Author Archives: Wendy Lu

About Wendy Lu

My name is Wendy Lu. I love to write stories about ordinary people who do extraordinary things. My notebook includes bits and pieces of poetry, random dialogue from overheard conversations and the occasional light bulb idea.

Thursday, 15 December, 2011

Love yourself. Be beautiful the way only you know how.

I’m glad I’m not blonde, tan, stick-skinny, brunette, caked with makeup, freckled, or Barbie.I don’t understand why so many girls obsess over appearance and wish to look like those plastic-looking models on Project Runway.

Truth is, confident girls get the best guys. Real girls get the best guys. I’d rather look natural and wait for the right boy to love me for everything that I am than look like a model and have men falling for my body and not for me.

You were born with your own looks – why make life miserable by trying to be something you’re not? I’m short, Asian and skinny. I never wear makeup. Flat nose and one small freckle under one eye. Dimples. That’s the kind of beautiful that I am.

What’s your kind of beautiful? What do you love about yourself?
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Thursday, 24 November, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

QOTD: What are you most thankful for this holiday season, and what is your favorite Thanksgiving dish? (Mine is the turkey, duh.) Share with us in comments!

I have so much to be thankful for, but especially: my loving, compassionate family and my amazing friends, both of whom are always there for me when I need them and constantly challenge me every day to be the best person I can be. I am thankful for my Moleskine journal for being forever patient with me when I am writing in it. :) I am also thankful for the weather, for I could not have asked for a more beautiful and sunny Turkey Day.
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Monday, 14 November, 2011

“You’re doing NaNo? Sounds like a dirty iPod joke if you ask me.”

QOTD: Tell us a funny Thanksgiving dinner story! (C’mon, we’ve all got those memories of Grandpa cracking funny–but not really funny–jokes and Baby Cousin Jack spitting peas at your brother.)

Okay, I know the title is super lame–but it was either that or “You know you’re crazy for doing NaNo when you told your Mom and she said, laughing, ‘A book? Hun, you wouldn’t even write those This I Believe essays in grade school, what makes you think you can write a novel…?’.” Yeah, I’m glad I went with this blog title instead. ^^

Speaking of NaNoWriMo, there are eight days left! How are we feeling about this? Excited? Frantic? Indifferent? (*points to self*) It’s time to share with you all my word count. I am not really ready to expose myself to shame, but here:

Friday, 11 November, 2011

Happy Veterans 2011: “It’s the Little Things That Really Mean Big”

QOTD: It’s November 11, 2011! Did you wish for anything at 11:11?

Before anything else, I just want to congratulate the UNC Tar Heels for their AWESOME win against MSU (67-55). I’m usually not a Sports fan but when it comes to UNC (and especially when it comes to UNC basketball) I get kind of excited :) Even better, we won on an aircraft carrier! Woohoo! #heelsonaboat

Speaking of aircraft carriers, Happy Veterans Day! Thank you so much to all of those who have died, fought and risked everything to protect the lives of American people. We appreciate everything you do for our country, and I can’t imagine the amount of courage it takes to do what you do. Thank you.
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Thursday, 03 November, 2011

Reveal of the Red Angel + NaNoWriMo 2011 Begins!

QOTD: Tell us about your Halloween. Did you dress up? Did you go trick-or-treating (you’re never too old for this, I promise!) or hand out candy to the kids? Did you stay at home and watch scary movies? Let us know!

When I was a little girl, I used to get really paranoid about being in the dark and having bad guys snatch me away from the safety of my home. Both figuratively and literally. These bad guys include dangerous creepers, but also verbal attackers and anyone who is wrongly judgmental of who I am. Honestly, I think I worry too much about what other people think of me.

Which is totally understandable, right? I mean, I know I’m not the only one who cares about how my opinions and lifestyles will shape what people see the parts of me that I share with them. But to an extent this sensitivity is a setback, seeing as I’m a writer and journalist/psychologist-in-training. How can I give other people solid advice on how to improve their lives for the better and write articles on topics I feel strongly about when I’m nervous about what nice or mean things Jack and Mary are saying behind my back?

Saturday, 29 October, 2011

What’s Your Take on Creative Writing Classes?

QOTD: If you have ever taken a creative writing class (or any sort of writing class) before, what was your experience? If you have not taken a writing class, would you want to?

College students have an average of 12 different “What am I gonna do with my life?!” spasms per semester.* So far I’ve only had about two or three, which isn’t that many, comparatively. As class registration begins for next semester, however, I think there’s a fourth spasm that is beginning to boil just underneath the surface at the moment.

