Five books that inspired my writing

Posted on June 1, 2018 by

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Right now, I’m trying to finish the first draft of a story that I’m hoping will be my first novel. As a result, I want to bring attention to the five books that inspired me as a writer.

I’m one of those people that can’t choose a favorite book; for me, choosing one favorite song/book/movie/TV show is like asking a parent to choose their favorite child. Also, I’m always reading other books so I might read a new book tomorrow that seriously inspires a story idea or influences my writing voice. As of right now, these are the five books that have inspired me the most as a writer:

  • Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. This is by far one of my favorite stories, and Tolkien takes worldbuilding to a whole new level with several created languages, an epic-novel-length backstory for just one of the cultures he wrote about (yes, I’m talking about The Silmarillion), and complex characters. Granted, it does read like a textbook, but Tolkien was a professor, so I realize his writing voice is not what I’m going for, but I do take inspiration from his worldbuilding.
  • The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan. The Ranger’s Apprentice series as a whole was a huge inspiration for how I write humor in my stories and different character developments. I also enjoy reading the books—they kept me sane in my last year of college—and I feel they have good lessons for real life.
  • The Hellfire Chronicles: Blood in the Skies by G.D. Falksen. This was the first book that I read in the steampunk genre, and while this does not seem to be as popular as his series The Ouroboros Cycle, I’m still eagerly awaiting the sequel. This and Lord of the Rings showed me the importance of worldbuilding and got me inspired to write steampunk fiction in the future.
  • The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I will admit, after listening to The History Chicks’ podcast episode about Zelda Fitzgerald, I have lost all respect for F. Scott Fitzgerald as a person, but I can’t deny that his writing style in The Great Gatsby was (and, to a lesser extent, still is) a big inspiration for my writing voice after reading it for my AP English Language class in high school.
  • Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. Laugh and/or judge if you must, but I have to give credit where it’s due, because this is what got me writing the type of stories that I write now. I don’t know where I’d be as a writer if I didn’t read this and think about how I would write a vampire story as a result.

What books inspired you as a writer? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

 

New Bandcamp Account!

Posted on May 30, 2018 by

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It’s been a while since I’ve posted to the blog, but I wanted to share some news I’m really excited about!

I now have an artist account with Bandcamp!

I am still in the process of gathering supplies for a more portable studio, so I don’t have any tracks on there just yet, but I’m really excited for this step closer to being involved in music. I already have some ideas lined up for some tracks to produce, so I’m very much eager to get started!

One thing I’m conflicted about is in which direction I want to go with the type of music I want to create. My two main styles of music are songs that may remind one of Celtic Woman, Enya, or the YouTuber Vindsvept, and then songs that may remind one of Nightwish, Evanescence, or Epica. From a production standpoint, it would probably be easier to produce more ambient-type music, at least at first, but I’m open to branching out into other subgenres or sounds in the future.

I imagine I’ve changed a lot as I’ve grown older, but my passions for music and writing have been constant. I can only hope that I am one step closer to making my passions a huge part of my future. If you have any ideas or advice, please leave comments down below! Thanks for reading!

Why I prefer to write on paper

Posted on May 8, 2018 by

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Yesterday, I decided to write in my notebook instead of going straight into my computer, and I was surprised at how easily the writing came to me. Call it what you will—being in the zone, being in one’s element—for this article, I’ll call it being in a state of “flow”, since words just flow from my mind to the page with hardly any effort. I had to admit, it was a welcome feeling to be back in this state of flow, since it doesn’t happen every time I write, and because I’ve been trying to work with writing on my computer, it’s been a while since I felt this way while writing.

