Poetry: Broken Dreams
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When I was a teenager, I used to write a lot of poems. The inspiration for prose was great back then because I suffered from the common ailment that most teenagers did – the grandiose delusion of being a woefully misunderstood individual. I have posted some of my poems on Helium and found that the ones written from that time seem to rate better that the poems I write these days.
I have often wondered about that. Perhaps it is true what a writer-friend of mine says: “I suffer for my art.” To convey the emotions in poetry, one actually has to feel them deeply. I often think of Ernest Hemingway whenever I think of a tortured souls and brilliant writers. After all, it was after he was spurned by the great love of his life that he wrote most of his works which later became part of the classics we now know.
Ironically, the fact that I struggle to write prose these days suggests that I am no longer the angst-filled teenager of my youth. I ought to be rejoicing that I no longer suffer from those violent mood swings and depression, however, as a writer, I can’t help but mourn that fact. In the meantime, here is the first of a series of poems I wrote in the earlier days. You can use it as a reference against my future works and tell me what you think…
“Broken Dreams”
Is there hope or am I a fool?
Do I dream of childish dreams?
Why persist and keep getting burned,
Dreaming of things that cannot be real?
Let go of the things I cannot have,
And do not dream again.
Move on from the past, accept this life,
Forget those childish dreams.
Stop holding on to nothingness,
Cut the strings that hold me back.
There’s nothing left for me here,
Nothing but these broken dreams.
- Advancing Towards Your Dreams
- Creative Writing Standards
- The Story of a Boy
- "If you can dream it, you can do it."
- Dental Dreams…
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Runaway Bride – Part 4
She heard the door to the bathroom open and shut – Jon was done cleaning up. She had the covers pulled up and her eyes shut, pretending to be asleep.
“Sarah?” Jon called quietly.
She did not answer. She kept her breath even and did not move.
“Good night, Sarah.”
There was a click and the room went dark. She heard Jon cross the room and climb into his bed. She did not want to talk to him – she could not talk to him. His words at dinner echoed in her mind.
“What is it about him anyway? Seriously, Sarah – what could you possibly have in common with this guy? His idea of a good read is ‘War and Peace’. Yours is the latest copy of ‘Rock and Ice’!”
As if she was not aware of how little they had in common – about as much as day and night. She was the night – the dark, troubled one, with all her emotional baggage. He was day – a knight in shining armour on a white stallion ready to rescue a damsel in distress. Except that she was not a damsel. She was in distress – she was forever in distress – but she did not want to be saved.
And then there is Jon. They were like two peas in a pod. If she were the kind of touchy-feely sort of girl that she despised, she might even have claimed he was her soul mate. But she was not like that. Far from it. She was the alpha female – always alone, aloof and untouchable. So why was she even with the knight in shining armour hoping to save her?
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- Runaway Bride
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What’s with all the Vampire Stories?
After reading the Harry Potter series, part of Christopher Paolini’s Eragon book (which I honestly found a bit dry, hence the reason why I never finished reading it despite having books one and two of the series), and now the Twilight series, I’m seriously considering trying to break into young adults fiction.
So I was hunting down the last book from Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series after being released from my month long confinement post-delivery and I discover that the whole vampire love theme seems to be highly in vogue. What’s with that anyway? I threw the idea out there to my SIL and she reckons it’s the whole necking thing – it’s appealing to teenagers.
Really? That’s not the appeal that drew me to the books. Seriously, it was the first book that I found captivating – Twilight. I read New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn, too, but while they were entertaining, they didn’t capture me quite the way Twilight did. Perhaps it is the whole forbidden love thing that I am drawn to. It certainly got a few ideas running around in my head for a new novel.
After all, didn’t the Writing Magazine say that the romance category is still the largest growing category? In times like these people crave happy stories. In which case my idea to write a tragedy along the lines of Romeo and Juliet is probably not a good idea.
In all honesty, when I was reading Breaking Dawn, I half wanted the tragic ending with Cullen family dying and Jacob and Renesmee going into hiding. I did wonder if Stephanie would actually end it that way, but I suppose it wouldn’t be appropriate for a title under “young adults”? If I had been the author, I would have ended it that way and wrote a fifth book carrying on from either Jacob’s or Renesmee’s point of view.
But I’m not Stephanie Meyer, so now I’m going to have to write my own love tragedy…
After seeing the number of “vampire” themed books, I’ve decided to steer clear away from the topic. Looks like I’m going to have to come up with something different… But what?
