Friday, September 27, 2013

When To Start A New One?

I have written a lot this year. Let's see if I can recap.

I wrote my 2nd novel, a novella for a writing competition, another novella for a book award, a picture storybook, and a lot of short stories and fan fictions on my writer's blog. For a year, I think I've written too much! 

So with that in mind, it is only normal for me to ask myself when to start a new writing project?

I was planning to write a novella or two next year, but I was recently approached by a talented artist who wanted to do a fun project. He told me his brief idea and asked if I was interested in being project partners. Even though it wasn't easy (as the idea was already generated) but the thought of just writing a new story seemed fun. Plus, the guy is freaking talented.

Hence, I said yes and I'm 3 chapters in. We have planned it to be 3 novelettes with 12 chapters each. That's a total 36 chapters. So 3 chapters in is not bad. I'll probably finish writing all 36 by the end of he year, since I have a habit of writing a chapter a day whenever I start a new project. 

Once the writing is done, I think it would take a while before the trilogy would be released. But, I think we can make it by next year. 

So, when you ask yourself when to start a new project, just listen to your heart. It has the answer. 

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

The Story Behind 'Magnum Opus'



I got the title first, from a conference I attended over a weekend in June. The word Magnum Opus meant greatest creation, and I remembered thinking to myself how awesome of a title that would be. Don’t you agree?

It never dawned on me to write anything based off it until the next morning. It was a Sunday morning and I was at church. During praise and worship, God dropped me an interesting idea with a little picture to go with it.

The idea was to write about the greatest of the greatest magnum opus with a childlike theme in an odd fantasy world. I wasn’t sure on how to go about it, as the closest reference that came to mind was The Little Prince.

I first read The Little Prince when I was 10, I think. And I never completed the book. It was a children’s book with adult themes… and similarly, Magnum Opus had the same concept.

Even though I was not 100% sure of the direction this story was going, I wrote it anyways. And, I guess it came out pretty well.

The reason why I’m giving out this picture story book for free, with all the awesome illustration thanks to a designer friend, is for readers to experience the story like how I did.

When I finished writing the story, I felt more emotionally attached to every thing around me. To know that it took effort, dedication and time to create the Magnum Opus, I can’t help but feel grateful and loved. (If you have no idea what I’m saying right now, read my book! It’s free after all. You can download it here!)

Sometimes, it is easy for us to take for granted of the people and the things around us, and often times we complain about not being appreciated. Magnum Opus showed that I was exactly as I just mentioned. It really gave me a change of heart.

So, if you have read the story whether you liked it or not, I hope that you would at least take something from it; appreciate others just as you want to be appreciated.

I hope you have enjoyed my work! If you have anything you wanna say about it to me, send me an email at jeynagrace@gmail.com. I always love hearing from my readers! 

Friday, September 6, 2013

What’s The Secret To A Successful Blog?


First, define what you mean by success. If it means getting a lot of subscribers then my answer would be, ‘put yourself out there’.

Unlike my professional writer’s blog, this blog only has one subscriber (a friend, whom I think does not read this anymore) and a fair amount of page views. That's because I did not put myself out there. Nevertheless, this blog is a success in its own way.

Being that my writer's blog has been growing, I have been asked a couple of times on how I managed to do so. And in all those times I give the same advice. This is something that works for me, so it should work for you too… I think.

As a writer and blogger, I put myself out there in two ways:

#1 I visit other blogs, read their content, and leave a little comment. I also try to leave positive feedbacks and encouraging words.

Now I don’t just visit one blog a day, I visit quite a number of them. It takes time and effort, but if you want people to visit your blog, you have to visit theirs first.

#2 I write. I get over the fear of being plagiarized and I put my works out there for people to read.

I previously wrote a lot of fan fictions on my blog, but I soon transitioned to more originals. That itself was another step of  ‘putting myself out there’.  Hopefully, my work would speak for itself and people would subscribe for more.

See, it’s very simple!

Just take the first step in shaking someone’s hand, then bring up a very interesting topic. This is something we do daily and it can be done in the blogosphere as well. Just give it a go and all the best :)

Monday, September 2, 2013

What a feeling...


This is not a new feeling to me, I’ve felt this way a few weeks ago and I’m feeling it again. What is this feeling? A feeling that my life is too small.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m living a comfortable life right now. I earn pretty well for a fresh grad (mainly cause I have a stable freelance job on top of my day job), I have my weekends off to do whatever I like, I have time for TV series, dramas, exercise and personal writing, and I have nothing much to worry about.

Sure, when I first started working, I grumbled about a lot of things. It was a big shift in life and it took time getting used to, but now that everything has settled down, my lifestyle is easy-going. It is safe to say I am very, very blessed.

God has been looking out for me, providing for me, and undoubtedly blessing me with so much. He’s been so good and I’m grateful.

But still… I feel like my life is too small.

I’ve only been working for 6 months and I’m already bored. I’m bored with the same old daily routine, and I just want something bigger. I know I’m not made for a small life… I can feel it in my bones!

I don’t want to have a 9-6 job, I want to travel the world, share my works and inspire lives. I want to be a voice that capture hearts and change mindsets. I probably would not have weekends off with dramas to watch, but that is the kind of life I want.

Living a mediocre life is just too small for me. I rather be busy and making a difference than free and bored.

Of course, I’ve already put all these thoughts and desires before God. He knows the annoyance I feel at the lack of big things in my life. And with that, He made a verse pop out from my ‘quick’ bible reading session last night.

Psalms 27: 14
Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

The word is rather timely as the night before, I was feeling frustrated at my small life. Reading it, I was reminded to wait for God. He’s the author of my life and He has a perfect timing for everything.

I guess until something big happens, I’ll suck it up and wait for Him. After all… He knows my heart and He is in control.