Michael’s Movie Mentions: Exploring Tension-Building in “The Bourne Ultimatum”

“The Bourne Ultimatum” is a perfect film for analyzing and applying to writing, because it has many traits that are unique to this film series, one of the reasons it is widely known and well regarded as an action film. The director, Paul Greengrass, skillfully uses camera cuts and omniscient narrator voice to build tension throughout the movie. We will be primarily exploring the opening sequence to show just how these cinematic tools are used. I will also be applying this to writing as well, suggesting how writers can use these techniques in their writing to build tension.

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NaNoWriMo Tips + Fun Facts about my NaNo2018 Novel

It’s that time of year. Halloween is in the past, pumpkins are out, temperatures are dropping, people are hopefully getting their pumpkin-spice-chai-lattes from somewhere other than Starbucks. And writers around the world are halfway through the event in which they challenge themselves to write an entire novel in 30 days.

For many of us, NaNoWriMo is an exciting, challenging time of year, and for good reason. Yet we often dread it too, because what if we didn’t prepare enough? What if we fail to write 1667 words per day? What if we encounter writer’s block, which is a myth but is still apparently a thing? Let me say this: Even if you haven’t prepared at all, winning NaNoWriMo iS POSSIBLE! As I write this post, I am behind on my word count (hooray for productive procrastination). The point is, failing NaNoWriMo can and does happen. It happened to me last year because even though I knew my novel (Netherworld) inside and out, I simply wasn’t committed or motivated or excited to follow through the whole month. (Which is why I’m making up this year.)

For those of you who are struggling with NaNoWriMo right now––and even for those of you are way ahead and are doing just fine (KEEP IT UP!!)––I have some tips that might give you some good ideas about how to persevere through NaNo without giving into the stress. I’ll also be sharing a little bit about my NaNo novel Fiction’s Lie just for kicks!

Lyric Interpretation of “Neon Gravestones” by Twenty Øne Piløts

Let’s talk about Twenty Øne Piløts. Again. Because they just recently released a new album called Trench, which is very exciting, and there’s a particular song I want to talk about.

The Writer’s “Get to Know Me” Tag

I ran faster, the stitch in my side forgotten. I felt exhausted and frustrated at how serious this seemingly innocent game of tag had become. I mean, no game of tag has ever existed for two hours, and being anxiety-prone isn’t helping each time I spot a fellow player with impish intent all over their face. When the game started, we were all amateur bloggers, trying to make friends in the otherwise unfriendly world of the Internet. How did it become such a stressful game of every man for himself?

My heart nearly stopped in my chest as I turned a corner and met a dead end; a huge wall of wood spanning about twenty feet in width and length barricaded any other hopes of hiding. Someone had generously graffitied “BLOGGER’S BLOCK” in big black letters across the wall. So this is how it ends, then. But then I heard footsteps, getting louder at an even faster rate than my growing apprehension. When I whipped around, I stood face to face with another runner in the game. It was a girl with long brown hair, braces, and an unexpectingly friendly smile. She reached out, tapped me, and whispered, “tag!” I immediately fell unconscious.

Bullet Journal: Organization for Creatives

I’ve published a few bullet journal posts in the past with my writing bullet journal (which disappeared and hasn’t been attained since) and my first regular bullet journal (which I tried to use to put my life in order and that fell apart). It took me a while to pick up bullet journaling again, but a couple months ago, I saw the perfect color one at Barnes and Noble. I thought about that teal-colored notebook from Barnes and Noble for a whole week and finally decided to give bullet journaling another try. And boy, am I glad I did.

You can use a bullet journal for anything. You can use it any way you want (check out this website to get a gist of how the original bullet journal works), and the best part about it is, you can get as creative and artsy as you want. Time management, class schedules, year planner, homework due dates, food planning, daily journal, story/plot ideas, character caches, monthly overviews, blog schedule––all in one place. Cool, right? Pinterest is a great place to start for journaling tips and prompts, and inspiration of page layouts (and super fancy lettering and art that I could certainly never pull off but like to pin anyways because it looks pretty and who knows, maybe if I miraculously have some time on my hands, I could try). As a writer, blogger, student who works part time, and a human who tries to have a life, bullet journaling has really helped me with time management, priortizing tasks, and getting things done. And it’s also a creative outlet.

Book Review: Flames of Courage by Hannah Heath

Introducing the second installment in the Terebinth Tree Chronicles, Flames of Courage by Hannah Heath! This brilliant short story follows the same storyline about Wanderer in Colors of Fear, and fully develops the character of Jayel, a halfblooded warrior elf who seeks to cease oppression and restore justice for the halfbloods.

“Jumpsuit” by Twenty Øne Piløts: Music Video Analysis Part 2

Today, I’m picking up where I left off in last week’s post, Part 1 of my music video analysis of Twenty Øne Piløts’s song “Jumpsuit.” Which would be about at 2:15 in the music video itself:

Their new song “Levitate” was just recently released, and as far as we know, it is the third and last video of a three-part story that is seen clearly throughout “Jumpsuit” and “Nico and the Niners.” In Part 1, I gave some needed context about the Dema storyline which explains everything that happens in their earlier music videos and their new Trench videos, including Jumpsuit. In order to understand the context of this interpretation, check out the updated Dema explanation in my Part 1 post, or watch this brilliant video (brilliant, yes, but has some profanity). But, picking up from where we left off in the music video, Tyler (or Clancy) has found himself in a ravine receiving stares from some a shady-looking group up on the cliffs—who are actually members of his rebellion that escaped back at Dema— and is encountering Nico, A.K.A. Blurryface on a white horse. The last thing I talked about was how Tyler seems to be either giving into the protection he trusts that his jumpsuit will provide him or is under a trance that Nico puts him under as he gallops toward him (which, according to the theories presented in the video about the Dema storyline, seems to be the most accurate).