Tonight, I decided to create another blog to go along with this one that specializes in poetry. I am no poet laureate, however, I figured since I've written all of these poems I might as well share them! So, if anyone cares to read newbie poetry, you can check out my other blog Poetically Unsound. Even if poetry isn't your forte, I promise my poems won't give you a migraine trying to figure out their underlying meanings. They're worth checking out. And if you like them, make sure to comment! If you don't like them, still comment! Feedback is how writers improve.
Thank you all.
Stay reading.
Love,
SKW
Showing posts with label novel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label novel. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 29, 2018
Friday, March 23, 2018
Down but not Out
Well, I haven't said anything in awhile and it's about high time I came back to this virtual world to tell everyone what is new and happening with my life in the most encouraging way I can.
I'm on my sophomore year of college now, about to be a junior. People keep telling me that I have all the time in the world but, as the semesters pass, my opportunities become less and less.
So this semester as well as last semester, I applied to study abroad. I applied to study in Manchester, England for a little over a month during the summer and I applied to study in Belfast, Ireland this coming fall. And let me just tell you... I made alternate for England. The girl in front of me would have to fall off a cliff before I could go. It tortured me being so close to something that people dangled the hope of, "Well, there's still a chance," over my head. Then... a few days ago, I got news from Belfast. I have been placed on the reserve list. Another alternate position with more hope dangled over my head. I keep telling my family that I would be happier if they both just said 'no'! I don't like them giving me this hope that I know won't come to fruition.
But... then I got accepted into an English honor society. My professor said it was a big deal. We get a pin and a plaque and we never have to do anything. However, I wanted it to be more than that. I like writing! Give me something to do with this! And so I explored the website I was sent in my congratulations email. I have the ability to speak at seminars, share my work, win awards... and enter for internships...
Now, I have always dreamed big and, to be honest, I dream bigger than I am. But under internships on that page is a single internship for Penguin Random House... Which I can apply to Summer, Fall, and Spring until I graduate.
I've been down and out lately. I've had a few good days of things just going wrong. I no longer have a job. I have a slight (but very slight) chance of still going to Belfast. And it just seems like I always build myself up to be let down.
But, if you think I won't be applying for this internship every semester until I graduate, you are sorely mistaken. Sure, I have a slim chance. There are over 800 chapters of this honor society and one publically broadcast internship for a very sought after company. But hey. If I never take such wild chances, I'll never have the wild chance of being successful. And I have one more shot at Belfast, if it turns out I don't make it.
Shit happens.
You get turned down more than you get accepted.
That's life.
What happens after is whether you choose to let it keep you down or if you choose to stand back up.
Keep fighting.
With Love,
SKW
I'm on my sophomore year of college now, about to be a junior. People keep telling me that I have all the time in the world but, as the semesters pass, my opportunities become less and less.
So this semester as well as last semester, I applied to study abroad. I applied to study in Manchester, England for a little over a month during the summer and I applied to study in Belfast, Ireland this coming fall. And let me just tell you... I made alternate for England. The girl in front of me would have to fall off a cliff before I could go. It tortured me being so close to something that people dangled the hope of, "Well, there's still a chance," over my head. Then... a few days ago, I got news from Belfast. I have been placed on the reserve list. Another alternate position with more hope dangled over my head. I keep telling my family that I would be happier if they both just said 'no'! I don't like them giving me this hope that I know won't come to fruition.
But... then I got accepted into an English honor society. My professor said it was a big deal. We get a pin and a plaque and we never have to do anything. However, I wanted it to be more than that. I like writing! Give me something to do with this! And so I explored the website I was sent in my congratulations email. I have the ability to speak at seminars, share my work, win awards... and enter for internships...
Now, I have always dreamed big and, to be honest, I dream bigger than I am. But under internships on that page is a single internship for Penguin Random House... Which I can apply to Summer, Fall, and Spring until I graduate.
