alix it is more

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    Alix is a teenager who dies in a car accident at the age of 15 and goes toheaven. She hadn't had the chance to travel too much in her short life,so God decides to make her a wandering angel. A wandering angel hasto travel from place to place and help people in distress.

    Alix adores her new job, because she likes helping people and there areso many places in the world she's never been to while she was alive.However, angels have their own strict rules. They mustnt interfere inthe lives of the people who are not on their daily list, and they mustntfall in love. A rule that Alix breaks. After all, shes a teenager.

    Alix can fly over green fields and sparkling rivers, over dark woods andwhite mountains, over blue oceans and seas. Everything is great and

    she feels very happy and free. But as she comes closer and closer to thehouse of the boy she loves, happiness turns into butterflies andfreedom into longing.

    It is her daily ritual. Everyday she flies past his house on her way back

    to heaven, hoping she will catch a glimpse of him through the window,

    knowing it is the most she would ever get. She lives with the hope that

    one day God will put his name on her list. And He does in the end, butin tragic circumstances.

    Imagine life and death are two compartments separated by a crimson

    curtain. The reason why we can't see this curtain is that it wasn't

    designed to be seen by human eyes. We were given eyes so that wecannot really see. Because if we had been able to see the curtain, we

    would have torn it to pieces by now.

    M. has this revelation in a dream. He sees the crimson curtain and

    tries to rip it off but then he wakes up and realizes nothing has

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    changed. The dream becomes recurrent. He's having it night after

    night. Everytime, he manages to destroy the curtain but in the

    morning he wakes up and everything is just the same.

    Then one day he has the revelation of why this is happening. What he

    can see in his dreams is not the real curtain, it's just a mirror image, a

    false copy of the original. The only place where he can find the real

    curtain is exactly where it is meant to be: at the borderline between life

    and death. But how can he get there? And if he fails in his mission, will

    he be able to come back?

    THE BUS JOURNEY

    How about a bus that doesn't take you where you want to go? You pay

    for the ticket, you take your seat, and the journey begins. But

    something happens and all of a sudden you realize the bus didn't go on

    its usual route. The places you can see when looking out of your little

    window are not the places you knew, the places you used to be familiar

    with. A whole new scene displays in front of your eyes and you're

    starting to realize that this is not a common journey - this is a journey

    that is going to change you forever.

    Imagine the things that could happen on this journey, the things you

    could learn, how your old beliefs and ideas would be shaken and your

    whole mental universe reshaped. It could be like a dull black and white

    dream, on an overpowering greyscale, or like one of your most colorful

    dreams. Let your mind wander. And remember... Never trust a bus

    driver.

    Submitted bySilentia

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    Fear of blank page

    Creative writing is a very rewarding activity, once you get into it thats what the professionals say. But how do you get into it? How can

    you overcome the existential terror that paralysis your will every timeyou have to confront the cold, uninviting blank document? When theterror creeps in, dont worry. Youre not the only one. Welcome to theclub.

    The first question that comes to mind is: why? I could think of severalreasons for this irrational fear: because (1) we are scared of theunknown, (2) we like to cling to familiar things, (3) we are never quite

    sure whether we can do it or not (even if weve done it before) (4) wefeel the pressure of having to do it well, (5) we feel we have aresponsibility to ourselves and to our readers (and responsibility isalways a burden), (6) our subconscious interprets the blank of thepage as a reflection of the blankness in our mind, (7) we feel our headis full of ideas but that well never be able to organize them in writing,(8) we think weve got to get everything perfect from the first attempt,(9) we have the almost superstitious belief that getting the firstsentence right is of paramount importance, (10) we are scared of

    making mistakes. After all, writers are humans, too.

    Here are a few tips and tricks to help you conquer the fear of the blankpage.

    1. Before even starting, go to the best passage youve ever written, readit carefully (not necessarily aloud) and say to yourself: See? You cando it. Youve done it before. There is no reason why you cant do itagain.

