Monthly Summary: December 2016/Year End Post + Giveaway & Survey

2016 was a whirlwind of a year. I'm still reeling from it. I'm glad most of it happened, but at the same time I'm glad it's over. This month I feel like I've been recovering from the chaos of this year. 

I'm Going On Hiatus!

Hey, guys! Today has been a great year for blogging! I've enjoyed writing for you guys and reading your lovely comments. You're such an encouragement for me, and I feel like this blog has grown so much. I'm going to go on a month-long hiatus so I can recharge and relax with my family before another great blogging year next year. But don't forget the annual Yearly Summary post on December 31st! Other than that posts will resume as per normal on January 20th. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 

from Wanderer's Pen!

Writing Lessons from TV Shows: Stranger Things

After much prompting from my cousin who was born in the 80s, I finally got to watching Stranger Things. I binge-watched all eight episodes in a weekend and let me tell you it is the best show I've seen this year. It's set in the 1980's and is about a young boy who mysteriously disappears in the small town of Hawkins, Indiana, so his friends, family, and the town sheriff do everything they can to get him back. Meanwhile, there's a young girl named Eleven with telekinetic and telepathic powers and people are seeing walls move and lights flicker for no reason.

I was absolutely blown away by the intricacy of this show. It is incredibly well-written and very streamlined in its eight episodes. It also deals with an ensemble cast, which creates a whole different element. I just love the characters and their development. Anyway, I need to stop ranting and tell you why I believe this show is so well-written! We don't want to keep this curiosity door locked.

Warning: Spoilers.

The Q & A Tag!

So Mordraug didn't get any questions for his interview (If you'd like to ask him some questions please do so, so maybe I can do his interview later), so I had to cancel it and Beautiful Book has still not happened this month, so I didn't have a post to replace it. I said "so" a lot into that sentence. I realized when I woke up this morning that I had to rush and make a post. Tags are easy therefore I've done a tag! Thank you the Author for tagging me! 

A Book Review of Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do. This afternoon, her planet was invaded.

      The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than a speck at the edge of the universe. Now with enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to evacuate with a hostile warship in hot pursuit.

     But their problems are just getting started. A plague has broken out and is mutating with terrifying results; the fleet’s AI may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a web of data to find the truth, it’s clear the only person who can help her is the ex-boyfriend she swore she’d never speak to again.

      Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, maps, files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more—Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.

So Your Character is From Germany ... Featuring Fraise Fruitrouge

It's time for this month's So Your Character is From Another Country! This is a monthly or bimonthly segment where I interview lovely volunteers from around the world to give you a firsthand account of being a citizen of their respective country. I'm hoping to encourage international diversity, break stereotypes, and give writers a crash course on how to write a character from these different places on our planet. If you haven't checked out last week's So Your Character is From Belgium ... be sure to hop on over there and give it a read!

I've grown up knowing a lot of German people. My best friend as a child was of direct German descent. She, her eight siblings, and her parents could speak fluent German visited Germany on a regular basis, so I heard the language spoken pretty regularly. My piano teacher and her family was also German and they also spoke German semi-regularly. I'm also of German descent, so I have some of the facial features and ridiculously pale skin color as characteristic of Germans. I go into this knowing a lot about Germany, but I'm always in for learning more!

Disclaimer: The content below may be culturally shocking to some. Each of these posts are as uncensored as possible to preserve the authenticity of the cultures of each of the interviewees.

(None of the Images are Mine)

Ten Fictional Vehicles I'd like to Ride In

I don't like driving. Driving is one of my least favorite activities on the planet, because I find it simultaneously stressful and boring. Yes, I know that sounds like an oxymoron but that's honestly how I see it. Knowing that, you can imagine how surprised I was when Turo.com asked me to participate in her site's campaign about fictional vehicles. At first I was a bit hesitant, but then I gave it some thought and came up with ten fictional vehicles I'd like to ride in, whether I'm steering it or not.

Note: Yes, I know Beautiful Books was supposed to go up today, but since Paper Fury doesn't have it up today, it's been moved to the 20th. 

A Book Review of Beyond the Gateway by Bryan Davis

Buy from Amazon!