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Writing Progress Review and Future Directions
My writing progress has come to a complete halt. Well, I’ve been busy – new Mum and all… I’m wondering now on the wisdom of having accepted the position as sub-channel steward on Helium… I haven’t been able to write any Helium articles, let alone perform any of my responsibilities as a steward. The road ahead doesn’t look particularly good either…
My SIL has asked me to help her with her book keeping which looks like it’s going to take quite a cut out of my already limited “free time”. It probably doesn’t help that I haven’t opened a ledger since I was in Year 12 accounting. My memory of double entry is vaguely hazy. Performing accounting exercises from a textbook is also something quite different to the actual book keeping of a small business. For one, all the facts and figures are already nicely laid out and you don’t have to sort through a tonne of individual receipts.
Anyway, it isn’t that I mind. It’s nice to feel useful. And to know that I can be pretty versatile when the need arises – full-time Mummy cum web designer/accountant/writer/blogger.
So here’s a summary of my non-Mummy activities:
- Website updates for Haute Food Co
- Book keeping for Haute Food Co
- Blogging for Figur8
- Helium writer
- Helium sub-channel steward
- Writer’s Bureau writing course
Come the new year, we’ll see how many of these I can realistically keep up with and what I’ll have to consider dropping. I still believe my primary responsibility lies with my children. Even if Gavin will be heading back to school next year, I am still planning to implement the “Tools of the Mind” program with him at home. Not to mention, I intend to try several of the early childhood education programs I never did with Gavin when he was a baby.
Oh yes, there was one other thing that has been keeping me busy – I started reading Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series. What got me piqued was when I saw part of the movie “Twilight” while in hospital. The interest grew when I discovered that the Stephanie Meyer is another writing mother – much like JK Rowling – who had published a wildly popular series of books targetting young adults.
Since we are always encouraged to read and study the works of authors that we aspire to be like, I felt compelled to read her works. Okay, okay, the truth is that I saw the Twilight movie and was hooked to the storyline. Nevertheless, reading the Twilight series will also be beneficial to my development as a writer. Now let’s hope I can dream up an equally compelling storyline to write about…
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“Babies” Sub-Channel Steward on Helium
I’ve just been invited to become the sub-channel steward for the “babies” category on Helium. With a second baby to be born sometime in the next two weeks, now probably isn’t exactly the best time to be taking on extra responsibilities. However, when I mentioned that to Robin and Sarah, they didn’t seem to have a problem with it. If anything, they thought me even more suitable for the position since I am about to have another baby.
I suppose it came as a bit of a surprise because the status of “pregnant woman” in Malaysia isn’t exactly welcomed when there is a job at hand to consider. I recall receiving a few calls from headhunters back when I was pregnant with Gavin. The moment I mentioned I was pregnant, they told me, “Oh, we’ll get back to you.” But that would be the last I heard from them. No company here wants a woman who’s pregnant working for them – unless she’s already working for them and happens to fall pregnant, in which case there’s really nothing they can do about it.
My major concerns were whether I would be able to do an adequate job as a sub-channel steward. I’m not even sure if I would even have time to get online after Gareth is born, let alone perform any stewarding duties. Adding a second child to our family dynamics is quite a new experience for me and it is difficult to predict how things will work out over the next few weeks.
Lately, I’ve been so busy spring cleaning and tidying up around the house to make space for Gareth that my writing has had to take a bit of a backseat. Now I’m just trying to catch up on a bit of writing and familiarise myself with the tools of being a steward on Helium before I pop. Wish me luck…
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Novel Way to Recycle Textbooks
When I was a student, I remember how expensive my textbooks used to be. To minimise costs, I used to try to buy second hand books from the senior students. Back then, the system of buying and selling textbooks meant checking the notice boards in the common room or passing the word around by mouth.
There were also some second hand book shops near campus which also bought and sold textbooks, but they tended to be most costly. Generally, these shops bought books cheaply from students and resold them at much higher prices. It was always better to buy directly from another student. The shops also had restrictions to the books they would buy. They only accepted books that were in fairly good condition so if your book were ratty, you wouldn’t be able to sell them.
These days, buying and selling textbooks have taken on a whole new dimension. With the increasing popularity of internet shopping, more and more online options are opening up. Selling your used textbooks online is now a very viable option for students looking to dispose of old textbooks they no longer require. Websites like Textbookrecycling.com are not only a great avenue for buying and selling textbooks but they offer other benefits too. Due to their firm belief in giving back to the community, there are various charities that benefit from your textbook sales as Textbookrecycling.com donate 1% of the price of all textbook buybacks.
