Good afternoon guys! This post is going to be pretty loose, and I'll tuck in a few life updates either at the beginning or the end of this post, but yay! Both Nicole Dust @Legend of a Writer and Lilian @green tea with books tagged me ages ago for the #CoverLove. Thank you for the tag, girls! :D

So before we jump into that, the content survey for 2019 is still open! If you have not filled it out, please please please take a couple of minutes to do so. The responses I've gotten so far have been super helpful in my planning (thank you guys! <3), but I don't have enough responses yet to get a good grasp on where this blog needs to go. If you have not taken it yet, here is the link:


Or you can go to my previous post through this link and fill it in on the blog. I will also be adding the survey to a separate page for a few weeks until I close it. Your feedback and input is invaluable to me as a writer, and every bit you have to offer will help improve this blog for you.



I've been pretty absent from the blogosphere and Instagram for the past week, and a lot of it is because I haven't had time to sit down and be on the Internet. My brother left on a two-year church mission this week, so I spent a lot of time with my family before he left. On Monday we went to the beach and did family photos, and on Tuesday we went to Orlando for an entire day. Wednesday we had to wake up super early in the morning to drop my brother off at the airport and for the rest of the day we just crashed because we had been up and running like busy-bodies for two days straight and we're all crazy sleep-deprived. :P Honestly I don't remember what we did on Thursday. It's all a blurry memory with pizza being the only clear subject...oh! I spent the afternoon studying for my drivers permit test, which I'm hopefully going to pass take next week if the DMV is open. Yesterday was a whole day of last-minute Christmas shopping. Ugh, I still have to finish my shopping today, so I'm writing this post first thing so I don't forget. #igotyoucovered

I figured with all this stuff going on, I couldn't exactly fit in photo-shoots and blog posts. So the progress for this week? Um, basically it ended at studying the stats on the survey. I have to get some stuff done today and hopefully by next week I will be back to normal, busy life trashing my sister's bedroom with my photography stuff and hogging the family computer to write posts. ;P


So now the tag. Again, thank you Nicole and Lilian! <3

I had a lot of fun with this one. Nicole gave me the option of two different sets of questions and Lillian gave me one set, so I cherry-picked and smashed together the two sets of questions to make one ideal set for myself. Hehe. Also, that way I wouldn't have to write two separate tags. :)

• Thank the blogger who tagged you and link back to their blog.
• Create seven new #CoverLove questions or just use mine.
• Answer the seven questions your nominator gave you. (like I said before,this is a #CoverLove question mashup, but I will put both sets of questions below along with the one I made so y'all have options.)
• Nominate seven other bloggers and let them know they’ve been tagged. (Um, so I suck at nominations, but I'll try. XD)

I literally only checked it out from my library because I fell in love with the cover. I mean, just look at that color scheme!! And the concept!! And just ahhhhh the digital paining is gorgeous!! Unfortunately I didn't finish the book, but the cover is just...*swoons*




Of course I had to stuff an Ally Carter book in this post! I don't remember if I've actually read this one or not, but it is pink and there's nothing in the rules that says you have to have read the books. Also, I'm not usually partial to pink but I do really like this particular shade (there are quite a few pink Gallagher Girls books).



I'm not going to lie—I adore this book. I love it so much that I've read it multiple times and I bought two copies of it because one wasn't enough. But that cover...*facepalm* It's not on my list of aesthetic goals. :/




My childhood is encompassed in this book. I think it was also one of the very first books I ever got that was my own. It's a super cute book, and honestly I still read it sometimes when I need that extra dose of childhood. :P



Okay, so it was either this or An Enchantment of Ravens, but I love the illustration on this and the way the dragon is painted and ahhhhhhhhh!! I'm a sucker for illustrations on YA book. XD



This one always takes me back in time. I don't read it often, but when I do, I notice things that I didn't the first time. I can actually understand things better now that I'm much older, and it's super cool to look back and think about how I perceived it the first time I read it compared to how I perceive it now. I also like to think I grew up alongside Sara Crewe. ;)



Okay, so this particular shade of green is not my favorite, but this cover!! *flails* For some reason I really really really love the color scheme. I just have to wait for forever for my library to finally get the book. DX

So now nominations...I think I'll nominate the first seven commenters who can come up with a good (or bad; perspective is relative XD) book pun. ;)  


And that wraps up this post! I wish you a merry Christmas wherever you are and I hope you get to spend lots of time with your family.Remember the reason for the season and do something special for them. <3





NOTE: I do not own any of the above images. All images to respective owners. Link-backs to sources included.

