Adventures Up North

Use the blog, Luke! Hi.  'Tis me, Luke Hartman, the Phantom of the Blogosphere.  Wait, this is supposed to be Star Wars references.  Let's get back to that.  Or no wait, let's just do all my fandom references. "Sleep.  Friends.  Real life.  Writing.  Long ago, the four elements of life lived together in harmony.  Then, everything changed when real life attacked.  Only the Blogger, master of all four elements of life, could stop it.  But when the world needed him most, he vanished.  A hundred days passed before my brother and I discovered the new blogger, a college student named Luke.  And although his blogging skills are great, he has a lot to learn before he's ready to inspire anyone.  But I believe Luke can save the world." So yes, this is the Luke you used to know like a year ago when he actually blogged about writing and actually had a teeny tiny following and actually blogged like once a week, not once ...

*wakes up and realizes that I promised to do a blog post today* So yay for leaving things to the last minute again. XD Hi everyone!  This week has been...let's just call it insane and move on, but I feel like there's a more accurate word that sounds something like torture (I hope y'all know I'm being sarcastic).  Seriously though, this week was insane, yesterday I did school until 8:00pm and I still have to write a five-page paper, take three tests, type a page of notes, and post in a school discussion forum. So that's what I'm doing as soon as I post this.  I also have a funeral today (you can probably tell that I'm not particularly excited about this day). BUT.  All is not lost.  Because today, Camp NaNoWriMo begins!! :D  I am super excited to have more dedicated time for writing this month.  I will continue revising my story The War of the Dragon Stone: Into The Desert (which is a working title, btw), and maybe start planning its sequel.  ...

Hi, everyone!!!  Luke here. :) So, unless you're a brand new reader, you probably noticed that I updated my blog with one of Blogger's new themes!  I particularly liked this one a lot, it seems much less cluttered than my old design. :) Since things on my blog are so different-looking, please consider taking a moment to look around a bit and leave a comment telling me what you think of the overall design!  Does the blog still seem easy to navigate?  Do you like this design better or worse?  I'm probably going to continue to make minor changes to it, but I really do like this new theme much more than my old one. Also, to hold myself accountable, I want to let you all know that I will be back with weekly blog posts next Saturday !! :D  I've missed blogging SO MUCH, and now that I'm finally getting more used to college, I feel ready to bring it back into my life again. Thank you so much for sticking with me even when I haven't been posting as much....

Hi, everyone!  Oh my goodness, it's been over a month. First of all, I am so sorry for disappearing so suddenly and without warning.  School and some big life events kinda took over for a while, and I sorta fell off with blogging altogether.  Also, I stopped writing as much.  Basically I stopped writing at all for about a month. College has been insane.  I have four classes right now, with fifteen credits total.  That might not seem like a ton, but it's been a big adjustment for me.  Also, I recently took a psychology test for college credit, so I was studying a lot for that.  All those things on top of those life events I mentioned earlier really took over. However, I am pleased to announce that my plan is to be BACK now!!  Back to blogging, back to writing.  Because blogging and writing are two of my favorite things to do. :) Also, I want to get to know you guys more now too!  I know many of you used to leave comments on m...

Hi, guys!! :) So I started online college this week.  I got four classes worth fifteen credits, plus piano lessons and some psychology studying.  Yep, I am very busy, but I still got a sliver of time for writing blog posts!! :) Today, I'm gonna be talking about ten movies that I LOVE.  I highly recommend all ten of these movies.  I have seen all of them at least twice, and some of them over a dozen times.  Here, in no particular order, are ten movies you need to watch!! The Hundred Foot Journey This movies combines a lot of things I personally love: food and cooking, a love story, and a message about overcoming the odds.  This film is set in France, and is about a family from India that moves to the French countryside and wishes to start a restaurant there.  This movie is a visual feast. The Lady Vanishes The oldest movie on my list, the Lady Vanishes was made way back in 1938.  This mystery movie directed by Alfred Hitchcock is a true m...

Hi everyone, IT'S 2017!!!  And I'm back with a writing blog post!! Editing a first draft can be very daunting, especially for new writers.  First drafts are usually a complete mess, and it's scary to approach editing the first draft when it's such a mess.  But with a little preparation and brainstorming, you'll find that the editing process is much less overwhelming than you thought. I've been editing my current project for a while now, and I feel like I have found both helpful techniques and unhelpful ones.  So today I thought I'd share these tips!! :) 1.  After finishing your rough draft, LEAVE THE PROJECT BE.   Yes, I KNOW, you're dying to go back and reread that one scene in chapter 14, or make that data consistent that you changed halfway through the book.  But it really is best if you just leave your project entirely for at least a week or two and let your mind sift through everything before coming back.  You'll be less likely to burn ...