Probably one of the biggest concerns that lies in dealing with online buying and selling is how quickly and smoothly transactions are handled. The staff at textbook recycling have received a number of glowing testimonials regarding speedy and terrific service. Not only that, but the books received have been in excellent condition – another concern that usually arises when buying second hand books.
Looks like we’re no longer limited to buying and selling books on campus after all…
This post was brought to you by Textbookrecycling.com.
- Day 11
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Creative Writing Gold
Finally nailed the elusive gold badge for creative writing on Helium, albeit it is a precarious hold with a writing score of 86.87%. If my score falls below the 85% mark, I ‘ll drop back to silver. Nevertheless, it’s still one goal reached for this month before D-day…
Now, to work on the rest…
1. Write at least 30 non-creative writing articles.
2. Get the Creative Writing Gold Badge.
3. Win a Marketplace article – well, it would be nice to have this so I can have another badge on my profile, but somehow the urgency to get it isn’t quite as strong as before.
4. Finish my first writing task for the Writer’s Bureau Course.
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Creative Writing Silver
Hooray! We got the creative writing silver badge on Helium! To my surprise and delight, it came a lot faster than I expected. Although I really did work for it. What I am thrilled about is the fact that I got it by getting past the 85 percentile for my work and not because I managed to write the minimum number of articles to qualify for silver.
It is November, and Nanowrimo has begun again. Unfortunately, I’ll be sitting this one out again. I did try this a few years back just before Gavin was born but never managed to meet the challenge. This is probably one of those future goals I may eventually get around to when Gareth is old enough to go to school and I have enough time to myself to sit down and solidly write something.
Right now there aren’t too many days left before I deliver. If the doctor decides I should go for an early induction, I will have even less time to achieve my November goals. It may also be a while before I get back into the swing of things after the delivery so it may get pretty quiet around here.
Nevertheless, it is still important to press on and set targets while I still can. So here are my goals for November:
1. Write at least 30 non-creative writing articles.
2. Get the Creative Writing Gold Badge.
3. Win a Marketplace article – well, it would be nice to have this so I can have another badge on my profile, but somehow the urgency to get it isn’t quite as strong as before.
4. Finish my first writing task for the Writer’s Bureau Course.
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I Sold an Article!
Hurray! I sold an article! Well, sort of. One of my Helium articles “Tips for Reducing Lower Back Pain During Pregnancy” was selected for publication by an external source. They didn’t pay much, but it’s an easy way to make extra money from work that has already been written.
Helium has another way of earning extra income. It’s call “Stock Content Title”. Publications look through the articles on Helium and if they like a particular article, they can purchase the right to publish it. Since it isn’t an exclusive right, I still get to keep the article on Helium where it can continue to earn royalties as well.
Another good thing about Stock Content Titles is that they retain your “by-line” – so long as the name you have on file is a normal one – so readers will know who wrote it. That’s another great reason to put your real name up, instead of a fictitious one.
You are supposed to be informed about the Stock Content Title article through email but so far I haven’t heard any news. I discovered it quite by accident when I saw my writer’s earning increase suddenly and saw that it was due to a Stock Content Title article.
Although I’m not sure how you increase the likelihood that an article will be selected in this manner, I’m assuming that the best way to increase your chances is by having as many number one placed articles as possible. Chances are publications are only going the check out the top one to three articles under a particular title if they are looking for content to add to their site. So maybe it’s time to re-work my existing articles to see if I can get them closer to the pole position…
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Writer’s Bureau Course
My Writer’s Bureau Course has arrived in the mail. Although the first three modules are available on line so you can get off to a quick start, I’m afraid I’ve been procrastinating as usual. Now that the entire course is here, I really haven’t got any excuses to postpone getting started. Though I should be working on it now, I seem to be struggling to find the time. Between everything else I’m trying to get done before the baby arrives, all my spare time seems to vanish into thin air.
What writing projects am I working on before D-day?
1. Nurture Shock – a very interesting book my BFF referred to me about parenting science as we’ve never questioned it.
3. Helium creative writing Silver
4. Writer’s Bureau writing course
At the end of the day, I guess the good thing is that I’m still writing, even if my progress is moving at the pace of a snail…
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