may favorites

Hello everyone! Happy end of May, I hope this was a good month for you and I hope June is even better <3

WELL. it's been a hot minute since ive done one of these, shall we?

pablo neruda - the hands of day

pure art. It's so good, I need to read more of his poetry asap. (Not going to lie, the reason why I bought this is because a character from my favorite TV show ((How I Met Your Mother)) likes Pablo Neruda). I've had a small obsession with poetry because words are so nice.

my earth science review book

I swear, I'm not a nerd but I've had my nose so deep in this book for the past month that it deserves a spot on this list.. whether I like it or not. 

stickers from etsy

These look so cute in my bullet journal y'all don't even know how much I love stickers. And these ones are yellow flowers?? AGHHH

garnier fructis anti frizz serum

I am a girl with freaking thick hair. And in the summer, I look something like this:

Tragic. But yeah I really need this stuff so I don't look like Hermione Granger and it works. Go purchase, (this is not a #spon) but it's cheap and useful!!

staedler fine tip pens

Around finals time I have to do review notes so why not spice up those review notes with color! 20 different colors to be exact. You can create color schemes! And cursive! And doodles! It's always a good time. 

even more etsy stickers

THESE ARE ROWLETS. i freakin love pokemon yo. 

my algebra 1 review book

This one is actually kind of fun. SIKE I HATE IT. It's long and there's no place to do your work. *grinds teeth* But I'd fail my regents without it so.  CURSE YOU SCHOOL SYSTEM. 

chocolate cherry highlighter from kylie cosmetics

ya because i'm rich. SIKE I USED HALF MY BIRTHDAY MONEY FOR THIS. But it's so pretty n shiny. And I use it all the time so it's totally 100% not a waste and I'm not a terrible consumer who buys everything in sight. sigh. 

vivid matte lipstick from maybelline and nyx soft matte lip cream

These colors are so nice!! The Maybelline one is in Nude Thrill which is a not too light not too dark nude and it goes on soft and dries nicely! The NYX one is in Cannes which is probably one of the nicest colors I own and it is so creamy and soft (probably why it's called a soft matte lip cream). It doesn't dry completely which I actually like :D

mac "in extreme dimension" mascara

NO I AM NOT RICH. It was a free sample at Nordstorm's which I am slowly running out of :( And it's 32 dollars which I really don't feel like spending. Would anyone like to donate to my fund? ^_^

loads of washi tape

Just. All of the Washi Tape. All of it. It's an obsession I'm sorry. 

HOW WAS YOUR MAY? LIKES? DISLIKES? LEMME KNOW. do you watch how i met your mother? LEMME KNOW. 

Thanks for reading,

Noor

what i learned from multiple writing failures

Hello everyone! Back in October of last year, I wrote a post talking about my 2 Horrible Attempts At Writing, and I realized that after not 2, but three failed attempts at writing a novel, I have learned literally nothing. So before I start plotting for Camp NaNo in July, I decided to figure this whole shabang out.

I will always find an excuse to slap a Harry Potter gif onto my posts :))

give your plot some depth

Anyone (just about) can come up with a plot, but can they come up with a plot. Most of my stories have had a storyline, but I had no plot twists, and it didn't all weave together. 

I had a ton of subplots, but none of them really found their way into the heart of the story. It was like a ponytail after a long day, the hairs are sticking out and aren't in the hairtie anymore. My goal is to form a plot that is smooth and pulled back, with all the hairs scenes tucked into place. I love my metaphors. 

give your characters a summary but also give them depth

Depth is a theme that I was missing. I formed cute little summaries about my characters but where was the development? All my characters were static except for my main character, and their backstories were vague vague vague. Even if they did have backstories, they didn't fall into the plot. (I see some hairs peeking out)

They should have a purpose. I added a character just to have a romantic interest for my main character, but that was completely unnecessary. The main character's life wasn't the focus, it was the problem that they both had. The romantic interest wasn't important, it didn't add to the plot. This is the third issue. (nice segway)

make sure everything is relevant!

Metaphor number two because we're reading this in English: in Romeo and Juliet (if you're familiar with the full story), Shakespeare doesn't give the reason for the Capulet/Montague feud, because it's not important. Don't include things that aren't important. 

If that blue house down the street doesn't have anything to do with the story, don't give a 2 paragraph detailed description of this. (strangely specific but I actually did this in my first NaNo story)

please, it should make sense.

Ok I'm about to call out my 10 year old self right now: a 16 year old living in a suburban town most likely does not have the money to own an underground lair full of weird devices, unless you explain it well, which I did not. IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE. 

My entire plot revolved around that. *facepalm* I'll give myself some credit, I had a wild imagination. 

it's not always about completing

I want to make it perfectly that failure does not equal not completing. I did finish 2 out of 3 of those novels. But they were all failures. I failed to create a good story, therefore I was not successful. Even though I completed them.

However, it could be seen as a success because I learned a lot from those 3 stories. epiphanies.

What have you learned from writing? What do you consider a writing failure? SHARE YOUR STRUGGLES WITH ME, I HAVE ICE CREAM AND LOTS OF CARE. 

