Journaling and Writers Block - A Writing Rationale

Does anyone else find comfort and maybe inspiration in keeping a journal? Journalism has been a method of expression almost since the dawn of written expression in humans. I've also come to find that it is extremely useful for keeping my love of writing alive while I battle writers block in my stories. It has currently been over a month since I was able to work productively at all on my story, "The Artemis Recovery." Mostly, I believe, it's because I'm going through a time in my life where my emotions aren't exactly meshing with those that I want conveyed in the story. I've also freshly started college and between a full work schedule and school, there is very little time for me to sit and concentrate completely on writing a very detailed story.

I've been journaling now for a couple of years and for various reasons. I find it's a reliable way to catalog my experiences and to vent my emotions without having to deal with the person-to-person element of venting. It allows me to look back after certain lengths of time to review what may have been going on and if my perceptions of an event has changed. This, believe it or not, has actually come to help me not only grow as a person who is self-aware but also to influence my writing in respects of taking real experiences and emotions and slipping them into my writing. I've also found that maybe, one day, my experiences in life could probably make a good memoir. Who's to say.

My first genuine journal was a product of my (thus far) only long term boyfriend leaving for basic training in the late-summer-early fall of 2010. Before that point, I had tried using journals but had never really put myself into the experiment fully enough to see if I liked writing journals at all. I had had a small journal already lying around and figured, why not? While he was gone, I wrote him letters and wrote in this journal documenting how my days went and how I felt about him and our relationship. It was a no-holds barred way of me communicating what I felt about our relationship and about him. Even though it wasn't always pretty, it ended up being very constructive for us both. When he finished training, I gave it to him and let him keep it. Our relationship did eventually fall apart (he found other people, I found a different path) but the experience of journal writing stayed with me.

My second genuine journaling experience started in roughly 2012, around the end of Junior year and the start of Senior year of high school. I bought a big faux-leather journal and insisted on writing in it every day. It helped immensely with a highly stressful time in my life that I was going through, and has served to be a way of releasing a lot of negativity in my life without creating conflict in my relationships - at least no more than was already there. I've taped movie tickets in and written about dates and fun times that I've had as well as general experiences about high school and growing up in my closing years of high school that I find are helpful when I've done an emotional lock-out. I use these pieces that I've written to bolster some of my writing, as well as for self-assessment. I'm still writing in this particular journal and it's proving to be a great resource.

Newest Journal: I'm back where I started. My newest relationship has taken it's longest distance ever and my significant other is overseas. I'm writing a journal for him to read when he comes back, and like the original attempt at this, it will be for him to keep so long as he wants it. Unlike my other journals however, this will not so much be written as a series of letters or memoirs to myself so much as written as a series of letters to him. While I'm still going to be sending him care packages and letters galore (as well as making contact with him over the internet) these will be in depth insights into what I may not be saying to him at first. This is not because I don't want him to know - but because I do not under any circumstances want to distract him from his work. It could be the worst thing I could ever do to him while he's over there. I write to him when I can't talk to him and to keep myself occupied when there are dull moments in my day or in my classes. It gives me something to do when I can't sleep. He and I even have a running list of things we want to do, songs we want to jam out to, and places we want to visit together. He even asks that specific thoughts I have be tagged in the journal for him to read more about later.

Writing journals is very classic method of recording one's thoughts, as well as giving others an insight into your life (sometimes without your knowing, but that's a risk!) It allows your future generations to have a link to the past as well as you to look back on the times yourself. I love the beauty and yet utter simplicity of using a pen and paper to save my thoughts for later. What are your thoughts?

Naming Characters - A Writing Rationale

I had this thought today, that I thought I might share with you. It's about naming characters - something that to some may seem mundane and pointless, but may mean the world to others. I want to give you my opinion on it because to me, naming characters well and with purpose can make or break your characters, and even your stories. I am always devastated by Plain Jane names or names used by an author that only come from one cultural element (Sorry, fellow anime lovers. You folks have to be some of the worst offenders. I would know - I was once one of you.) The act of naming your characters is an element in and of its own, as well as an art-form. Naming your character well and with good intention should be a goal of any aspiring author, and let me explain why with an example from one of my own pieces.

