Having written about it for the past two years, I was curious about the 2025 Word of the Year, so I did some research. Let's take a look at the words chosen by various organisations, why they were chosen, and what they mean. This will give us a general idea of the direction in which the world is heading and the prevailing mindset. You can read my articles on the words of 2023 and 2024  if you would like to find out more. As the final months of the year approach, I have been

The Author's Shadow in Characters and Events Whether we are aware of it or not, all of us who write stories project aspects of ourselves onto our characters. Sometimes it takes time to realise this, and sometimes it becomes apparent through readers' comments. This is also true of accomplished writers. This is why, when reading a novel, it is important to consider the author's perspective. So, which well-known works bear autobiographical traces? When creating a character or ev

Transforming Literature into Rational Games Poetry is a literary form that enables people to express their emotions. It serves as a tunnel for all positive or negative feelings. Words flow through it, ultimately sprinkling a bit of relief on the heart. But do poems always urge us to act on our emotions? Can't we make it more logical, rational, and mathematical? On the other hand, would this strip away what makes poetry poetry? These days, I focus on poetry more than any other

The Eerie Evolution of Halloween Have you ever wondered how the festival celebrated by the Celts hundreds of years ago became associated with writers such as Poe, Shelley and Stoker? How did it become so significant in the context of horror and Gothic literature? The Celts, particularly those living in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, celebrated a festival called Samhain on 31 October. The word “ Samhain ” means “November” in Irish and symbolises the autumn and winter harvests o

Last week, I wrote an article about balancing consumption with production when it comes to hobbies and artwork. Now, I would like to address the latter aspect in more detail. I have been pondering the consumption of clichéd and popular literary works. Any popular work that we dislike or have no desire to engage with can haunt us. Works that we are constantly exposed to through advertising can put us off, even if we bear no grudge against their authors. Rather than piquing our

Let's give some thought to a subject that we all think about, some of us engage in, and which nobody can deny. I hope you will also take the time to consider what is going on in your own life. I would like to share my current thoughts on our personal consumption and production. As a child, I didn't play many games, and there were probably others who played more than I did. Nevertheless, I mostly played physical and digital games on my own. Each time, I realised how enjoyable

To counteract the potential lethargy of autumn and winter, I am setting myself a challenge. In the hope that this goal will warm your hearts as much as a cup of ginger, honey, clove and cinnamon-infused herbal tea can warm you on a cold day, I invite you to join me on this journey. My aim is to embark on a journey of renewal. I hope this article serves as a signal flare to encourage others to take action alongside me. Although I love the beauty of the upcoming seasons, I am a

We all complain about how time-consuming social media is, yet we can't seem to break free from it. While we all have our own reasons for this, the digital landscape also exerts certain pressures on us. To satisfy my curiosity, I conducted a quick analysis of three different accounts and made some simple observations. In this short piece, I will talk about what I did, the results and the visible outcomes. Ultimately, I won't be giving simplistic advice such as “quit” or “join

We use all kinds of methods to choose what to read next. Sometimes we start with a friend's recommendation; sometimes we turn to the most well-known books in our favourite genre; sometimes we look for a short novel to finish quickly; and sometimes we just dive right into whatever book happens to be in our hands. Our book choices are as varied as our personalities. That's why, today, I want to recommend books to you based on your personality. Have you ever taken a personality

On World Letter Writing Day on 1 September, I'm not going to tell you to grab a pen and paper and start writing a letter. Instead, I want to talk about how this enjoyable and important activity features in literature. An epistolary novel is a type of novel in which the story is told through documents such as letters, diaries and newspaper clippings — or, in modern versions, emails. Other recorded texts can also fall into this category. These texts may be based on real-life ex

In Bradbury’s Pages, Memory Endures 22 August 2025 marked what would have been Ray Bradbury's 105th birthday. He was a giant in the worlds of science fiction and literature. This year, I wanted to commemorate the author who inspired my passion for reading and writing. On this occasion, I would like to touch upon an experience we all frequently encounter: forgetting. Bradbury powerfully conveyed that books and stories mirror the human soul and that burning or forgetting them c

In today's world, concepts are becoming increasingly blurred, and words and titles can lose their meaning over time. On social media, for example, anyone can describe themselves as a “writer”. But what does this mean? The fact that new concepts have not yet been fully developed while the meanings of old ones are changing is causing increasing confusion. This not only causes words to change, but also the values they represent, which may diminish them in the process. So, who ca

Herbert George Wells (1866–1946) was a pioneer of science fiction and a visionary of the future, passing away on 13 August. Despite 79 years having passed since his death, he inspired large audiences with his writing more than a century ago and made powerful predictions in the fields of science and technology. Through his dystopian and utopian narratives, as well as his speculations about the future, we will explore the concept of “the future” in the human mind. We refer to t

Throughout history, humanity has always sought to identify the best in every field. Examples of this include the most beautiful woman, the fastest athlete, the most successful TV series and the best science fiction novel. We are constantly creating standards of success. We rank people and things, choosing those we deem successful. But how valid and reliable are these choices? Are we really selecting the "best"? Today, I saw a social media post titled "The 100 Best Science Fic

Reading begins with the cover and the market power of design There are many factors that influence our book purchases, and these vary from person to person. Of course, we may want to buy a particular book or read more works by a favourite author. However, the reasons behind our purchases are not always so clear-cut. In such cases, the intrigue of the book's title or the associations it evokes may also be important factors. In my opinion, there is another factor that is even m

Over the past few weeks, a common topic has emerged in our conversations with friends, perhaps partly due to the effect of summer: lethargy and listlessness . As we know, these situations are usually temporary and can vary from person to person. My personal problem is not being able to be productive. I started to think about how I could overcome this situation. During such times, there are certain methods I try to use as much as possible. I’d like to share these with friends

A heartfelt reminder of the importance of old friendships and of the new connections formed through shared interests. A familiar voice after many years, an unforgettable joke, remembered birthdays, and forgotten memories resurfacing in the details... The companionship and sincere feelings of another person can breathe new life into us. I usually focus on specific topics in my writing, but last week I made an exception. This week, I will continue along similar lines. In my pre

One of my annual habits is to give the house a thorough clean every summer. It is an exhausting yet relaxing and thought-provoking process. In particular, cleaning a certain areas helps me to gather my thoughts. A few days ago, a friend shared a youth magazine from 2011 on social media. As soon as I saw it, I recognised it. Like me, she cleans at this time of year, so she must have come across the magazine while rummaging through her old belongings. We talked about it and lau

Poems Penned by Peace, Where the Mind Is at Ease Everyone's idea of a holiday is different. For me, it's about leaving Istanbul. No matter what I do, not being there feels like a mini escape. I'm glad I finally left temporarily after a few years. I was especially glad to be freed from the constant noise, traffic, and meaningless chatter of those around me. I realised that this also helped me relax. On top of that, the ever-changing sky and scenery are refreshing, too. In fact

As of 20 June, I had been writing regularly for two years. Although I had previously written for various blogs, columns and forums, it was when I started writing on Medium that I established a regular writing routine. During this time, two of my accounts were closed for unknown reasons, despite my best efforts and those of the Medium 'authorities' to find out why. Fortunately, I also upload my writing to my own website, even if it is only in English. Of course, I keep offline