My phone storage is full due to my incessant note-taking...although I carry a notebook on me constantly, I somehow still find bits of poetry, philosophical musings, and novel brain-showers caught beneath the screen. Here's one from my final morning in Scotland last summer:
Non-Writing Writer
I was inspired this morning as I walked to practice piano for an upcoming recital... this would have been great, had I been inspired to practice. Rather, I was inspired to set the opening of Wordsworth’s The Prelude to music. My roommate (bless her) stopped me just in time: “Ryanne, if you write a melody and…
Ray Bradbury: a reflection
Yesterday was the birthday of renouned American author, Ray Bradbury. Three more years and we can celebrate his 100th birthday. But even in 2017, Bradbury's birthday is special to me because his stories provided the kick-in-the-pants I needed to take my writing seriously. Before entering high school, my family and I made a trip to…
Kirkyard Clan
Once again, a graveyard has inspired poetry. This time, it was the historic Greyfriar's Kirkyard. It was once the post of a loyal dog (Greyfriar's Bobby) and now is rumored to be haunted by a malevolent poltergeist. It also features several tombstones with names that JK Rowling used as Harry Potter characters! Needless to say,…
Reflections on Writing a Novel Draft
During my journey home from Italy, I was super bored and, thus, my brain went crazy and came up with a novel idea that I am ridiculously excited about. Thankfully, I hit 50,000 words on my other novel draft, so I was able to set that one aside without too much guilt to begin this…
#WriterGoals by Homer, Odysseus, and Ryanne
Yes, my title is a hashtag. Sometimes I like to break the trend of ordinary prose. Sorry not sorry. Ironically, however, this post is based on writing standards set waaaaaaaay back in the days of Homer. In reading through The Odyssey for my university's honors institute, I realized two things: First, listening to Chopin's nocturnes whilst reading makes…
To answer “How is your writing going?”
People often ask, "How is your writing going?" or some such question. Well, to answer that... What I think: My novel is sadly forsaken but I think if it all the time and also I need to change the entire perspective so I am rewriting it even though I was 50,000 words in and also…
Research…it’s Legit
As a writer, I frequently find myself researching topics that are...strange, to say the least. In the past I have spent late night sessions researching homemade poisons, mustache puns, medieval makeup, symptoms of consumption, ways to recycle a goat carcass, and what happens inside a morgue. Oh, and let's not forget unibrow jokes. Anyway, in case…
A Sketchy History
Never investigate a writer's Internet search history unless you're comfortable knowing that he or she was looking for things such as this: Other searches may include: beard puns, homemade poisons, magic mirrors, baby names, Latin verbs, and nearest coffee shops. All but the last are for stories...at least let us hope so.
