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maguayans · 1 year

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AYE’S YEAR OF WRITING ‘22

Hi, hello! How have you been? I hope the season’s treating you well. It’s that time of the year again—to see how I ruled as a writer this year. (It’s already 2023, though. Happy New Year!)

GENERAL WORD COUNT: Forty-one thousand eight hundred plus words—pops confetti—across eleven stories! That’s not a lot compared to what I’ve written last year, but I’m pretty proud of it, especially because almost half of it was written within thirty days—thanks, Camp Nano.

If you happen to stumble upon my posts, you may know some of them: Lethal Bloods, Mariang Makiling, Red Complex, Crimson, Fair Waters, Maharlika, All in Favor, Say Aye, Red Cuts, Where the Poet Went to Die, Don’t Fall Asleep, and Tres.

Yeah…I don’t think jumping from one WIP to another is good…for me. But it’s fun!

WORKS IN PROGRESS: In addition to drafting the stories listed above, a few ideas came up and made it to my list of projects. It seems like I’d never run out of stories to write and talk about.

New WIP #1: Human x Deities — Once in a while the deities would come down from their heavenly, divine realm to visit the mundane (like tourists.) When they do, a human would accompany them (like a tourist guide). The story features the gods of Philippine Mythology, soulmates and reincarnations (I’m a huge sucker for it), shamans and glowing tattoos.

New WIP #2: Flea Market Isekai — MC enters a flea market at the wrong time and finds herself in the same market with a different crowd. The story features the wonderful creatures of Philippine Mythology.

There are also four new short stories. *eye emojis*

WORLDBUILDING: Maybe I didn’t surpass my word count last year because I was too immersed in ✨worldbuilding✨.

Tres. Following the decision to change the titles and revise the origins of the characters I immediately went to Tres’s worldbuilding — an island far, far away; isolated from the main population (which could mean a lot of things, but most importantly overlooked crimes, gore, and everything in between.) The island, San Angel, is modest and gorgeous, but like a multicolored amphibian in a rainforest, it is deadly. Lovely flowers grow by the earthen roads, and underneath lies the remains of those buried without tombstones.

Red Complex. The red strings universe is expanding. In addition to a novella called Red Cuts, there’s a short story collection featuring characters from the mundane and the Matchmaker’s realm.

The Morose Cat. There’s a mini worldbuilding series I call, The Uphill Town, introducing a town up the hill (where the story takes place) and what makes it so different…and magical. For one, there’s an abandoned shrine that cats always pass through, and where the veil between the mundane and the otherworldly fades.

Elementaliaverse. There are so many things I added recently to the project and the stories. Mainly: Mystique Heights, Fair Waters, and Maharlika.

Worldbuilding, my beloved.

WRITEBLR. I can confidently say I interacted with the community more in 2022, and it was so much fun! Hopefully, I could do the same and more this 2023, and participate in more writeblr events/activities. Speaking of which, here are two: 30 Days, 30 Lines Challenge (by blind-the-winds), and Trick or Treat Writeblr Halloween Event (by pluttskutt). Thank you so much for these!

BOOKS & READING. I read less than ten books, and I enjoyed them. I am open to random book recommendations in my inbox/messages. I'll continue reading reviews/posts about books—how I discovered The Great Library series. (A writeblr posted about how much they enjoyed reading the books, so I bought copies. They were on the third book then, If I remember correctly, and I wanted to reblog the post but I forget their handle.)

Crier’s War Duology, Nina Varela

House of Hollow, Krystal Sutherland

The Great Library (1-4), Rachel Caine

Intersections, B. Pigeon; Fell Marsh

MISCELLANEOUS/PERSONAL. We went on a trip for Christmas, and the funniest, most writer thing I did was buy a stick (an arnis stick, the vendor told me, though it seemed different), thinking it would help me write one of my WIPs. It was affordable, so I guess it was fine. ( A little Christmas gift for me, I told myself. But I did buy more than a stick from a gift shop. *laughs hysterically*)

INITIAL PLANS FOR 2023. Read at least twenty-five (25) books. // Finish at least one (1) draft. // Share two (2) short stories.

I think...I’m going to be busy.