Phoenix and Shanghai find a holographic recording left behind by a fellow Reaper who was recently executed. The message leads them on a journey to learn the answer to a crucial question: Does the Gatekeeper, the tyrannical ruler of the world, consume energy from souls in order to maintain power and live for centuries? If so, Reapers have betrayed every soul they have ever collected and delivered them to eternal torture. 

What Being a Staff Writer has Taught Me

Years ago I never thought I'd find myself writing articles. I was extremely intimidated at the idea. Now I write almost an article a week. In the beginning of this summer, I was looking for a way to make some extra money and one of my colleagues referred me to Geekdom House. I decided to apply and the editor-in-chief let me guest post for the website. After I guest posted in May, she invited to post again then after that she asked if I wanted to be a staff writer. I answered with a resounding yes! 

I've loved working for Geekdom House. I get to write about geeky topics I love, analyzing them for lessons we can glean. I do this on my own in my mind and now I get paid for it! It's a dream.

After six months working as a staff writer I've learned a lot of things, but here are the top five:

Questions for Mordraug (Starbloods)!

It's time for a call for questions! This is Mordraug. He is one of my antagonist from my high fantasy series Starbloods. I'm rewriting Starbloods for NaNoWriMo this year, so I want to flesh out Mordraug some more through a character interview! Let me tell you a little bit about him!

Mordraug is a five hundred and forty-two year old werewolf. Before he became immortal, he was a bandit pillaging the lands. When he was lost in a snow storm with his last twelve men, they encountered the ancient wolf god Mwog, who granted them the power to transform into wolves and immortality. They became the first werewolves. Now they believe it's his sacred duty to turn all humans into werewolves like him. 

Mordraug travels with his caravan of werewolves biting humans and expanding his pack. He is ruthless and destroys cities and villages to achieve his goals. His only true friend is the man who raised him who is also a werewolf named Ioto. Everyone else he only cares to exploit and use for his own gain.

Not long after he became a werewolf, he lost one of his men to one of the werewolves' few weakness, a direct stab in the heart. Because of this he knew he had to protect his heart to achieve full immortality. That is when he met the sorceress Vanmoriel who made a plate out of the metal of a comet to weld to his chest to permanently protect his heart. Since then he has been in love with her to an obsessive degree and served her every wish. 

Leave your questions in the comments or in the form if you'd wish to remain anonymous or if you're having trouble with the comments. Mordraug will answer them on December 16th! Thank you! 

Monthly Summary: November 2016

November was thankfully I much calmer month. Not as much stress, cooler weather, and lots of Thanksgiving food and Christmas decorations! And but of course NaNoWriMo! 

What Being an Editor for a Website has Taught Me

September was my two year anniversary being with Geeks Under Grace. Two years ago, I had just left a really difficult job and I noticed this really cool organization my friend was a part of. Geeks Under Grace is a site where Christian meets geek. We review movies, games, and more with a Christian perspective. We also have a newscast and devotionals for the geek crowd. I love the vision. So I asked to join and the owner said yes. 

At first I was going to be a writer, but then my internet was out for two or three weeks (Thank you, Comcast) and I almost lost that position. When near the end of that long and extremely aggravating time my friend and colleague Casey, Editor-In-Chief of GUG, asked me to be an editor because she needed one desperately. Now I'm the head movie editor and I have six writers under my wing.

Interview with Vanmoriel (Starbloods)

Vanmoriel

Me:

Hey, everyone! It's time for this month's interview and it's with one of my villains from Starbloods, Vanmoriel. I mentioned her in the first Beautiful Books and in the Six-Questions Character Challenge. She's my most evil of all villains, so this should be an ... interesting interview. (Please pray for my life.) *turns to Vanmoriel in interview chair, tense* Hello, Vanmoriel.

Vanmoriel:
Hello, Victoria. *sitting straight with her legs crossed, has hands in her lap delicately, has a light British accent*

Me: 
Shall we begin?

Vanmoriel:
Yes.

A Book Review of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

Buy on Amazon!

