Susan Arnold's Blog, page 4

Get To Know Me Better | Who Am I? Tag

I love tags like this, so I knew I had to do it when I first saw it on Michelle’s (Book Adventures) blog. Mostly, I just really love personality quizzes… So, if you’d like to get to know me better then, by all means, keep reading. If not, see ya in my next post!

Question One: What is the meaning of my name?

My friend made me a little name tag that says “Susan” is derived from the Hebrew word for “lily”. Looking it up,  at this , it is of Hebrew origin and does mean “lily”.

Question Two: What is my Myer-Briggs personality type?

I’ve never heard of this personality quiz before, so I’m excited to see what I am.

So I guess I’m a Protagonist (ENFJ-T). 57% extraverted, 65% intuitive, 69% feeling, 53% judging, and 58% turbulent. What does all of this mean? Well, according to the site:

Protagonists are natural-born leaders, full of passion and charisma. Forming around two percent of the population, they are oftentimes our politicians, our coaches and our teachers, reaching out and inspiring others to achieve and to do good in the world. With a natural confidence that begets influence, Protagonists take a great deal of pride and joy in guiding others to work together to improve themselves and their community.

I didn’t think that I was that type of person, but the Internet never lies (I’m joking!).

Question Three: What is my Zodiac sign?

I’m a Leo, but I’ve been told that I don’t act like a run of the mill Leo. I don’t really pay attention to that sort of stuff, so I really don’t know what that means.

Question Four: What is my Hogwarts House?

When I took the Sorting Hat quiz on Pottermore, I was placed in Gryphondor. There’s a different link up above if you don’t want to make a Pottermore account, though.

Question Five: What are my learning styles?

I already know that I’m a visual and physical learner. That means that I learn best by seeing and doing something. I’d rather hold an actual book than look at a digital one and I take my notes by hand; screens don’t benefit me very much.

Question Six: Am I right or left brain dominant?

I’ve never really thought about this before, so it’s exciting to take this quiz.

I’m right-brained (69%)! I actually saw that one coming; I’m pretty creative (I’m an art and English major).

Question Seven: What is my blood type?

I have no idea.

Question Eight: What career am I meant to have?

So, I plan on going into writing.

This quiz hit the nail on the head; it said I should be a writer!

You have a skill for language, your imagination is vast and you are artistic and creative. Your brain is just overflowing with ideas, and all you have to do is get a piece of paper and share it with the world. You were born to turn words into magical stories.

Question Nine: Which Divergent Faction do I belong in?

I belong in Abnegation, apparently. I thought I’d belong in Amity.

You belong with the selfless. You always find yourself lending a hand to others, and you seldom realize it. You truly care about the people around you, and you’re the first to notice when someone is under the weather. Just when you think you have a day to spend for yourself, you probably catch yourself listening to a friend dish about her problems instead. Some people might tag you as “boring”, but those closest to you know that you’re a simple gal with the purest of hearts.

Question Ten: What does my birth order say about me?

I’m the firstborn.

Stereotype: Natural leader, ambitious, responsible.

Why it’s true: The eldest, for a while, has no competition for time (or books or baby banter) with Mom and Dad. “There’s a benefit to all of that undiluted attention. A 2007 study in Norway showed that firstborns had two to three more IQ points than the next child,” says Frank J. Sulloway, Ph.D., the author of Born to Rebel. Firstborns tend to be surrogate parents when other siblings arrive, hence their protective and responsible nature.

When it’s not: Parents can set high expectations for a first (or only) child. “When he feels like he has disappointed his parents or can’t measure up, he may veer off in another direction,” says Kevin Leman, Ph.D., a psychologist and the author of The Birth Order Book.

I’m tagging anybody who would like to do this tag. Let me know your results in the comments below!

8 Basics of Creative Writing

According to Kurt Vonnegut (Cat’s Cradle, Slaughterhouse Five), the following are eight basics of creative writing.

Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that they will not feel the time was wasted.
Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
Every sentence must do one of two things–reveal character or advance the action.
Start as close to the end as possible.
Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them–in order that the reader may see what they are made of.
Write to please just on person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.
Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

 

Now, I’m not saying that every single piece of writing you every create has to follow these basics…in fact, nothing you write has to follow these. Break the rules if you want.

HOW TO WRITE A BOOK: Step One

BECOME A READER

I am a strong believer in the idea that to be a writer, you must also be a reader.

Read everything, classics, romance, children’s books, fiction & nonfiction anything you can get your hands on.

I know you’re saying something along the lines of “If I only want to write Young Adult books, then I only have to read Young Adult books, right?”

Wrong.

Yes, you want to ready YA, and probably 60%-70% of what you’re reading should be YA, but you want to read other things to exercise your brain and to get your writer juices flowing.

In order to write, you must also read.

For any more advice, check out my YouTube video on the subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5BYafaKBmo&t=24s

 

a reflection on 2016

Personally, 2016 was not an awful year.

I finished my first year of college, on the Dean’s list, no less
I was elected president of my building and co-president of the Creative Writers Club
I published my very first novel, Blue Vigilante
I work a lot
I bought a kayak
I was more constant on uploading videos to YouTube
I read more
I was, overall, way more healthy than I’ve ever been
I finally died my hair red
I grew into the version of myself I want to be
I went on several dates, after only having been on one ever before
I found an amazing boyfriend
My cousin and I reconnected in a way we haven’t since we were very young
I finally built a headboard for my bed that I wanted to build for years
I got a rewards card for my local movie theater (I go to the movies so often, it was well needed)
I started my second year of college
I found my limits for many things, for example: how many credits I can handle a semester without losing my mind
I met one of my favorite professors
I made my own planner (I’m really excited about that one)

2017 goals

blog as often as I can
waste less, go greener
minimalize, cherish experiences more than material objects
grow closer to God
finish & publish Green Vigilante
start Red Vigilante
be healthier
read more
make more youtube videos
try harder in my classes
volunteer more
stop talking about people without their presence unless it’s good things
learn another language
make more playlists

HOLIDAY PRICE DROP

#BlueVigilante is now available on Kindle for only $0.99 and on Amazon for $13.55 paperback!

BV Giveaway | Ends Oct. 12th

Click here for a chance to enter and win a free signed copy of Blue Vigilante!

Shriver’s Speech

If you deem yourself to be a part of the writing world (like me) but have not yet read Lionel Shriver’s speech on current day identity politics and the way that they have the potential to impact fiction writing (I just read it), I highly recommend reading it here. It’s very powerful and has many good points.

‘Tales of a Punk Rock Nothing’ Review

I really think it’s just me that makes this book such a low rating. The story is told through many different mediums, and I knew that going in. The reason I bought the book was because it was outside of my general comfort zone and I wanted to challenge myself, so I wasn’t sure if I would like it or not. Well, I didn’t.

The main problem that I had with ToPRN was specifically that it was told through multiple different mediums. I’m sure that the authors’ intention of that aspect was that it added to the story and told more about the characters. To me, though, it was so distracting that I struggled at times to understand what was happening…I couldn’t make it through from one medium to the next.

For this low rating, I truly blame myself; I was not ready to read a book like this.

The Truth About Forever | A short review

I thoroughly enjoyed Dessen’s TAF. The characters were well developed. though I was sometimes wanting more development, and Wes is absolutely charming. I felt that, though the relationship between Macy, the protagonist, and her mother was explained, along with the way Macy tended to act, that it just wasn’t realistic, at least to me. And, the ending was somewhat predictable.