Thoughts About Writing Nuggets of Unspoken Parts of Yourself

There are a lot of components that go into the writing of a fictional story. It’s a fuse of everything from research, inspiration, imagination, and getting into headspaces apart from your own. It’s also well known that writers are often guilty of putting parts of themselves into the story that they are writing. Audiences who maybe know the writer on a personal level would be able to detect those parts.

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9 Years of Lola By the Bay and 2022 Year in Review

It all comes down to this. The fanfare of the holiday season is winding down as champagne is slowly but surely being stalked up for the stroke of midnight tonight. Resolutions are being jotted down and vision boards are being crafted together, with the hopes of some of them actually manifesting by this time in a year. 2023 is now less so of a concept and now hours away from becoming our reality.

But before 2022 bows out altogether, I wanted to make sure I had my retrospective for this ninth(?!?!?) year of my website written down and ready to ponder for those who  may have missed any of what happened, or to read and go, “That happened this year?”

In Collaboration with This Asian American Life: The Making of “My Journey with Journals”

So as I had mentioned last week, I have never written a comic book or a graphic novel before… but as of this week, I can say that I have written a web comic. I teased this project back in February, but for those who missed it, on Thursday, my collaboration with This Asian American Life (TAAL) was released, in the form of a comic commemorating 20 years of journaling called “My Journey with Journals.”

About the Journals Pt. IV: 20 Years of Journaling

Say it ain’t so, but it’s very much true. As of yesterday, I’ve been writing in journals for 20 whole years.

Can Writing/Journaling Relieve Stress?

The name of this post is a subject that was brought up by someone I know just the other day. They were pondering on the thought experiment, after reading a study (source unknown to me) that writing is said to relieve stress. The person who was pondering on this isn’t convinced, for reasons that remain unexplained by them. I believe it’s worth noting though that this individual does not keep a journal, nor do they write as frequently as I do. So as you can likely guess, I definitely have a slightly different answer to this question.

The Journal Entry That Could Have Been Written

On this solemn anniversary and on the verge of completing yet another pandemic-era journal, my thoughts turn to my routine of keeping a journal once more, although from a different angle than from how I’ve explored it previously. I’ve talked a lot about the act of keeping a journal when it’s become so scarce to see from others, writing through major global events, and also the simple satisfaction of having a place to document everything that’s on your mind, without fear of judgment. But today, I’m thinking about a journal entry that could have been written, had I started keeping one just a little bit earlier than when I did.

About the Journals Pt. III

It’s been over two years since I last addressed this topic, and yet it feels like there has been enough change in the times for me to talk about it once more.

The last time I wrote about my constantly growing collection of journals, it was through the lens of writing about the day-to-day during a crazy political climate. While that much is still very much true now, obviously the circumstances have altered quite a bit. Over 18 years after I started actively keeping a journal, I now find myself writing through a global pandemic.

What Did I Miss?: April 2019

Appearances

The Disappointment Episode | Captain Marvel, Battle Angel Alita, Happy Death Day – I receive a mention (and, unexpected to me anyway, an apology) from co-host Melissa Slaughter for not taking on “The Karate Kid” for the focus of this month’s episode of the We’re Not All Ninjas podcast. The mention is heard near the end of the episode.

In Tribute to the Notre Dame Cathedral – The Instagram account for the People to People Travel Program quoted my travel journal excerpt from when I visited the Notre Dame Cathedral, in tribute it being partially burnt down earlier this month. To see my tribute where the excerpt is first seen, check it out here.

Published Works

Amy Tan Reflects on the Book and Film Anniversaries for “The Joy Luck Club” – For the Center for Asian American Media, I had the absolute honor and pleasure to speak with the New York Times Bestselling author on the two anniversaries of the releases of her debut novel and its film adaptation.

Review of The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan– For Goodreads, I give my thoughts on reading this poignantly powerful novel for the first time in a decade.

Review of Storm of Locusts by Rebecca Roanhorse – For Goodreads, I dive back into the post-apocalyptic Sixth World as I go over my thoughts about the epic follow-up to Trail of Lightning.

About the Journals Pt. II

I filled out another journal last night. This is an occurrence that is always set to happen the minute I put pen to paper with any journal I start. At the same time, it’s one where each time it happens, it leaves me feeling both fulfilled and constantly wondering.

7 Ways to Fill Up a Blank Book

In attempt to regain the usual rhythm of my blog after rightfully devoting my previous two entries to what needed to be talked about, today I look to the delight of blank books (i.e. notebooks, journals, etc.) and all the possibilities they entail. Any blank page is a call for freedom of control over what appears before the surface and for anyone who doesn’t use blanks books regularly may be, at first, intimidated by what to do. This is where I break down just a few possibilities for what can be documented in a blank book, as well as recommendations for what kind of blank books would be wisest to use: