Everything and Nothing

I did not think that it’d take me this long to write my first blog post of the year.

I spent all of January trying to figure out what exactly I wanted to write for January’s post. I mean, it’s the first blog of the 2016 year. I better make it interesting and thoughtful and fun and all the good things.

Note to future self: Don’t think too hard about these things, trying to make it perfect, because otherwise I will continue to push it off and not do anything about it.

So now here I am, the 21st of February, finally writing something. Although, to be fair, I’ve had a busy (with schoolwork) and rough (because of health issues) month.

Guess who still doesn’t quite have a particular blog topic? This girl! So instead, you get a list of things that I’ve been pondering this year.

1.) Prose poems

So I currently have a poetry class this semester. It has been an interesting experience so far, mainly because I knew going into the class that I wasn’t much of a poet. (I can appreciate poetry, but I can’t write it well.)

Anyway, I was introduced to prose poems and they confuse the heck out of me. They look like any other paragraph to me, whether that means a short story condensed into a paragraph or a paragraph extracted from an essay.

Just tell me what you are! You are like the chimera of the poetry world to me.

2.) Short-short stories (otherwise known as “micro-short” stories, in Amanda terminology)

I also have a Creative Writing workshop this semester. On your designated week, you must pass out copies of your story for it to be workshopped the following week. In order to save my classmates the pain of reading a 7+ page story (and because I also don’t want to read out loud to the class that much), I’ve had to resort back to writing micro-short stories (stories that are 1000 words or less).

Back in 2012, that’s pretty much the format that I wrote all my stories. However, after that, I started to write lengthier pieces and I haven’t really gone back. Now I’m forced to do it and it’s harder than I remembered. I mean, how do I find the balance of creating enough details for the story without weighing it down within its small body?

I guess I found a way after all, judging by the positive feedback that I got from my first story three days ago. Let’s just hope that I can repeat it.

3.) Why does literary fiction constantly get re-made?

I’m just thinking out loud here.

But seriously, how many remakes or spin-offs can you think of that is based off of a Jane Austen novel? (I’ve always wondered what she’d think about it. For me, personally, I’d be flattered.)

At first I thought that maybe it was because, even though the actual story is great, it leaves room for other creative ideas to merge into the story since it’s literary fiction. (I’m looking at you, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.)

However, you could make the argument that Shakespeare has undergone so many remakes too, but his stories always have some kind of fantastical elements to them (ghosts, witches, fairies).

On the flip side, does anyone know of any books that were originally set in fantasy/sci-fi/whatever and remade into literary fiction?

I mean, can you imagine the Harry Potter series being literary fiction? No magic at all, just an outcast boy that attends a public school with his annoying cousin. (That actually sounds interesting now…if anyone pursues this idea and makes it entertaining, I want to read it.)

4.) Hair

Yeah, this is totally random.

But seriously, I keep feeling like I need to do something different with my hair.

As you can tell by my new profile picture, my bangs have grown out. They’re not officially side bangs, but they’re getting there.

I was thinking of letting them become side bangs, but a small part of me still wants to have the straight-cut bangs.

I’ve also contemplated on trying to curl my hair more often, but then I remembered that I don’t know how to properly curl my hair.

And now I’m entertaining the idea of possibly cutting my hair up to my shoulders. Will I be brave enough to do it in the summer? (I haven’t had my hair that short since 3rd grade.) Do I do it after I graduate with my B.A. as a kind of “onto the next stage of my life”? Will this kind of hair-cut actually compliment my face? And if I actually go through with this, do I keep the side bangs or go back to straight-cut?

So many options. I’m so confused.

Side note: I don’t plan on dyeing my hair.



Huh. I guess most of my topics listed above are somewhat related to one another. What are your thoughts on any of the four subjects?