1st May '09: It's not labourday for nothing. I'm currently working at two jobs, nursing old people and working at a bar. Especially the latter means long, underpaid days till three in the morning, but it's quite fun actually. Along with work my days are filled with college, friends and a semi-boyfriend (euw mah gowd) and writing, even though I have many ideas, is definitely put on hold for a while. But I've got an idea for this one story and I'm actually surprised at how good the plot is. I'm not going to post it anytime soon though. But I have to admit, when I see a nice review or a favourite or an alert in my inbox in the morning my hands are aching to write and post something.

30th March '09: I diagnosed myself with SAB: study-avoiding behaviour. Sabbing = to display SAB. I had to laugh at myself hard when I realised I started writing on Strangers Like Us again in another period of exams. The next exams are in being held in May and June, so you can expect another update then I suppose.

2nd Januari '09: Decided to focus on Silent Force. Found out that boredom is essential for writing and that the circumstances are always exams that are being held in a short amount of time. I thought I broke that pattern when I left high school. I hear my brain making a New Year's Resolution..

29th December '08: Almost a new year, time to clean up. I'm revising my old stories, improving the spelling, grammar, plot etc. I'll be working on that for a while and I consider deleting a few stories and re-write them, like Faith Always Brings Us Back Together, Precious Memories with Miss Jones and First Song of a Mute Swan. My toes curl when I read those, so time for some improvement. Chapter 1 of First Song is revised and improved and might be posted somewhere in 2009, if I post it at all. The Silent Force is completely revised. This all might sound ambitious, but do realise that I'll probably be gone again in a few weeks and that this somewhat active period is only temporarily. I'm actually working on a book now. Lovely, isn't it?

Almost 2009 and for a new profile it is time

Who Am I:

That's a question I've been asking myself, too. I've been an active member on this site for about two years, although, as I have a life now, I'm not as active now as I used to be. Every now and then I have the inexplicable urge to write and that's how I return to this site every few months, for about two or three weeks, maybe a month. After that my interest is sparked by something else. I've been told I'm somewhat flighty and that it is annoying. Point is that I just need to do new things every once in a while.

At the moment I'm studying history, which is fascinating. History is one of the best inspirations for new or old stories and therefore I tend to use it sometimes. I won't tell in which story or in what way, you'd have to draw parallels yourself. As you could have read on the top of this page, English is not my first language. I've grown up speaking it though, with my grandfather living in England, but it's not fluent or anything. I have much difficulty with tenses and prepositions, as you can see when you read my stories. It should be readable though.

My Writing:

The main weakness of my writing is that I never finish anything and that I tend to repeat myself. I've once re-read a few chapters of a story of mine. With the seventh chapter I thought I was reading the second. And with the eleventh chapter I thought I was reading the seventh. In the end I came to the conclusion that only about a half of the story was actually the story, the other half a load of rubbish. Maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but I really do repeat myself a lot. Like now.

The strength of my writing is.. Well, I'll let you decide that. I can be all hysterical about a story, to find out, after a few weeks of 'it's okay but... I don't know I don't really like the plot', that the plot is, actually, quite stupid. But I do think I'm better than half of the - 'Wzzp, Gokou! Vegita sad. Shut the fck up, you fcking stupid. Gokou sad' - people on this site.

Flames:

Flames are the most ridiculous and sometimes hilarious things on this site. If it's about my stories, then at least it makes some sense. After all people might think you're a bad author. But most of the times it doesn't make sense. That's why I've disabled anonymous reviewing, because those flamers always seem to work anonymously... We wouldn't want all the seven year old kids on this site to learn new cuss words, would we? Or our IQ to drop just reading them? Just to let you all know how crazy and absolutely lunatic people can be on this site, I haven't removed those flames, so you can all marvel (or laugh perhaps?) at the stupidity of those people. Why? Just because I can.

Reviewing:

I used to read a lot on this site. But then, there was much more to read back then. There were more active authors and more updates and new stories. I think there were at least ten new updates or stories a day, in the Gohan/Videl section at least, which is still only very few if you compare it to about three or four years ago. This last year it's been a bit boring. Even if there is a good story somewhere, you'd have to look for it, and most of the times I can't make myself to read anything anyway. My course requires me to read an amount too great for it to be humanly possible to read, let alone actually get it all in your head - in my opinion that is - so in my spare time I just want to watch television or something chanceless like that.

So because I don't read anything on this site anymore, I don't review either. If there's an exceptional story though that grips me from the first line to the last, I would leave a review, and it would be honest en genuine, with constructive criticism if it's necessary. What you see is what you get. Some people might not like it. I have received harsh criticism myself, and it's always a bit hard to hear that someone thinks your product needs improvement. But I like to receive those kind of reviews rather than 5 times of 'ohhh, I love it plz update soon'. Because constructive criticism means that someone takes your work serious. And who wouldn't want that?

But then I'm probably one of the least 'active' active visitors on this site, because I really don't read anything. Actually.

Do's and Dont's:

1) Do use proper spelling and grammar.
2) Don't use excessive cusswords.
3) Do be original in your plotline or at least look for a new dimension to an idea that's been done loads of time.
4) Don't start with a major project when you haven't written anything before. Chances are you end up disliking the story because, after you've read it back, you hate your own inexperience.
5) Do let the characters develop throughout the story. That's what makes characters interesting.
6) Don't rush things just because you want to get to the climax of the story. Take your time.
7) Do make the characters real and believable. Even an amazing plotline can't help you when your readers don't understand the characters and their actions.
8) Don't use many quotes, unless they are your own. It's extremely annoying and pretentious and most of the time it doesn't even fit the context.
9) Do make sure the dialogues sound natural. Cheesy dialogues ruin the whole story if you ask me.
10) Don't make it too hard for yourself and stick with the genre of the story. A really nice mystery/suspense story can lose its charm because you try to get every joke you know in it.

Want to see a lot of dont's in a story? Read my First Song of a Mute Swan. Everything, from the spelling to the title, is bad. What can I say, I was sixteen and pretentious.

And golden rule number 1: When faced with a writers block, do absolutely continue to write. Something. Anything. Doesn't matter what, as long as you keep on writing. That's the only way to break the circle as soon as possible.

General:

Likes: Travelling, history, Harry Potter, Coldplay, Indian and Thai food, books, money, sarcasm, mystery, discussion

Dislikes: Twilight (just because of the hysteria surrounding it), people who make no sense, an empty bank account, clichés, camping, pressure, microwave food

Best quote I found on this site:

U need to have proper grammar