FFM: Chapter 21

Chapter twenty-one is finally out, and I'm surprised I've breached the 4,500 word count for a single chapter.

I was tempted, and I will say how unholy the temptation was to stop at 1.6K words.

But screw it.

I typed, and typed and typed.

1.6k is too short to convey the idea I want to express.

You can't cram Cloud and Aerith asking for clothes, boarding a ship to escape Junon, and getting shipwrecked, can you?

The ideas have taken a life of its own. I initially planned Cloud to steal the clothes, but Aerith didn't want to steal and decided to knock on the door. Suddenly, the man wasn't nice and she decided to knock him down.

Of course I didn't like the way it was going and rewrote the opening scene, and I settled with an eight year old boy helping the two.

I think I'm much better at writing alternating viewpoints. Actually, I have a long way to go, but I'm much better, compared with my first fic, Your Eyes on Me.

Somehow, this chapter ballooned to 4.6k, and I think I've done a fairly good job.

My next challenge is how to tie the loose ends beautifully.

I don't know if I can.

My ears are bleeding (just kidding) from listening to Japanese songs. Writing while listening to music improves my mood, it seems, and right now, I'm dying to start on my next story.

FFM has two more chapters before it ends, and I'm proud with my output!

Flower from Midgar's title origins

Around the third quarter of 2016, I posted a story called "Magdalen from Midgar"in Fanfiction. net.

That story was inspired from listening to Gloc-9's song, Magda ( I urge you to check it out!)

It was haunting enough that I wrote a story out of it, and when I wanted to deepen that story, I resorted to fanfiction.

I had just finished a Final Fantasy 8 Fanfic, and decided to migrate to the Final Fantasy 7 section, testing what the readers' reaction would be.

My first review was simple. "Looks promising, good luck!"

So I posted some chapters intending it to be five chapters long. There weren't a lot of readers mind you, and the comments were zero. It was disheartening, but I persevered anyway. I was also reading books about how to improve my writing skill, and opted to apply what I learned on MFM.

Around chapter 3, I changed the title into "Flower from Midgar" or FFM for short.

I think that's the crappiest title I've ever created, but it's a little too late to change it now. I've clocked in 21 chapters (and around 40K words, oh wow!) and if I changed it now, some readers might be confused.

Coming up with a story title is no easy feat, I tell you.

I could have stuck with Magdalen from Midgar, but I felt it was too obvious. No one tells you that coming up with memorable titles is easy.

Despite the cheesiness, I still like FFM.

Yeah, I guess I'll stick with that until I finish it :D

First Post for 2017!

And this is my first post for 2017, Hello world!

It's been quite some time since I last blogged. 2016 was a fun year. I tried my hand at daily blogging, which I did, thank God, before realizing I was becoming a human spam.

I had written a bunch of blog posts. inspirational ones. ones about popular culture. how-to blah blah blah. 2016 was a beautiful mess, really.

But truth is, I stopped blogging because I wanted to brand myself.

and I failed, miserably.

I enrolled myself in a branding class, paid for it even, and in the end, I hardly implemented or even followed it. There goes my hard-earned money!

I was supposed to blog last January 2017, but I was unsure of what to write. Perfectionism can be a nasty creature, and I had enough of it.

I was traveling to Tagaytay City the order day, reading a copy of Austin Kleon's   Show Your Work.

Chapter 2 struck a chord with me.

Share your process. be a documentarian with what you do. 

I certainly do not want to document every part of my life, That's one reason I don't actively post on Facebook anymore.

Right now, I'm busy with writing and reading stories. I'm currently working on Flower from Midgar, a Final Fantasy 7 fanfiction. The story is mine, but the characters aren't, but because I need to see how the story would unfold, I decided to borrow Square's characters.

Maybe I could share my writing process, or how I write a chapter.

Yeah, maybe I could.

I won't be a human spam that way, right?

What happened when I took an Artist Date

Artist Date... what's that?

Well, it one of the three legs of creativity that Julia Cameron preaches:

Morning Pages. Artist Dates. Walking. 

According to her, doing morning pages makes you tell the world/universe what your dreams and problems are. The Artist Dates provide the answers to your dreams and problems. Walking makes you receptive. 

In my case, I've been writing Morning Pages since 2010. 

Walking? I've been walking since 2004. I accidentally discovered the calming effect walking has on my brain.  

Artist Dates? Uh.... no thanks. 

I've been resisting the Artist Date Concept. Julia Cameron mentioned that a resistance to artist dates means a resistance to self-intimacy. 

Wait, what?

