[Merie Shen]

Hi @abigailharder !

I haven’t been active on these forums for a while (if you can’t already tell, lol) but it’s so good to see you here! Hope you have fun exploring the community 🙂

~ always be a happy camper ~

[Merie Shen]

@charisetter I’m terrible with audiobooks! While I enjoy them, it’s hard for me to commit to them. I’m usually better with reading because my mind wanders like crazy when I’m listening.

I have a copy in English and another in Chinese. I’ve read like 3 pages in Chinese so far and am more than halfway through in English, lol.

~ always be a happy camper ~

[Merie Shen]

@charisetter Haha, pretty much everyone on here who’s ever talked to me knows that by now xD And don’t worry, I really do want to read Tolkien, as soon as I manage to get my hands on some good copies of LotR. I have The Hobbit, which I’m actually trying to go through in two languages at once, so there’s that? Haha

~ always be a happy camper ~

[Merie Shen]

@kathleenramm I’d choose C.S. Lewis too xD His books have actually been a bigger part of my life than Tolkien (I still haven’t read LotR)… or anyone else’s, for that matter. It would definitely be an honor to learn from him!

~ always be a happy camper ~

[Merie Shen]

@e-k-seaver Hi, Em! Nice to see you around here 😉

What sort of stories do you like to write? I’m assuming you write what you like to read, fantasy or dystopian?

~ always be a happy camper ~

[Merie Shen]

@kathleenramm That just about sums it up xD There seems to be no avoiding it though, lol, even in fantasy.

I loved the Detectives in Toga duology by Henry Winterfield and Daughter of Rome and Thief of Corinth by Tessa Afshar. I can’t say I’ve read many others… I should go on the hunt! Especially if I’m ever going to write a story set in that time period! xD

~ always be a happy camper ~

[Merie Shen]

@kathleenramm Sci-fi for me too! The problem is that all the techy stuff would just go way over my head and I can’t xD Historical fiction would be awesome too, but I’ve never had the time for research and I wouldn’t even know which era to try, although ancient Rome has always fascinated me.

~ always be a happy camper ~

[Merie Shen]

@kathleenramm Yes, something like that! For me, it’s because I feel like I want to complete that arc with them. Learn that lesson and get rid of that lie with them!

@devastate-lasting I read the story, and it’s beautiful! Your writing is amazing!

~ always be a happy camper ~

[Merie Shen]

@kathleenramm I find that the deeper my characters’ arcs run in the story, the more motivated I am to finish the story. I just want to make that character learn the lesson s/he needs to learn! So if I’m feeling unmotivated, I usually start working on character arcs/backstories because I know I’m lacking in that area. (For some reason I always begin drafting a story when the character arcs aren’t fully developed yet.)

@devastate-lasting That’s cool! I personally can’t focus on more than one novel project at a time… I’m too easily distracted, lol. Do you use a platform like Wattpad for the webnovels?

~ always be a happy camper ~

[Merie Shen]

@morwen Hi there! Nice to meet you!

Seems we share a lot of interests. I don’t listen to a lot of Celtic music, but I like Celtic pop xD May I ask which languages you’re into?

LotR is pretty awesome, although I can’t honestly say I’ve read the actual books (I’m going through The Hobbit), but I have watched the first half… of the first movie? And pretty much everyone else I know loves it, so it’s really just a matter of time 😉

~ always be a happy camper ~

[Merie Shen]

@warrenluther04 That’s pretty much what I do with drawing, so I’m not judging xD

Honestly, if you’re putting that much effort into worldbuilding, I think it’ll be very different. But yeah, save that for the editing. Well, that makes sense! If it’s similar to Divergent at all, it should be an interesting type 😛

~ always be a happy camper ~

[Merie Shen]

@michelle Ooh, what’s it about? Congratulations on finishing it!

~ always be a happy camper ~

[Merie Shen]

@warrenluther04 Yeah I should be doing that. I’m not sure why I never got around to getting myself a pair of those glasses xD

I’m not into photography, but it’s really fascinating. And hey, that’s a great way to improve painting! I think. I’m trying to sound encouraging and like I know what I’m talking about, which I don’t because my past attempts at painting are shameful. I’ll try again soon one day.

That’s great! Worldbuilding can be tricky in dystopian, I suppose, though I don’t have a lot of experience writing it. Only reading it. And being disappointed. *Looks at Divergent* What subgenre of dystopian would you categorize yours as? I don’t know the exact names for each subgenre, but since there are a lot of different types…

~ always be a happy camper ~

[Merie Shen]

@devastate-lasting Oh, cool! I’ve never read those particular retellings.

@kathleenramm I used to be obsessed with the animal kingdom (still kinda am) but unimpressed by the “shifter” races in fantasy. I figured shapeshifting shouldn’t be limited to just wolves and whatnot. So, you know, the idea of a human who could turn into a squirrel came along.

THAT is an experience I can relate with too hard! You can do it!

Haha, I read the first two books and never finished the series until a long time later xD I was mostly drawn in by the premise of the story.

~ always be a happy camper ~

[Merie Shen]

@kathleenramm It was about an anthropomorphic trio of friends, a skunk, a squirrel, and a monkey– inspired by my dad’s version of bedtime stories from even younger days and maybe a little bit of the Kung Fu Panda movies *convinces self there’s no shame in sharing this* I was nine years old and trying NaNoWriNo for the first time. There may have been a talking peregrine falcon in there somewhere. Most of the characters may have survived to graduate into another vast storyworld of mine, although they didn’t remain anthropomorphic animals (at least… not exactly). I kept trying to rewrite that story until… like last year, when I finally decided to give myself a break and work on one of the other 1790203 story ideas I’d been saving up for the past few years xD Needless to say, I’ve come a long way since then!

And so I have a sort of biased way of thinking that first characters do deserve second chances. So maybe you should do something with that Beatrice of yours one day! (Although I am curious about your current project. I shall keep myself quiet, however)

@devastate-lasting I RESPECT. Fairytale retellings is an awesome way to begin, short story or otherwise. In a way, the Ever After High franchise did sort of spark my writing craze when I was 8, but that was fanfiction and obviously never made it to novel length. Anyway, it surprises me that you haven’t yet read the Lunar Chronicles! (I feel like everyone has, and everyone loves it more than I did xD) What fairytale retellings have you read/liked, then, if you don’t mind my asking?

• This reply was modified 4 years, 4 months ago by Merie Shen.

~ always be a happy camper ~

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