Thank you so much for reading! Enjoy the rest of the season. Stay warm and safe. Let’s hope 2023 will be kind and gentle. Cheers to more writing and reading and writeblr-ing!

If you have time, visit #ayearofwriting to see how other writers owned 2022!

#ayearofwriting #ayearofwriting22 #writeblr #am-ayow #i am alsoo catching up!!

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maguayans · 2 years

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AYE’S YEAR OF WRITING

Hi, Hello! I hope you’re doing well and having a great day/night. This is my entry for our little writer activity. The year had been a mesh and mess of many things. But reading and writing and being here made it better. But I have to admit, I struggled with the writing part.

Buckle up.

GENERAL WORD COUNT: 67, 870

Red Complex. A take on the Legend of the Red Strings of Fate and the idea/mythology of soulmates. | Of course, I’ll have to start with this one. I have to be honest, I almost dropped this. As in, stop writing it, forget it ever existed, and move on. It had been more than a year since I posted this on the orange app and I’m kind of bummed that I only managed to write a few chapters. But it turned out, it was just a bad writing week. And I was exhausted and sleep-deprived.

On a more positive note, I concluded Part I of the story—12 Chapters (including the Prologue and an Interlude.) The path to the Epilogue is clear. More or less. However, I still think it’s a mess, but you know, it’s my mess.

Don’t Fall Asleep. An attempt to rationalize nightmares, sleep paralysis, and dark apparitions. | I rewrote this one thrice. The third time was more to my liking so I continued from there. Progress was slow but I like how it’s going so far. It’s fun too. I really like writing paranormal scenes inspired by my own experiences. :)

The Morose Cat. A take on The Myth of the Cat God. | When I’m not writing for Red Complex or Don’t Fall Asleep, I shift to this little Cat WIP. I’m excited to share more next year. I’ve been collecting more cat videos and references. Sometimes I read articles and cat facts—it’s less fun than watching videos, I admit, but I have to. Hahaha. Also, I started looking into cute café menus that would fit Happy Paws Café in the story. It’s not important to the narrative, but a fun worldbuilding detail.

Once, I posted about how DFA and TMC are somewhat on a word count race. Don’t Fall Asleep won.

Don’t Listen. A Don’t Fall Asleep spin-off novella. | I introduced this once. I even posted main character introductions, but I bailed. If you haven’t seen it, that’s good. I wrote a whole chapter but I’m still contemplating if I should continue or not.

Maharlika. The organization tasked to keep the peace and order between humans and the otherworldly are about to face its ruin; featuring lower Philippine Mythology. | The urge to write was too strong to ignore so I end up with more than a thousand words. I really love the opening scene, it makes me feel like I’m just stating a fact due to the real-life reference.

In connection to this WIP and the series, I also managed to share five worldbuilding posts. And, uh, explored more of its universe by…making more stories unrelated to the main series. :)

February Shorts. A short story collection based on the February Prompts List by creativepromptsforwriting. | It’s not posted anywhere at the moment because I took it down. While it felt satisfying during February, it needed revision. The concepts were really cool though, so I hope to repost it some other time.

Dark Corners. A short horror story collection. This was my July Camp NaNoWriMo Project. | I reached my 5k word count goal, but I never opened the file after that. :)

A Glade of Lights. A short story submitted for Writersnet April Event; featuring Philippine Mythology. | I managed to post before the deadline. I’m pretty proud of this one.

Fair Waters. A short story about a mermaid princess. | I had the idea after taking a nap. I might have dreamt it, not sure. :)

Like I said, writing had been a (fun) struggle but I feel contented that I reached that general word count. It’s more than what I wrote last year, I think. In short, I’ve been productive. *pops confetti*

Although for some time, it felt like I didn’t make any progress at all. I realized that maybe it’s because I go through long writing streaks and take longer breaks right after. It would take me weeks or months before I get in the mood or be inspired to continue writing. Tried to force it a few times—I know I shouldn’t—and regretted it.

The huge gap between my writing sessions made me feel like I didn’t do anything at all. I’d like to change that next year.