Harry Potter has no idea how famous he is. That's because he's being raised by his miserable aunt and uncle who are terrified Harry will learn that he's really a wizard, just as his parents were. But everything changes when Harry is summoned to attend an infamous school for wizards, and he begins to discover some clues about his illustrious birthright. From the surprising way he is greeted by a lovable giant, to the unique curriculum and colorful faculty at his unusual school, Harry finds himself drawn deep inside a mystical world he never knew existed and closer to his own noble destiny.

Writing Lessons from Movies: The Incredibles

The Incredibles is one of my favorite Pixar movies if not my favorite Pixar movie. I love the concept of a superhero story set in the 1960s. I love the superhero family. And the dialogue is just gold. The characters are fleshed-out and so likable. Pixar is known for their amazing story writing, so I believe it's about time that I've highlighted some writing lessons from one of their movies. As Mr. Incredible would say, "Show time."

Questions for Vanmoriel (Starbloods)!

It's time for a call for questions! This is High Priestess Vanmoriel. She is my main villainess from Starbloods, and basically the most evil character I've ever created, so I'm a little nervous about interviewing her. I'm rewriting Starbloods for NaNoWriMo this year, so I want to flesh out Vanmoriel some more through a character interview! Not sure how honest she's going to be, but we shall see. Let me tell you a little bit about her!

Vanmoriel is a several thousand year old Star. She is a sorceress and a high priestess of a sacred order devoted to worshiping ancient pagan gods. Once she had blonde hair and blue eyes as characteristic of a star, but her corrupted abilities colored her hair red and her eyes green. Long ago she betrayed her race in devotion to her gods and has been loyal to them ever since. 

Because she is so ancient, she has become numb to most emotion. She rarely experiences joy, anger, sadness, or happiness. She gets sadistic pleasure from others secretly and primarily so she can feel some sort of emotion at all. She uses her feminine wiles to get anything she wants and if that doesn't work she kills until she does.

By sacrificing other races and stealing their abilities, she has gained power beyond a normal star's such as casting hexes from fairies and manipulating sigils from giants. She can crush the heart of anyone standing within ten feet with her with just a motion of her hand.  She rules the country of Ibreain, a realm of stars with corrupted abilities like hers, a realm she believes is free from the constraints of the old ways. She believes this way of life should be spread throughout the continent of Grathain and seeks to corrupt her sister country of pure stars to become just like hers. 

Leave your questions in the comments or in the form if you'd wish to remain anonymous or if you're having trouble with the comments. Vanmoriel will answer them on November 25th! Thank you! 

9 Non-Character-Related Obstacles to Make Your Characters' Lives Harder with Avatar: The Last Airbender

At this point in time, it's the halfway point in NaNoWriMo. If you're participating, you're hard at work typing away at your novel. Perhaps you're in a part that's giving you difficulty. The scene feels a bit flat and you need more tension or you need something to drive your character to do something and none of your other characters are helping. What better way to help with that then to make your characters' lives harder with non-character-related obstacles? These are the sort of devices that will drive your plot forward in the direction you need and your characters can't argue against you, because you're in control of these. HAHA! Avatar: The Last Airbender has all of these in the series, so I'm theming the whole post around this show.

So Your is From Belgium ... Featuring Bieke @ Quite the Novel Idea + Kathy @ Books and Munches

It's time for this month's So Your Character is From Another Country! This is a monthly or bimonthly segment where I interview lovely volunteers from around the world to give you a firsthand account of being a citizen of their respective country. I'm hoping to encourage international diversity, break stereotypes, and give writers a crash course on how to write a character from these different places on our planet. If you haven't checked out last months's So Your Character is From Slovakia ... be sure to hop on over there and give it a read!

The most I've seen of Belgium is in the Legend of Tarzan, and prior to that I frankly knew about it mostly from French fries, waffles, and the fact that I have some coins from there. Bieke and Kathy definitely shed some light on things!

Disclaimer: The content below may be culturally shocking to some. Each of these posts are as uncensored as possible to preserve the authenticity of the cultures of each of the interviewees.

(None of the Images are Mine)

Beautiful Books 2016 ~ Novel Update: Starbloods

It's NaNoWriMo and I'm hard at work on my new novel. Well it's actually an old novel I'm completely revamping, but I'm revamping it so much it's practically new. I've risen out of my writing sanctum where I type away vicariously with my writing buddy nightly to give you an update on its progress. If you missed it, you can check out Beautiful Books #1 to know more about what this book is about! If you'd like to participate hop on over to Paper Fury and Further Up and Further In!