It’s been a while since I touched the sketchbook. Most days it sits on my desk, unnoticed beneath a pile of papers and ideas that I probably never will bring to life. I’ve never been remotely talented as an artist, but some days my mind becomes open, and energy flows through my arms and into my fingers, guiding the soft charcoal across the rough paper in clean, depth-filled strokes. Today must be one of those days, because here I sit on the window-seat with the sketchbook open on my lap and an empty mind waiting for inspiration. My fingers itch to begin, but where the story starts I do not know.

My eyes drift gently to what lies beyond my own bedroom window. Rain falls from the sky, drifting in wild spirals and dousing the sweet maiden oak in the front yard. Huddled beneath the dripping boughs sits a squirrel gnawing on an acorn. It’s bushy tail twitches, and it bounds from the tree to the grass. As its paws touch the ground, the rain freezes and the landscape is suddenly covered in a blanket of fresh snow.

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The squirrel shakes his furry coat. Like magic, his pelt changes from gray to rich burnt umber. He leaves little paw-prints in the tall drifts as he searches for nuts, and a fat snowflake floats gently to rest on the small rodent’s nose. The oak shakes in a sudden gust of wind and the falling snow dances around it. The snow spirit’s laugh is a symphony of soft whistling and mirth, ending in a pleased sigh. On days like this, I imagine the Snow Queen calls her servants close, and I savor the fairytale world Old Hans Andersen never knew would fascinate me most.

Dark clouds ombré to white as my gaze reaches skyward, higher and higher into another world beyond my own. I press my fingertips to the glass, my breath fogging the pane as the cold invades my senses. Cold has a smell, you know—like faded balsam crusted in ice. My fingertips turn numb and I pull them into my gray quilt. Warmth floods my cheeks as I tuck my chin inside my cocoon and lean my back against the ancient bookshelf. It creaks quietly, lovingly, almost imperceptibly, like an old friend who has long borne each of my joys and sorrows.

Suddenly the frost on the window-panes vanishes. The reverie breaks; the snow melts to raindrops trickling down the gutter. The temperature rises back to the fiery warmth invading every corner within the house. From somewhere upstairs, the sweet piano melodies that tumble out of Anthony’s mind pulse through the walls. I smile. He’s been learning Christmas songs lately, but this one I have never heard. It reminds me of snowdrifts and winters that don’t exist here. I wonder if we’re both having the same dream. Dreaming, pretending, whatever you want to call it.

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I don’t pretend like I used to. When I was little, pretend was seeing something deep within something and coaxing it to the surface. A doll became a friend and a stuffed animal became a loyal pet. Playthings had voices and thoughts. It was so easy to make friends with things that only existed in my head. A year ago, I thought pretend could only exist again on paper, guided by a fountain pen ready to transcribe or a charcoal lump ready to trace. But I’ve come to realize that my reveries are my new pretend. They take me somewhere else, a place I want to be, somewhere I can be happy. Pretend is for my joy and peace of mind now. Occasionally a talking animal will creep out of the shrouded woods, an old friend from a past not yet buried in time.

The strong perfume of baked molasses drifts into my room; my mouth waters at the prospect of fresh gingerbread with cold milk. The red, green, blue, and yellow Christmas lights on my bookshelf and bed-frame twinkle in the dim light, and the soft quilt tenderly cups my face in its folds. The piano becomes muffled beneath the excited laughter of my younger siblings. My mind is now wrapped in a story, tangled in frost-coated vines and rich smells and familiar tastes. With closed eyes, I place the charcoal on the paper and begin to draw.

This is a sketch of winter.


I hope you enjoyed reading this quick written sketch! I live in a place where we don't get winters like other people, and honestly sometimes it gets a little lonesome and the way for me to cope with that is to pretend. The character(s) in this sketch are, however, fictional. Only the thoughts are mine, although I took liberties with the setting and other things.

