Drabbles

I enjoy writing fiction.

I also drabble A LOT.

To drabble is to aimlessly create a piece of fiction. (look it up)

I wrote a lot of those for my Creative Writing course a year ago and my need to drabble has only gotten worse since then (cuz it wasn't already bad enough).

I've learned to set a goal in mind, that outlines are possibly that one friend who tells you what's best and then you ignore them at your own risk, that there are so many things I want to say.

That being said, I'm kind of proud of some of them, so I'll probably post some when I don't have anything else to say.

I like blogging but a lot of it turns into me complaining to the computer screen.

It's cathartic but also makes zero sense and tends to be mean.

Like really mean.

But I digress.

All this is to say for the next little while, I'll be posting some drabbles.

Probably just one.

Maybe two, cuz I like the format of the other.

Stay cool. Bee out.

More Sanderson Rambling

Just really quick

I adore the Stormlight Archives
so if you haven't read it
and don't want it spoiled

TURN BACK NOW

Kay?

Cool.

(you didn't think I adored just the big three, did you?)

Okay but as of this point in time (Oathbringer) Kaladin Stormblessed is my favorite character because of his growth, particularly in Words of Radiance (which we now own because my sister and I both adore it and we agreed to work together and buy it).

Because he goes from considering suicide to his oaths. His third oath in particular blew me away.

"I will protect even those I hate, so long as it is right." -Words of Radiance 

Dalinar's arc (particularly in Oathbringer) made me cry.
As a reader, I haven't spent a lot of time with Adolin and I respect him (way more than I did when I first met him) but I feel like I don't quite know him as well.
Jasnah spent most of Words of Radiance being dead, so I don't really know her either, but her twist at the end of Oathbringer is *incoherent screeching*
Shallan has what's probably the most tragic backstory out of all of them and I like where her character is going.

But Kaladin Stormblessed...

He does things because he cannot look away.

Because he keeps running.
not running in a bad way, it's more he keeps going but im also going off a quote (remember that quote last post about running? That's about Fleet and it's about a race, and it's about not stopping -- not giving up)

Obviously my life is nowhere near as hard and the decisions I make are not nearly as life threatening.

But I can relate to Kaladin and how he deals with the consequences of his decision. And his ongoing depression. His inability to look away. To not do anything.

And so, I hope to do as he does and pick up. There'll be not good moments in life.
I'll never be perfect.
I'll be exhausted and done and just SO DONE.
But I don't want to give up.

I want to be able to keep running.

Life before death, strength before weakness, journey before destination.

The first ideal, the first of the immortal words.

Life will be hard and it's going to suck.

But I can keep running to the best of my ability.

Life before Death, Strength before Weakness, Journey before Destination

For glory lit, and life alive, for goals unreached and aims to strive. All men must try, the wind did see. It is the test, it is the dream.

-Wit (Words of Radiance)

Brandon Sanderson. I mentioned him in an earlier post.

I don't care if you hate him, I like his works and I'm going to spaz about them because I apparently don't do that enough with my friends.

Four (maybe five?) years ago, I didn't have a clue who Brandon Sanderson was.
It was a blissful time...

Who am I kidding?

I was road tripping to the OYAN summer workshop and reunion (I really do not remember what year it was) with my best friend and she read Alcatraz Smedry vs. the Scrivner's Bones (Alcatraz book 2) aloud to the car.

 Yeah, yeah, I know we started in the middle I'M SORRY IT'S NOT TECHNICALLY MY FAULT OKAY.

While Alcatraz is possibly not the best introduction to Brandon Sanderson (as Alcatraz is possibly one of the most ridiculous series I've ever read (but it's AWESOME okay)), it was a good introduction.

My sister and I were quick to finish the series (as it stood. Book 5 FINALLY came out two years ago).

By then, one of our friends had started reading Sanderson's other books and was praising them (and also nagging us to read them).

It took a while for us to get around to it. (I made the mistake of trying to read Elantris -- my sister read it and enjoyed it, but was surprised by how long it took to get anywhere and on the whole we were not overly impressed)

We finally picked up Sanderson's Reckoner's Trilogy. That was the beginning of the end.

We sped read that thing.
It was on to the Rithmatist.

Also a good read (because geez it's Brandon Sanderson get with the program).

I lose track of what exactly my sister read after that. I was much slower, more interested in Terry Pratchett (and also SCHOOL).