WORKS IN PROGRESS: +12

It’s a curse, I tell you. At times when I’m not in the mood to write for any of my main WIPs and I’m mostly doing nothing else, an idea would pop up and I end up plotting and drafting and worldbuilding; looking up names, photo inspirations, reading old books, and more.

The new additions are heavily influenced by Philippine folklore and mythology, some expanding the world of Elementalia, others completely unrelated. Here are some of my favorites:

Adarna (or White Talons). A retelling of the classic Filipino epic corrido, Ibong Adarna. This retelling follows three main characters (or four.) It’s going to be fun and dark. And more about the bird.

Sticks and Giant Bones. MC is a descendant of a special squad of Maharlika, chosen by the gods to battle against evil witches back in the day. Their ancient title might be useless now, but MC continues to be vigilant and diligent with her training. She believes the witches are coming back. Inexplicable recurring earthquakes confirm her suspicions. I dare to incorporate a martial art I know nothing about and one of my favorite folk stories in this little WIP.

Light and Shadows. A very ambitious duology (or a standalone.) Light and Darkness Juxtaposition. Good and Evil. Shamans and Witches. Should they follow their fate? Or make their own destiny? Will love truly conquer? Stay tuned, my notes are everywhere with this one—three notebooks with no markers. :)

Got a long list of works in progress, they tell you I’m insane.

WORLDBUILDING

What about worldbuilding, you ask? Well, I just really love it. When I started writing years ago, I didn’t care for it. I merely write following a concept and a plot. But since I got here, then read about it, I just fell in love with it. The worldbuilding for Elementalia Chronicles, especially.

If you’ve seen me rambling about Engkantos and Aswangs and Tikbalangs and floating balls of fire, witches and shamans, you might be familiar with Elementalia Diaries. Some time ago, I requested content from books on Philippine Mythology and Folklore. When I started reading and taking notes, I shared some fun good finds here. I still have a long way to go, but I enjoyed it very much. I even immersed myself too much I forgot to do school works at one point. Hahaha.

My only intention was to create the world of the series, but in the end, I made a few more WIPs. As I said, it’s a curse.

WRITER ACTIVITIES

Chazzawrites Challenge and the Underwing Challenge. I’m not sure if the community had done similar activities in the past but we should definitely do it more. I enjoyed them very much. Kudos to chazzawrites and jaxwolffwrites for organizing them. You guys are awesome for doing so.<3

It was a good opportunity to talk about my stories. I was elated to find out other writers found them interesting too. I also met most of my mutuals through the activities and got to read their WIPs as well.

Here are links to my posts: Chazzawrites Challenge | Underwing Challenge

Of course, there are also tag games. I don’t post much when I get tagged, but do continue to tag me if you’d like. I like reading them. And I visit some writeblrs included in the taglist. :D

BOOKS & READING

While reading provides entertainment and wondrous escapism, it is also a tool for me to widen my vocabulary and learn more about writing through the artistry of other writers. English isn’t my first language so it’s very important.

I’ve read fifteen books this year. That’s not a lot compared to avid readers out there, but I have a very valid reason: Books are expensive and while there’s the e-book alternative, I just refuse to do that—unless the books are only available in that format. Also, I must smell the book before reading it (or when I want to); hold it in my hand, look at the pretty cover. It’s a routine I do not intend to diminish. Ever.

Anyway, here are a few of my favorites.

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

I also started reading English classics, I’ve only read two shorts but it’s a start.

INITIAL PLANS FOR 2022

This list feels and sounds unattainable because school will definitely take most of my time next semester. But I’d like to—

Resume chapter updates for Red Complex. Like I mentioned, I finished Part I—big yeay!—I could finally update regularly…for about four chapters.

Reintroduce Don’t Fall Asleep. Yes. For the third time. I’ve been thinking about it and revised the synopsis I already posted. I might also start posting full chapters.

Reintroduce Maharlika. I posted the first introduction when I was still setting up, but I revised it some time ago and it’s better. Excited to post it.

Introduce The Morose Cat.

Rewrite Drei.

Outline Where the Poet Went to Die.

Map out Adarna and Light and Shadow’s worldbuilding.

Visit my Filipino WIPS. They’re already collecting dusts somewhere.