kea hamer

writeblr | she/her | currently stu(dying)

[keahamer]

✽ who am i?

my name is katy or kea. i’m 17 years old, bisexual and i use the pronouns she/her. i’m in year 12, in the uk, studying english literature, history and psychology a levels. in the future, i hope to study english literature or creative writing at lancaster university.

✽ why have you restarted your account?

due to recent events, i’ve needed a fresh start. i hope that i can turn this account into something i love - producing content i love. i need this to be fun, not a chore.

✽ what are you going to post?

you can expect any and all types of content - studying, reading, writing, worldbuilding, disney, reviews, lifestyle. this page will basically be a little corner of the internet where you are safe. i want to produce the things i want to see on my platform.

✽ how often will you be posting?

at least every 2-3 days i’m hoping

✽ i liked you just as a study account. can you go back?

no. running a study account isn’t healthy for me anymore.

✽ faq

there is a highlight on my profile answering my most frequently asked questions.

✽ what are your plans for the account?

i don’t have any statistical goals. i just want to produce content that i love.

✽ favourite books

throne of glass series, harry potter series, confessions series, reasons to stay alive

✽ favourite authors

brandon sanderson, matt haig, robert jordan, sophie kinsella

✽ favourite movies

inside out, mean girls, lord of the rings series

✽ favourite foods

chicken korma, maltesers, spaghetti and meatballs

✽ favourite drinks

dr pepper without a doubt

✽ favourite artists

halsey, the script or little mix

✽ favourite games

minecraft, the sims 4 and mario kart

✽ favourite disney princess

merida or elsa

✽ favourite disney character

winnie the pooh

✽ favourite disney movie

frozen 2

✽ favourite pixar character

sadness

✽ favourite pixar movie

inside out

✽ favourite avenger

tony stark or wanda maximoff

✽ favourite mcu character

loki

✽ favourite marvel movie

avengers: endgame or iron man

✽ favourite star wars character (so far)

obi wan kenobi

✽ favourite star wars movie (so far)

empire strikes back

✽ favourite disney park

magic kingdom

[ahagia-sophia]

So I started reading Malazan

[writersociety]

reblog if you’re an active writeblr.

writersociety is a brand new blog that i’m dedicating to the writeblr community. i want writers on tumblr to connect with each other, to interact with each other, to lift each other up and inspire each other.

in short, i want to boost your blog.

from this account i’ll be reblogging author introductions, wip intros, creative writing, prose, poetry, fanfiction, short stories, writing prompts, etc., with one goal: to get you and your writeblr friends the recognition you deserve.

like this idea? follow this blog, reblog this post, and start tagging your work with #writersociety. dm me posts from your favorite blogs. send me an ask and gush about your friend’s wip. tag me under a writing resource post. get me out there, so i can return the favor.

this is for every single one of you. this is writersociety. this is just the beginning.

[keahamer]

✽ pretty lights

[keahamer]

✽ how i revised gcse history

✽ post it notes

i used post it notes for active recall during revision. i’d put a date, an event or a person on one side and then details on the other side. i’d go through a stack every week and try to recall as much as i could remember using the prompt and then reading the other side. this helped me so much!

✽ timelines and graphs

these were so helpful to connect and track events. for topics such as the normans and germany, i used timelines to visualise the entire time period and connect events together. line graphs were helpful for topics such as the cold war and power and the people were you had to track tensions or change in the time period. each time period would be scaled based on how much tension or change it caused and then connected together to see how this changed over the whole time period.

✽ key facts

with history there is an endless amount of knowledge to learn. to minimise being overwhelmed, i took each year, event and person and learnt at least 5 key facts for each. this meant i had knowledge to cover the whole course and meant i wasn’t overwhelmed with all different pieces of information.

✽ exam practise

history is a subject that relies heavily on exam technique. to perfect my essays, myself and my history teacher did weekly essays and she would grade them and give feedback based on what i needed to improve. this massively improved my exam technique and helped improve how much i could write in timed conditions.

[keahamer]

✽ weekend leave

[keahamer]

✽ chill study day

[keahamer]

✽ the eye of the world book review

by robert jordan

star rating - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

now i’m always slightly hesitant diving into well established and long series, even more so exaggerated in this case by the fact this is a 14 book high fantasy series. but i took the leap, and i’m so glad i did.

this book took me a while to get into due to adjusting to a new world and a complete new cast of characters and their different species and goals. however once i was hooked, the world really did suck me in. i loved this book and i will be continuing on with the series.

i do have some complaints however. the pace of the book is slowed down significantly by several info dumps. this may be a deal breaker for other readers, but it didn’t particularly bother me too much. i’m a big fan of the world-building aspect of writing and found it fascinating to read about the lore and history of the world robert jordan has created.

i also wished some plot points were expanded slightly. when i reached the end of the book i felt like some sub plots such as romances weren’t fully expanded upon. of course, these may come in the later books but it would’ve fitted better in this introduction to the series.

