Why Would I Write

  • Why Write?

    Over the past week, I found myself doing a lot of things I put off in the past. I finally set up a LinkedIn account, used it to apply for some jobs. Logged in to my many years old Jobstreet account, also to apply to jobs. Created accounts on brand new sites to look for jobs. It made me realize that for the longest time I didn’t have to look for jobs – for most of them I was just given the opportunity to do something by other people and I took it. It would also have been true for my next job but alas, things didn’t work out as intended. So now I’m doing the job hunting on my own.

    Nothing to report so far, but I find myself questioning my lack of productivity. After all, since I’m jobless – I should make the most of my free time right? Spend it drawing, writing, making music, etc. Instead, I’m gaming and watching shows on Netflix. I guess I need to get into the rhythm of working again. Tomorrow will mark the second month of unemployment. Woot.

    On the bright side, I can say I am ready to return to work again after this breather. It reminds me of the break I took after leaving Big Bad Wolf Books, but with 100% less Cameron Highlands. I think traveling around Malaysia would be nice, but irresponsible in this time of contagion. Better to sit home and do things in front of my computer. After all, that’s what I’m great at.

    The other day I was asking myself – is writing a phase? Is it something people only do once in a while? I know some people who have stopped writing even though they used to write tons only a few years ago. What changed? Do people eventually run out of ideas? Don’t ideas constantly refill? I’m not sure.

    Anyway, I’ve decided that I’ll update my blog every weekday. Back to writing topics, fiction and so on. It was a thing of the past and I’m bringing it back. I just want to tell myself that I’m capable of churning out content daily. It’s good writing practice after all.

    Wow, over three hundred words just to spout a bunch of bullshit. I think I still got it. See you guys next week!

  • The Spell

    “It’s so hard to read this gibberish!” Dina said to herself with the stolen spellbook open in front of her. “There must be a better way to get a prom date!”

    “No, this is all Adrian’s fault!” she reasoned. “If only he was in love with me, then I wouldn’t have had to resort to magic!”

    She was by no means an experienced spell caster. She was far from one. Dina had spent exactly
    one day under the tutelage of the Great Theodore, one of the school’s most powerful wizards before she found herself stealing one of his advanced spell books and attempting spells beyond her means.

    Tonight was the school’s prom night and she had decided to test the seduction spell on Adrian because she wanted a dance. Things didn’t go accordingly, and she killed everybody in the vicinity instead. Now she was by herself, trying to figure out how to undo the damage.

    Dina flipped through the pages of the book, looking for pictures that resembled mass resurrection. There was nothing as far as she could see. “Maybe that’s in volume two…”

    Nearing the end of the book, her eyes widened when she saw a drawing of what appeared to be a tombstone with a crack going through it. “Could this be the spell to raise the dead? Only one way to find out.”

    Dina cleared her throat, raised her wand, and did her best to utter the words on the page. “Du’s ra tha rath guia eh ko luu chai!”

    Her wand started glowing and lighting shot out from its tip to the corpse closest to her, and bounced around from corpse to corpse, electrocuting each body and bringing them back to life.

    “Yes!” she exclaimed, happy that the spell worked.

    As the previously dead people rose to their feet, they all looked at Dina, eyes blinking in confusion, demanding an explanation. Eventually, everybody was alive in the hall, including Adrian who was now stumbling towards Dina. However, the lighting continued bouncing around and started striking people once again, sending their bodies into convulsions before turning them into ash and ending their second lives.

    Dina realized what was happening and quickly returned to the book for a spell to end her previous spell.

    “Dina, what’s going on here? Did you do this?” asked a dazed and concerned Adrian.

    “No time to explain!” said Dina, as her eyes frantically scanned the pages of the book. “Ah hah!”

    Raising her wand again, Dina yelled, “Suu kai la thri roos rhah!”

    Her wand let out a small spark and quickly extended itself, turning itself into a lightning rod. The lightning redirected itself to Dina’s wand, dissipating almost immediately. “Phew.”

    She collapsed to the floor, exhausted from the ordeal.

    Haven’t done a writing prompt in a while, decided to get back into it today. Prompt from /r/promptoftheday “She resurrected”

  • An Interlude

    “What happened to my drive to write?” some of you may have asked. Not really, I see the stats, people don’t come here for my rambling. But that’s okay. This blog is just an outlet for me to release what’s pent up on my mind (most of the time).

    You see, I’ve had a lot of time to myself over the past month. There’s not much else to do when you’re not working. I guess I kinda took for granted how much of my time work took up. And to clarify: I’m not complaining either – I’m far from unhappy or bored, I’m enjoying my break a lot. I enjoyed it the last time it happened as well.

    What I am anxious about though is my next job. I’m still not completely sure where I’ll be ending up (I’m supposed to have an answer tomorrow). I’m also tired of having to explain to people I don’t know where I’m going yet – because I don’t. Can’t wait to get that out of the way.

    In any case, I’ve been spending a lot of time catching up on shows I’ve been meaning to watch, playing games that have been sitting around in my Steam library, and even picking up the guitar to figure out some new chord progressions. Heck, I even completed a Unity 2D platformer tutorial the other day! Life has been great – I know this state is only temporary, so I’ll enjoy it while it lasts.

    Speaking of being productive, I’ve been updating Animal Bus weekly. It’s been pretty tough trying to maintain the schedule, but I can tell you firsthand that it’s not easy. I understand why people work in teams – honestly, if I had the money I’d probably hire a letterer, colorist, and artist to help me out. Mainly because I’m lazy, but also I’m terrible at visuals and would like to stick to just writing. However, the comic isn’t dead yet, so I’ll keep pushing out new chapters until I’ve decided that I’ve had enough. In the meantime, if you haven’t read it yet – check it out.

    I rarely write about books, despite my book sales background (lol). However, I feel that Richard Dawkin’s Outgrowing God is too important to not share about. If you want to read about why religion and believing in it is inane, look no further. Dawkins gets his points across in a succinct, sometimes funny, and easy to understand manner. Highly recommended if you’re interested in challenging your faith or reaffirming your beliefs in a godless world.