Getting Inspiration

The character Andrew from my novel "Green Success" I based him off of my self, I felt I needed to base every character in the novel off someone I knew, and basing this character off me allowed me to make him the most lively character in the book. Every character has a piece of me in them, but this one has the most.... I felt I got a head start in my book because I didn't have to worry about characters, I already had models for them in real life... Green Success - Andrew T. (c) 2010





Getting inspiration is more than just getting an idea, it's getting the energy and motivation to get off your lazy chair and start doing what you were inspired to do. Now I can't tel you what to get inspired about nor can I tell you how to get inspired. Creative ideas and imagination is beyond science and beyond regularity, that's why it's called creativity and ingenuity.

Creativity is the only trait where the student and the teacher are one...

Because I can't tell you how to get inspired I'll just share with you how I get inspired, because I always say trying out other peoples methods of doing things is always good, having an opened mind is part of being creative.... take every idea, and throw out the bad ones and what you will have left is a masterpiece....

So I'll start by sharing where I get my inspirations from, or at least most of them. Often I believe the main source of most of my creativity lies within my love for Nintendo. The company that dominated my childhood. Perhaps the biggest influence which inspired me to go out and explore my neighbor hood, find secret areas, hide outs and caves was obtained soon after playing the Legend of Zelds, particularly I became extremely fond of the Wind Waker. It was this game that probably gave me my love for the ocean and all things water related... now Living in California I have access to the desert, ocean, snow and grass lands. I spent most of my time in the grass lands forest area and the dessert, which were right next to each other. I believe that nature is by far the biggest inspiration for any of my works, but it wasn't until I played the Legend of Zelda series that I had the motivation to actually go outside and "discover" the beauty of nature....

Nintendo music is by far the most ingenious composition I have ever head in my life and it played a big role in my desire to compose music and my desire to create great things...

Often I catch my self drifting off into imagination land... it feels like my imagination was so big that sometimes I think I have ADD, but what ever, at least I can pay attention to mt imagination long enough to engulf my entire mind in it. Most of my imagining is done out side where the wind blows, the sun shines and leafs and cotton puffs float around, glowing in the warm air.



Now with that in mind, Nintendo Games didn't actually inspire me to become a writer, no it wasn't until I started watching Death Note that I became obsessed with it for a while. Yes, I admit I actually started sitting like L for a while and holding things with my fingertips, but eventually that phase was over after I "grew up" a little and realized he was just a fictional character. But during that time this L guy felt so real, and I then became more inspired than any other time to create my own cast of lovable characters that other people would be able to "live with" and have an experience of their own.

After watching Death Note, my first "serious" anime ( I had watched Pokemon, Yugioh, Ruoni Kenshin, DBZ and many other anime from Tonami) I had grown an obsession with these anime, and thankfully I had YouTube. Now don't go accusing me of not supporting the anime just because I watched them for free on YouTube, most of the series didn't have an English dub yet. I began to watch so much anime after that it was unbelievable, I even created a list on YouTube of the anime I watched so I could remember just in case I needed to go back and watch it again I'd be able to spell the Japanese name correctly.

After watching The Melencholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, I started watching Lucky Star, and it wasn't until I started watching Lucky Star that I decided to study the way they build the characters and the way the story and things played out. I studied it hard and even made mental notes about how the show wanted the audience to perceive something. I was going to use these as a way to improve my story telling. Unfortunately Lucky Star was one of those talky talky comical no storyline anime type of thing so I didn't really learn much about story telling, but I'm glad I watched it because I learned a whole lot about characters and how unique each one was and how easy it was to remember them.

So I set out to find an anime with story, particularly (this was after I had the general idea of what I wanted my book to be about) I was searching for sad anime series. so I watched Air and Elfen Lied. Perhaps the two greatest anime series I've ever watched, although not crazy popular I liked them because of the amazing story telling and character development. I learned so much, after and even during my watching of the anime I often studied how things played out and sometimes I would watch the anime at the same time I was writing my story. (Which was dangerous because Your brain could subconsciously steal ideas)



Now I never knew anyone who was a writer, and I believe that knowing people in person who do thing is one of the biggest inspirations. Because I didn't know any writers I think it was a tough decidion to set out on such a long journey to write and know that no one else was doing it (That I knew in person) so I couldn't compete with them, nor talk with them and share ideas and stuff. So it was pretty hard, even my School Writing club wouldn't accept me because they thought I was some kind of joke (before I wrote my novel) ....but I was inspired to become famous! and it was by a "famous" person I knew, my cousin. His name was Linh and he is the lead composer for the music from the band OFTHESEVEN. His music inspired me and told me that you don't have to have some super record deal to be "famous" He was famous to me and everyone who knew him, and that was what counts, so I believe he was the only person who personal inspired me. I also started composing my own music as a result of him.


Real life experiences inspired me too, I added an arcade part in my novel because I went to Dave and Busters one weekend and I had such a fun time playing guitar hero and everybody being amazed at my "skill" at playing on a plastic guitar - through the fire and flames. Have you ever had one of those experiences where you just HAD to share it with other people? But you knew the only way was either to brag about it or take them with you some day? I've always had lots of those, experiences with friends and family that I knew were once in a lifetime times of fun. There was a lake where tons of logs floated about, the water ws clear and everyone was playing on the logs, there was a bridge and everydoby jumped off it, I was so scared but eventually I did it and it was the best part of the whole vacation. (It was in Washington State, if it had been elsewhere like California I bet there would have been a fence on the bridge or some security guard keeping watch... lame California restrictions on fun) Another time me and my cousins climbed a snowy mountain because were went to the mountains and were bored, it was a tall steep mountain and when we got to the top we put down the plastic Tupperware and stood on top of it. We peered over the sun set and the orange glazed city which lay far below us, there were no trees below so it was a clear path straight down into the frozen river, which looked like a skate park. We stood on top of the plastic kitchen tubber ware and "skated" down the hill. We were going so fast and it was such a unique experience. Don't get me wrong, I almost pee'd my pants, but it was too much fun. Maybe someday I'll incorporate those awesome experiences into my writings... (Other than this blog)

Sometimes I stand outside at night and gaze at the stars (on the roof of course) sometimes I play the Legend of Zelda just to see the "scenery" and talk to the memorably characters. These alternate realities are great, they keep us from realizing the hardships of the real world and in a way give us something to live for other than just school, work and money.




