I remember thinking that writing was my escape from many things (including but not limited to): Corporate life Bad weather Sadness Stress My many mood swings Etceteras I can’t recall right now I also remember thinking that I could write through a bad mood no matter what. Now I know that such an idea/belief is…
Author: Alexandra Atman
Of main characters
I call them “my girls.” And yes, the main characters of my two WIPs are female. Why? I’m a girl who likes writing about girls. Gi and Mila aren’t like me. Not completely. I actively avoid inserting myself in my stories and yet, when I read them, I notice little pieces, brushes of my thoughts…
Editing again
I haven’t posted much because of two reasons (maybe three): I spent three weeks on vacation. I’m back inside the depressing editing mines. Some important personal stuff involving a potential relocation I don’t really want to see happen, but it’s starting to look like a choice between the continent I love and the man I…
Free mind
I have heard myself utter the words hundreds of times. “That thing I achieved? It was nothing!” “Was it cool to go and do that all by myself? Not a biggie!” I know the reasons why I sometimes opt for making myself look small, sound more uncertain than I am, seem less proud of many…
Thinking days, writing days, all days
I wrote and edited so much during November that, as a consequence, I burned out a little and thus have written/edited way less during December. Naturally, I’m starting to freak out about it. But I also feel glad for unwittingly taking some time off. Why? Because thinking days are writing days: even when I don’t…
Social media for writers?
I use Twitter, I post on Instagram, and I still have a Facebook account. Please note that “still have” implies that even though my account exists, I never log into it. Facebook is a dark, negative place I realized I didn’t need as soon as I finished graduate school. Good semi-riddance. I look forward to…
The loneliness of writing
I don’t think I can accurately explain what I mean when I talk about the loneliness of writing. It is linked to the fact that “nobody expects/needs/cares about the stories I write. It is all the same if I stop, isn’t it? Who cares (besides me)? Why do I do this?” I’m an ambitious person,…
I, somehow, won NaNoWriMo
Somehow (aka by working my ass off and producing words like a f-cking robot), I wrote a 1st draft of 50,209 words in 29 days (and nights, yay! ¬_¬). AND IT FEELS SO FINE!? I’m actually proud of myself! THIS IS GOOD, GUYS! A new book drafted before the end of 2018! WIN! CHEERS! For…
Writing for sanity (aka I’m an entitled brat)
I often look back into my past and talk to younger versions of myself. (No, It’s not called a disorder. It’s called SELF-AWARENESS, MAN, QUIT JUDGING). 5-year-old me is probably the smartest I’ve ever been. 11-year-old me was so clueless sometimes I think I should slap her (lovingly) in the face. And hug her. She…
A promise to myself
I started working on my first book at the end of 2016, which means I spent nine months writing it and have been editing it for about six to seven more months. Vacations, breaks and other interruptions aside, that first manuscript has taken nearly two years to be finished. I created a Twitter account in…
Editing is overwhelming
Many say it, but they are quick to play it down. Are we all afraid of seeming 1) hard to work with? 2) Lazy? or 3) Weak? Because addressing the fact that an activity is challenging (or even frustrating) might (according to the most critical part of our minds) negatively impact how we think…
NaNo Lessons, Part 1
Deep in my heart, I always wanted to write fantasy. But I thought I couldn’t pull it off (for a variety of reasons, including: a) flowery prose isn’t my jam, and b) I used to believe I would need the grandiloquence of a 19th-century poet to write a fantasy book). Turns out, I was wrong….