[keahamer]

✽ how i revised gcse science

✽ flashcards

these bad boys SAVED my science grades. anything i needed to remember? it went on a flashcard. a process for biology? flashcard. an equation for chemistry? flashcard. a concept for physics? flashcard. i reviewed them all weekly and they pushed my science grades from Us to 7s.

✽ youtube

another of my science savers were primrose kitten and freesciencelessons youtube videos. i put their videos on a quicker speed and took notes as they explained concepts which was very helpful for things i didnt understand.

✽ mark schemes

for my science gcses i literally learnt the mark schemes. i did every past paper i could find, every exam question i could find on the internet, even if they weren’t created by the exam board themselves and i did them. repeatedly. it was so helpful to know where an answer hits the mark scheme so that i didn’t overwrite in the exam.

✽ biology specific

for biology specifically i focused on learning processes and learnt them in a 6 mark format. this meant any 6 marker they gave on any concept, i had an answer ready to go. it also meant i could explain processes fluidly. i drew and redrew diagrams to learn how to and i put the biological processes into pictures and created flow charts to prompt my memory.

✽ chemistry specific

i learnt the equations for chemistry like my life depended upon it. now i hated chemistry so much but it was so helpful to focus on concepts such as learning how to solve half equations. it’s a pain in the arse, but you have to know how to do everything.

✽ physics specific

me and physics never got along. ever. i went through 3 years of failing physics before i finally kicked myself and made myself just learn it. i focused on learning the concepts and how to explain them as well as memorising the equations and doing every question i could find. it took so much practise but it was worth it!

[keahamer]

✽ how to choose between physical books and ebooks

as someone who’s always been a lover of physical books, i’ve accumulated 17 years worth of books. if you’d have told me about 3 years ago that i would’ve gone completely to e-readers i would’ve laughed at you but here we are. i’ve been using my kindle for the past three months as my sole source of reading and i have loved it. everything about a kindle at first made me hesitant to try the technology, but i’ve discovered that the benefits far outweigh any of my reasons for being hesitant to switch.

✽ storage

if you’re someone who hasn’t got a lot of storage space i would 100% recommend getting an e-reader. even if you have a lot of storage space for physical books, i also recommend having an e-reader to take on holidays or while travelling to free up luggage space and not run out of good books to read. right now, i have over 3000 novels, graphic novels and textbooks downloaded on my kindle. and i have over 10GB of storage left. that is an insane amount of books. after some research, i’ve actually found that the average kindle storage can hold over 22,000 books. if you’re someone who loves keeping every book you’ve ever read, or loves having several books to choose from at all times, or someone who reads multiple books at once, i would consider having an e-reader.

✽ money and savings

the initial price of an e-reader may seem quite hefty, but it’s absolutely worth the investment. i’ve had my kindle fire for almost 10 years and it’s lasted all this time with no damage and still working perfectly fine. an e-reader is a one time purchase for a lifetime of reading. ebooks are also significantly cheaper than physical books - most of the hardbacks and paperbacks i’ve bought are around £6-11 on average whereas the average ebook is around £1-4. there are also amazing deals every week on all reading platforms where you can get books for free. apple recently released the entire chronicles of narnia for free and their new classics collection have all launched free of charge. i’ve also found that kindle tend to do deals for entire series - for example i wanted to have the malory towers collection by enid blyton because it’s a series i’ll never get bored of rereading, and i bought the whole 12 book series for under £10 which is an amazing price, considering each book sells for £4.99 each in physical copies.

✽ customisation

as someone who loves customising things, an e-reader is definitely the choice for me. my sister loves reading on her ipad because it allows her to change her books into dyslexic friendly fonts, whereas she would normally struggle to read due to her learning difficulties. this is also extremely helpful for someone like me who has terrible vision - i can read in bed comfortably without my glasses by increasing the size of the font and changing the colour of the paper to black or beige to ease the strain on my eyes. customisability doesn’t just apply to people with terrible vision or difficulties however. changing the colour of the page is beneficial at night as it reduces the strain on your eyes, if reading from far away, eg on a bus or in a car, increasing the font can make for a better reading experience.

✽ convenience

one of the sellers for switching to kindle for me was it’s convinence. it allows you to travel with as many books as you like at any given time, and have them downloaded offline so there are no problems with weight or travelling. the weight of a kindle is about the same as the average paperback book, and the fact that you can have as many books as you please for that is incredible to me. physical books will always be my favourite thing in the world, and if i love a book on kindle enough i will purchase the physical copy. the kindle is just so convenient for me personally.