On another note, I am beginning to plan my blog content for 2019! I am making a bunch of content changes, schedule improvements, and most importantly, providing more opportunity for you as a reader to weigh in with your voice and your opinion. I really want to know what you want to read in 2019 so I can tailor my content to you. So I've created this little survey, and it would mean the world to me if you took a few minutes to fill it out. I will be depending on it heavily as I plan and write for 2019, and if no one fills it out, I won't be able to know what to improve on. So please please please take it! <333

Have you ever felt like life was swallowing you whole? If you said yes, yay! now we can be buddies! *high five* Unfortunately, being overwhelmed comes with the distinct feeling of wanting to jump through the window the moment life sneak attacks us. And honestly, being overwhelmed is overwhelming, especially if you're someone who likes to have everything under control *cough*like me*cough*. This semester has been crazy—going to my local community college and having deadlines for the first time, college responsibilities and career planning, my brother preparing for a two-year church mission, and me trying to expand my blog—and things...got out of hand. And then for some reason I thought it would be a smart idea to take on NaNoWriMo. So I shouldn't be stumped about why my mood has been "run away" for the past month and a half. XD

We get overwhelmed when we take on too much. I like to have a lot of things going on at the same time because it makes me feel productive, but if I take on too much like I did this semester, then I lose focus and life gets wacky. Thankfully I've had enough sense to do something about it over the last week and a half. XD I thought up an "Operation: get life back on track" emergency plan! It works because I've been feeling waaay more relaxed about life. Hey, I even got up the energy to write this blog post! :D


So first things first, I face the facts. I took on too much and now I have all these random emotions bottled up. To clear up the emotions, I write about them. The rants in my journals read something like "asdfghjkl help I wanna scream," but writing about my emotions helps me sort out what I'm feeling, and once I've spilled, I have a clear enough head to separate myself from the problem and brainstorm  how to move forward.

Next, I make a plan to avoid feeling so overwhelmed again. I really don't like to cut any activities because cutting creative outlets makes me stressed, so I look at different ways to work the problem. I've realized that my biggest problem has consistently been that I suck at time management. Y'all, I think I'm organized but nope! XD Life has this way of constantly surprising us with things about ourselves.

I'm trying to commit myself to using to-do lists everyday to keep me focused. I have an app called To-Do that lets me create different lists for different priorities. Then everything for the day pops up on one big list. By examining how many tasks I actually complete in a day, I get a visual representation of my limits. Using to-do lists also helps me gauge how much time I'm spending on nonsense, like thirty-seven-minute challenge videos on YouTube or repeatedly scrolling through the same photos on my Instagram feed.

Getting things done ahead of time also is also life-saving. I've really had to buckle down and get my act together because I have semester finals coming up and I have to take the ACT that same week, so I'm doing every homework assignment I can before then so I can focus on studying for tests. Hopefully by doing this, the stress I feel will be minimal.*

*HAHAHA dream on, sweetie.

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I also have to make sure that I'm taking care of myself. When I get overwhelmed, I tend to disconnect from social life, which isn't always a good thing. Social media, blogging, and texting make me feel so much pressure to interact with people and I just don't. want. to be. social.** I've noticed that it's not because my social battery is drained, but because communicating with other people takes up too much time that I don't have—remember? I'm overwhelmed. I deal with this by giving myself time to breathe from everything else. I take an hour to focus on people and social stuff, and then I return to getting myself on track.

Other important things are eating whole, nutritious meals, drinking plenty of water, and getting enough sleep. When I do those things, they make a world of difference in how much I feel I can tackle during the day.

**Where's the nearest tower? I'm locking myself inside and not coming out for eighteen years. 


Finally I have to stop myself from making everything a priority; balance is super important! School is a priority, but so is mental health, which includes creative outlets. So I can't exactly cut off all creative outlets if I want to stay sane enough to study. But school is definitely the bigger one. So the solution would be to study and then take a couple of breaks every day to do something fast and fulfilling, like sketching a design, writing story snippets, or spending twenty minutes on the piano (I can't really take much more. XP #tanglyfingers ). I also refrain from starting large projects that take a lot of concentration and time until the higher prioritized task at hand is complete. For example, I want to plan and produce at least half of the content on this blog for the next six months,*** but I'm waiting to start until I'm on my four-week break in December and don't have to focus on classes.

***O_O Yikes that's a massive project, hahaha *sweats nervously* Hey, but it's for you guys (<333) and the survival of my sanity #create #yeet

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I'm trying harder to not to take on more than I can. Sometimes I can't tell what is too much, and that's okay, because I'm still young and I need to learn my limits. But it's nice to have an emergency process to go through when I do get overwhelmed. So now it's your turn. 



I'm not exactly at my normal creative levels yet to bring this blog back to it's usual fun vibrance (guys, I've been away for so long, it makes me sad D'X O.o) but once finals are over, I can finally settle into my old blogging routine and hopefully have posts up every weekend. :)

OH and guess what??!! I finally got an Instagram for my blog! My username is @wildpennings if you're interested in following me. Thank you so much to those who have already followed me there! Your support means so much to me. <333 If you have a blogging Instagram account, drop your username in the comments and I'll check it out!

