#Morana's Maundering

[thewardenofwinter]

Гости въехали к боярам во дворы!

Did I really make this meme just for myself? Yes, yes I did. Have I actually watched this video everyday for the past 2 months? Yes, yes I have. Am I learning Russian just because of this movie? Да- да, я такой.

[thewardenofwinter]

No, but that doesn't mean that I don't have an average for each project. I start out a chapter with the goal of ~3 scenes for third person POV, but for any first person projects I average around 2. I try to write at least 2500-3000 per chapter, but that is based on my personal taste as I do not usually enjoy reading super short chapters.

An example of me consistently going over this limit is Give No Quarter, she averages around 4,000-6,000 words per chapter, but that is because it is a fantasy/historical novel. That being said, I am a very staunch over writer so as I am in the final edits I am trying to cut at least some of that down. GNQ is a dual POV novel that switches every 3 chapters between the characters, spare for the first part which includes 5 chapters to begin and help the reader get a feel for their different style.

I also physically cannot do POV switches mid chapter, reminds me too much of all the bad fan fiction I've read over the years that had POV switches sentence by sentence.

— M. Warrin ❄️

i saw a poll about it and now i’m curious: do you guys’ chapters have specific lengths/wordcout goals? personally this is a foreign concept to me. the chapter ends when it ends in my heart

[thewardenofwinter]

you know the new WIP brainrot bad when you pull up Pinterest and manage to add 200 pins on your first go 😔

i really really hope this fantasy project keeps the romance this time cuz the last fantasy romance projects i've TRIED to write, i end up forgetting about the romance part of it halfway and just end up killing off one of the love interests so i don't have to try to rewrite it in 💅

[thewardenofwinter]

Every time I watch old movies/movies from outside the US I am just reminded of how pretty men look with eyeliner/makeup on *sighs*

(pictured left-right: Udo Kier, Ivor Novello, Conrad Veidt, Михаил Кузнецов, Дмитрий Писаренко)

[thewardenofwinter]

Going to sleep<<<< Creating fake Castlevania model sheets of your OC’s

[thewardenofwinter]

i'm probably one of the very few people with this opinion, but i absolutely HATE worldbuilding/lore which is the reason why most of my fantasy novels are low fantasy/take place in the real world with 💫fantastical💫 elements because my silly little brain cannot handle a lot of information. it's also why i usually stick to historical fiction because that shit already happened so i don't have to use my smooth brain.

right now i'm working on the religion/lore of necromancy in The Resurrectioners and... this is slowly becoming a high fantasy novel y'all, this is the first time i've actually ENJOYED creating beliefs and lore behind character's abilities. maybe because it's death related and i'm a touch morbid but still, this shit got me by the THROAT. now i know a shit ton of names of death gods from so many different cultures that i'd probably never know had it not been for researching for this particular novel.

i've run into a bit of a problem though because my name is Morana, and one of the Slavic goddesses of death/winter is also named Morana and i kind of need to use her name... oh well i guess i can self-insert as a god of death into my own work, isn't that cool? i do be killing these bitches frequently.

[thewardenofwinter]

"The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated..."

Hello everyone! Today I reached 100 followers on here (which is insane to me) so I shall celebrate this momentous occasion by actually going through all the stuff I've been tagged in and getting shit done lol I have some extra time for this weekend and I'm not completely devoid of a will to live. We do have some open houses to go to on Saturday so I'm looking forward to that!

Thank you all so much for all the support I've been getting! I really appreciate it, it's been helping me through this tough time with my family/living situation.

Also here is my new kitten Ivan!! He's just over 3 months old, we found him under our house with his 5 siblings. He was the runt of the litter and barely fit in my hand but now he's an absolute gremlin who attacks my ankles given the chance. Do not be fooled by his appearance.

[thewardenofwinter]

it seems i have taken the 'gentle' tagging a little to seriously and have over 22 new tag games to complete... *sigh* y'all really like keeping me accountable

[thewardenofwinter]

Happy STS! I hope you’re enjoying the weekend!

Is there an author or book you feel a strong connection to? It doesn’t necessarily have to be your favorite; it could be a book or series that resonated with you when you first read it, an author who’s writing style inspired your own, or anything else like that!

Answering this late because this was in the depths of my drafts but happy STS Ella!

While this is nowhere near close to being my favorite book (not even my favorite Albert Camus work) I think that The Myth of Sisyphus rewired my brain chemistry the first time I read it at fifteen.