✽ why the kindle has become so important to me recently

as i said previously, i’ve had my kindle fire for almost 10 years now and it works perfectly fine. i’d love to upgrade when i have the money to the kindle paper white or the kindle oasis, but the fire works perfectly fine for me and i’m a voracious reader. since moving into the hospital ward a few weeks ago, the kindle has become one of the most important things i’ve been able to bring. it’s allowed me to bring over 3000 books with me - all my favourite books of all time, my entire tbr and everything in between. it’s the only book related thing i brought with me as i couldn’t exactly bring my physical book collection with me. it’s gotten the most use it’s ever had and i’m so insanely grateful i have my kindle here to be able to stay with my love of reading.

[keahamer]

✽ how i revised gcse maths

✽ math flashcards

i used flashcards for a range of different things, equations, trigonometry, learning algebra, if i needed to remember a method or equation it went on a flashcard. i can’t tell you how many times i went through those flashcards learning them

✽ websites

i used a variety of websites but hegarty and my maths were my schools go to as they set homework to do on there. i found it so helpful to regularly be set questions to complete.

✽ youtube channels and videos

there’s a variety of maths youtubers out there, but the GCSE maths tutor is what i used most. if i didn’t understand a concept and needed walking through it, i went to their videos to try and work through them.

✽ past papers and exam questions

it doesn’t matter how much you remember methods or flashcards, you will not get better at maths without doing past papers and exam questions. there are hundreds and hundreds of papers on the internet as well as question banks, exam question practice and made up maths problems. i must’ve done hundreds and hundreds of questions in the lead up to the exams. it’s not enough just to do the questions however, you need to pull up the mark scheme and be harsh! find exactly where you gained and lost marks, and write out the mark schemes preferred method of working. note down the questions you didn’t get full marks on, and work through them at a later date. if your score doesn’t improve that’s a topic that needs a lot of focus, even if you understand how to do it your exam technique isn’t picking up the marks and it needs practice. i also recommended when doing past papers that you do them in exam conditions. ideally with no noise, no food, just water, no notes and in the timed conditions. this will help you to get used to the exam environment and how maths papers take place in the actual gcse.

[keahamer]

✽ how are online lessons going?

✽ english literature:

we’ve finally finished chaucer *celebratory cry* - unfortunately this doesn’t mean my chaucer work is done. i still have a couple hundred lines left that i need to analyse and i have about a hundred lines of translation left. this has been added to my ever growing to do list. we’ve moved onto poetry, and i need to finish analysis on the three poems (room, mr bleaney and faith healer) this week.

✽ history:

we finished the tudors! *another celebratory cry* we’ve now moved on to one of my favourite topics ever which is germany and i’m so excited. we’re doing the fall of the kaiser, the weimar republic and the rise of the nazis - i’m loving this topic so far

✽ psychology:

we’ve moved onto attachment! this is one of my favourite topics in psychology so i’m glad we finally got there. i find it so interesting to learn about. i need to start reviewing the other topics for mocks coming soon!

[keahamer]

✽ 2021 writing goals

2021 is going to be my first year getting back into writing since around 2018. i took an extended writing break, mainly due to my mental health and other personal problems but i’m now hoping to use writing as an escape.

✽ 1 - apply for university to study english literature

this isn’t strictly writing related, but i do hope to begin my studies in english more in depth. i also have plans to take some creative writing courses on the side before i return to university and do a full degree in creative writing, which has been a dream for me since i was a child.

✽ 2 - start my worldbuilding project for solum

you can find my solum introduction and plans on my profile, but this is my priority for this year

✽ 3 - finish the first draft of winter in neverland

this is a contemporary romance story set on the basis of childhood disney trauma. i’m hoping to finish my first draft and be in the process of developmental edits by the end of 2021.

✽ 4 - outline bird bones and begin the first draft

bird bones is a magical realism novel based on a main character, nia, who eats bird bones. this started as a short story called she hides beneath the rocks and has become fleshed out to be a full novel. i’m hoping to have a solid outline for this and be ready to start drafting by september.

✽ 5 - keep up with writeblr and instagram

i started this writeblr back in 2020 when i was making my first attempt at getting back into writing (which failed miserably.) i’ve since come a long way and i feel i am ready to fully commit to running this. i’m excited to be in the community again and share my writing with you all.