I often go on YouTube seeking YouTubers who specifically upload only their own original content, It is very inspiring to me, Draw With Me - by Mike inel was one of the biggest inspiration from a fellow YouTube who uploads his own original content. I only spoke with him one time in a Personal Message because I wanted to know when the sequel to his awesome animation was coming out and if I could help. (It was because of his video that inspired me to create my first animation and I wanted to help make the next animation with him) He told me his idea for the sequel but he had no intentions of making the sequel,.... or at least at the time, I heard one was in the works though.... So I ended up uploading my first animation with a story that was very similar to his, but also very different.... I titled it Let's Draw, and it was 5 minutes long, and it was my first ever animation which took about 1 - 3 months to draw out every frame and edit in Windows Movie Maker.... it was my masterpiece and I eventually incorporated it in my novel as well... it is a key object in the novel!

Inspiration is key to creating, please allow your self to be opened to other peoples Ideas, if you only stick to your own ideas, they may eventually become stale.

Job 41: 11 “Everything under heaven belongs to me.”

I also believe it was because of my strong belief in the Christian faith that I became so determined to find my calling in life, my gift from God, the thing I could use to glorify him.




- Andrew T.

Story Writing (The Hard Part)

The main character Long from my book "Green Success" ...although he never says "believe it!" in the story, this picture was meant to be funny, as I didn't want my book to be 100% serious.... if you don't get the joke go watch the first episode of Naruto...

OVERVIEW: Every writer has their own secret formula for writing their book, the formula revolves around actions, and events that trigger emotions from the reader and things that make the reader feel for the book. An example of an actual formula used in a story: Character meets the other main Characters, a Comical beginning, A serious middle part, A comical and funny closing, a disastrous and sad ending. This was an actual formula a writer used for their anime series, it was their own formula and many writers fail to create their own as well. If you can create your own formula it will be easier to stick to a path to follow and easier to make a more enjoyable book...



I planned out exactly what I wanted to write about and I visualized the scene in my head, but I never had it quite 100% visable, but after I start writing, then I can slowly see the skeleton I am assembling and then later I can go back and put on the skin and what not. So the main idea I'm trying to get across is that you should never think of your first draft as your final draft... at least not if you take your book seriously...

SPLITTING UP THE STORY

Just like a song is split into different segments, some often being repeated, I think a book should be split up as well. Beginning, Middle and End. The Beginning of the story was devoted to introducing the characters, settings, and conflict all while trying to gain the readers interest in the rest of the book. The Beginning part should give the reader all the necessary information to be able to understand the rest of the book, for example if you're writing about dragons it would be wise to mention dragons somewhere in the beginning part of the story. The Beginning is by far one of the most important parts, and needs to be worked on hard and made as good as possible, nothing kills an audience more than a boring into. The Middle is the sequence of events that happen as a result of this conflict, and also shows the characters methods of going about to resolve this conflict. Usually the middle part is the longest part and should be full of different events. The End part obviously resolves the conflict, but should also slow down the pace of the story as it makes its slow gradual tug towards the conclusion of the story....

WRITING

So After I understood this I began with writing the Introduction of my story, I believe I already covered that in my last post, so I'll skip that and move on to the end of the intro and the beginning of the middle part.

After I created memorable and unique characters that come alive on the page and make actions that make them more memorable and alive than any fictional character, I needed to introduce them, which I talk about in the previous post. After I had introduced the five main characters (there was still one left, she pops ion the story later) I had finished introducing the setting clearly from the school grounds to the house streets, (I did this as these were parts of the events, I didn't just make separate paragraphs dedicated to describing these things, because I felt it would slow down the story. So I described the setting during the times that the characters and events took place on these places.) Your setting is important, don't just pick some random setting, you setting needs to be so important that if the setting were somewhere else, it would be an entirely different story. I knew everything was taken care of, so I finished my beginning part with a "Bridge" if you will. NO, More like a "ramp", I wanted the reader to feel like they have read to a point in the story where they can put down the book and rest, and pick it up later. But I also created a "ramp" or "Slide" Which they had slid down part way as they finished the beginning part. The only way they could fully slide down this "slide" and reach the water for the big splash was to continue reading. I hope my analogy makes sense. Basically I made it clear that there would be a seperation between the parts, while still making sure the reader will be interested.

Now I will admit I did feel a little limited as to what was going on in the Beginning part, I limited my self to not overwhelming the story with so much events or information, but only what was necessary for the reader to be able to understand the rest of the story. I added lot's of comical [arts in the beginning to, parts that when I was writing them down they actually made me Laugh Out Loud. I also added some sad and emotional parts in the beginning to so the reader could feel more into the book, experience it for them selves and not feel like their being hand fed all the information.

THE FUN PART

The Middle part was by far the most fun I ever had in writing. Because of the story line of my book I could basically write about ANYTHING, literally ANYTHING, I could write about space ships and dragons and still the book would make sense because of the story line I chose for the book, (Which will be revealed upon release) ..And yes I did add a part with a Dragon in the book, even though it takes place in modern times and has no magic powers what so ever, it still makes sense and it's by far my favorite part of the book! Very imaginative.

Basically I could whip up any situation and throw the characters in, knowing this, as for any story, The events had to be unique and relevant to the story. I spent most of my time sitting in front of the computer screen listening to music and thinking of the events, I re-thought about the events multiple times, sometimes I didn't write anything down for days, I spent so much time day dreaming and changing up the event little by little. It was great and it felt good to know how creative I was getting!

When ever you get an idea write it down as soon as possible, it is better to write down your fresh ideas now, often during school while I was still writing it, I day dreamed about what was going to happen next, but due to my lazy habit of not writing anything down I often forgot when I got home, so I decided to only think about it in front of the computer screen, or keep notes at school. What a logical solution huh?

This is a picture of on of my desks, I do most of my drawings on this one, and what looks like a child's play time paradise is actually a place where lot's of work gets done! Obviously I have to clear a space for me every time I need to use it, most of the time I'm using this desk by simply looking at the objects on tip of it.