Note: I had a scheduling error and the Vanmoriel call for questions will be up next week!

A Book Review of Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

Buy from Amazon

Celaena Sardothien is the king's Champion-yet she is far from loyal to the crown, for the man she serves is bent on evil. But working against her master in secret is no easy task. As Celaena tries to untangle the mysteries buried within the glass castle, she can trust no one, not even her supposed allies Crown Prince Dorian, Captain of the Guard Chaol, and foreign princess Nehemia.

Then, an unspeakable tragedy shatters Celaena's world. She must decide once and for all where her loyalties lie . . . and whom she will fight for.

An action-packed and romantic adventure that readers “will never want to leave” (Kirkus Reviews), the next chapter in this smash hit New York Times best-selling series is sure to please Sarah Maas's enormous and ever-growing fan-base–and to set the stage for an explosive third book.

Monthly Summary: October 2016

Fall has finally arrived! But it was still hot all month. Nooooo. What is up with the Southern weather? The leaves didn't start changing until about a week or so ago, which is super weird, because usually they start in the beginning of October. This has been an odd year when it comes to weather. Hopefully November brings cool weather because I miss my boots and scarves. October was certainly a better month than September. That's for sure. It had it's downsides and its highlights. 

Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party and Other Florida October 2016 Adventures

If you couldn't already tell from my past Monthly Summaries, this year has been a rough year for me. A lot of awesome things happened, but a lot of rough things happened and it seems to be a never-ending string of them. And you know that saying that it takes many good things to make up for a bad one? That's what I've been feeling this year. And the bad things seemed to have crushed many of the good things. 

Rejections scattered throughout the year. Grandfather passing away in March. Car accident in April and dealing with the financial repercussions in consequence as well as debilitating anxiety and depression. Monumental job stress in September. Then this month losing my job and having my twelve year old cat pass away. 

Basically, I really needed a break, some time to not have a high stress schedule and just relax with some good friends. That's what this weekend was for. Amy and Casey are two good friends of mine that I've grown in relationship with the past two years. I'm so happy to have been able to have this amazing weekend with them. 

So Your Character Has Fibromyalgia ... Featuring Sky @ Further Up and Further In

When I was younger, I'd seen commercials about fibromyalgia. It wasn't until I found out someone close to me had it that I started looking into it a bit more. Furthermore, my character Elasa also has this condition. For those of your who don't know according to Wikipedia, fibromyalgia is "is a medical condition characterised by chronic widespread pain and a heightened pain response to pressure. Other symptoms include feeling tired to a degree that normal activities are affected, sleep problems, and troubles with memory. Some people also report restless legs syndrome, bowel or bladder problems, numbness and tingling, and sensitivity to noise, lights or temperature. Fibromyalgia is frequently associated with depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Other types of chronic pain are also frequently present."

So Your Character Is ... is an on going series where I interview or talk about myself about different people groups, countries, etc. for writing more accurate characters. Sky Destrian from Further Up and Further In has fibromyalgia and is gracious enough to let me interview her for both the blog and my own personal character research.

6 Questions to Ask Yourself if a Point of View is Necessary for Your Novel

I've read many novels where the book had one or more point of views that just seemed there. They didn't add any special element to the story or enhance the plot and seemed to even bog down the story. Every element to your story should point toward the main plot. If they don't then they're sandbags on the story. Tackling more than one point of view can be very challenging. It isn't easy to get all of the point of views to flow together. 

My favorite example of an excellently handled multi point of view story has to be the Lord of the Rings. Each point of view directs toward the main plot. Each one weaves expertly together. All of the point of views are necessary, and I can't imagine one taken out. Another great example is Stranger Things. The point of views seem unrelated then they all coalesce for a stunning climax, each character has a prime role to play in the final battle. 

