Here's a little bit about me for all of my lovely readers to go on. My name is Rachel, my age is irrelevant. Writing is my one true love but, like all great relationships, we have our ups and our serious downs. Sometimes when life is getting rough I up and toss poor Writing out of the house altogether, but I always come crawling back to him eventually, begging forgiveness. What really helps our reconciliation, though, is reading from you guys just how great we are together. We both appreciate the ego boost. :P

And now that the extended metaphor has gone on way too long, I'll offer a few words about my dearest Writing.

Mostly, nowadays, I try to stick to original fiction rather than fanfics, since my dream is to get published and you can't exactly do that with Yu Yu stories, as much as you might want to. As far as fanfics go, though, I find them a great way to keep in practice when original ideas aren't flowing, to improve writing skills, to get basic plotlines I can warp INTO original stuff on occasion, and of course to just have fun expanding upon the characters we already know and love.

The genres for my stories are usually pretty dark, angsty, and dramatic... I like the idea of happy endings, but that doesn't mean I'm much disposed to writing them. I also love character studies - diving into a character's head and trying to work out how they tick, so while my longer stories do contain action, more than not my one-shots will be a lot of thinking and psychoanalyzing.

"Write for yourself and you can always find pride in the fact that you did the best you could. Write for others and you will always be disappointed by their response.

Write to express hopes, ideas, and joys and you will always be cheered by what you accomplish. Write as an outlet for your pain and you will never wish to read the finished product - too many bad memories will live between the lines.

Write on your free time and it can be an enjoyable hobby. Write as an excuse not to speak and you will miss out on some of the best things life has to offer.

Don't just write - write for the right reasons, or the gift can become a curse."

Good luck on your journeys.

Yami no Kokoro