Today we were going to talk about how to get back into writing but NOOooo, something popped up and I changed my mind because the inspiration just hit like asdfghjkl. I've had this post sitting in my draft box for more than six months and I finally know what to do with it. YAY! Now I can tell you what the post is about.

I'm going to guide you through the hopeless confusing world of how to build a book horde on a budget. This is exciting because (take a guess)

a) I adore books
b) I adore money
c) I adore cheap prices
d) I'm a book blogger, what are u talking about? All of the above!

If you picked (d) then 200 points to your Hogwarts house. You're a clever smol reader.

I love cheaply-priced anything, but most of all, cheaply-priced books. Before yesterday, (stay tuned), the last book I bought was during the summer. That's slightly painful to say because it makes me realize how ridiculously poor I am. And then all these new books are coming out and I look at the price tags and cry because they say freaking eighteen dollars!! I mean, seriously, why is it that hardcovers are that expensive and paperbacks are like nine bucks? There's no way that the cost of sticking an extra-thick piece of cardboard around the paper is that much more expensive. Even if I was rich I would probably still wait a year for the paperback to come out. Long rant over. If you've been shopping for a while, then you get pretty familiar with the rules of spending as little money as possible. If you don't know these then congratulations, here's a crash course.


Be patient. I must admit that I am a totally impatient soul except when it comes to spending money. I will wait for a millennium if I think I'll get a better deal. That's not what you should do, but if you see an eighteen-dollar book that's priced 20% off, chances are that a better sale will come around eventually. As long as your survival doesn't literally depend on your getting that book immediately, you can wait.


When you find a delicious deal, go wild. Most people say that you should look at something, ask yourself if you really want it, and then wait a few days before purchasing it. Many book sales don't allow enough time to do that, especially with the once-in-a-lifetime ones. When you get the chance and your conscience starts screaming at you that you're going to regret waiting, then go for it!


ALWAYS take advantage of recurring sales and once-in-a-lifetime deals. They will extend the life expectancy of your cash jar by a few months. My mother gets deals from BookBub every day advertising ebooks for under five dollars! Some of them are by famous authors, and some are indie published, but if you love ebooks, then that would probably be a great opportunity for you to build a digital collection.


Don't buy something just because it's cheap. If you buy every single three-dollar book you won't read, eventually your spendings are going to pile up and amount to more than the eighteen-dollar book you really want to read. You would have been better off buying the expensive book. So don't buys something you won't use. Going with the BookBub deal, I don't ever buy from them because I don't like reading ebooks. However, if I were to come across a book I desperately love, then I would probably buy it.

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Should you buy books you haven't read before? I almost never do, partly because I don't know the moral content in the book and partly because I don't want to purchase something I hate. But if I come across a good deal, then I'll make that risky purchase. When evaluating whether or not to take the risk, I can do several things to ease my nerves.

1. Read reviews—if I see good reviews and positive comparisons to books I enjoy, then it's probably a worthy purchase.

2. Judge the cover—not to seem shallow or anything, but the cover tells a lot about the content of the book. If it's got a picture of a shirtless guy and some pretentious-looking damsel on the front, I won't want to read that. The cover can also hint at the genre, the vibe, and the message.

3. Aesthetic—and now we can be shallow. Even if I hate it, it looks pretty, okay??? Most of the time that makes up for the stupid story inside. Bless those cover designers.

4. Skim it—flip through really quickly to see if anything catches your interest. Interesting enough? Probably okay.

In the end, if you buy a book you end up hating and you just want to burn it, STOP THERE! Sell it, padawan! List that thing onto EBay or Amazon at a decent price so you get at least some value back. Or if you're nice, donate it to your local library. It'll probably still end up on their book sale shelf anyway, but hey, good vibes!! Community service!!


Now that you know how to make a clever purchase, it's time for you to learn the best-kept secret of cheapskates bookworms: where to purchase.


Most of the time, public libraries will have books they're trying to sell for various reasons. But who cares about the reasons. The nice thing is that most of the time those books are garage sale prices. My library sells hardcovers for a dollar and paperbacks for fifty cents, and so I take advantage of that whenever I can, (following the rules of spending as little money as possible, of course). At my old library, the librarians marked books as discarded and gave them away for free. Sometimes I find nearly perfect copies of books I love, and that feeds my bookshelf very nicely.