I've been down and out lately. I've had a few good days of things just going wrong. I no longer have a job. I have a slight (but very slight) chance of still going to Belfast. And it just seems like I always build myself up to be let down.
But, if you think I won't be applying for this internship every semester until I graduate, you are sorely mistaken. Sure, I have a slim chance. There are over 800 chapters of this honor society and one publically broadcast internship for a very sought after company. But hey. If I never take such wild chances, I'll never have the wild chance of being successful. And I have one more shot at Belfast, if it turns out I don't make it.
Shit happens.
You get turned down more than you get accepted.
That's life.
What happens after is whether you choose to let it keep you down or if you choose to stand back up.
Keep fighting.
With Love,
SKW
Wednesday, June 21, 2017
It'll Be Okay
Honestly, the hardest thing about writing is just the self-doubt and the pressure (guilt) of it. I feel awful every day that I don't write or read because of all of those authors who stare you down with their quotes and tell you that you'll never be an author if you don't do both EACH and EVERY day. And if I don't do that then, along with the guilt, I begin to wonder if I am a writer after all. To be completely honest, I think a lot of authors are liars and do a lot more damage to people's confidence than actually boosting it. If it took J.K. Rowling 17 years to write one novel, do you believe she wrote or read EVERY SINGLE DAY? It is such an unachievable committment when you're in school or have a full time job or both! Your brain hurts by the end of the day and sometimes you just cannot commit to it.
I believe in individual people not in rules or circumstance. I believe that if someone wants to write they will... in their own time and in their own way. I believe in PEOPLE. Some writers say follow the rules- read every day and write every day, while others tell you there are no secret rules of success to writing. I'm the latter. We are individuals for a reason. If the same thing were possible and worked for all of us, then we would probably lack all originality and everyone would probably be a writer. And well... completing two books in three years isn't bad. Three? Four? We can't all be a James Patterson *eye roll*.
So if you're going to take advice from a writer, take it from me. Ignore them. There is no reason to take their words for gospel when you are attempting to be your own kind of writer with your own individual voice. I'm a creative writing major with a minor in business and public policy. Many people have asked me my major and after I told them what it was would go, "Oh." Oh? Most of them wouldn't ask anymore question and would drop the topic completely, while some pursue an argument. Listen, in this day and age, everyone and their dead relatives has an opinion to force down your throat. It's best to look them in the eyes and say, "I want to be that person who, ten years from now, can honestly say that I have never worked a day in my life because I love my job so much."
The lesson here is- do whatever the heck makes you happy. Life can either be about making enough money to live on or being happy enough that you've actually LIVED and THRIVED instead of just sustaining yourself. Life can be so many things, you might as well go through it doing what you love.
With Love,
SKW
I believe in individual people not in rules or circumstance. I believe that if someone wants to write they will... in their own time and in their own way. I believe in PEOPLE. Some writers say follow the rules- read every day and write every day, while others tell you there are no secret rules of success to writing. I'm the latter. We are individuals for a reason. If the same thing were possible and worked for all of us, then we would probably lack all originality and everyone would probably be a writer. And well... completing two books in three years isn't bad. Three? Four? We can't all be a James Patterson *eye roll*.
So if you're going to take advice from a writer, take it from me. Ignore them. There is no reason to take their words for gospel when you are attempting to be your own kind of writer with your own individual voice. I'm a creative writing major with a minor in business and public policy. Many people have asked me my major and after I told them what it was would go, "Oh." Oh? Most of them wouldn't ask anymore question and would drop the topic completely, while some pursue an argument. Listen, in this day and age, everyone and their dead relatives has an opinion to force down your throat. It's best to look them in the eyes and say, "I want to be that person who, ten years from now, can honestly say that I have never worked a day in my life because I love my job so much."
The lesson here is- do whatever the heck makes you happy. Life can either be about making enough money to live on or being happy enough that you've actually LIVED and THRIVED instead of just sustaining yourself. Life can be so many things, you might as well go through it doing what you love.
With Love,
SKW
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