The Bloodstained Searchbar Tag & The Daily Quote Challenge

I'm very excited about these tags, especially since they're all going to be relevant to books and NaNoWriMo! Yays! My thanks to Melissa Gravitis @ Quill Pen Writer who both created and tagged me in the Bloodstained Searchbar Tag and thank you to Emma @ Creative Explorations and the Author @ To Write or Not to Write for tagging me in the Daily Quote Challenge!

A Book Review A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

At seven minutes past midnight, thirteen-year-old Conor wakes to find a monster outside his bedroom window. But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting-- he's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments. The monster in his backyard is different. It's ancient. And wild. And it wants something from Conor. Something terrible and dangerous. It wants the truth. From the final idea of award-winning author Siobhan Dowd-- whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself-- Patrick Ness has spun a haunting and darkly funny novel of mischief, loss, and monsters both real and imagined.

Writing Lessons from Movies: The Jungle Book (1967) versus The Jungle Book (2016)

The Jungle Book is one of my favorite class stories. I've loved the concept of a boy raised by animals ever since I was a little kid, especially in the mysterious land of India. However, even from a young age Disney's The Jungle Book nor any other versions of the Jungle Book seemed to capture the essence I always wanted it to have. Something was always missing, but I didn't know what it is.

When I watched the 2016 version of the Jungle Book back in April, I was absolutely blown away. I knew in my heart this was a movie Rudyard Kipling would be proud of. The movie added in all of the elements I felt like were missing in past movies. This is by far my favorite version of this story. (If you want a full review you can just out my review of the film on Geeks Under Grace.) This movie has so many great story elements that I just have to have a blog posts dedicated to it. I made this a versus edition, because I want to show how this movie built on the original animated film. Let's jump right in!

Interview with Silanoc (Starbloods)!

Silanoc

Me: 

Hey, everyone! It's time for this month's character interview! Today's is with one of the side characters from my high fantasy series Starbloods. If you want to know a little about him before we start, check out his bio. Now let's get started! *turns in interview chair to Silanoc* Good afternoon, Silanoc.

Silanoc:
*sitting straight, has a light British accent* Good afternoon, Victoria. How are faring?

Me:
Pretty well, thank you. Are you ready to get started?

Silanoc:
I am.

So Your Character Has These Various Injuries ...

Characters get all sorts of injuries, but we don't always experience these injuries. Nor do we want to many a time. I've gotten some interesting injuries, so I thought I'd make a post about it. Perhaps this can help you out if you have one of your characters with one of these injuries--or give you some plot bunnies on new ways you can hurt your characters. 

Warning: I will be showing some slightly graphic images of what these injuries look like. Proceed at your own risk.

So Your Character is From Slovakia ... Featuring Simona @ Girl with Cloudy Head

It's time for this month's So Your Character is From Another Country! This is a monthly or bimonthly segment where I interview lovely volunteers from around the world to give you a firsthand account of being a citizen of their respective country. I'm hoping to encourage international diversity, break stereotypes, and give writers a crash course on how to write a character from these different places on our planet. If you haven't checked out last week's So Your Character is From China ... be sure to hop on over there and give it a read!

This has to be the country I'm least familiar out of these posts so far. Before reading this post I knew next to nothing about Slovakia, only that it's a country in Eastern Europe. I know so much more after reading this post!

Disclaimer: The content below may be culturally shocking to some. Each of these posts are as uncensored as possible to preserve the authenticity of the cultures of each of the interviewees.

(None of the Images are Mine)

Six-Question Character Challenge: The Villains of Starbloods

I've talked about my main characters for Starbloods a lot on the blog, but I haven't touched very much on the villains, so I'm taking the opportunity to do that. I swiped this tag from Sara Letourneau just for this purpose. 

Here's a brief explanation from Briana deSilva @ The Story Part, the creator of the tag:

The first prompt asks for a “contradiction.” In case you start wondering what this means, it’s basically this: every important character in your story should have something contradictory or seemingly inconsistent about their personality. We see this with people in real life, and it’s the mark of a rounded, three-dimensional character.

Note that this is probably the hardest of the prompts, so don’t worry if it takes some deep thinking. But please consider: if you can’t find any contradiction at all in your character’s personality, it’s probably a sign you need to develop him/her a little more. So, it’s a good exercise to do, no matter what.

