The Only Exception: Chapter 2 to 13

For the benefit of new readers, since I've just advertised for my blog recently, this blog is a random collections of my thoughts of writing, including my thoughts for the chapters that I've written.

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Well I'll be.

I have not written a single thing regarding this fanfiction since the year started. Then again, it's been a while since I wrote anything.

The last fanfiction post that I've written was actually on the last chapter of "Days of Exile". Since then, I've begun writing yet another story in the Final Fantasy 7 fandom, which was "The Only Exception". I've also written a story in the Katekyo Hitman Reborn fandom, but that's a story for another time.

As I have mentioned in my story, the inspiration of this story came from the song "The Only Exception" by Paramore. I like many songs from the band and you'll see that if I were to write a fic on singing, I would draw the inspiration most from Paramore.

The initial intention was to make each story one chapter each, thus ending this in 4 chapters. Alas, I was unable to. Even now as I'm writing Vincent's story, I marvel at how I could keep Tifa's story within 3 chapters.

Story of Tifa

This part is most like a shoujo manga. Short and fast paced, with ridiculous story development. I enjoyed writing the story and I'm glad that I could finish it in three chapters. I wanted to finish it in two though.

One of the things that I could never come to terms with is Cloud's personality. Should he be carefree? Gloomy and pessimistic? Thanks SquareEnix, for creating a schizo character that fanfic writers cannot put their fingers to.

Also, this is one of my BIGGEST mistakes when typing on my ipad. It frustrates me to no end.

Story of Aerith

For this one? I planned to end in 4 chapters. I ended up writing across 7 chapters.

It was natural that the Tifa and Aerith story were connected, but I did not intend to connect the latter two stories in any way. The connection between Tifa and Aerith's stories gave me the idea to continue connecting so that it becomes a whole, just like the song.

Aerith's story was a little hard to churn out as there were many routes that I wanted to take. The one that you are reading right now (Zack being KAI and Gast was really a bad father) was the original idea. However, when I was writing Chapter 8, I struggled a week because I had another idea which was that Gast was actually KAI, not Zack. Zack was the song writer for Gast/KAI. Zack helped Aerith reconcile with her father. That was seriously a route that I considered, but I decided to stick to my original idea in the end. Didn't turn out too bad either, I thought.

There was also an idea to link the main character of the fourth story to be the step-sister of Aerith, but that was (thankfully) scraped. Later on, when I was writing Vincent's story, I thought it would be awesome to help Elmyra Gainsborough as Vincent's housekeeper. Oh well, too late. The story of Aerith was already published, so Elmyra will remain as an accountant :)

Story of Vincent

Another unexpected story. I am still writing it (very painfully).

It's funny because I have the story in my head. All I had to do is to write it, but getting down to it was easier said than done.

Making Vincent Valentine a protagonist was a first for me. I admit that Vincent was a little out of character in some instances, so in terms of character portrayal, I'm not terribly proud of myself. Still, I like how the story is progressing. Better luck with the fourth story *pats own back*

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Okay, that's all I've gotta say for now. More to come... I hope.

Fellow writer to fellow writer

So at my workplace, there was a child the age of 9. When I first met her, she was 7 and she wrote and drew her own picture book one fine day and surprised all my colleagues. I have not read it before and I wished that I would have the chance to.

Two years have passed since I first knew her and I met her again recently.

"Are you still writing?" I asked her.

To that, she shook her head and said that she has become too busy to write.

"But do you enjoy writing?" I probed. A large part of me prayed really hard that she still did and that she was not bogged down by the restrictions of Singapore's examinations.

"Yes, I love writing."

Phew! As long as her passion was still around, she should not give up. And that's what I told her, along with whatever advice I could scramble for her. Notebook of plot bunnies and ideas, writing just 30 minutes a day...

To her, it seemed like an adult telling a child what she thought would be best. Honestly, adult or not, we are all starting and running on the track of writing an awesome work. So when I was talking to her, I found myself talking to her like a fellow writer to a fellow writer. It was a nice feeling and I could not wait to see more people in my life who can step up and say "Let's share our experiences as writers!"

I also hope that this little girl will continue her desire to write.

In other news... I'm supposed to upload my new chapters. Hehe.

Yes, everyone, I am alive.

Barely though.

I'm still working... and playing games whenever I'm not.

And now I'm tasked to write a script, but I am having such bad mental block.

For my fanfiction, on average I'm writing 200 words a day. So you can imagine how slowly "The Only Exception" and "Can I Stay By Your Side?" is going.

Help me, oh mighty creative juice!

Publishing is not a distant dream anymore

Recently, I’ve noticed that there was an increase in local publishers in Singapore. More and more Singaporean authors are stepping out to write for the younger audience. I think that is great, and it makes me excited knowing that the entry to the market is wider and that my little dream of being published someday might actually come true.

So for the last two weeks, when I am not reading or writing fanfiction, I think about original stories. I am tempted to rewrite my older stories. I had old plot bunnies that were unfinished, but I am not sure if that was the direction that I wanted to go along.

A part of me is afraid. Afraid of what the real editors and publishers might think of my stories if I show them what I had done before. I am going to be honest here – I think that my stories have some kind of standard. Sure, it’s not J.K Rowling nor Neil Gaiman, but I enjoyed reading my stories. What if that had just been my rosy picture? What if the editors didn’t like it, and that was the best that I could do?