Thanks for reading,

Noor

a tour of my rad desk

Hello everyone! Happy Mother's Day!

My desk is probably the only part of my room that is consistently clean. I find it extremely stressful to work on a messy surface, and organization with my desk makes me happy and motivated. I honestly consider my desk to be the best part of my room,  even though it's probably where I spend the least amount of time... jk jk.

enjoy this somewhat brief tour of my desk :D

pics may be bad because the lighting was awful and i had to use my phone :(

I have a bunch of things lined up along my wall just so I can have a large space to work, it looks a little cluttered but I promise I have use for all of these things :P

In this corner I have my two Newts (aren't they cute :')) and a lil container from Target with Sharpies, colored pens, highlighters, my favorite Sharpie pens, a glue gun and some scissors! Rose gold is my obsession so when I saw this container I was like I MUST GET THIS. 

Here's the left middle :D There is a cute little plastic tray, again from Target, the only place you should buy anything :P In the bag are my all time favorite highlighters called Mildliners, they come in like 30 colors and are double sided :0. I have a notebook which I honestly never use but it looks cute. On top are my washi tapes which I cherish with all my heart. And then my Sonic Screwdriver because well, I am a nerd. Then on the right we got some pencils and some neutral markers. (which are also double sided because i'm a cool kid)

(closeup of the markers) AND MORE TAPE, I am a hoarder. Yet another container full of scrapbook paper.. index cards... and these bomb brush markers which were like 5 dollars so score right. 

Ignore the right I am attempting to convince my parents to take me to Fan Expo Canada over the summer. #noortofanexpo ANYWAY I have some more markers but they're colorful. And then a lil Hagrid with his lil umbrella :')

A gross picture of my wall next to the desk! I just have a load of crap like a calendar, some art, and then quotes to motivate myself while I cry work.

Wall above the desk! I have some fairy lights, and then a wall dedicated to a Draco Malfoy aesthetic because I'm a nerd inspiration. 

I hope y'all enjoyed! Let me know what you like to keep on your desk <3 Desk inspo is so relaxing I always look it up on Pinterest :P

BYE HAVE A GOOD WEEK FRIENDS

Thanks for reading,

Noor

why writing fanfiction is TOTALLY AWESOME

HELLO EVERYONE ! Fanfiction is great, it's fun to read and it's fun to write!

But I often feel extremely guilty when writing fanfics, as it's not truly original writing and it doesn't exactly take as much work as writing your own real baby.

HOWEVER. WRITING FANFICTION IS REALLY FREAKING RAD.

I present to you, 5 reasons why you should most definitely NOT feel guilty about writing fanfiction and instead love your favorite characters until the end of time. ahem

YOU HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO CREATE YOUR OWN PLOT

Just like real original (common misconception) writing, fanfiction has little to no rules. Heck, you don't have to stick to the original plot, you can make up your own characters, tbh do whatever you want!

That's why fanfiction is so much like original writing, because you can create plot twists and ideas that were never in the original book, movie, whatever, it's your story incorporated into that other one. 

DO ALL THE THINGS. Change a character's gender. Make them love chocolate ice cream instead of vanilla ice cream. you do you. 

IT'S A REALLY GREAT WAY TO BECOME A GOOD WRITER

You have an easy way to create a plot, you have the characters, now all you have to do is write. Test new things, practice intense descriptions, you have an outline, now you just have to paint it. And that is amazing practice that you may not get when writing an original. 

With fanfictions, developing the characters is not the most important part, because the people reading already have a sense of what they're like (unless you're introducing an OC or changing a character's personality)  SO AGAIN, GO WILD WITH FUN FUN THINGS!! 

YOU CAN FINALLY ADD THINGS YOU'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO SEE

I don't know about y'all but whenever I read/watch something, I always find myself saying "Man I wish they added ____ or made ____ into a _____" Well, with fanfiction, you can make all your dreams come true!

This especially works with ships. I prefer some characters together rather than what the author has written, and I can totally write that ship into my fanfiction. Again, my world, my ships :D 

Writing ships are also so much fun, sometimes I find myself in love with a ship, and I'm almost certain it's exactly what real love feels like. 

IT’S REAL WRITING

I honestly don't understand when people call fanfiction fake writing. if you are writing something... isn't it writing??? like ?? 

It's not exactly copying, when you write fanfiction you acknowledge that the characters aren't yours and the original story isn't either. You aren't copying it word for word, and it isn't paraphrasing, it's usually a completely different story or a subplot that wasn't part of the original. 

ONE WORD: REPRESENTATION

This kind of goes along with number 3, but I decided to give it it's own section. Earlier this year, I did a post about a lack of representation in YA novels, and how it really sucks. But, fanfiction changes everything. 

You can make a Caucasian character into a POC in an instant, and that doesn't suck. Fanfiction can give literature the representation it needs, especially since fic writers come from every inch of the world. And that's what makes it such a great community. 

me when i see poc in any form of media

FANFICTION? YES OR NO? If yes, what’s your favorite type to read? OOH and what’s your favorite ship, I’d love to know :D

Thanks for reading,

Noor