But then a day comes when they tend to remember
And it won’t be just fine, come morning
Read More →18.5.14.
5.3.15.
3.2.14.
Oh, and the mermaids know that their lads will drown
The lads don’t see now, dear holy ground
But the looking glass is mean
Read More →The god of small things by Arundhati Roy- Book Review.
Remember when in Harry Potter, Snape mocks Harry for saying muggle shit like reading minds and then further explains that there is no such thing as reading minds plain and easy like they’re books because a person’s mind is layers of thoughts and memories with no sequence, without a defined before or after. Reading the god of small things was just that except for it was one mind, two people.
*BIG TIME SPOILER ALERT*
Read More →1.1.14.
The 10 things list of ‘I wasn’t thinking when I said this’
What I intend to do by writing this list of madness is provide all the potential writers out there with a crafty ‘10 things’ list of phrases that belong to real people in their real weird, real unedited moments which I give away with full permission to use for whatever reason. What you can do is use these unexpected, particularly graphic, generally creative slip of tongues in your stories. They’re funny when they are done being offensive. Read and enjoy the part where they were not meant for you.
Read More →The only writing playlist you’ll ever need
Right here is a playlist that will put you out of your misery. Because you should never underestimate the role of music in the writing process. Here is a particularly long list of what I call good music but it’s not nearly long enough. It’s not fun making a list of 100 from a list that generally goes way over two thousand. I really hope you enjoy this one and if anything this should put you in the mood to write.
Read More →Signs you’re getting better at writing.
What does the progress look like? What does it take to get better at writing? Find out.
- You hate what you’ve already written:
The Good and Bad of Penny Dreadful.
The story line:
Vanessa Ives is an unusual woman. She has an aura about her which draws danger to her and not because she is vulnerable but because all the twisted things feel at home with her. She lives with Sir Malcolm, a seemingly old but incredibly powerful man. They both approach Ethan Chandler, a mysterious American, because of his skill with guns. They set off on a mission to find out where Sir Malcolm’s daughter is and to kill the vampires who’ve taken her. They ask for Dr. Frankenstein for help who agrees because of his obsession with death and resurrection. Meanwhile he has to come face to face with an old experiment of his that wasn’t as much a failure as he would have hoped.
The Good:
Read More →The kids that your parents warned you about- Skins
Here is what you need to know about Skins. It was originally a short story written by Jamie Brittian when he was 15. Sid and his father are characters based upon Jamie and his dad. The first and foremost character to have been created was Tony Stonem. Luke Pasqualino who plays Freddie in the second generation originally auditioned for the role of Tony and was cast as an extra in the second trailer. The part then went to Nicholas Hoult. The most prominent character of Effy Stonem, played by Kaya Scoldelario appears in all seasons except for season 5 and 6. The only other character to have made it to more than two seasons is character of Pandora played by Lisa Blackwell. The Skins cast all consisted of people who had no previous experience with acting. Skins was a breakthrough for all of the people involved. The writers for Skins throughout were an average of 21 years of age.
Read More →10 things I know about artists
Here is a peculiar list of things I know about artists by living with one.
1- ) They rarely know what they’ve made:
So this is an exercise I have with my sister, who is an artist, after she makes any piece. I ask her what it’s about, she looks at me like I asked her god knows what. It’s not that there isn’t a story behind the art work. It’s just not a part of their work to think about explaining it. Explanation kills art and you should just look at it and make something up because trust me they don’t know.
2- ) They make use of their hands:
Read More →A day in the life of…
For the idea of this blog post, a day in the life of, I have to credit someone else- Thequietpeople.com
A day in the life of me includes first of all waking up early. And I do that because I sleep early too. As boring as the very introduction sounds, it is what it is. I wake up early, I work out and I do a lot of other very healthy and responsible things. But this is probably the only good habit I have that I’m very proud of. Usually after that I have to get ready in time for a dreaded 8:30 class but in vacations there’s none of that. I have breakfast and then for the most part I do aimless stuff like fix my room, check my tumblr/ instagram e.t.c
I take pictures. Lots of pictures. If I had to do something I love other than writing, I’d pick modeling. Except for I’m not tall enough to be a model (proud member of the small people community)
Read More →Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend, your new favourite.