The thought of that cripples me sometimes. Sometimes, I wonder if the one thing that I thought I can do decently is not quite my calling or talent.

Alas, fear never pushes the man forward.

Throne of Glass and rants

No, I'm not writing to complain about Throne of Glass. I've mentioned in my review that I absolutely adore the book. Yes, the reviews were spiralling in their dislike for Celaena Sardothien. I noticed and see where they were coming from. Yeah, Celaena was bordering on being an annoying Mary-Sue. But I love her, there's nothing I can do about that.

I reread Throne of Glass and over the next three days, sped through the two books thereafter, "Crown of Midnight" and "Heir of Fire"... until the last 150 pages of "Heir of Fire". I was apprehensive how the ending would be. I mean, at the last 150 pages, the story was not picking itself up yet.

Also, I was not ready for the story to really end. Readers of the series would know that the story turned for the darker in the middle of "Crown of Midnight" and I was afraid that the story would not end up the way I wanted. My hopes were dashed by quite a number of books (and manga) before... I certainly hoped that "Throne of Glass" would not join them. So I left the book there for another day or two... until I finally told myself to finish it or else I may forget the story altogether.

Then I realised. There will be a fourth book.

To be honest, the first reaction was "What nonsense!"

I was all prepared for an ending to find that the book was not at its end. I wish that there would be some indication as to whether the book has ended or not.

Then in hindsight, "Phew! Thank goodness she didn't wrap up the entire ending in a measly 50 pages!" That kind of ending would have sucked. Big time.

Back to my rant, that's the problem with series. It's difficult to know which book to read first. The authors publish books as though readers will always pick them up the minute they hit the racks. How are readers going to find out which book came first and how would readers know whether the books is really the last book? 'Cause I truly believed that "Heir of Fire" was the last book in the series. Can you imagine if I threw all twenty-two "Legend of Drizzt" books at you for you to figure out the order?

Actually, I wouldn't be so upset if not for the fact that the last book of "Throne of Glass" would only be available on the 1st of September. Golly, and how long would that be before the book comes to Singapore?

Patience, patience.

I'm awaiting "Queen of Darkness" very eagerly now.

And as a side note, fangirling over Chaol Westfall so hard that I almost sacrificed my free time to reread "Crown of Midnight". Almost.

Book Review (11): Stitching Snow

Hello, I'm back with another review. This was an impulsive buy. I had no clue what story it was. I just liked the cover of the book. After I bought the book, I read reviews and I was afraid that I would be disappointed.

It's funny that I read books that I've just bought instead of reading books that have been in my shelf for years unread.



Stitching Snow
R.C. Lewis

Synopsis (in my own words): Essie was stuck in a snowy planet and she's a tinkerer, fixing robots and stuff. One day, this beautiful man crashed into her place on a space shuttle. She wanted to help him and thus got herself pulled into her past.

Reviews on Goodread were less than stellar. The book is a retelling of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves", set in a futuristic world where people travel between planets. Let's see what I think.

1.
Firstly, Kudos to the author. Everyone said that it's boring and reused, I did not notice that the story was an adaptation. Maybe I was a little dumb in that, usually I spot references really quickly, but it was not until the last third of the book that I suddenly went, "Oh! Why did I not see that her seven drones were the seven dwarves?"

I'm an idiot.

I did not think that it was such a bad thing. The retelling was not obvious, in my opinion. Reused ideas? Come on, people, storytellers have been retelling stories for centuries. Get over that. I always like originality, but in this age, originality is hard to come by.

2. Setting
The setting was interesting. Maybe it was because I don't read sci-fi, but I liked the different environments of the planets.

Now, the things that I didn't like:

3. Characters
This was supposed to be a strength, but as I wrote, I realised that I didn't like it much anymore. So I have turned this into something that I didn't like.

The protagonist Essie is quite a strong-willed, feisty character. She had learnt to survive on her own in the icy tundras for many years. However, that's kind of what all the female protagonists are like nowadays. What happened to sweet, demure girls? I guess they never become protagonists. Maybe I should look for a book with a demure girl.

Back to Essie, the author did toughen her up, but I think she could have been just a tinge bit more crude. In terms of her character, I find her personality pretty generic and would not have thought of her as an interesting character. It was the same for her seven drones.

However, the character Dane was a strong complement to Essie. He was sweet and humorous. Even when he did things that I cannot say (because that would spoil the story), I never disliked him. I kept rooting for him and had my prediction on what Dane would turn out to be in the end. I was surprised with his development in the end.

4. Vocabulary
Rich, descriptive vocabulary EXCEPT for their verbs. Their spoken vocabulary was limited. It's always 'rigging' or 'botch' or something like that. It gets repetitive over 300 pages.

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Overall, it was a good read, I wouldn't reread it though. Not when I have many books to finish.

Verdict: Consider it

Pictures taken from:
Cover page

Recent Updates

Whoa, it has been one month since.

I've been busy with work, and now that I'm more free, I ended up reading more novels, playing more games and watching more "Whose Line Is It Anyway?"

So much for commitment.

I've been having a mental block for the two stories that I'm working on, no doubt. I will get back to it... as soon as I can.

Meanwhile, I'll let you people know that I'm alive through this blog.