Plus, I tried to start Way of Kings twice and never got very far with it.

I thought it was the most boring thing I'd ever attempted to read.

I was left wondering why do people even like these books?

I did finally get around to reading Elantris. That helped, since it's a bit shorter but also takes forever to pick up (like Way of Kings does).

I also finally read Mistborn, but that starts out much faster and with more intensity than Way of Kings.
Yeah, I really didn't like that book.
At first.

Anyway, so fast forward to this year, when my closest friends are like: OH MY GOSH STORMLIGHT THREE IS COMING OUT *SPAZ* and I'm just in the corner like um, great guys, happy for you??

I wasn't necessarily impressed.

And then Oathbringer came out in October and my nagging friend bought it and everyone spazzed some more. My sister reread the series and I read bits over her shoulder (because that's just what I do, okay?).

I realized that the series was actually interesting.

That Way of Kings got more action-y. That I could actually care about the characters.

So around Thanksgiving, I picked up my phone and tried again (okay, but seriously have you seen how thick the book is, it's a freaking les mis and it's terrifying).

It took me three weeks to finish it (that's balancing it with school).
What most impresses me about that is that I remembered the characters.

I'm a quick reader, which is good because my mind doesn't retain names well. If a plot point or character isn't interesting, I will forget it. Not purposefully, it just doesn't stick.

I remember most of what happened in Way of Kings.

Obviously, it's a good book.

But I remember it. That makes it an excellent book (in my opinion).

And then I sped-read Words of Radiance (#2), Edgedancer (#2.5), and Oathbringer (#3) (because I'm a terrible person like that and don't care about my emotional well-being, apparently). (Also Warbreaker while I was waiting for Oathbringer, but that's not related to Stormlight)

I finished Oathbringer on Christmas Day.

I won't spoil anything, but it's really good. While Words of Radiance is probably my favorite out of Stormlight so far, I love the end to Oathbringer.

There are no words for it.

I suspect this is one of the rare series that I will enjoy rereading.

20/10 would recommend Brandon Sanderson in general. Would highly recommend Stormlight (but maybe not as an introduction to him, unless you make it a habit to read high fantasy novels not found in the YA section)

I'm off to finish the Mistborn Trilogy (and then finish the next one).








P. S. Did you see what I did?

*runs away cackling like a maniac*

It's Been a While

But hey, happy new year!

One of my friends recently (like two months ago) posted about how she wasn't going to stop blogging even though it was hard. Even though she had nothing profound to share. (find it here (and then stay and read more because it's a really good blog)) Obviously that motivated me. A lot. (not really but hey, whatever)

That aside, I'm back because I finally got on the computer for non-writing, non-school purposes and figured I should do something about my blog.

As a catch-up, I did Inktober (with gel pens because I'm lame like that) and it was awesome. I had a lot of fun trying to think of things to draw each day. I mostly stuck with the prompt list, but I'm pretty happy with some of the variations I did (some of those variations turned into Christmas presents, so it was a win-win).

Then it was on to November and the dreaded NaNoWriMo (national novel writing month, for those of you who don't live under rocks and give up social life for the month of november). I actually not only hit the word count, but finished a novel (!!!!!!!!) In the past, I've finished a novel (under the word count) and hit the word count (without getting close to finishing the stupid thing) so that was a really big achievement. I also managed to balance NaNo with schoolwork (I don't even know, don't ask me) and finished one of my last few courses.

December was actually relaxing, if emotionally traumatizing. By the time we got to Thanksgiving, I was kind of in the home stretch. It was all or nothing. So I decided to start reading Way of Kings by the fabulous Brandon Sanderson. More on that in probably the next blog post. I finished up two courses and attempted to low-key chill until Christmas.

It mostly worked.

Until I remembered that Christmas was a week away and I hadn't actually finished a number of Christmas presents.

Don't procrastinate on Christmas presents.

Anyway, that brings us to now.

As I'm looking ahead to 2018, my hope of graduating college this year is approaching achievable. This brings with it a whole host of exciting things (and a whole lot of trepidation). I have three courses to complete and then my final thesis (which may see some development through blog posts since I have no idea what I'm going to do for it O_O). Then I'm done.

I mean.

Like. Done. Done done done done done done.
Finished with school.

Then it's on to find a job.

I don't know what 2018 holds for me, but I'm excited to see. And terrified. But for the time being, just excited.