Part #3: Spelling is Hard

By now, you know that the Story Behind My Story includes the fact that I had (and still continue to have) difficulties with dyslexia, as well as a lack of talent when it came to drawing. If you haven’t read Part #1 yet, give it a quick read HERE.

But, to top it all off, there was also this:

I’m absolutely awful when it comes to spelling and grammar.

Which, if you’re reading this, you may be thinking to yourself:

“Bitsy, this actually reads very well! It sure doesn’t seem like you have this problem!”

Well, that’s because, like I said before, my lovely husband does quite a bit of my editing for me. He does so across this blog, as well as the published versions of my books and other stuff. So, if you see something that seems a bit misspelt, or something like that, you can safely assume that he hasn’t gotten around to fixing it yet.

As you can also safely assume, attempting to become an author when you can’t write very well, and reading itself is very difficult, isn’t exactly the easiest task to accomplish. That was me! Still is in many ways. You can actually still catch many of my mistakes and mishaps in the hiatus part of my main story, where I posted an Elder Scrolls short story I wrote. [You can read that HERE]

What was pleasantly surprising though, is how well received my story Maiden in Disguise has been despite many of the errors I made in the literal writing of it. Of course, there are always the big meanie-heads that leave negative comments for no other reason than doing so, but overall the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.

Looking back on it now, it seems crazy that MiD began as an almost half-hearted attempt at “putting myself out there” in February of 2015. It just a few short months (at the time of writing this), it’ll have been four years! In that time, I’ve now completed 3 total books, with #4 likely to be finished and published by early 2019. Thankfully, with just a little bit of help, all of those finished works have little to no spelling errors or terrible grammar mistakes.

Which, I think brings me to my point of this blog post. And, yes, unlike some of my other ramblings I do have a point this time! It’s two-fold, I think:

1. If you think your stuff isn’t “good enough,” whether due to spelling, art quality, plot, or complexity . . . You’re probably just beating yourself up for no good reason. Try! Make something new and show the world. That’s more than most can admit to ever doing.
2. If your writing still makes you feel uncomfortable with sharing, get help. Seriously! If you’ve got some friends who are better than you at those things, ask if they may be willing to help you with editing. Most people are more willing to help than you expect.

And, if that doesn’t work, there’s also Grammarly:

If you don’t know about Grammarly, it’s a super awesome free (and also not-so-free) software available for both computers and smartphones. Check it HERE.

It’s probably the best thing out there for people like me, and probably even for those who don’t have the issues I do, as it catches mistakes that most people would miss. Plus, it does things almost automatically for you.

So, now when I write my stuff, I do it with the help of Grammarly as it makes my editor’s job a little easier.

And, no, for full-disclosure’s sake this is not a paid plug for Grammarly. I simply really enjoy it and I want more people to know about it.

That’s it!

I hope you have enjoyed reading more of my ramblings.

Until the next one . . .

Stay strange.

The post I Can’t Spell! appeared first on EOTERA.

Part #2: I Can’t Draw!

“That’s great, honey. But, you know you can’t draw, right?”

I remember that as the exact response my mom gave me when I told her I wanted to be a comic book artist.

Now, don’t give her any crap. Not only was she right, but she meant it in the right way. She wasn’t trying to put me down in any way. She was just making sure that I understood my dream was not going to come easily in the least. And, now that I’ve gotten a couple books published, I can say: She was right!

At that time, It was 2012 and I was just 17 years old and graduating high school. And, the best (worst?) part was that just about any grade-school kid could still draw better than I could:

What was a girl to do? Give up?

Believe me, I’d love to tell you how I, “Refused to give up,” or “Always knew my dreams would come true.” While there may have been a small voice inside me that always thought these things, if I’m being completely honest, there were plenty of times that I thought the exact opposite.

I didn’t really start drawing with any real earnestness well into my late teens, and it wasn’t until I was turning 20 that I developed the idea behind Maiden in Disguise.

Which is kind of a funny thing, because I never really expected Maiden in Disguise to take on a life of its own. It’s not super crazy popular yet (though it is gaining way more traction than I thought I’d ever have), but the story is becoming much more involved than I originally intended, which is both exciting and scary.

You see, when you grow up as a kid in similar circumstances as me (You can read about that HERE), it’s pretty easy to convince yourself that you’ll never be “good enough” at anything, especially something that you’re really not talented in to begin with.

The reason why Maiden in Disguise became a story was due to a conversation I had with my husband (who was my boyfriend, back then) during a drive back home from Detroit, MI. He was telling me that it doesn’t matter how “bad” I believe I am, I just needed to start putting something, anything really, out there for the world to see and experience, and his reasoning was something like this:

So, during our drive, I hashed out the initial story idea of Maiden in Disguise and vowed not only to draw the very first page, but to publish it online somewhere for all the world to see.

Which, let me tell you, when you sincerely believe that your art completely sucks, this was one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever done.

Originally being published on Tapas (called Tapastic back then), I also eventually started publishing MiD on Webtoon a couple years later when I found much more interaction and exposure on that platform.

During those early days, I “cheated” quite a bit. Meaning, that I used many of the 3D model tools available on my drawing software programs to aid me in designing my characters, helping to keep them consistent throughout the pages and panels. But, I knew this wasn’t the way I wanted to make my art in the long-term, because it wouldn’t fully be “my art.” So, I devoted quite a bit of time to studying anatomy books to learn how to draw my own style, with my own hands, in my own way.

Which was happening concurrently as I published my pages online. It’s something you can easily make notice of, as there are a couple of instances in my current story that the art style drastically improves. I hope it adds to the experience and really shows the journey:

If you are a consistent reader of Maiden in Disguise, you can see quite a few instances that just make you cringe a little on the inside (and maybe the outside, too). If you’re one of the individuals who never noticed or left positive feedback, well, thank you for being a kind hooman; you’re a good part of the reason why I never stopped.

And, I can honestly say now that I’ve finally gotten to the point where I am happy with my art 90% of the time. Here’s one of my personal favorite panels from recent pages of MiD:

There are still times where my consistency hiccups, and there are art challenges I still have yet to overcome. But, it makes me so glad to finally see that I have a style that is completely my own, yet still shows the progress of my early drawings.

Once again, I’m not sure why I’m writing all this. Maybe it’s a hope of mine that someone who believes they suck will read it and believe maybe they can suck a little less in the future. Maybe it’s just something I needed to get off my chest.

Either way, I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about The Story Behind my Stories.

Until next time . . .

Stay Strange, Strangers!

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