My Writing Goals

I've been a writer for a long time. A loooooong time. As soon as I could hold a pencil and read a book, I realized that I wanted to pen the stories I so avidly enjoyed. My goals as a writer have fluctuated and changed over time, though the main, overarching plan as remained the same: make a living writing what I love. Nonetheless, here is a list of my goals, curated here for your (hopefully!) enjoyment.

Short Term:
Since I was rejected from Iowa Young Writer's Studio last year, I've been filled with a burning fire that's causing me to work harder on completing goals and improving my skills now so that I can get to where I want to go later. Here are my short term goals, in no particular order:

• Submit more work (be it excerpts, short fiction, essays, poetry, whatever) to magazines for young writers and all writers...maybe get accepted once or twice!
• Participate in National Novel Writing Month, either to complete Sorcera or get started on my new project (working title Girls and Galaxies); this year's NaNo will probably be more lowkey than previous years thanks to hardcore schoolwork
• Complete my second rewrite of Sorcera, and let it sit for a month or so before rereading again (hoping to be finished by/in December)
• Apply not only to Iowa, but also to other workshops, like Interlochen's Novel Writing Institute, Alpha, and Kenyon Writer's Workshop
• Begin work on a rewrite of Rita and the Afterlife, the novel I wrote the first time I won NaNo!

These goals all range in scope from now to about mid-spring, but the schedule will definitely fluctuate as things go. I hope to come up with a "submissions" schedule that I use to accumulate all my various deadlines!

Long Term: 
I will admit that my long term goals are quite a bit more vague than my short term ones--though I'm sure they'll get a lot more clear as I get closer to where I'm holding this long view!

• Complete Sorcera to a professional level and begin sending query letters to agents
• Continue to revise Rita and the Afterlife to a publishable level
• Do freelance work with magazines of various types
• Get one of your novels published, hopefully sooner rather than later!
• Pay the bills...maybe

Well, there they are? Do you think they're achievable? Or are they crazy? 

Good luck all,

Kekai

Role Models

As a teenage girl on the internet, I often find myself being bombarded by thousands of opinions. Sometimes it's hard to figure out which ones are good, and which ones are complete trash. Through my years on the internet (and there have been a few too many, I assure you), I have managed to curate a list of people that I look up to and often take time to investigate when I'm upset. I decided, why not share these people and why I find them inspirational here!

Anna Akana
First on the list is Anna Akana, a Youtuber, writer, director, actress, and standup comedian. The first video I watched of hers was Things Every Girl Should Know, and from then on I was hooked. She has lots of short, cute videos that make you think, interesting short films, and more than a few meaningful videos as well. She's hilarious, poignant, and smart--she often inspires me to work hard to achieve my goals, just like she has. A couple of my favorite videos are here, here, and here.

Nicki Minaj
I am feeling instantly defensive putting my queen on this list, because I know how much everyone seems to hate Nicki Minaj. Well, you shouldn't. Not only is Ms. Minaj a feminist, but she advocates for women in povery, as well as sex positivity. One of my favorite quotes of hers is, "There's nothing wrong with speaking my mind as long as when the song cuts off I'm still a businesswoman and I still respect myself. Women should be allowed to be as hardcore and sexual as they want, because men do it all the time." Nicki worked hard to be where she is today, and I love that she isn't afraid to call out anyone who dares to imply that she did anything but write her own lyrics and be her own person to do so.

Gail Carson Levine
It's true that, at 16, I rarely pick up Gail Carson Levine's younger-aimed books anymore, but they still sit in a loving place on my shelf. Ella Enchanted is, to this day, one of my favorite books, and when I read Writing Magic in elementary school, it truly inspired me to continue to write. I still remember some of her rules of the road, like not deleting anything you write because it might give you an idea later! I just got her other writer's advice book, Writer to Writer, and I'm so excited to start reading it.

Amy Poehler 
I first got to know Amy Poehler in her TV show Parks and Recreation, which I love so much because it's able to be funny without being negative! Since then, I've started to read more and more about her; Amy is funny and smart, and she even runs Amy Poehler's Smart Girls, which inspires girls to be clever and open-minded in all things. I also just picked up her autobiography/memoir Yes Please, and am super pumped to get to know more about my new fave.

Marina Diamandis
Marina Diamandis, better known as her stage name Marina and the Diamonds, is a Welsh singer/songwriter. Also a self-proclaimed feminist, the majority of Marina's music is relateable and clever. Not only does she make me wanna dance and sing, but she also inspires me to be who I want to be with reckless abandon. Her fashion sense is on point, and I find myself watching ever interview of hers that I come across--she's inspirational and genuine.