    2. Dont start with a blank page. Create a special document you canopen every time you want to write something new. Start it with aninspirational or motivational quote, a writing prompt, a favouritesaying, a message to yourself, a prayer, a mantra, a magic spell, evenan embedded picture anything that makes you feel better and turnsthe blank page into a comfort zone.

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    3. Start by writing keywords instead of whole sentences (preferably ina column rather than a row). Once youve got the first words on thescreen, the page is no longer blank, so the logical reason for your

    illogical fear is gone.

    4. Experiment with formatting. Its a little trick that may soundchildish but it works. When Im going through a bad inspiration crisis,I play with the formatting like a child with his toys. It goes like this:

    write a few keywords or phrases - you can even copy and paste one ofyour old passages - with the sole purpose of getting something on thepage. Start experimenting with different font types and sizes, changethe color of the background, add a bit more content, try different styles

    and headings, change the colors and the fonts again, add a bit morecontent, and so on and so forth. There comes a stage when you find

    yourself writing just because your page looks so good you can hardlybelieve its yours.

    5. Use a Dictaphone or another recording device. Then all youve got todo is transcribe your own words without worrying about beingcreative. Once its written down, its much easier to go through allagain and edit the original wherever necessary.

    6. Train your mind to give up the idea of getting it perfect from thefirst try. Dont worry about the form, the grammar, the punctuation,even the spelling. You can rectify all those in the editing stage. Thats

    what editing is for. Write with the sole purpose of pinning your ideasdown. Worry about nothing else but unleashing your creativity,exploring your imagination and expressing yourself. All the rest willcome later.

    7. Think about what youre going to write before you open your wordprocessor. Actually, you can start planning it in your head even beforegoing online, while having your breakfast, taking a shower or even in

    bed at night. Come with a title and/or a few lines. If it helps, writethem down on a piece of paper. It is much easier to face a blankdocument if youve already repeated in your mind whatyou want tosay.

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    8. Talk to yourself in your head. I know that sounds crazy butsometimes writers do crazy things and this tip is a last resort when youare completely drained of inspiration. Ask yourself questions and

    answer them, then write it all down. Imagine you are interviewingyourself. Something like that:

    Q: What are you going to write about today?

    A: I have no idea.

    Q: Hmmm... That sounds interesting. Im sure many people will appreciate this

    topic. Did you think of a good title for it?

    A: Nope.

    Q: Well, theres no rush. Did you dream last night?

    A: I cant remember.

    Q: We arent getting anywhere, are we? So how about surfing the net for a bit of

    inspiration?

    A: Whats the point?

    Q: How about looking for some writing prompts?

    A: Too much hassle.

    Q: How about checking the weird news online?

    A: Leave me alone. I just cant write today. Dont you understand?

    Q: How about watching cute puppy videos on YouTube?

    A: What?

    Q: Youve heard me...

    A: How about keeping your mouth shut?

    Q: Im the one who asks the questions here.

    A: Whats your problem?

    Q: No, whats your problem?

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    A: Ive got no problem.

    Q: Yes, you have. You are a writer. Youre meant to write. Thats what writers do.

    So why dont you?

    A: I dont know... I think its the blank page. It inhibits me...

    Q: What blank page?

    A: The one youre just staring at.

    Q: I see no blank page. All I can see is a page thats got our conversation on it.

    A: Hmmm... Youre quite right. I havent thought of that.

    Youve got the idea. You can turn anything that goes on in your head

    into writing material. Split yourself in two: the one who asks questionsand the one who gives the answers. In order to create, God had to

    invent number 2. Creation begins with two. (There speaks the Gemini

    in me.) ONE contains all the probabilities, but only TWO can make

    real things happen (e.g. an electron needs a proton, a man needs a

    woman, yin needs yang, etc.) Once youve grasped this truth, youre on

    the way to enlightenment.