Max Delany isn’t a usual kid. He doesn’t like change, or people, or wearing more than a number of things. Although the book Memoirs of an imaginary friend never confirms it Max does show signs of suffering from Autism Spectrum Disorder. His parents worry about him constantly. They do everything they can to make him normal except for treat him like he is ‘normal’. Yet this story isn’t about Max Delany. This story is about his imaginary friend, Budo who isn’t imaginary.
Read More →13.4.14.
His reigns will tighten right around your neck
His eyes will falter in all the damned ways
You’ll tremble in a great fear
and then he’ll fade away
Read More →
His eyes will falter in all the damned ways
You’ll tremble in a great fear
and then he’ll fade away
Writing competitions to apply to in August.
Here’s how you break you summer writer’s block; with a curated list of writing competitions that you can set as monthly writing targets. These writing competitions have a lot to offer as you can get published and win handsome cash prizes. Pick a writing competition from the list below and get writing.
Read More →12.12.13
29.2.16.
There are weeds in your memory
From playing it over and over
Dying light from a fallen star
You don’t know how far.
Momina Arif
Feature Image Credit: For the dreams I want to catch
Read More →16.5.14.
And darling the path will waver like the flags that break their knots
Home will differ away until it’s no place for you
The choices you’d make are branching out
Read More →22.4.15
There will be consequence. Somewhere
In lost children. Lost elsewhere
Walking down a bridge that guarded time
Following back home a risen tide
Was that the day he chose his side?
25.3.15
I remember an iron grasp
Gliding against a terrifying wind
We curled up beside their wings
Read More →11.12.15
And all the word hangs in the balance of what you don’t yet have
And all you are is a matter of what you are not
Until one day when you suddenly feel
Like the skin you have has been shredded enough
When you have been in all places unkind
The better place is somewhere inside
Freedom is in the colors you hide
Momina Arif
Read More →Writing prompts for your writing slump.
Whether it’s a blog that needs running or a journal that needs filling. Whether it’s a short story you’d like to write or a novel that is lacking something. Here’s a list of writing prompts to help you out of a writing slump.
- Date. Any date. ( And why that date)
- If you were a book what book would you be?
- If everyone you knew were a song decide what song would they be. ( And why?)
- The sad golden man and his 7 trophies.
- A myth that I read somewhere: your face in this life is the face of the person you loved the most in a past life. A face you loved enough to ask for, again. But in this life we all hate what we look like.
- Things that make you sad ( vent, vent, vent)
- A story you keep trying to write but it just doesn’t happen.
- Words from the oldest poem you remember writing
- Lights out. 11 something in the night. It’s a run away bus. But you’re staying this time.
- “King of the Hill, I want to see you at your worst now.”
- First memory you have of being treated like an adult.
- Write a fight scene. Bring out the guns and the swords and the frying pans. Make it bloody. So long as you don’t forget to write about the thoughts.
- Write about a photograph you took of someone that isn’t around anymore.
- Write about the future. An anxious future. A prosperous future. However you see it.
- Write about a book that everyone hates but you really don’t see why.
- Write a crime fiction piece with the theme: colors.
- Make a to do list of impossible things (for you).
- Do you know about the Japanese myth of Bake Kujira? It is basically a dead animal (in the form of skeleton or a carcass) showing up as a sign of bad luck where once the appearance of a living one was good luck. Think dystopian fiction: all the endangered species that we know deserved better but are finished off now, show up in different parts of the world to give mankind a taste of extinction.
Lets make this tradition.
First of all If these writing prompts inspired you to write something and make a move out of your writing slump, please share (the excerpts or the entire thing) it in the comments and I’ll randomly pick a few to get featured on the blog.
Secondly, for that writing slump of yours there’s more here
Lastly, let me let me know in the comments below if you’d like me to share more writing prompts.
Momina Arif
Read More →
7.5.15
10 Ideas to give your character the perfect chink their armor.
In order for your character to be endearing and memorable you must avoid the temptation of making them all good, all strong because the perfect character is not perfect. Your characters must be flawed because that adds to the struggles and that in turn makes a story. Here’s a list of ideas for non-traditional flaws (We are tired of reading about chipped nail paint, nervous chatter and abusive relationships) that you can give you character. This will not only give them depth but it will also make your characters stand out and create inspiration for their individual life stories.
Read More →