It feels phony and I doubted it would really help me. 

Doubted. Yes, you heard me right.

Because one Saturday morning, I decided to give it a shot. 

My morning pages entries went like this:

"Well, it must be something that my Artist likes, yes?"

"Why not play basketball at the Arcade?"

"Why not try that wall-climbing activity?"

"Why not try archery?"

Granted, these activities are more fun when you have a companion. 

But in Artist Dates, you are your own companion. You and your artist child. 

I strolled at SM Ecoland the following day. I passed by the arcade as a war raged within me. 

"There are so many people. So many kids. I feel so left out. I must feel like a loner"

......

"It doesn't hurt to ask how much the tokens cost now, does it?"

One token costs five Philippine pesos, and single game of basketball costs 2 tokens. 

Let me tell you, my twenty pesos was well-spent!

After exhausting my tokens, I realized how much fun basketball was (or shooting balls on a ring was!)

Basketball was my sport of choice in my youth. My avenue to overcome/cover up my insecurities. 

(haha!)

But in 2nd year highschool, I stopped playing the game for two reasons:

One. I had a senior whom I were good friends with, who told me I didn't know how to dribble. Can you imagine how my frail ego took that? 

Second. During our sportsfest, I was doing my best, blocking another player from shooting, and I heard jeers that my actions could be counted as foul. So much for giving your best. Oh no, frail ego!

That was the last time I willingly played basketball. 

I would occasionally touch the ball. But never again did I approach the ball with such enthusiasm. 

After that short game, I had another brief monologue in my head:

"There's a basketball court near your house. why not play there?"

"Oh Geez, it's embarrassing to play when you're alone, groups play there too, and I don't have a ball."

"Well, you had a deflated ball at home. You can purchase a pin. You have that item to inflate your bike wheel. You check what times you aren't allowed to play."

It's so easy to discourage ourselves and shoot down that first idea. 

I bought a pin. You couldn't play after 8PM and 12NN-3PM.  Okay. I might as well play in the early morning, or after work.

But I couldn't find the ball. 

"But I just can't purchase a ball. it could be expensive, like a thousand bucks. I spent 3,000 for my Mikasa Vollyball."

"It doesn't hurt to try and ask."

Turns out a Mikasa basketball costs almost 600, while a cheaper non-branded ball is around 150. 

"Are you playing professionally?" the saleslady asked.

"Just for fun."

I went home with a non-branded ball that day. 

At 6PM, I threw a shot. A congratulatory shot. A well-deserved activity for conquering my negative self-talk. Magic happens when you give yourself a try. 

The next morning, I woke up at 5:30 AM to play basketball. Alone. 

"Why not take a walk?"

So I walked around the subdivision for an hour.

I studied for the remaining day, alternating it with rounds of physical activity. I even played basketball with the kids from my neighborhood.  

The next day, (which is today), my body ached. 

A well-deserved ache, by the way.

Doing my artist date unfolded a new path I never expected. 

I never imagined I would my interest in basketball. Maybe the interest might fade. Maybe it won't. But I'm looking for alternative ways to move my body. To make it feel vibrant. 

Basketball does that.

There's magic when you give yourself a try. 

My next artist date will be Wall-Climbing Activity after my exams. I can't wait for that!

Collage: A change of heart

I was never a fan of collages.

I recall projects in school where the teacher had to make us make a collage, I can recall that disgusting feeling in me.

Ick.

No.

Never.

That's cheating.

I don't like it.

Never.

Then my big, hairy and audacious goal came. Time was running out.

Really running out.

I resorted to grabbing photos online, editing it in photoshop and voila!

Hey, not bad!

Not bad at all!

I should set aside one weekend and create collages for fun.

That would make an interest artist date, right?

Big Hairy Audacious Goal

I accepted a new project.

It's huge.

It's audacious.

It's hairy.

My God, it's scaring the wits out of me.

I don't know whether it'll push through, whether the concept will be accepted, or hated that its thrown against the wall with such force.

All I know is.

I'm taking a risk.

I'm expanding myself.

I'm using my Wacom Tablet for the first time this year.

Thank you for taking time to read, here's a cute picture to make your day:

It's not bad to be "Noise"

In a previous post, I wrote about my desire to "not be another noise" in the internet.

Yep. I do. I want to be valuable. I want to help.

Or am I just allowing my ego to get the best out of me?

Creative's Nook is my personal blog.

Yes.

I accept that.

I'm not seeking fame, glory, subscribers, or pageviews for it.

It's for my personal creation.

I can add value with another blog, or website.

But Creative's Nook?

Let it be noise!