writing – Page 2 – simone shirazi

Why I Decided to Take Down All That is Gold

January 20, 2020March 4, 2022by simone shirazi19 Comments

At the end of January, I’m going to be taking down a story of mine from Wattpad that has been posted there since 2015.

That story is All That is Gold, a fun, messy, satirical take on a high school hierarchy that used to bring me such joy. These days, though? No joy to be found, not an ounce in sight. And if I’ve learned anything from the lovely Marie Kondo, it’s to get rid of the things that don’t bring you joy.

It makes me really sad that I can’t feel joyful about that story anymore. Was it ever a favorite of mine? Goodness, no! But I loved the twists and turns, the character development and regression, and the commentary on our capitalist society. It was fun!! It was trashy!! It was a good time!!

And there are so many people out there who feel the same way about it. There are people who love that story and call it one of their favorites. I can’t possibly tell you just how much that means to me. I will always cherish the people who have been kind to me over the years and have shown me so much love. They’re the ones who make braving this scary internet world worth it.

But there’s definitely a lot of bad that comes with the good, and at this point, after five years, the bad has beaten me down. It’s stolen my joy, and the only way I can think of to get it back is to take down this story.

Plenty of people have asked me to explain why I’m planning to take it down, so let me share with you, point by point, why that’s going to be happening and what I’ve faced over the years.

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The Fairytale Continues – Why I Decided to Add More to the Fairytale Series (And How to Read It)

November 21, 2019August 10, 2020by simone shirazi6 Comments

If you’ve been keeping up with what I’ve been posting on Wattpad and Radish, you may have noticed something interesting… there are new chapters of Once Upon a One Night Stand.

To some of you, this might seem a little odd. Simone, you say. Hasn’t that story been complete on Wattpad since 2015? And my answer is: yes, you are correct! That story, Book #1 of The Fairytale Series has been complete for nearly 5 years now. I’ve even written three more books in the Fairytale Series since then! So why in the world would I continue a story that’s been complete for years now?

Well, let me explain…

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What is NaNoWriMo and Why Do I Torture Myself Every November?

October 30, 2019by simone shirazi8 Comments

It’s almost that time of year again, folks. That’s right, it’s nearly National Novel Writing Month! What is National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo, as it’s more commonly known), you ask? Well, it’s this:

National Novel Writing Month began in 1999 as a daunting but straightforward challenge: to write 50,000 words of a novel during the thirty days of November.

Now, each year on November 1, hundreds of thousands of people around the world begin to write, determined to end the month with 50,000 words of a brand-new novel. – via nanowrimo.org

Yes, you read that right. The goal is to write 50,000 words in 30 days.

I’ve been participating in NaNoWriMo and its spin-off, Camp Nano (which happens in April and July, and differs in that you set your own word-count/page/editing goals) since 2009. In fact, I wrote all of the Gold Series over three consecutive years of NaNoWriMo. I even wrote the first 50k of Cheater, Cheater in November 2015.

And every year since 2015, busy schedule be damned, I participate in this wild ride. Why? Uhhh, we’ll get to that.

If you’d like to learn more about NaNoWriMo and my tips for conquering the challenge, keep reading!

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Written in the Stars: Character Astrology, Part 1

September 29, 2019March 8, 2022by simone shirazi10 Comments

I’ll be the first to admit that I love astrology.

Do I truly believe in it? Uhhh… we’ll get back to that. Can your entire life and personality be boiled down to what a bunch of planets supposedly represent? No comment. Is it fun as heck to read about yourself and say, “Oh my God, that is so me,” to the vaguest descriptions? YES.

I know I’m not alone in that, which is probably why a common question I get about my characters is what’s their sign?

To all of those who have asked, I’m finally going to reveal the sun signs of my main characters! Of course, there’s more to astrology than sun signs (like moon signs, rising signs, etc.) but for the sake of my sanity, we gotta keep this simple.

In this post (Part 1) you’ll find the signs of the characters from The Fairytale Series (OUAONS, AN, Dryland, R&T) and All That is Gold. For my other stories and characters, check back in the future for Part 2!

Here we go!

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Once Upon a One Night Stand, the Interactive Story!

July 19, 2019by simone shirazi14 Comments

Boy, do I have some exciting news to share!

You probably already guessed what it is based on the banner above, but Once Upon a One Night Stand is being turned into a game on the Chapters Interactive Stories app!

Starting July 25th, you’ll be able to play as Taliana and experience the classic enemies-to-lovers scenario with your very own Sebastian. You get to choose how you look, what you wear, and, best of all, how the story progresses. As someone who has played plenty of stories on the app already, I know it’s going to be a lot of fun.

For more information on how to download the app and to see the full (super gorgeous) cover, read on!

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