As I’ve described in my poems “The Paper Witch” and “Homecoming“, when I get into this state of flow, it feels nothing short of magical. Minutes feel like seconds, and sometimes my words scrawl together because I want to get them onto the page as fast as I can think them. Actually, as I read that last sentence, “think” doesn’t seem to be the right word, as there doesn’t seem to be much of a cerebral process when I’m in this state of mind. Words just happen. In this state of mind, I could easily go for hours without remembering to eat or use the ladies’ or drink water (not the healthiest situation, I agree, but that goes to show you how strong this state of flow can be), and as I was writing yesterday, I came very close to falling asleep from exhaustion as I sat with my notebook in bed, the words still coming despite being too tired to keep going. I can’t remember the last time I’ve felt this way when I wrote my stories on my computer, not even when I did NaNoWriMo last year, though I’m sure it’s happened before.

Since I’m on the move a lot, a notebook and pen would be more to pack, and may make my bag a bit heavier. In my opinion, though, it’s much more productive if I bring that notebook instead of having staring contests with my laptop or tablet; the laptop always wins. If I want to try to harness the feeling of the state of flow so I can be inspired to write as often as possible, maybe this was a sign to go back to writing on paper.

Do you prefer to write with paper or on the computer?

How I Deal With Writer’s Block

Posted on April 25, 2018 by

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I imagine many writers and artists of all types have dealt with at least one instance in which inspiration proved fickle. Writer’s block has been the bane of my existence for the 15+ years I’ve been writing as a hobby, and for my first blog post, I would like to share how I deal with writer’s block.

  1. See where your work takes you. When I was doing NaNoWriMo last year, I was supposed to be working on what will hopefully be my debut novel. However, when I sat down to write the novel, I knew exactly what I wanted to write, but it just wouldn’t come out the way I wanted it to come out, or I would draw a complete blank—either way, it was like pulling teeth. Instead, I went where inspiration took me, and I ended up writing pages and pages for a new story idea that had nothing to do with my novel. In my opinion, writing in general is still an accomplishment, because for me, inspiration is more likely to come back if I’m doing something creative instead of walking away from the computer or notebook in frustration.
  2. Seek inspiration from things around you. I bought The Sims 4 for NaNoWriMo inspiration, and I had some occurrences that inspired parts of other stories in my mind. There was more than one instance that inspired entire plotlines for short stories! I also watch video game walkthroughs on YouTube and read a lot if I’m dealing with a dry patch. Even if some of the scenes in your story don’t end up in the final draft (intentionally or otherwise), it’s better than having a staring contest with the computer. The computer always wins—I speak from experience.
  3. Organize your thoughts and think of “what ifs”. I’ve counted, and I have thirty story ideas rattling around in my head, and a lot of them take place in a universe that needs a lot of fleshing out. If I’m lacking inspiration, I try to work with world-building and how the characters would have to interact with that. Sometimes, that brings up scenarios that I can write about and fend off writer’s block. Also, there was one writing tip I saw on Pinterest that said, here I paraphrase, “Think about what can go wrong in this scene, and then write about it.” It could complicate the story a bit, but it gives you something to write, and could add to more inspiration.
  4. Walk away for a while. Sometimes looking at something with fresh eyes is the best thing to counter writer’s block, especially if you feel like you’ve fallen out of love with your story. Go and do something else, and maybe that will give you more ideas to write about. Keep a notepad on hand if you get ideas for your story, so you don’t forget them before you can get back to your computer.

Hopefully, this helps any fellow writers who are afflicted with writer’s block. Thank you for reading, and I hope to be back here soon!

An Introduction to My Blog

Posted on March 12, 2018 by

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Welcome and well met! I’m Morrigan Harker, and I write poetry for the website American Twilight. I currently live and work overseas, and I also am hoping to get started with digital music composing and visual art in the near future.

I’m not sure what I’ll post on this blog, but I hope to include writing tips and help my readers, even if it’s by making them smile. I also hope to post about my journey with digital composition and illustration—in my mind, if it has to do with my creative expression, it’s fair game.

I hope you enjoy reading my blog, and welcome again!

Edited 31 January 2021 to remove personal details. Apologies for the inconvenience.

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