Basically let your mind run free, and let other things in, always have distractions in your work place. My whole desk is cluttered with distractions and it's a good thing! The room never looks the same and there's always variety and inspirational things laying around. When writing about a sad part, the logical thing would be to listen to sad music right? Then re read it over without the sad music and see how it makes you feel, remember the reader probably isn't listening to the same music as you when they read your story... if they listen to music while they read.... Take breaks often and don't be afraid to watch anime and your favorite shows... I often watched anime that touched upon the same subjects or similar subjects as my book. If I wanted to develop a character more I first watched an anime and studies how it developed its characters then I would learn from it and try to do the same.... while not stealing anything or copying it.... Remember to be completely original....

This is my main desk with my main computer, ( I have four other ones for different purposes, I got the other four for free, this is the only one I actually paid for) Ass you can see there are lot's of things on this desk, you could almost consider it a clearance shelf at the store.I often feel like a child siting here, but hey my childhood was full of imagination. I have things ranging from PSP's to Hand drawn frames I used for animations. The two yellow sticky notes have algorithms for solving a Rubik's cube, just in case I forget. I often stop working just to take a look at these objects again, and usually I get lot's of designs and settings from looking at the placement of the objects and imagining town and houses and different countries all on my one desk..... it would be a shame if my house burnt down.....

Another bad habit I often found my self doing, and what I'm doing right now as I type this sentence. I often stayed up late at night writing. The brain works best when it's awake, but I though to my self, late at night when I'm supposed to be dreaming, isn't that the best time to get creative? The answer is yes! (For me that is) I have found I am most willing to work at night... not as much distractions, not as much other things to do besides work.... but during the day I have found my writings to be much better... I guess it's a trade off, write creatively but poorly during the night, then get some good sleep and during the day after I convince my self to get to work ( if I can) then I'll edit the writings I've done during the night.

This is just the wall above one of my desks, I just thought it might be interesting to look at... I have things up on the wall from when I was in 6th grade all the way to recently I've posted pictures of favorite anime series such as Air and Death Note... can't forget about Legend Of Zelda in the left corner....

This was how I wrote my story, but your ways may differ. Always try new things, accept others ideas and plans, Ignorance is the source of all stupidity....

Okay so I've written this long and "boring" post, time to get some juicy stuff. I hate writing about my self because I feel kind of selfish doing so and I also hate those types of blogs, you know all those "bloggers" on YouTube who sit in front of the camera and talk all about themselves..... but I guess some of you might have something to benefit from it.

I started to write my story in my free time. It was a very interesting practice. You see on top of School work I often had to write short stories for La HonorsII and when you compared my short stories to my other class mates, there's really no comparison. Now I'm not sure if they were just those loser school kids who don't put any effort in their homework because they don't care or because they really did suck at writing. What ever the case this made me feel like a good writer. Because of this I often based my short stories off of the Novel I was working on, then I would also just transfer some of the passages into my actual novel. This was a start, and I kept going at it until I dropped LA Honors II because of some crazy project that was too much to handle....

....I began writing late at night because that's when I"m most willing to work, no distractions and stuff, but I needed distractions to be most creative, whatever the case I think I still was able to write good. I often became very sleepy at school because of this and I often fell a sleep during 5th and 6th period, or at lease I wanted to. I have to walk home from school, and a lot of the events and things that happen in my book happen while the characters walk home.... and no it is actually entertaining, it's not boring at all.... because I walked home I would feel even more sleepy! I sometimes fell asleep in my room and would find my self awake at around 5:00 with no homework done yet and a dozen dogs sleeping beside me. My parents and siblings didn't get home til around 7:00 which was why the character "Andrew" in my book had no parents but rather an uncle who was in charge of the land, eventually he kicks Andrew off the land.....

I would often begin each chapter with a small scene of nature and vast imagery so to get my self warmed up. I didn't realize till late into the story that all these scenes of nature actually played an important role in the understanding of the story and also how it relates to the title of the book "Green Success" Now the title seems like a weird title, but it actually fits well with the story if you read it. I'll talk about how I chose my Title later in a shorter post.

I think writing is one of the easiest careers because basically all you do is sit down and think, write when you need to, but most of your time is spent thinking and planning imaginary events and imaginary characters... a very fun career in deed..... and not to mention my work place is my house.... This is a post on writing a book alone... as I wrote my first book alone in my room..... there were lot's if fun things yes, airsoft guns and Wii and other things to do in my room.... I never found my self working on my book while other people were in the room...

...but get a life, go out side, hang out with friends, even if you want to make writing a career, you need to get out and have a variety in your life.... if you just focus on one thing, eventually that one thing will become stale.... trying new things,. taking breaks... the human body wasn't meant to work all day long, all the time...

...Don't think of me as some super writer, because I'm not, I have terrible diction and grammar usage, even when I talk I don't use big words much.... I think I could use improvement,. but I"m not going to focus just on my writing, but rather, what I"m writing about and how I write about it.... It's not how good you draw, but what you draw...

This is the beginning of the sixth chapter of my book, how I use imagery to set up the scene:

The sun spread out its glowing arms and hugged the sky tightly as it seemed to be slipping off the edge of the world, it's rays infected in the sky a vivid orange. The grass was flooded by the sun, and the bushes reflected its glow. The streets were washed with gold and the heat torched the passing cars as their windows reflected the bright blaze. The pavement was shady as the roof protected it from the sun's down pour of orange, and the door swung wide open as Long stepped inside.




...another thing I failed to mention is the key elements that make up a story, the most important one is the motif. A motif is a reoccurring element or item that stands or symbolizes something bigger, for example in my story the school lunch bell always rings and it seems like the bell rings way to early, this symbolizes how little time we actually have to live our lives and do our things.... A motif of something say Death Note, would probably be Death or The Shinigami.... the Shinigami could possibly represent temptation as it was because of them that the humans used the Death Notes.... but those are just guesses....


