Hello!
Today, I posted “We All Have Our Struggles,” and while I was rereading it, so many good memories bubbled up from the process of writing it: I had it edited by a teacher of mine, practised my snarky voice through Joaquin, contemplated many relationship dynamics I’ve have not experienced (to such extreme extents), and researched baby names for an unreasonable amount of time.
One criticism I remember getting from my teacher was Adonis’s name. She described it as ‘arb’ (arbitrary) and at the time I didn’t get why she thought so. But, in the past months I have become a bit more well-read and discovered that in literature, an ‘Adonis’ is always to describe someone incredibly handsome and well-loved; the epitome of ‘manhood’. While I can’t find the site I used at the time, I know I definitely didn’t think it meant all that; I just saw it and thought perfect. I had a good laugh at myself after rereading it yesterday, but the name still fits nonetheless.
But, why?
I had submitted it as an entry for the South African Writer’s College Competition 2019 in April earlier this year and received Highest Honours for the work. It is a special type of feeling being able to be proud of this work and laugh at how my writing has changed. Not that it’s a humorous work, but it’s interesting where my writing has gone since I wrote it.
This is one of the reasons why I think writing during difficult times in your life is not only good for present you, but for future you. Future you gets to see how far your journey has taken you, and you can appreciate yourself and the strength you showed in those difficult moments.
Website News
The current goal is to consistently upload on Thursdays and Sundays, with new works posted on both days and blog posts posted on Sundays to close the week. I’ll always post updates on my Instagram (link at the bottom).
In terms of works, someone who isn’t much of a reader, but listens to audiobooks and YouTube diligently, requested if I could do audio recordings of my works, and in doing such, people with visual impairments can also hear the work. This will become a reality in the next month, month and half, once school has closed and I have time to properly record things.
Next!
Most things I post I would have written at the very least two weeks before I posted them up here. A couple of weeks ago, it felt almost ingenuine to post older works, but I am only able to post them because I have had those two weeks. Whenever I write something, there’s the first draft where “I’m just telling myself the story.” (One of my favourite Neil Gaiman quotes.), then I need to give my brain a few days to get over the initial incoherent excitement and then I can write passionately AND coherently, then I couple weeks (or months) of editing when I can fit it in around school, and then hopefully after that time, it’s as close to good as will get (for the time being, anyway) and then I let the story out into the wild, out of my obsessive care.
And then it’s not mine anymore. The work is then a reflection of whoever comes across it, like all art. I call this “my” website, but “my” implies I have power over it. Sure, I can edit the site colours and choose what work I post when, but the real power lies in your hands, the reader. You choose how far these words go. All I can do is write them.