[keahamer]

✽ parents evening summary

✽ english literature :

my teacher said i’ve been consistently working at an A for this year and she has predicted me an A* by the end of the year. she said my attendance is a concern but with my current position in hospital and my mental health this is understandable. she has no doubts that i’ll be able to catch up and i’m clearly a very gifted english student with a passion for the subject! 🥺

✽ history :

my teacher said i’m a natural at history and i clearly have a passion for the subject. she said all my homework and revision goes above and beyond what is expected and that my contributions to lesson are so valuable. i’ve been working at an A last term and she’s predicted me an A*! 🥰

✽ psychology :

again, the only complaint she had was related to my attendance but she said this was understandable. she says my work is exceptional and my organisation and revision are both beautiful and inspiring. she said my work is beyond my peers and i’ve been working at an A* all year and has predicted me an A*! 🥺

overall i’m so so proud of my parent’s evening. obviously i’m not making this post to brag or boast about my feedback but i do want to express how proud i am of this. after spending over two months in the lowest place of my life and now staying in hospital while i get better - these comments are above and beyond anything i expected. 🥰

[keahamer]

✽ how i revised english literature gcse

✽ analysis tables

these are 100% the most time consuming yet most useful things i’ve ever done. i basically create a table with columns for lines, features and analysis and then i either rewrite or copy and paste each individual line depending on where my source is (online or a physical book.) although rewriting the entire book is time consuming, it really is 100% worth it especially if you want to have a close analysis of everything. i found these so helpful at gcse as it meant all my notes were in one place and i had the freedom to write as much analysis as i wanted to without running out of room like i would in a book.

✽ study guides

these were also useful. i would take the main points and fill an A4 sheet of paper with everything that was essential to know, from context to characters to themes and i could look at them the morning of the exam and use that to bounce the key details before i went in.

✽ mindmaps

mindmaps i found were particularly helpful when i was trying to visualise a book or poem. i would create sections for a timeline of the book and sections to put the most important quotes or quotes relating to a theme or character.

✽ essay plans

i found writing multiple essays to be a complete waste of time. instead i opted to create essay plans which meant i could cover more questions quickly and easily and save my actual essays for tests or the real exam. it saved time and a lot of hand cramp and was very useful.

✽ flashcards

i mainly used flashcards to remember context or plot points such as the year a certain book was written. i’d go through them regularly to make sure i wasn’t forgetting any context.

✽ quote post it notes

english literature gcses are mostly closed book exams which means you need to remember quotes. i tried to pick out at least 9 quotes for each theme or character and remember them, as well as key quotes from the whole book. this helped me condense the amount of quotes i had to memorise

[keahamer]

✽ reflection review

by elizabeth lim

✽ star rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

✽ review

i absolutely adored this book. i actually found myself more connected with the characters of mulan than i did from the disney films. the language was beautiful, the descriptions were vivid and i fell in love with both the characters and the world. i genuinely adored this book and can’t wait to read the other twisted tales.

[hewnhart]

On Creating Characters- Six Points to Get You Started

As much as I like to complain about my weaknesses when it comes to writing, I’m happy to say that creating characters isn’t one of them. So for anyone who wants it- my quick guide on creating characters.

This list is for anyone who has a vague idea for a character but doesn’t have a plot or a role in the story for them to fill.  It’s for people who have a plot in mind, but lack characters to place in it. It’s for people who love those long, detailed character spreadsheets, but don’t have the patience (or know all the answers) to fill them out. The points I’ve listed below will probably overlap heavily and influence one another- for instance, “societal/cultural influences“ may inform both “philosophy“ and “defining relationships“. It pulls the character together.

Keep in mind that this is not everything you want to know about your character- you should continue to flesh them out as you write them. This is just a baseline, a starting point, an I-just-want-to-write-something-with-this-character-but-I-know-absolutely-nothing-about-them list so you can jump into writing with or without a plot in mind. It describes them as they are on a typical, ordinary day. As you continue to write and develop them, they will become more nuanced and take on a life of their own.

 Base Personality

Jot down some base personality traits. Don’t worry about getting an equal number of positive and negative traits down- or even which is which. Just feel out the character’s base personality.

Significant Historical Events

What events have had the greatest impact on your character (that you know of so far)? Again, don’t worry about getting everything- you can always add more here as they come to you later. Hit the major turning points in your character’s life.

Societal/Cultural Influences

What societal and cultural backgrounds do your characters have? Are they living/working/existing in an area where these influences are the majority or the minority?

Philosophy

What is your character’s default philosophy when it comes to right and wrong, or difficult moral choices? (I usually use the D&D alignment system for its simplicity- feel free to be as detailed or not as you wish).

Defining Relationships

What are this character’s defining relationships? Enemies, friends, and family are good places to highlight. Major conflicts and points of contention are great starting points for plots.

Goals

What does your character want more than anything? What are you preventing them from getting over the course of the story?  If any minor goals pop up while you’re writing, jot those down too.