Now pay attention if you didn't pay attention to the previous paragraphs at least read this one because it is important! You need to understand the theme of your story. The theme is a lesson or moral, but in fiction the theme is never "preached" or mentioned directly, instead it is learned through the characters action, events and outcomes. In order to make a memorable and meaningful book the writer needs to be able to communicate a theme between the reader well, and it can be complicated or it could be simple. An example of a theme statement is: Never do something unprepared. And then you would write a story about something like how a traveler went empty handed on a journey and failed miserably.... but that's just a lame example... I'm sure you can create a much better theme and story than that, and your book can have multiple themes if you want, but there has to be a clear cut main theme, otherwise the book may feel like it's just bouncing all over the place.... So thank everyone who reads this I really hope you do benefit from this! I know I want to be a writer, but I don't want to be the only one helping my self up.. that would be terribly selfish.... so I want to reach out to others who have the potential to contribute to this society....


- Andrew T.

Book Creating (Starting)

This is a picture of the main character from my book, Long, who is obsessed with money and getting rich. He is based off my cousin who is around the same age as me, and is the same age as me in the novel. His role in the novel is very important as he helps convey the moral lesson important to the book! - Green Success - Andrew T.

I am writing this post because I want to help people who want to do something useful in their lives. I hope that my words help you and don't hurt your writings, but I am also writing this to remind my self of how to write a book, or at least how I wrote my book, because I feel I am losing my creativity as I grow older, so I want to use my own creative ideas of the past to help me someday in the future, and to also help any one who reads this!

When I began writing my book believe it or not I originally intended it to just be a short video for film class. I was listening to music in my room and as usual I closed my eyes and began to imagine crazy and weird things as the music played. Well the idea was to make an action film with guns and shooting, but also a twist at the end. The video I imagined that night was simple, drug dealers have a shoot out with the cops they drug dealers are having a blast, friendship builds from this experience and they are all laughing and shooting cops. The Drug dealers are winning of course, but eventually the viewer notices that the Drug dealers are high and then soon after one of the drug dealers starts to lose his "high" and begins to see what really is happening. Well as you would expect, things aren't going so great, and as he looks around he realizes the people he was just talking to were just hallucinations and at the end the drug dealer dies.

So I wanted to make a film as our final project in film class (Freshmen year) but we decided on something else after discussing the "drug" problem. Anyways I liked the idea so I kept it well protected within the depths of my mind. Soon enough I decided that that was going to be the ending of my story. (Spoiler warning for anyone actually intending to read my book when it comes out)



So the main point I want to come across is decide on the ending of your story before you actually write it, that way every even you write in the story can lead to the end and also so you have a good idea your self where you want your story to go. Magically if every event points towards this possible end, (While the reader believes there could be a million ends to the story) then all your events will be related and it will make the story seem much more believably and that the ending wasn't just pulled out of the writers butt at the last second.

Ephesians 2:10 - For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Now a big problem I came across when writing this book was characters. I wanted realistic characters, I wanted them to be as lively as possible and I also wanted them to be convincing and precious to me. Well one day I decided, if I want realistic characters I should base them off real people, so that's what I did. I based one of the characters off my self, another off my cousin and the antagonist off everyone who hated me. This way when I base my characters off real people, the characters can then be as real and as lively as possible, giving each a different personality! So I'd recommended doing this, especially if it's your first book.

So next was the "hard" part, the part most people struggle with the most, THE MAIN CONCEPT. Before I could come up with a plot summary I needed to know first, what is the moral of my story? Now if your story doesn't have a moral then I suggest you stop right now, because there is no point in writing or reading a book with no moral lesson of any kind. I decided to pick a moral lesson that I felt would really be good, one that I HAD A LOT OF EXPERIENCE WITH, because I have observed it in our society for a long time now! The moral lesson I chose to convey could be considered two lessons, the first is don't waste your time with temporary pleasures and meaningless things such as spending your days socializing and what not. The second, "side" lesson was that your creativity is a gift and as easily as you obtained it, it can be taken away. With these two lessons in mind I decided it was time to make my plot line! Or at least attempt!

I really didn't have a clear cut idea of how my book's story line was going to go, but I knew where it was going to lead, because I had already decided upon an ending! So I decided I would just start by introducing the characters and settings first, as some of you have read from my previous posts (The first Chapter of my book) You should have noticed how I slowly revealed the setting and characters one at a time. I started by using my own home town as the setting. I know my home town so well so writing about it would be easy. Then I decided to start my book! I wrote about nature, and gave lots of beautiful imagery, then I transitioned to the school setting where I started my story and instantly I jumped the reader into the events without giving them any prior knowledge of what was going on. This is crucial in writing because it not only jumps the reader into the book quickly, but also sparks questions and interest which the reader will only find out by reading the book further! I genius idea is it not?

After that I quickly introduced all the characters at once, not by making special paragraphs to describe them, but by describing them through their actions in the story as they played out the events, nothings worse than a story that moves slowly and has interruptions because the writer need to clarify something or talk about the characters in the middle of an even. I decided I would go more in depth with all the characters later in the next chapter, after all the events of the first chapter were done and I felt I could slow down the pace of the book to talk about these characters.

So That's how I started my book, I will later go in depth of my actual writing of the story, but this section is titled (Starting) so I'll leave it at that! I hope everyone who reads this appreciates my advice and may someday benefit from it!

- Andrew T.

The Creative Mind

MARK - A character from my book "Green Success" The protagonist who is also the Antagonist at points. A truly remarkable character, Even though I hate him, I loved writing about him! (In the story he always made fun of the Character Andrew "Me" and he really mocked Andrew. Oh man! It sure was fun writing about him! - Green Success (c) 2010 Andrew T.



This isn't a preaching session where I tell you how to live, if you don't like the things I SUGGEST in this blog then don't follow them...

If I had to think of the most creative person I would have to say God is, but the most creative human I would have to say Miyamoto (creator of Super Mario Bros, Zelda, Ect...). I've always wanted to know, How did this guy get so creative? Was it because he smoked Weed all day or was it because he did things in his life that inspired creativity, memories and experiences?

I believe the creative mind is a gentle and precious thing, it must be taken care of and fed well or it may die very quickly. In scientific studies there is no one portion of the brain that controls creativity, rather it is all the parts working as one that help spur the creativity.
I always try to make my days varied and do things and think about things and day dream and even in school assignments I always try to keep my ideas and thoughts fresh and creative. I guess the only thing I'm not creative about is how I dress. I just put on the clothes my parents buy for me, I'm more concerned with my "awesome" hair style.....