For example:
Damien Cain Foster. (From my story, "The Artemis Recovery.")

Damien. In my opinion, this is an impressive name. Damien is a popular name right now - inspired by TV Shows such as 'Vampire Diaries' (Character: Damon Salvatore), comic book characters such as DC Comic's Damian Wayne (Batman), and even movies such as The Omen (Character: Damien Thorn, the Antichrist).
The name Damien has it's own meaning: "to conquer, master, overcome, tame." (Source) Due to it's use with characters such as those from Vampire Diaries, and The Omen, it has it's own connotation. Just like regular words, names can have their own connotations. Not only does the name have it's own smooth and mysterious ring to it - the characters that have shared this name all have the same similar dark and mysterious characteristics, so to speak. The name itself can reveal or foreshadow what the character will become in the future of the story from the time he/she is revealed.

Cain. Likewise, the middle name can reveal a lot about a person's character. Cain can mean 'spear,' but Cain was most famously a biblical character, made legendary by his act of fatalistic jealousy against his brother, Abel. This allusion can be an immediate alert for your reader as to the nature and future of your character. So, it's a 'use wisely' element to your writing. I personally enjoy using middle names in my writing - not only because I love well formulated names but because they add a small (yet beautiful) detail to a person's writing. Names like Demetri Alexander (+Last Name) or Mara Alexandra Senth (The Artemis Recovery) can simply be eye-catching at the very least. At most, they can reveal a lot about your character.

Foster. Clan/Family names are a traditional and almost necessary detail to your character. It's almost natural to assume that if your character exists, they have some kind of family, and therefore some last name. The word itself (apart from it being a name) is defined thusly: "encourage or promote the development of (something, typically something regarded as good); bring up (a child that is not one's own by birth). "
The irony of this last name is that, of course, members of the Foster family were placed in foster care prior to the start of The Artemis Recovery's story. The contradiction in the name for Damien is that he is the furthest thing (or attempts to be) a sheltering, promotional, or outwardly good at the revelation of his initial character. An example of irony within the characters name. 

Damien Cain Foster. Therefore, put together the name kind-of comes together like this: The Conquerer/Master - Jealous Brother Killer - Promoter/Guardian. 
Contradictory on some levels, but yet, fitting for the nature of the character. For people who know their allusions - the middle name of Cain will give clues to the character's nature. For those who know their popular culture, the name Damien will have it's sultry and mysterious implications to it. Finally, for those who rely on the definition of names, Damien and Foster will reveal the more fixed elements to the character and allow the name to piece together through hard translation. Then again, for the readers who don't follow any of these elements, perhaps the name will just sound sexy or sophisticated - even a little dangerous - and will catch their mind's eye as they read. 

In summary, creating clever or detailed names for your characters can add a lot of elements to your writing. Names should never be just something  you come up with on the fly - if you wouldn't do it to your children (Tears shed for every child carelessly or cruelly named on this earth-) why do it for a labor of love like a character in your story (or even fan fiction)? Even if the latter is clearly more expendable than the former....
I hope that this article gave a little insight into the importance of naming your characters and into why I name my characters the way I do. Thank you for reading.

Oh Look! My Blog! (PLEASE READ)

It's been forever since I've been on this blog - most likely well over a year since I last checked in or posted anything. Negligence on my part, without a doubt. (I am, notably, really disappointed in myself for it.)

I have deleted all of the Artimis Paige (Now to be retitled 'The Artemis Recovery' or some such - undecided), because I have once again restarted the writing and planning process for the story. Also, I'm going to limit how much I post so that I don't run the risk of anyone stealing my work or publishers becoming uncomfortable how much of the story I've released beforehand.

I'm going to try to keep posting on here with updates and a few chapters here and there. I've changed the way I'm going to be writing the chapters, and so it may mean that I post the chapters in segments and chunks under the same chapter headings.For example: Chapter One, pt. 1; Chapter One, pt. 2...

I really hope I can build a following to the story and get feedback from you all. I'm going to ask a few people to read the story when I have a solid transcript developed, so I can revise and add to the story as people critique the process.

-Patricia M.