Technically, I’m a Journalism and Psychology double major with a minor in Creative Writing – at the moment. (Fun fact: Most college kids change their majors around three to four timess**). I say “at the moment” because…wait, for it………I think I may be dropping my Creative Writing minor.

*gasp* I know, I know…I have been wanting to take Creative Writing courses for the longest time. It hasn’t helped that I have tried twice to enroll into our Intro to Fiction class…and then failed both times. Now, all of a sudden I’m second-guessing this long-term desire of mine. (Talk about drastic life-changing decisions, right?)

The thing is, I’m starting to question my previous motives for wanting to take a Creative Writing course. Is it critique? Is it praise? Is it the desire for my writing to be shredded into pieces? Is it a community of literary students in which we can all mutually give advice on our work? Is it a professor who will teach me how to write creatively?

Monday, 24 October, 2011

Be a Bold Writer

QOTD: Are you participating in National Novel Writing Month?

Before I get on with today’s topic, I’d just like to point out that NaNoWriMo will be here ONE WEEK! For those of you who have no clue what this amazing event is, it’s a month-long challenge to write 50,000 words’ worth of a novel in the course of November. It’s fun, it’s crazy, it’s illuminating, it’s life-changing. And that’s not an exaggeration either.

I’ve been tweeting like mad and following accounts like FigmentFiction and WriMos FTW! just to get myself hyped up about NaNo. (Seriously guys, unless you’ve been keeping up with my blog since last November, you have no idea how intense I get around this time of the year!) I’ve become obsessed with looking up literary blogs, and I have an entire folder in my Bookmarks dedicated to online NaNoWriMo articles that I’ve collected from the Internet.

Seriously! Come. Join. I guarantee that if you stick with it, in the end you won’t regret having done it. Well-l-l maybe you might, but it’ll definitely be an experience you’ll never forget. :)

Thursday, 20 October, 2011

Happy National Day on Writing!

I cannot remember a single moment in my life when I did not love words and writing and literature. And I simply cannot imagine a life in which I did not write…I have tried and I can’t. I write because I have no choice.

Language in the form of writing has always amazed me with its power. There are no limitations as to what I can write and how I can use it. When I journal or string words into poetry or create characters in their own little worlds, I feel limitless.Reading over my works constantly teaches me things about myself and about life that I otherwise would not have known. My lifelong goal is to use the power of words to inspire others with the story of my past, share with them my belief that weaknesses can be turned into strengths and encourage them to accept each other’s differences.

I write to show people they are not alone, and I write to keep myself sane. Without writing, I would have little purpose in this world.

This is why I write. Tell us your story. Happy National Day on Writing!

Monday, 17 October, 2011

Back from Blog Break

As you’ve probably noticed, I have been Missing in Action for the last couple of weeks and I haven’t been keeping up with my blogging schedule. There are two reasons for this:

I had two exams, two papers and a quiz due last week. This terrible pile of to-dos have been consuming 80% of my mind. Another 10% of my mind has been on consumption of food, and the other 10% has been on sleep.
I came up with TOO MANY blog post ideas! And one of the worst feelings ever is thinking up of so many great ideas and then not having the time to work on any of them.

Well fall break is nearly upon me now, in which I will be working to improve my blog, namely: update pages and plan out each week’s blog post topics. I am also going to work on creating my own graphics, taking more of my own photos, condensing labels, replying back to comments faster and visiting other blogs (which I already do a lot of but I don’t take the time to comment as much I as I want to). During various periods of procrastination, I’ve actually found a handful of new, wonderful blogs to follow and I can’t wait to explore them all.
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Thursday, 06 October, 2011

Rest In Peace, Steve Jobs.

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs dies at 56

Every once in a while, an event as tragic as Steve Jobs’ death compels us to stop what we’re doing and be reminded of how fragile life is–but also how beautiful it can be. Thanks for everything, Steve Jobs. You will forever be remembered.

“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, or living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. Most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

— Steve Jobs, Stanford Commencement 2005

iPod. iPhone. Apple. Mac. These are the types of innovations and corporations Steve Jobs helped found during his lifetime, which we use for our pleasure and take for granted every day. But his legacy is not just made up of these tangible materials. His creativity and genius has been a constant source of inspiration for not only technologists but people everywhere all over the globe. Less seriously, he proved to everybody that nerdy nerds can turn into great nerds, and then those great nerds turn into great men.

And, by God, Steve Jobs was a great man.

Rest In Peace, Steve Jobs. You were a truly remarkable human being, and your powerful technological contributions will never be forgotten. You changed the world.

Wendy Lu Writes