So I feel I should share the things I always try to do to take care of my creative mind as much as possible, and it's almost to the point where I have an alarm clock that tells me when Im doing something useful or when I 'm just wasting my time...
Being creative is more than just doing things "differently" from others, usually those "different" people are very stuck up and ignorant, and ignorance is the lack of creativity. If you want to be creative you must accept every possible idea then throw out the bad ones! Simple Right?

So here are the things that I always have believed to help with creativity!



Video Games: I Just bought Super Mario Galaxy 2 and I"m so great full! Not only is it a fun game to play, but I feel all my child hood memories and all the old times, you know "the creative days" of child hood rushing back to me as I feel like a child playing a Mario Game once again! Believe me Nintendo Games will encourage Creativity much more than lame games like Call of Duty. Games like COD are in my opinion, yes fun, but very dangerous, so many people play that game like it's their life, they go around bragging about how good they are like they've actually accomplished something, I assure you they have accomplished NOTHING. The real accomplishers are the ones who created the game. So all in all my recommendation is chose your games wisely! My book I've been writing has a lot to do with the sea and the ocean and I'm telling you I'm So Glad I played The Legend Of Zelda: Wind Waker! Otherwise my book might not have been as good as it is! Playing Nintendo games really brings me back to the old days and I truly feel I was much more creative back then as a child then as I am now, I think the most creative things I've ever thought about were memories and day dreams of the things I thought about as a child! Please don't waste your childhood doing stupid things...


Television: TV by far IS the baby sitter for most people and like wise many of the TV shows I've watched have influenced my writing, especially ANIME. I've made it a goal to not watch stupid shows any more, that includes Nickelodeon shows, besides the classics like Drake and Josh. There are only a few American Animated shows that I will at least admit I was influenced in my writing by: South Park, Boondocks, Family Guy, Simpson's and some others... I'd say Anime by far is the most intelligent form of entertainment these days. There are alot of people who say All Anime is gay, and those people are the most ignorant and stupid people in the world, well not really, but it is unjust to say something so stupid. Trust me, when you're writing about something try watching some Anime, the story telling in them are always great! Some Anime sreies that really influenced my book: Death Note, Elfen Lied, Air, Clannad, Full Metal Alchemist, Lucky Star and The Melencholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Those qwere just the major influences, but trust me Anime is more than just a show, it's an experience, and unforgettable experience that will help develop you not only as a writer but also as a person, almost all anime have moral lessons to learn from them and that's why I chose to write, to convey a message! Stories with a moral are the only good stories...



Food: My favorite male Anime character of all time, "L" once said, "Sweets and sugar make your brain work better." And I can't agree more! Some people worry about their weight and you know why? Because they don't burn enough calories. The Brain is the muscle that burns the most calories! the more you use it the more calories you burn, why do you think the Nerds are always skinny and the Geeks are always fat? (Nerds are people who do good in school and sometimes in life, Geeks are the people who play video games all day and most likely become the worker at McDonalds or on rare occasions, and IGN employee...) It's because the Nerds use their brain more... I'm not a Nerd... NO WAY! But I sure use my brain more than I'd like, that's the reason I never get any sleep, my brain is always thinking even when I"m not... But hey! It keeps me skinny and strong, smart and creative and I believe your food choice definitely affects your brain power. Drink Milk! It is a vital nutritious source of iron and calcium, both which are very important for the brain to develop and strengthens the bonds between brain cells allowing faster thinking! If you used your brain as much as possible then you won;t ever have to worry about what you eat or drink because your healthy mentally so you'll be healthy physically!




Attitude: Your attitude can affect you in more ways than anything else. When you allow your self to get angered you will most likely do something irrational or unnecessary. Happiness sometimes also makes you a dumb person. Both Happiness and frustration bring down your mental capabilities. Well okay maybe I sound a little crazy but think about this: The "popular" kids at school are usually the dumb and gossipy kind of people, they are loud during class, they get low grades and they are just plain dumb, the put others down and the gossip all the time and you know what else, they are always happy when they do that. That's the type of happiness I despise, true happiness is the kind where you actually enjoy life, others and you aren't worried about anything, your not just happy to satisfy your urge to be happy, but your happy because you truly are happy. Your attitude really affects your self and others, stress ruins health, sadness makes you self centered, When is it ever okay to be sad, disappointed, depressed or frustrated? When you live in America you honestly have nothing to be sad about, and if you still are moody, groggy, selfish and angry at people then something seriously is wrong with you, you need to love others when your are blessed so much as to even live in America. (US)




MUSIC: Whenever I listen to music I Always try to make a music video in my head! It's also good to play music in your head instead of listening to it all the time... Ah yes, Music! Music will have an impact on your creativity, I know it sounds weird but repetitive beats and stupid raps will dumb you down! True composition is hard to come across, listen to Nintendo Music, now that's Genius Composition! The type of music you listen to is crucial when writing, if you write about a love scene is it really appropriate to have heavy metal rap music in the back ground? It actually might make for an interesting love scene, someone please try that and tell me how that turns out! haha I think I'll try that it actually sounds funny! ...but seriously, Music is crucial to your brains thinking patterns, it is proven that classical music raises your IQ and you know why? because it's not just a bunch of repetitive beats and tunes looped over and over again only slightly different from the last. Try listening to songs like: Mosiak Kakera, Hurricane Mixers and other songs that would truly have taken a genius not only to compose but to appreciate. I mean come on, most American music really sucks! Anyone can use auto-tuner and write terrible lyrics that make no sense.... Also try to pick up an instrument if you really want to have a healthy mind, especially the piano, which really improves your mental capabilities! Also composing your own music and appreciating others is really a good start! The Creative Industry isn't limited, Music may affect your writing or drawings.



Doodles: Yes, I doodle all the time in Math class and I often feel like I've run out of ideas, the truth is I just don't want to draw because I think my drawing will turn out bad. It's not about how good you draw, but what you are drawing. I often forget this because people sitting around me can see and if I draw a cute girl but she ends up looking weird of scary that would be really embarrassing! So I often draw in private where I can take as many tries as it takes. Trust me you don't want to do this, Draw all you want, but don't do it for attention, do it for fun! Do it to make others laugh and I know everyone in Math class is bored too, so Maybe if I drew and showed them then it would make the class a little more enjoyable for me and them! I also notice when I doodle during notes I often do better on the Home work or tests, I think I refer back to the pictures as reference for the topic we learned that day! Eventually your Doodles might turn into masterpieces!


