J.V. MontagueI am an author and a lover of literature. I enjoy all sorts of writing, from fiction action-adventure to personal essays. A recent college graduate, I'm learning to navigate the working years of my life while maintaining my personhood.
I’ve abandoned writing for several years. Creatively, at least. I created this blog when I was fifteen. I’m twenty-one now (Lord, I have to use a hyphen). Graduated college. Employed. A far cry from the child who created this online space; a bid for connection, doomed to rot. And yet, people are here, still. Would […]
Some of these are a bit pettier while others are more serious, but I’ve heard a lot of advice in my time, and not all of it is great.
A Misadventures of Montoya and Rose short story “This is not the amulet, Rose,” Montoya hoists up a necklace with chunky turquoise beads and a centerpiece of a carved flat stone. “This is the amulet of protection,” he purses his lips, “if the name were to be directly translated…” Rose sniffs, crossing his sweaty arms. […]
Recently, I made an Instagram post comparing my writing from 2019/2020, to 2022 to serve as encouragement, to show how I’ve gotten better, but it ended up making me melancholy. Objectively, I got better: my descriptions are more vivid, my dialogue has nuance, and my characters are deeper, yet something is missing. I improved, but […]
Act 1 May 26, 2021, at three in the morning on a stormy night, lightning struck and I was lying awake in bed. Thunder boomed and my mind was alight with a new story. I had just started writing a Romcom, but this new idea was beyond alluring. It was of adventures and action, love […]
Think about why they’re doing what they’re doing. Think about how long they can keep it up. And think about what they could change. Because as storytellers, change is what we’re all about.
We are in a graveyard. My posts sit under the shade of ancient willow trees, freezing to the touch. Sometimes I wander about, making promises to tend to the weeds, to make things better, to return more often. There are always reasons and excuses and words—so many words—I can use to explain. You know. You […]
Besides the same four jokes, one thing has been very consistent about Writergram: the lamenting about the algorithm. QOTD (Question of the day), “engagement slides” on stories, complaining about “flopping posts”, and general frustration with Instagram. Some users have adapted to posting a lot of reels, others have stuck stubbornly within pictures (like myself), and […]
I did not meet half of my writing goals for 2021. As a quick recap, my goals were: Release a series of short stories Revise the novel I was working on at the time/learn how to revise a novel Learn how to work with beta readers Publish Looking back at that old blog post, one […]
I never rest with my creative projects until I am forced to. My creativity, motivation, and mental health tend to take a dive before I take a break. That’s not a good thing. It’s not that I don’t understand the importance of rest, I absolutely do, but my mind doesn’t quiet when ask it to […]
J.V. Montague 