*This post is not to be taken too seriously, it is just my opinions and thoughts.
We're going to be doing the top five things I dislike and like.
Top 5 Things I Dislike (Mainly Book Related):
1. Poetry (and Proses)
I don't exactly dislike poetry in general, I like reading poems by Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, William Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe, Lord Alfred Tennyson, Rudyard Kipling, Roald Dahl, Dante, basically the greats. Unfortunately modern poetry turned me off. I tried reading some but they are all nearly the same. Love, heartbreak, hope, trying too hard to be edgy... It's hard to read through. If you like those poetry, I won't condemn you, they are just not my cup of tea at the moment.
*Okay, I tried writing poetry (and proses) a few times.. Not that great. Could never seem to get the knack of it. I'll put some up and you can judge it for yourself. Looking back at it now, why did I write it? WHY???
2. Voting For Your Own Books
Please, do not do this. If I ever see a writer voting for their own books, you're excluded from my list, ever. Why? Because it is extremely tacky and unprofessional. Furthermore, which writers wouldn't give themselves five stars rating? No matter how much you dislike or like your own book, it's your baby. You are not going to rip your own baby apart. I do not mind if you use the review section as a summary or as an explanation page, but if I ever see you voting your own books, you're out. I don't do it, neither of the veterans (that I know of) do it, so... Please don't.
3. Poorly Researched Books
This one is a no-brainer. Readers are really good at catching mistakes, making one or two screw-ups is still fine, but when you are going to write about a topic like say, Norse Mythology, please make sure to do an extensive research to get at least the basic facts right. Writing fantasy is the only time where you can break the rules, you create your own myth and its foundation and you stick to it. I'm looking at you (insert author's name here)
*Grammar, typo and spelling mistakes are still fine for me, but too much can also make me turn away from ever reading your works. I have some best-selling authors' works which have some of these mistakes but I still enjoy them because the story is interesting. It makes up for the tiny mistakes.
4. The Title of Best-Selling Authors (and Five-Star Ratings)
Please bear with me as I try to explain this part. This is a marketing gimmick. Anthony Horowitz once said that he had never wanted to be the title of best-selling author because it gave him tremendous pressure that he have to produce good books. It is an honour which every writers aspire to be, but recently I see young authors getting the titles just by achieving a certain target in sales. The reason why I respect the veterans such as Stephen King, JK Rowling, Anthony Horowitz, Meg Cabot are because they have worked extremely hard to get where they are now, and I have been reading their works for many years now. I don't read them because they are best-selling authors, I read their works because they are interesting and fun, and makes me feel happy when I'm reading them (For Uncle Steve's case, thought-provoking. He is the King of Horrors after all. I cried at the ending of Cujo, still my favourite Stephen King book to this day.)
Five-star rating is also another marketing gimmick. I used to think five-star ratings are good, then I came across an article saying how some five-star ratings are a sham. This person goes on to explain that if a book has many five-star ratings, you can't trust them. If you go through Harry Potter now, you will see that there's actually a lot of negative ratings besides good ones. Furthermore, I saw a lot of five-star ratings that says something like this:
"I haven't read the book yet, but I love the author so I'm giving it a five-star rating."
"Haven't tried it yet, just ordered it, but I'm sure it will be amazing."
If you are going to give a review, please get the product first, read through, then give your review. This is why I do not like Goodreads. Books that hasn't been published yet are getting five-star ratings because die-hard fans are just eagerly anticipating the books, or they think the book is already good (Spoiler: Before Cassandra Clare's Queen of Air and Darkness was out, I saw plenty of five star reviews. Once I got a copy of the book in hand, I was so disappointed with the book. Furthermore, 900- pages??? Cassie, are you trying to wear me out?) Kind of the reason why I never liked announcing a date for upcoming releases. Furthermore, I find it hard to believe that there is no negative reviews at all. So if a book (or a product) has many five-star reviews, I'm wary. That's just me, okay?
*The highest review (pretty much the only review I got) was a three-star rating which was positive. My next novel, which I didn't expect much, received a five-star rating which surprised me because I never knew this person, and they actually somehow got a hold of a copy of my book and actually enjoyed it, at the same time they gave me a brutal critique, which made me aware of where I needed improving on.
5. Fanfiction
This one is up for debate. Some writers got their gig from writing fanfiction. What turns out to be fun turns into something that sounds like a warpath. People have been using their fanfiction as an original work to get published, which is terrible because the writers are unable to get profit from their original works. On the other hand, some people use fanfiction as a sort of alternative story, which is fun, and as a way to practice writing before starting their own works. Getting inspiration is fine, but be sure to give credit when credit's due. The incident regarding a fan, Jean Lamb and author Marion Zimmer Bradley is enough to put off fanfiction for life.
- Source: Jackson, Gita (16th May 2018) It Used To Be Perilous To Write Fanfiction
https://kotaku.com/it-used-to-be-perilous-to-write-fanfiction-1826083509
Retrieved on 28th December 2020
- Source: Marion Zimmer Bradley Fanfiction Controversy
Author unknown, last edited 4 months ago
https://fanlore.org/wiki/Marion_Zimmer_Bradley_Fanfiction_Controversy
Retrieved on 28th December 2020
*Notable mention: Paying to get published. Due to the internet, there is now such thing as called vanity publishing, or hybrid publishing. Basically, you pay a certain amount of fee to get yourself published, or pay to use the publishing label for the spine of your book. I went for the self-publishing route, which means I do everything on my own, my friend help me with the book covers. The only thing I have to pay was for my printing guy to use his service, which is fair enough. There is something you need to know, new authors, don't be desperate to pay to get yourself published, because at the end of the day, you will be giving away your rights. It's one of the reasons why I sought for traditional publishing, yes, although I do give up certain rights, at least I don't have to fork out an arm and a leg to get published. Furthermore, if you fork over your money and the party screwed you over, it's worse. Beatrix Potter actually went through the self-publishing route, and look how well she turned out.