Motivation: Motivation is probably the most important thing to making a creative work of art. Without Motivation you will often become lazy and lose interest. There are two types of motivation, Good Motivation and Bad motivation. Good motivation is knowing that when you finish you will have accomplished something and that you may have created a true master piece. Bad Motivation is when you only do something for attention, because you want others to recognize you. Both motivations are important to getting you started but eventually you must stop using Bad Motivation. This is the reason popular things like Transformers and Smosh start good but end up terrible. They lose the Good Motivation and only remember the attention and success they once received. It no longer becomes a strive for quality but rather a strive for attention and success. Would you rather become rich off a terrible book or renowned off a great masterpiece? If you're lucky BOTH, Miyamoto got both! Lucky guy he sure is!



Environment: Your environment also plays a big part in your creative brain's sensitive foundry. Writing a novel in an old washed up room completely organized with no posters, drawings or type of distractions of any kind is really not good, you become creative because of distractions not because of concentration. So it's okay to have a messy desk, fill the walls with drawings, leave your pens laying around, have a few stuffed animals, even if you're a guy, you never know when something might come in handy, simply looking at a paper clip and thinking of the many possible things it could be is creative enough!

A Sample of My Writing

The reason I feel that this book I've been writing was so good is because it actually has something to do with my own life.... I have a lot of experience with what I was writing about... and I felt I needed to convey a moral that everyone should remember... So I ONLY WROTE ABOUT THINGS I HAVE PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH:

This is the First Chapter, and it's a short one, I just want anyone who reads it to tell me if it did the "job", the first chapter of any book has one reason and one reason only.... TO GET THE READER INTERESTED IN THE REST OF THE BOOK.... Did this chapter do it for you?

If one's voice is not heard, has a word ever been spoken?

Chapter 1
- Beginning to an End

There was a boy who preferred to spend his time alone... his older siblings always gaining the attention and concern of his parents, and his younger, now getting it more than ever since the older ones have moved out of the house. This boy sat on the floor, isolated in his room.... he sat hunched over with his back being the highest point of his body. His left hand thumbed at his lip and his right played and pulled on bright, woolly fibers which made up the warm, sun bleached carpet..... the sun rays shone through the large window and the radiant warmth enfolded him like a comfy, warm blanket. He stared outside and imagined a beach, glistening waters and beautiful scenery. The sand was hot and bright in the mid-day sun and the palm trees cast a deep, inviting shadow that seemed to cool the sand to ice within an instant. There were people playing and laughing and having fun... and it seemed everywhere you looked there was only comfort and delight. It was a wonderful moment that only he could experience and enjoy, and no one else, and he enjoyed it for quite a while...
He forced open his eyes and the trees faded away, the warmth settled down, and he was now staring at a lonely back patio and a dirty, crumbling old brick wall... He slowly stood up, missing the beach already. He held tightly on to one of the fibers he had pulled from the carpet. Then he slowly loosened his grip, and let it slip from his fingers. On to the floor it fell, it splashed onto an ocean of carpet and it blended with everything else around it as it sunk in between the fibers. An image of a bright, glistening ocean appeared before the carpet, but the boy tried to hold back. At that instant he stopped him self from thinking about beaches and oceans and he cleared his mind. He looked up and he felt both determined and sad at the same time... this would be the last time he spent in his imagination world. It was time to grow up, it was time to move on..... and this young boy's name, was Long...

6 years later....
"why does it always seem like the memories of old... were the best we've ever had?"

The leaves scudded across the dry dirt and a crisp breeze whispered by. A single file line of ants marched across the ground carrying leaves thirty times their size, their tiny, black, shielded bodies shimmered in the bright sun, their armor was like a shining knight. A loud ring suddenly flooded the area... the fluttering of birds in the distance signaled the disappearance of the natural way of life, and within seconds, emerged hundreds of people. They hustled about... some stopping to talk... some headed straight for their next destination. Some carrying books, and some wearing storage bags across their backs... they were high school students. One such student, was quite the eye catcher, his tall stature only paralleled his slender body and unique clothing style. All the girls would take some time to feed their eyes upon his good looks as he passed by, and this young boy's name, was Long.

Long wasn't your average student, he wasn't one of those who excelled all their work towards associating with others and building seemingly lasting friendships, he was different... He looked past these trivial things, and his line of sight was straight towards the future. Not only did he profoundly hate school with a passion, he wanted to leave school as soon as possible... and never go to college... he believed he could become successful by following his dreams. He wanted to become wealthy enough, he could "ENJOY" life after school. No Work. No stress. No Problem. His goal was make so much money (before he finished high-school), so he wouldn't need to go to college. And he was determined to do so.
Now in order to accomplish this seemingly impossible task, he needed the help of others, those who shared the same beliefs as him. For some time it had been until he stumbled upon a group of people sharing similar beliefs, and this group of people would be what most called... ... "friends". And for some time they had been jokingly talking about this type of thing... much like most teenagers do about their trashed, unplanned future... eventually they had taken these "jokes" into serious consideration, and Long believed his dream could be accomplished with hard work and perseverance.

He paced steadily on a sidewalk carpeted with leaves towards an isolated, unbalanced lunch table. Many girls blushed and giggled as he passed by... of course he knew, he had gotten used to all the attention, and to tell the truth, even though Long had never been in a serious relationship... well... never mind, he was a loser when it came to girls. He dodged through a crowd of people and stepped towards a shady lunch table, which seemed isolated from most of the lunch area. He placed his bag on the concrete floor and sat down, parallel to two friends, Matthew and Andrew.

