is correct as of the time it is written. It may not be constant.    1. The Silver Eye  by Laura Hollingsworth Status: Incomplete Genre: Fantasy Action-Adventure Official Description: Two rival royal families are always at odds. The conflict reaches a point where one child king, Apen, sacrifices himself and his country to prevent another war. This leads to some disastrous consequences. The story follows his journey to try to set things right, and if he’s going to do so, he has to wor...

Music. Curtain. Lights.  Fancy Dude: Oh, the fire in my bosom, the beating in my chest, the pan to my cakes. Scarf Girl: What is it, my love? Fancy Dude: I've been thinking about what I'm about to ask you long and hard. I have debated and quarrelled with the inner beings of our selves for years on end. *faraway look* Scarf Girl: Yes, my love? Fancy Dude: *kneels* Will you eat fried chicken with me? *applause* What was that? Only an example of character chemistry! (Albeit, not a great one.) That's right, folks. It's the long promised post on character chemistry. I've been talking about this since December, so it's about time. Let's get to! What's character chemistry anyway?  Character chemistry is the interaction between characters. It doesn't matter whether the relationship between them is platonic or romantic, nor how many characters are interacting. It happens whenever there is interaction. Between lovers, coworkers, family, friends, pets, etc. Y...

Transcript -  Finding Your Writing Voice THE FOUR STEPS: Forget what school taught you. Type however you want. Ignore spelling and grammar if you want to. Type how you talk. Bring proper spelling and grammar back. TIPS: Write often. Experiment with different styles. Listen to yourself talk. Your voice is important and unique!   

Hey, authors! Welcome to the first  5th Week Update  of 2021! It's been a solid four months. Life happened and writing posts became difficult. But I made it through! So let's get to! Milestones  Maybe this is not a milestone. But December's to January's posts seem super solid to me. Most of them, at least. It took me a few days to write them. A normal post is around 1000-1500 words. Some of them during those months reached above 2000. Yay to building writing muscle!  Pinterest has seen a pin redesign! It's something I've been talking about since the first 5WU post. Leave a comment below telling me what you think about it! New Posts Stories and Reality MISCOMMUNICATION: Why it sucks and how to fix it 1 Year Blogiversary 4 Lessons From Final Fantasy 15 #WQT: WRITING WITH PERFECTIONISM MAKING READERS FEEL SOMETHING: 6 Secrets To Writing Powerful Emotions Celebrating Aussie Authors! 6.5 Lessons From The Whisper Duology #WQT: 10 Tips To Ace Cowriting BEFORE YOU BEC...

Keeper of the Lost Cities  is a MG fantasy series by Shannon Messenger. It's currently 8.5 books long and it gets so much hype. With one more book on the way, what can we look forward to? Despite all its hype, there's a lot  that has been complained about. And most of it is justified.  I've been with this series since the release of Neverseen , Book 4. While I enjoyed it at first, the more I read it, the less I enjoy it. I feel like the series began with so much potential, but missed the mark by a long shot.  Here's the four biggest problems we can take away from this series. Let's get to!    1. Special snowflake and cardboard cutouts  Our main character, Sophie Foster, is a special snowflake. She's the specialest of special snowflakes. First, what does it mean?  To be a special snowflake means that the character is treated differently, generally worshipped, because of their supposedly amazing qualities. Here's a few common traits: The world re...