**On non-book related subjects, I'm going to say spicy food (the irony), makeup and earrings, the things that I really dislike the most...
Top 5 Things I Like
1. Tokusatsu (特撮)
AKA Special Filming .When you talk about tokusatsu, people tend to think of the Godzilla, Power Rangers or in Japanese, the Super Sentai era. Tokusatsu doesn't just apply to Power Rangers, Kamen Riders and all those. Steven Spielberg actually considered Godzilla (A Kaiju film) to be the inspiration for Jurassic Park, which is why films like Jurassic Park fascinated me, because no matter how much digging I done, no one can tell how they managed to make the dinosaurs so realistic. I know Titanic is not considered tokusatsu, but James Cameron actually somehow managed to build the whole ship back to life, not to mention destroying it for the epic sinking scene. No CGI or special effects involved, just set construction builders and the original ship blueprints plan from White Star Line.
2. Psychiatrists
You're probably thinking, what??? I like psychiatrists because I think their job is one of the noblest, besides being a doctor. Because with the rise of mental health issues such as depression and suicide, psychiatrists are the one who try to intervene to help those who are in dire situation. Furthermore, they are working hard to try to abolish the stigma surrounding mental health issues. It's very sad that till this day, people tend to call those who have mental issues 'crazy'. This is the reason why people could never open up about their mental health in feat of being called crazy. As far as I'm concerned, only a mass psychopath or sociopath is considered crazy. For those with depression issues, they need help.
3. Fish and Chips
It is hard to find good fish and chips, they are either too soggy, or the food is not fresh at all. There's a place near by that prides itself on serving authentic, British-style Fish and Chips, which I absolutely adore, and make it a point to go to the place once a month to avoid burning a hole in my pocket. An alternative to this dish would be lemon grilled fish and chips, which is yummy. Unfortunately, ever since a shop closed down, I'm unable to find a place that sells good lemon grilled fish and chips.
Lemon and herb batter ocean perch with triple cooked chunky chips and house made coleslaw @ Cor Blimey
*Food to die for: French fries, sushi, noodles and chocolate
4. Chess
I'm not a good chess player, just an amateur, but I find that chess helps calms me. Furthermore, it's almost like an extinct sports, because nowadays people don't really play much chess anymore, but due to my work, I never had time to practice the game, just play it for fun.
5. My job
If you have been following my blog for a long time, you will know that the bad tends to outweighs the good. You will often hear me complain or at my wit's end trying to convince people to get proper health care, but just like the doctors, no matter how much we feel frustrated and complain about our jobs, we love helping people, otherwise why would we be in this job for years? It's the same going for my writing. It's tiring, draining, and it doesn't pay (much), but it's something that I love. I hope I could write many more stories for years to come. And for everyone, it doesn't matter what you are working as, as long as you love your job, you will tend to see the good that comes out of it.
**Things that I also like: The smell of fresh paper, for some reason science says it tends to soothe your mind.
Since you came this far, it's time for you to roast my poetry (or proses). Keep in mind that I do not follow the traditional format of aa bb/ ab ab. I tend to freestyle.
Source: Citrine Value, Price, and Jewelry Information
https://www.gemsociety.org/article/citrine-jewelry-gemstone-information/
CITRINE YELLOW
Citrine yellow
The many shades of sunlight
The serpentine eyes of the Goddess Tiamat
The luminous surface of a citrine quartz
Yellow had resembled of old gold
The light radiating in the sky
The dancing petals of a lone sunflower
Yellow, like drops of sweetened honey on a cool sunny day
The bitter juice of fresh lemon
Or the salty sweet taste of freshly baked corn puffs
Soft strands of angel's hair in shimmering golden yellow
Whispering in your ear with promise of desires
Like molten gold in a blazing fire
Citrine had been known for its brimming prosperity
But even a plain quartz had its own magic properties
By the blessing of the Jupiter star
Evil, dispel into the light
~© ElayneCapahony, 9th November 2012
UNTITLED
In the dark of the night,
The flutterings of wings could be heard.
Underneath the darkest hour,
The moon turn a bloody crimson hue.
The warmth of the heart beating with rhythm,
Sealed with a cold embrace and a vampire's cold kiss.
As I awake in the pit black dark,
All I see is a tall cloaked figure vanishing in front of my eyes...
And thus the nightsong ends.
~ © Saya Heartnet, 10th May 2012
Oh, the cringe.
Source: FFVI - Opera House scene
Good thing I steered away from writing poetry and proses. Again, I would like to stress I do not dislike the whole thing in general, it's just not my thing. Who knows? Maybe somewhere along the line I'll come to love it again, till then, I'll just put those works aside. A friend suggested to me to collect all my rejected works and compile them into a book, I don't know, most of the things I wrote were really cringey. Some people write great screenplays, some people write great stories, some people write poetry, you know your strength.
*Today's case: 1,594