When you shop at discount stores, you can usually find copies of newer books for much cheaper than you normally could. I have gotten hardcovers from discount stores for five dollars or less. However, do be aware that they are not going to get new books until much later than book release dates, sometimes up to six months depending on your store.


Used bookstores are kind of fun because you can get really lucky. Normal prices range similar to that of discount stores, but if you get the timing just right and keep your eyes peeled, you can get much, much better deals. Just yesterday I went to a bookstore that's closing in a month and they sold me as many books as I could fit inside a bag for five dollars! I ended up getting the entire Chronicles of Narnia series for my brother, The Tale of Desperaux and The Thief Lord for my sister, some Ally Carter books, Brontë sister classics, and many others. My siblings and I walked out with a total of twenty-seven books. For five dollars. I'm too proud of myself for making such a great purchase.

A NOTE: Keep in mind that a lot of the books you'll find at used bookstores are older editions, which means that they won't be particularly aesthetically pleasing. So don't expect to find many books that will make your bookshelf pretty unless your store has a massive selection.


I love The Book Depository and Amazon for this, but you can also get some decent deals from notable bookstores like Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million. Amazon has a feature where you can purchase used books in good condition for very little money, and BAM is now purchasing and reselling used books. I haven't had a chance to scour their selections yet, but I think it would be easier to find newer releases there than anywhere else.


Just borrow their books and never give them back. It works. They forget about them most of the time. But of you insist on being honest, offer them a minimal sum and they'll probably take it because if they're as poor as you then it'll look like a lot for something that should cost more.

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If given the opportunity to get a book for free, then take it. You're not loosing anything, so it's worth a shot.

- Enter drawings at bookstores
- Participate in your library's reading programs
- Take advantage of giveaways online
- Gamble with your fellow book dragons using books (poker is exciting)
- Get a job at a bookstore (not a library; you only get first dibs on new titles there)

Just because you can't afford something doesn't mean that you're a lower class book dragon. Poor people become rich by saving their money and spending as little as they can. In the end, you'll be rewarded. ;)


Well, this post got ridiculously long. But tell me if any of this helped you! I don't usually see a lot on the Internet about how to make clever purchases, so I thought I'd toss my brain in the fray and see what happens. Also, just a quick reminder that I'll see you all again in November, and hopefully with a special surprise that may or may not concern my one-year blogiversary. (Btw, that was yesterday! I'm saving the celebrations for my next post.) ;)

Ugh, this featured image. My editor wasn't loading for some reasons o I had to settle for Canva. Not that I have anything against it, I just don't know how to use it well.

Y'all, I need a break. *hysterical laughing*  I haven't posted in three weeks, I keep missing posts, and the quality and length of my posts has slackened. It's time for another assessment of my priorities. *shuffles long scroll*

When I re-shuffle my priorities, I always find that blogging is something that I can drop a little bit in order to do other things. So that's what's happening, and here's why:

- I'm conscious of my health and staring at a screen for too long is not healthy.
- I'm drowning in (online) homework.
- I have other ideas and projects I'm excited to pursue but don't have the time
- I want to spend more time developing other talents.


It means that I won't be posting on here regularly until I can get some stuff off my plate. I have never been great at time-management, but as I try to get my life organized, hopefully I will slowly be able to get back to normal. Posts will pop up only three times until my school semester ends in December. But trust me, I will be working very hard that month to make 2019 as consistent as possible. But exciting blogging projects and experiments are coming! Hopefully a guest post! Maybe. No promises, but I will do my best.



I hope you will all stick around, despite this craziness. I'm not giving up blogging—I haven't the heart!—but other things are calling my attention. I need to focus on them, because they fuel my blogging energy and inspiration. If I neglect them, I neglect blogging. So for now, you know where I am and where to find me. See y'all again on the 20th! :)

I'm trying to get back into my regular posting schedule, but right now I am neither feeling inspired nor do I have a post completely prepared. Also, homework is taking over my life, so there's that. #yay I'll try to post something on Monday, if time (and my energy level) permits. Have a wonderful weekend! <3

You know you're ready for fall when you spend thirty minutes pulling together a gorgeous Pinterest board to substitute for the nonexistent Florida autumn.