The second prompt asks for a Meyers-Briggs personality type. If you’re unsure what type your character is, you can take the test on their behalf here.

Also, the fourth prompt asks how your character would slay a dragon. This is purely hypothetical; there are no dragons in my book, for example, so the prompt can be applied to any genre you want!

With that aside, let's begin!

A Book Review of A Time to Rise by Nadine Brandes

Buy from Amazon!

Parvin Blackwater is dead.

At least that's what the Council and the world thinks. But her sacrifice tore down part of the Wall long enough to stir up hope and rebellion in the people. Now she will rise again. Strong, free, and fearless.

Parvin and Solomon must uncover the mysterious clues that Jude left behind in order to destroy the projected Wall once and for all. Meanwhile, the Council schemes to new levels of technology in its attempts to keep the people contained. Can a one-handed Radical and a scarred ex-Enforcer really bring shalom to the world?

So Your Character is From China ... Featuring Alyssa @ The Devil Orders Takeout & Grace Chan

It's time for this month's So Your Character is From Another Country! This is a monthly or bimonthly segment where I interview lovely volunteers from around the world to give you a firsthand account of being a citizen of their respective country. I'm hoping to encourage international diversity, break stereotypes, and give writers a crash course on how to write a character from these different places on our planet. If you haven't checked out last month's So Your Character is From Peru ... be sure to hop on over there and give it a read!

Out of the many SYCIFAC posts I feel like I'm more familiar with this one. I had Chinese friends growing up, so I was exposed to some Chinese culture, Chinese language, and authentic cuisine. My family spent New Years with our friends the Ma's and so we got to participate in some of their traditions. We also got addicted to dim sum. I've also watched a lot of Mulan and Sagwa. Not sure how much that counts, but I love those two characters. Alyssa and Grace are here to shed even more light on the subject! I'm so excited! 

Disclaimer: The content below may be culturally shocking to some. Each of these posts are as uncensored as possible to preserve the authenticity of the cultures of each of the interviewees.

(None of the Images are Mine)

Beautiful Books 2016 ~ Introduce Your Novel: Starbloods

NaNoWriMo approaches so it's that time of year again! Time for Beautiful Books! This is a link-up hosted by Paper Fury and Further Up and Further in! Instead of the usual character focus, this time it's about your whole book in preparation for NaNo! I've been participating in it for the last two years with Red Hood (Post #1, #2, and #3) and Subsapien: Hybrid (Post #1, #2, and #3). It's been great fun! I'm going at NaNoWriMo again with Cassia and I'm so excited to have her as my writing buddy, especially while writing a novel I've had for so long. If you'd like to participate, head on over to Paper Fury or Further Up and Further In!

So Your Character Has Synesthesia ... Featuring Liz @ Out of Coffee Out of Mind

The first time I'd heard about synesthesia was actually in a Good Mythical Morning episode. According to wikipedia, synesthesia is a neurological phenomenon "in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway." Basically, this means people with this phenomenon can do things such as hear colors or see sounds. I don't know about you, but that sounds awesome.

Why a Writer Should Travel: Quell Your Fears and Embrace Inspiration

The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. 

~ Saint Augustine

I have a strong case of Bilbo Baggins-grade wanderlust. I adore traveling. I love going to places I've never been and see what all that place has in store. I've been out of the country twice, soon to be thrice. I've been to ten states. I've traveled to Paris, New York City, Edmonton, Miami, Philadelphia, Banff, and more. I've been as far south as Key Largo, as far north as Alberta, Canada, as far east as Ecouen, France, and as far west in the states as Missouri. I've traveled by plane, bus, car, and train. I've seen mountains so high you can see them from planes, oceans so vast that seem to stretch on into infinity, and caves so deep you don't know how far down they go. And I don't plan to stop there. 

All of this is to say that all of these experiences have massively shaped my writing. If I stayed in my little town of Perry, GA that I grew up in my writing would not be the same. I've seen many writers afraid to travel. I'm not talking about not financially able, but afraid to travel. I see many writers afraid to leave their bookworm caves, because it's a big world out there, they're just a little hobbit writer. But this hurts your writing. You're restricted by inexperience. Traveling has so many benefits for a writer and here are five that I believe are the most important.