Matthew was a nice fella' who you'd easily become friends with, he was medium stature, had short, black hair and today he was wearing a red shirt (don't know, just had to mention the red shirt...). Andrew was Long's farthest friend, he had long brown hair that slipped past his eyes, and Andrew was only slightly taller than Long. Andrew sure was a quiet one, if you never said a word to him, he'd never say a word to you. Andrew always wore dark colored clothing, and sat oddly in his chair, and did odd things, and said odd things, and it was very hard for Long to come to like him. Long never knew if Andrew thought of him as a friend or not... Enough said.... (for now)

Long noisily crunched his lunch bag out of his backpack, which only added the mumble of the surrounding school crowd. His lunch consisted of an insipid bologna sandwich complemented by a bag of chips and a juice pouch... BORING!!!! Matthew had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, topped with extra peanut butter, and a lightly toasted bread, crisp and brown. Andrew, had just managed to somehow pull out a rather large, delicate chocolate cake... one could only imagine how it managed to stay in its fragile container all day without spilling its molten delight all over the innards of his back pack... it still remains a mystery.
"I have good news!" Long declared, just as another friend, Mark, showed up. "Today's the day! Luke finally got hired, and that means we can make some money!" Luke was Long's little brother, Long's annoyance, Long's follower. Luke had gotten hired at a convenience store, which he could easily handle. Everyone except Andrew, who was wolfing down the delightfully, glistening cake, and Matt, who was practically drooling on it, were listening intently.
"We've been saving up our money! When the new Mario game came out, we resisted buying it, when the year book went on 'sale' we thankfully avoided that worthless piece of sh---."
there was a soft conversation among the table, but Long impatiently continued,
"and so far, me and Luke had accumulated over $400, started from $0, in the past year... and now that Luke got the job...."
The conversation grew louder, now Matt and Andrew were BOTH eating cake, Andrew didn't have an extra plate, so he simply sliced a piece onto Matthew's palm, who was happily gorging in it... obviously not hearing a word Long had said... Mark sat there with his hand against his face, looking bored and Luke had just squeezed his chunky, unhealthy body onto a seat next to Mark... Long flashed his eyes at them,
"Listen up!!! Your acting like kids! Do you want to end up like Mark's dad? Answering phones for a living???!?!?!" (Jerk!)
There was a slight symphony of chuckles, Mark wasn't at all offended. Long spoke again,
"Then we need to work, I know if we work hard, by the end of the year---" The guys seemed to drift off into conversation again, Long's face turned red with embarrassment and impatience, "Listen---!" But there was another interruption, this time by a much louder noise... the lunch bell had rung, and it was back to class time. The commotion of the crowd grew again, and the passing hustle and bustle discouraged any more of Long's announcements. Long turned and looked around as he saw his "friends" passing by, his mouth hung slightly open as he still had much, much more to say...

...Were these the people Long had so desperately been looking for? The bombastic eyes of Andrew stared as Long march off, a feeling of empathy enshrouded him as he perched on the table seat and watched Long walk off into the soft horizon..... discouraged...

Video Game Creation

This was the loading screen for my newest game, it's still in production and it's a very short RPG game with a very sad story....

- Andrew T.

All the music from this game was also created by me, the game will be available on my GameJolt account when it's finished.


My life as a Writer, Film Maker and Music composer is usually put aside on the weekends late at nights so I can build upon my skills as a Video Game Creator.

Now like all these types of things we know that all the creative industries are related and if I'm good at game designing I might also be good at story writing or if I"m good at music creating I could possibly also be good a video editing. The Creative Skill is not limited. so That's where I stand on that.

So often I try to create video games using free and simple programs like GameMaker.
I first started creating simple side scrollers, but now after I ventured into the story writing arts I realize that I can create games with a deeper story and still containing great game play.

I begun making simple games and now I feel time to whip up an RPG game. So for the time being, Now that I've finished writing my story for no I feel I should take a break and work on other things!

Self Publish What do you have to lose?

A lot of fictional writers always have the one question on their minds, Self Publish? Traditional Publish? Now rught off the bat if you think you have a super seller then go for Traditional Publish, now a Super seller isn't a book that's necessarily great, it just needs to be able to sell well, that's all the publishing companies want, so if you write about vampires, then you have bumped your likely hood of being accepted even higher! But Vampires are lame, so what happens when you write a story but don't now where to go from there?

Self Publish! Why? Because when you self publish you have full control and authority of creative control. You can always go to Traditional Publishing later if you need to. when you self Publish your book will most likely never be on store shelves, but you still have online retailers like Lulu.com and Amazon.com Barns and Nobles and Borders....

Lulu is an easy self publishing company that is truly simple, and the best part is if you don't have enough money to print millions of copies of your book that's fine because for the super cheap price you can digital publish your book through Lulu to the iBook storem Kindle or other online Ebook stores!

Self publishing is easy and you get to keep about 80% of the profits, so why not? Or at least Start as a self publisher when you publish your first book and if you get good reviews then go ahead and try Traditional Publishing!


...You really have nothing to lose.... besides your self esteem if it doesn't sell well....



Also always make sure you Copyright your book and if you really want to be good buy and ISBN, Lulu offers free ISBN's but if you get your own you will be your own publisher and Lulu and other sites will only take a limited portion from the profits. ISBN is the international bar code number on you book, it allows your book to be "official" so have fun writing!

The life of an Artificial Creator (Manga/Anime/Novels)

- by Andrew T.


We all want to be someone or something special, and the sad truth is that your chances of ever becoming who you want to be can only be accomplished or destroyed by YOU!

I've always wanted to be a film maker but lately I've realized how competitive and how slim my dream of becoming one really is, and I realized if I want to make films or shows I need to work hard and make good stuff. And another thing I realized, You cant have a good movie without a good story.

So that's why I've decided to become a writer. Now on top of that I also do some video game design using a program called GameMaker and I also do lot's of song composition with computer programs, my video camera and my two piano's. I upload my music to YouTube on a channel called InsomniMusic, but likewise, there's so much competition and so much improvement that needs to be involved that it isn't that popular, but popularity isn't my goal, quality is! Though being popular would be nice, I notice a lot of the "popular" novels and music really aren't that great, and that only shows how horrible the testes of the population is and how easily they are entertained.

So on to my life as a writer. Being a writer takes only a pen and paper. Now what I mean by that it that you don't need to be some super human dictionary to become a write, NO no NO! All you need is the courage, dedication and enthusiasm to be able to create beautiful worlds and writings at the tip of your fingers. When you have the motivation and the idea you need then writing seems like such a simple job, but of course what you write has to be good.... or at least something the publishing company will see as a gimmick to sell out the book... horrible books that sell really well because of their gimmicks would be: Twilight, Harry potter, and all the manga that have cute moe girls in them but don't really have much of a story....