Carrie Hope Fletcher
I started following Carrie on her Youtube channel It's Way Past My Bedtime quite a few years ago, but I read her book All I Know Now this summer. She's sweet, funny, and I find her story to success incredibly lovely! She was young Eponine on West End as a child, and now plays adult Eponine! Her book is hilarious and makes you feel like you're not so alone in all the silly things you end up doing, on purpose or on accident. She is incredibly compassionate and I feel like I could open up to her about everything.

Malala Yousafzai
I have followed Malala's incredible story from the beginning, and I read her book I Am Malala almost as soon as it came out. The fact that Malala still manages to be empathetic and understanding even in the face of such hatred and adversity makes me feel like it should be easy for me to also be loving in my quite easy, day-to-day experiences! Her work to improve education for women and girl's has been incredible to watch, and every time I see her on my Facebook feed, Youtube subscriptions or Tumblr dashboard, I either find a smile on my face or tears in my eyes. She now runs The Malala Fund, a non-profit helping girls get education.

Well, there they are! I'm sure you've noticed a pattern here--strong, smart women who have worked hard in order to achieve there goals. There are plenty of women who inspire me, people I know in real life and even fictional characters, but I thought this list of successful women would be enough for now. I think it's important to find people we relate to in our lives, people we can look to for inspiration when we sometimes think we'll never make it to their level.

So who are your role models? Who motivates you to keep going, keep working, and keep being the best you you can be?

Lots of love,
Kekai

We Need Diverse Books: Here's Why

Have you ever felt the ping of recognition when you realize you share a trait with a character? The happiness as you realize that you and her both wear glasses, or you and him both stutter when you're nervous? The thrill as you realize you're the same height, and the two of you have frizzy, blonde hair?

Imagine never feeling that. Or imagine feeling that only once or twice, when you've read hundreds and hundreds of books about people who don't look, talk, or act like you. This is how it is for many people of color, people with disabilities, people of varying sexualities, people with unique genders, and many other people who aren't white, able-bodied, cisgender, and straight.

There are many kids and teens in the world who think that there's something wrong with them. Black girls who think their beautiful curls are ugly. Trans people who think they're freaks. People with disabilities who feel invisible to the rest of the world. I think one of the biggest reasons for that is a lack of representation in popular media. If our favorite books all had characters that represent us, we would feel a lot better about ourselves as a whole!

There's this wonderful initiative called We Need Diverse Books that advocates diversity in the literature community, mostly aimed towards children's books, as children are the ones that are most affected by representation (or lack of it) in their media. There are lots of ways you can get involved with WNDB, or you can just show your support by following them on Tumblr and the like! They even have a page geared towards writers here.I'm really glad there's an organization like them out there; there really should be more!

In a nutshell, this is why I work to try and include diversity of all sorts in my novels. One of my characters, Bambi, is a pansexual black girl, who is incredibly curvy. Another character is a hispanic lesbian. I work hard to ensure that these characters, and my other diverse characters, aren't just props of diversity, but real characters that people can relate to. As a white-passing person, I get the chance to relate to so many characters in literature. It's just unfair that so many other people don't get that chance! Let's make it happen, shall we?

Kekai

Potato Chip Sorcery (or, My Current Writing Project)

When I first came up with the idea for Sorcera, it probably would have been a better sitcom than a novel. The concept was this: a coven of young witches living in an old, abandoned library, trying to support themselves on minimum wage jobs, but mostly just messing around with their powers. The first time I put my pen to paper about this concept, I wrote a short work called "Potato Chip Sorcery", where two of my characters threw potato chips at each other using telekinesis.

Needless to say, the story has changed in tone and style quite a bit since than. I am currently in my first revision of the novel--my first draft was so bad that I was already planning the revision as I was finishing it up! Since the crappy storylines and flat characters of the first draft don't really matter anymore, for now I'll be gushing about how excited I am for my second draft--I'm currently about 13,500 words in.

In the world I've created, witches exist alongside people--some humans know about them, some don't, it's all pretty chill in that department (the president probably knows, for public safety and all). There are four elements, and each witch is tied to one of them. Each element has powers that correspond to it, and if witches combine their powers, they can often get some pretty interesting results.