I never really had a word for my outlook on life/the meaning of life, the best way I could describe it was 'fuck it, we ball.' I never really jived with nihilism or pessimism, and while I did agree somewhat with existentialism, I still didn't truly align with its core beliefs. I've never really understood this whole 'divine purpose' thing that religions like to preach, or the whole 'god is dead' s*icide edgelord stuff. That was until I first began reading about absurdism in Kierkegaard's work and was like 'ohhhhh that's what this is about.' And then someone told me to pick up The Myth of Sisyphus and it was like BAM! You're a philosopher now, Morana.

This book taught me to embrace the absurdity of human existence, to stare it's meaninglessness in the eye and say 'I will curate my own meaning with every passing day until I can bear no longer. Only then will my life come to an end.'

[thewardenofwinter]

hello everyone! just wanted to say on here that my account will be fairly barren for the coming weeks. i am in the process of moving and find little time these days for myself, but i'll be lurking around and looking at everyone's posts in my spare time.

— M. Warrin

[thewardenofwinter]

finally got a wattpad account because i was so tired of screenshotting @elshells's Agent Ace and @writernopal's As A Stranger or As A Friend? on Tumblr just to read them on the go lol. I don't know if I'll ever post any of my work on there but my @ is thewardenofwinter, of course. if you want to drop a follow or send me your work on there, please do! I'll have some freetime to read while moving :)

[thewardenofwinter]

every time i see false information about pirates i die a little inside, but at the same time it brings me joy that other people find interest in something i am so passionate about. in the end, as long as people are having fun writing about these high seas robbers, it doesn't matter if everything is historically accurate. why should I ruin their fun with correcting them? (but i still want to)

[thewardenofwinter]

Mission Failed: We'll Get Em' Next Time

i started this tumblr with the intention of being a really secretive prestigious author who speaks in purple prose on the daily but like a month in I'm already quoting Lady Gaga in the comments and harassing other people by putting 'me fr' under all their posts about their unhinged characters

[thewardenofwinter]

heheheheehehee

[thewardenofwinter]

my noise canceling headphones died brb going to become familiar with the horrors

[thewardenofwinter]

Hi Morana!

How are you doing? How is the writing going, what are you up to?

Greetings Sam, thank you so much for this ask! I've been meaning to do a little update for a while and this gives me a perfect excuse lol

On life (tw for mentions of illness):

It's still very hectic at the moment which hasn't really allowed me time to pursue any creative avenues. I've been fighting off various illnesses since my younger brother started school because my immune system isn't used to all the germs he's around, including covid and strep, and on top of that there was a West Nile Virus outbreak in my state which my mom ended up catching and had to be hospitalized for a few days but she's doing a lot better now. We still have not found a place to live yet, but we managed to finagle two more months from our landlords to find a place since moving during the summer is damn near impossible when they rack up the prices and everything is being taken. There's also a lot going on in my more personal life that's left me quite stressed and lethargic. A little bright side though is that we also found two itty bitty stray kittens under a house and I had to take care of them for almost 2 weeks, but they ended up getting adopted which is great! They were both very cute gray tabbies like their mom, and they were technically my other cat Ivan's half-siblings. I've also got a queens of the stone age and hozier concert coming up soon which i am SO hyped for, my entire life has been In Times New Roman and Unreal Unearth for the past weeks.

On writing:

In the past few days, I've finally found some peace to write and draw some. I've been mainly focusing on The Resurrectioners and trying to get at least 50k words by the end of October. I've also been outlining The Stray Girls and trying to work on a cover in Photoshop (which i got recently totally legally, but i usually just use Clip Studio). I've sort of put What We Undertake on the backburner for now, it's not that i don't want to work on it or am burnt out, it's just that I'm not nearly as passionate about furthering the plot like I am with The Resurrectioners. I've sort of fallen into a hole of mythology and folktales about necromancy trying to learn more about the history behind its representation.

I've also gotten back into drawing now that I've actually had time to do so lol. Here’s some drawings I’ve gotten done recently!

(in order from left to right: Nazriya from The Resurrectioners, Circe from Give No Quarter, A quick sketch of Zekiah from The Resurrectioners, and a face study of Charlie Hunnam)

I've also put off studying Russian for a month or so and am trying to get back into my one-hour-a-day studying routine I had previously which is taking a toll on me to be honest lol. I bought the Curse of the Pharaohs DLC for AC Origins and I've also started to play Assassins Creed: Liberation for the first time and so far I'm loving both. I can't believe some people say it's the worst installment. I'm working on Aveline fanart as we speak.

But yeah! There's a little update, I'm going to be posting some of my writing soon/doing a few tag games to get back into the groove of things so watch out for those. Thanks again Sam for checking up on me and sending the ask!