ANYWAYS, as you can tell I am sooooo ready for everything fall brings...including books! There are lots of books that I could read during the rest of the year, but for some reason they feel seasonal to me, and autumn is the only time I feel like reading them. If that happens to you, welcome to the club. XD So here are some books I hope to read this fall! I say "hope" because I #avoidcommitment,


I actually mentioned this one in this post about my library haul from last summer, but I didn't read it...*cough* didn't even start *cough* But the color scheme is soooo autumn-y (shallow, I know) so hopefully I'll be able to get through it this time!



I got halfway through this book and then quit reading it about February, so I'm going to finish it because it was a lovely book, despite everyone being a perfect demon. We'll see how this ends. *shrugs* Also, it's one of my goals on my classics lists! I haven't read a classic for a while, so finishing this one will meet the goal for the month.


Time for a re-read! Stabby knife-throwing girls, smol cinnamon roll boys with strange talents, and murder mystery? Of course I'll come back eventually. It's been a while since I read it, but I needed some time before a re-read so that the original creepy feeling settles back in effectively. ;)



Y'all, I can't get enough of this book. Anyways, it's been a few months so it's not on the top of my reading list right now, but if I have time, I will be reading it again.  I need some more of that young Texas charm. 10/10 recommend.


I've been wanting to read this one since it came out but for some reason haven't? But now that I've seen plenty of reviews, I'm going to give it a try. I guess I just couldn't stand the fuzzy possibility of it being better than the Scorpio Races. XD
 


It has been four years since I read this series, so it's due for a re-read. (The draw to read it again makes me feel so nostalgic!) I just put the first book up here, but my sister and I are hoping to read the whole series together in October and watch the movies after we finish the books. She's already on book four, so I have a lot of catching up to do, but let's get this party started.


This time I really need to re-read the series before I read this book because everything is a messy jumble of memories, and it probably wouldn't be healthy to read this one and be like, "WHAAAAaaaAATttTT??" the entire time. Call me clueless. I deserve it. XD


Luckily, I remember what happened in the first book, so this should be easy-peazy. I don't know if I'll actually get to read it this fall, but I'm going to try. I'm so exited for it to come out!! Do any of you read Brandon Mull's books?


These are books that I hope to own or hope my library acquires. I don't think it's likely that I'll read them this fall, but it doesn't hurt to hope. Maybe I''ll get to go on a spree. If you've read these, what are your opinions, and would you suggest them?

Good afternoon, guys! Today’s post is going to be short and snappy, and I wish I could have had something longer ready, but that wasn’t going to happen, unfortunately. I'm still getting the hang of balancing homework deadlines with everything else, and currently blogging is something on the bottom half of the priorities list (which is small, I promise you). :P

So let's discuss writing music! *jazzy hands*

I know that some of you like writing to music, others don’t. It usually depends for me. It has to be the right music at the right time or I won’t be able to focus. Sometimes I can listen to whatever and it won’t affect how I channel the story. But typically, I rely on music to help me figure out what my characters are feeling and provide the right mindset to write particular scenes (e.g. action, calm, emotional, etc.)

What I want to know is whether you guys write to music and how does it affect your writing? Does it improve it, make it easier, more fun, etc.? If you don't what are your opinions? Let's get both sides involved in this mini discussion. :D

My own playlists vary for project to project, but I have a few favorite groups that make it at least once in every playlist I compile for my story.

My favorite channel for all-around writing is HDSounDI on YouTube. They have amazing compilations of instrumental music for every writing situation possible. My favorite playlist is "Most Beautiful Music Ever," but the others are also gorgeous. Plus they have lovely artwork that sometimes helps me come up with unwanted plot bunnies that have nothing to do with the project at hand....oops.


I also love scores, especially The Maze Runner score and Time (Hans Zimmer) from Inception. I used the Maze Runner score to help me write my NaNoWriMo 2017 project. Time is tucked away, ready for use on some random, intense action scene. ;)


Now since we’re talking about Hans Zimmer, I gotta say that both the Plant Earth II score and the Blue Planet II score are absolutely breathtaking. Totally recommend those for fantasy and/or spec fic.


For lyrics, I usually only use those if I’m writing something remotely modern. On my Divided playlist, I have Shots (Imagine Dragons), Hall of Fame (The Script) and several others that I listened to on repeat while I wrote it. I’ll probably listen to it nonstop again during edits (eesh *dies*).


What do you listen to? I think everyone has their own ways to focus when writing, and maybe you jump genres like I do, or maybe you listen to the same playlist over and over. Do you use music to warm up, stretch your creative muscles before jumping in? This post is basically all questions, LOL, but take a seat, grab a cup of lemonade and a scone, and let's have a chat.