The witch world is governed by various councils in various countries, but all witches bow to the Complete, a coven that has one air witch, one water witch, one earth witch, and one fire witch. It is impossible for you to cultivate a coven with this combination unless it is fated, at which point, you rise to power in the witch community. However, there's a catch. In order to remain dominant in this world, you have to kill the other Complete--otherwise, they'll kill you. And probably a lot of other people on their way to you. This is based off the idea of the dynastic cycle; power corrupts, and by the time one of the Complete is corrupt, a new one rises to take its place.

My four main characters are who really propel the story--originally based off me and three of my friends (cliche and awful, I know), they've developed into fully-fleshed characters of their own. Nicole, Malone, Adele, and Bambi are all witches, and each corresponds to one of the four elements.I'm a huge fan of character-driven novels, and so it only makes sense that these four are my favorite parts of writing Sorcera. I enjoy seeing how they interact together, learning to work as a team as they become the next Complete, forced to stand against Storm, a group of veteran witches known for their ruthlessness and power.

I could go on for ages about Sorcera, but there's plenty of time for that! You'll no doubt be hearing more about it from me soon. For now, feel free to tell me what you think of the story based on the plot summary! Thank you!

Talk to you soon,
Kekai

The Most Important Question in the World

What Hogwarts house are you in?

When I first get to know people, this is often the question that I find myself wondering time and time again, until I finally manage to ask this new acquaintance to answer for themselves--I wouldn't say that I judge people on their answer, but it certainly does affect the way I think of them.

Oh, I'm definitely a Gryffindor! They're the coolest.
Ravenclaw, I'm such a nerd.
Slytherin of course, couldn't you tell?
I don't know, but definitely not Hufflepuff. I hate Hufflepuffs.

If someone answers with the last example, I tend to run for the hills: "I'm sorry but my mom said I have to leave right now immediately." How can anyone hate the sweet, loyal, hard workers of the wizarding world never ceases to amaze me!

Anyways, what I'm getting at here is this: often, people find it difficult to describe themselves. I find it difficult to describe myself. Asking people what Hogwarts house they're in not only gives us a common link in our love for Harry Potter, but it also tells me a lot about them.

So, which Hogwarts house am I in? I generally consider myself to be a Hufflepuff, with strong Slytherin tendencies. I'm kind of the den mother of my group of friends, always wanting to help out and give people advice. I also have a strong moral compass, and don't like seeing anyone wronged! The Slytherin comes in with my intense ambition and goal-oriented nature. There was a time when I would have been aghast at the thought of being sorted into the snake house, but now I love it.

What else is there to know about me? I'm a sixteen-year-old girl, and I've been writing since the single-digits, so I've vastly improved in the many years I've been practicing, to say the least. (That "eye on the prize" nature? Veeeeery Slytherin.) Not only do I write, but I'm also involved in violin, speech & debate, musical theater, and various other extracurriculars. (Being a jack of all trades? Veeeeery Hufflepuff.) I'm very passionate about issues I care about, and do consider myself to be an intersectional feminist--that will probably seep into my writings here time and time again. (Caring a lot about a changing world? Veeeeeery Hogwarts!)

Let's talk about my writing a little bit more, if you don't mind. Like I said, I've been doing this a while. Ever since I could first hold a book, I was infatuated with them, and of course I wanted to learn how to write my own eventually. I've been writing for about a decade now, and honestly I'm surprised I'm still so passionate about it--not that I'm complaining! My tastes have changed and evolved over the years, but I do quite love speculative fiction, mostly of the YA variety (though I'll read anything you put in front of me that seems vaguely interesting).

In recent years, two goals have become very clear in all my writing: 1) Combat cliches. More and more in fiction for young people, I'm noticing that we keep the same tropes going. It's boring, and honestly, we deserve better than that! (Am I sensing a little Slytherin need to prove people wrong here?) And then 2) Promote diversity. We live in an ever-evolving world filled with people of different races, creeds, sexualities, genders, ages, cultures, experiences and even more qualifying factors. The fact that only a small portion of our world is represented in most mainstream fiction is mind-boggling and silly. More and more, I am working to fill my writing with people who modern literature doesn't do a very good job of representing, and I'm working to make these characters realistic and respectful. (Is this some more Hufflepuff-ness shining through?)

I'll definitely be addressing these and many more topics on this blog, as well as hopefully sharing writing samples and more interesting content! If you took the time to read through this whole damn post, thank you so much! I cannot tell you how much it means to me. If you'd like, comment with your Hogwarts house and what it means about your personality! I'd love to hear about it.

Best wishes,
Kekai