When I first started college in August, I thought I knew exactly what my major was going to be. At that time, I knew I was going to be an English Major with a certainty that was hard to shake. I had been writing stories for so long, so why wouldn't I be an English Major? However, as time has gone on, I've realized that I have a lot of interests. I always knew that I was interested in a lot of topics but in college it became quite clear. It's made me realize that I really don't know what I want to do until I do become a published author. It also made me realize that there are a lot of topics that I wouldn't mind rigorously studying under a major. As a result, I'm back to square one and have no idea what to do. I'm aware that I don't need to know just yet (technically I have two more semesters before I need to declare anything), but I feel anxious not having a plan in place. (Yeah...I'm one of those people)

     Aside from this new struggle, there have been other new developments in my writing world. I'm currently taking two workshops (one for playwriting and another for screenwriting) and it has been driving me nuts! Trying to come up with ideas in almost an instant and running with them so that I have something to turn in is completely out of my comfort zone. So far so good though. I'm already learning a lot about my writing style that I've never really noticed before. For example, I have to write the events that happen in my story in chronological order! I learned this through an assignment that I had to do in playwriting in which I needed to write the three turning point scenes in the play. I tried to write them out of order but I was just confused as to whether I was writing a scene that was a real turning point or if it was something that just provided more background. In addition, the scenes lacked any real detail and just felt as if I threw them together with no thought in mind (which is probably accurate since I was scrambling to write something). It took losing the word document for me to start over, this time going in chronological order. It was easier to pinpoint which scenes were the turning points and I was able to add a lot more detail to them than I was able to before. Ultimately, I ended up writing a whole play in two weeks. However, all of the scenes besides the three that I had to turn in need a lot of work before I could say that they're done.

     In other news, I have also been struck by how I will make The Factory a better book! I have been working on revisions for a while now but this week I was hit by inspiration and a new direction to take it. If my ideas are successful, then I should have a book in which someone can feel for the main character. For a while, I was alright with the fact that my characters weren't likable and that no one would really care if any of them died. However, these realizations have enabled me a way to make the characters evoke feelings in the reader. If I'm able to pull it off, I now realize that it will be a better book. I mean, there's nothing wrong with intentionally having characters that no one could like but then, if I don't have something that will make the book worth reading, why would they read it to the end?

     I hope everything is going well for all of you! This year has been insane and we're just in the second month. Keep love and light in your hearts as we dive deeper into this year's difficulties and rewards!