Anyways my life as a writer started at age 15, that's right at fifteen I finally decided to drop the video game controller, turn off the cell phone, hide the T.V. remote and actually do something useful. And the following story will describe in a first person view how my life went after I started writing using Microsoft Word and Google Docs!

THE LIFE OF A NOOB WRITER:
- BEGINNING TO WRITE MY STORY

The Life of a NOOB Writer: It was late at night, (well usually I don't go to sleep until 1 or 2 am anyways....) rapid Insomnia snuck up on me like a thief. (OfTheSeven Reference)
So I opened up the Google Doc's page where all my 10th Grade Language Arts Honors writings had been posted, (too lazy to get MS Word on my Laptop... it was on the Desktop though) I created a new page, and then I cracked my fingers. Taking a gulp of milk and biting a cookie I prepared to write. I raised my hands up high and grasped the air above me feeling the energy return to my sleep head. I got down, brushed the hair out of my eyes and then I froze. "What am I supposed to write about?" Only a few minutes of Meditation and Praying to Jesus for inspiration I finally realized something very useful.

The Characters! I would name all the characters of my story after someone, a family member, cousin, myself or friend. So I ended up with six main characters. I didn't have a name for the book, but after I started writing FICTIONAL short stories about these characters I got an idea for the name.... The two names I was debating over was "Green Success" and "From selling Weed to Buying Stocks" .... I chose the first one thinking I could always change it later.

The Story: Now the story was composed of two pieces. The first pieces was the actual story and events them selves.... selling "weed" or "green stuff" and getting rich, or at least hoping for success as high school kids. The second piece of the story was the Moral Lesson: How precious your imagination and creative life really is, even if you're not one of those "artsy" kind of people, YUCK, you can still be creative in who you are.... And I'm not talking about going out and expressing your self, seeking attention, growing long hair or any of that stuff....
So after I planned out my two pieces of the story I finally begun to write, the main character, "Long" being modeled after my cousin. The first few days of writing were pretty good, I only stuck to writing late at nights because I came up with my own saying which I ended up using in the book, "Late at night, when I'm supposed to be dreaming, that's the time I should be working, that's the time my creative brain juices are flowing... the time I would normally be dreaming..." I ended up staying up late even if all I did was write a paragraph. Those first couple of nights were terrible, sleepy and in the morning and at school I felt so tired and sleepy, I begun to notice the "Bags" under my eyes turn light purple before turning almost black.
It was pretty difficult to get used to this life style and I was almost tempted to quit writing simply because I needed sleep. "The Lazy Man never prospers"

Proverbs 20:13 - Do not be a lover of sleep,
or you will become poor: keep your eyes open,
and you will have bread enough.

I stayed up late and it sure was affecting my health, I begun to notice I wanted to fall asleep when I got home, My eyes would close by them selves at around 5th period, geometry.... well normally they would anyways.... I begun to lose all intentions of doing things like talking for extended periods of time with people in person and I fell deeper into the hole of cyber-community. I felt so awful but I knew somehow I would finish this, because was I really doing anything better in my free time?

I had enough! I decided to quit Language Arts Honors II, That class was so much bull, they always wanted things in their format and I hated it. All the writing assignments were so limited as to what you could do, I was marked down several times for adding in my own ideas and sentences into papers where they were not welcome. reading became a chore... as it always was... but more of a chore.... Although I believe that class got me into writing in the first place, I can't help but realize how uncreative that class was. When we read out stories out loud everyones' honestly sounded like something a baby whipped up. Not that I think they suck it's just that they all followed the guidelines so strictly. So I dropped out.... I now had an extra 30 minutes or even more to my self... more time to dedicate to writing...

So I started getting more into the story. I got many ideas from Anime series and TV shows like Full Metal Alchemest, The Boondocks, South Park, Bleach, Air, Death Note, Elfen Lied, Lucky Star and The Melencholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. I'm sure my subcouscious mind got "inspired" or "thief like" from other series, but these Anime series were what I was watching at the time and I really liked them and wanted to have my story as popular as them someday! I think I was so "Inspired" by Death Note, that I actually modeled my first drawing of one of the main characters after "L" from Death Note. I later opened my eyes to see how similar the two were and Instantly modeled the character after my self. That Characters name was Andrew.

Real Experience Inspirations: Along the way I also had many inspirations that I added to my book. Perhaps the biggest inspiration to everything I do would be my Dreams.... when I sleep. But I got the best idea from a girl I met freshman year of high school, (the year before I started writing) She was the closest you could get to a real Anime character, or at least for the time being. Me and her had a lot of good times together, though I wasn't interested in a Boyfriend, Girlfriend relationship I thought it would be better to just be close friends and do things that are actually productive, worry about "love" later.... I found out I would be moving schools for the next year and that she wasn't because of where she lived, and that was terrible! ...for me at least... you see everyone mocks me, hates me for no reason, judges me, turns their backs on me.... it's hard to make new friends, and at the time I only had a few close friends and a lot of people who hated me because I hate "the look" or because they didn't like the stories they've heard about me. I stopped hanging out with the Emo kids and started hanging ot with my REAL friends and that was the last of them.... the next year I found out some of them were moving to the new school with me.... but not that girl... so I ended up adding her as a characters, I didn't want to use her real name, nor a real name at all for thst matter, so in the story she is always refereed with her nickname: Me-Fufu! A cute name for a character that's supposed to be cute.

So one day I had the most awesome dream about fighting, and I really wanted it in the book, so I decided to make one of the characters have a fighting/action dream and I think that was one of my favorite chapters in the whole book!

I think I finished the book strongly, but I needed to go back and re-edit it and "dress it up" a little. The most boring part of all! I think that if re-reading the book I created was so boring, then maybe it would be boring for the new people to read it one time.... but I convinced my self that that was not true.






....I haven't published the book yet because I wanted my friends and family to read it first and tell me if it's even worth publishing.... Self Publish first...


...The moral of this story is everyone has a purpose, they just need to find out what!


..So that's that, I'll add a link if I ever do publish it, thank you for reading. any comments or questions would be awesome!