28/2/18 - Random Monthly Post - Why I Am An Advocate For LGBT+ Representation

Hello everyone! Today marks the end of my second month on this blog and in order to honour the passing of such time, last month I decided to create a new monthly segment to discuss other random things I have happened across during the month, or answer a question posed to me.

So what is the topic of February's Random Monthly Post?

LGBT+ Representation!

As today is the final day of LGBT+ History Month, I feel that is appropriate to explore my perspective on an "issue" that many have pointed out in my writing;

Most of my significant characters are LGBT+

Of course, there are many many characters that I can name for you right here and now that are not members of the LGBT+ community. However, many of my most memorable characters have been for many reasons, and most of them do not focus on their sexuality.

A lot of my most memorable characters are coincidentally part of the LGBT community as the readerships of such stories have latched onto as much representation as they can get and are lavishing in it. Because there aren't enough works of fiction with characters that are part of the LGBT community outside of the "LGBT Genre" in itself! I write a lot of science fiction and fantasy and in both genres, I have created LGBT+ characters.

In a work of fantasy, the main conflict derives from the foolish mistake made by two love-stricken princes that did not want that meeting to be their last. They therefore toyed with the favour of Fate itself and instead of getting to reunite, they found themsleves split apart until they would finally meet again and consequently die. Instead of that happening, however, they slip into a coma due to magic meddling at the hand of a warlock. However, that decision is what sets the story in motion!

In one of my space opera science fiction pieces, only one of the three protagonists is actually not a member of the LGBT community. Princess Gyanni is asexual and The 'Alien', Atlas is a non-binary pansexual. However, both of these characters are not as iconic as some of my other LGBT characters in a different work of science fiction; The Neon Series.

If you are an active visitor of this blog, I am sure you would be familiar with The Neon Series, it is currently in its third year of development and currently stands as a five piece series, telling the stories of a different character in each book. Each book therefore has a different protagonist, and only one of said protagonists is NOT part of the LGBT+ community. On top of these protagonists, there are also a variety of different characters representing different aspects of such a diverse community of people.

But none of these characters are JUST their sexualities or gender identities! They are all so much more than that. These characters are people in their own right! Just like real people are more than just their sexualities!

I feel that the characters that get a lot of love from my readers happening to be LGBT is a coincidence. This is because I strive to provide my readers with a variety of different PEOPLE interacting within these stories, that have had DIFFERENT EXPERIENCES in their lives. No two people are the same and therefore, no two characters, LGBT+ or not, should be either!

I inted to produce a much longer and eloquent post to conclude Pride Month, so don't fret, this topic will be discussed again.

Thank you for reading!
And remember:
Per Ardua Ad Astra!
- Imogen L. Smiley

28/2/18 - Writing Advice Wednesday

Today, 28/2/18, is the fourth instalment of a new series of posts; Writing Advice Wednesday, where my advice to new writers will be shared once every two weeks. 

It is important to remember that my opinions are not law in any way, shape, or form! Not everyone has the same experiences as I do in this field but it is valuable to share opinions on topics to try and help others!

Today I will be talking about how I stay motivated!

I am what psychologists would call a Strong Type A Personality, this means that I am a generally well-motivated individual. Personally, I feel that I am motivated because the world wants to challenge my resolves. Ever since I was small, my goal of being a novelist has been under fire. When I was still at school, my creative writing was sub-par. I had ideas but could never seem to articulate the world that I was immersed in. This left me limited in my ventures into the world of writing and my goal tended to be questioned by those who surrounded me due to the fact that I was not amazing at the one thing I aspired to do. But I kept at it! Why did I do that? 

When I was younger, I felt that writing was the one thing that truly made me special and therefore, it would be ridiculous to pass up any opportunity to pursue that path.

When I met my best friend, she told me about a website called Wattpad. After her probing at me and asking why I had not yet made an account for the site, I admitted that I didn't think my work was good enough to go up online. From there, she pushed me to finish a project that I could post so I could start my journey. 

It was on Wattpad that I was properly introduced to the world of fan-fiction. It was there that my writing journey began to take off. I started writing in a fanbase that was slowly but surely gaining more fans, and therefore my work was getting more and more reads. I found myself motivated by the pressure of creating something because someone else was expecting to see more of it. And from there, the only way was up. 

I developed a schedule of daily updates of between 700 and 1200 words on this piece. My readership increased at a rate of knots and I was drowning in support! I found myself gaining confidence in my craft due to the support faces online were giving me! And through gaining confidence, I began to experiment with ideas I would have otherwise never try; such as writing a character going blind and demonstrating it through the quality of her description. 

From there, I used what I had learned from fanfiction and applied it to original works. I used what I was learning from the online world to construct the building blocks of brand new ideas. 

I managed to get an unconditional offer from my university due to the statistics from a fanfic. I threw everything I had achieved into a personal statement that gave me the platform to share the classroom with other writers! 

So out of this anecdote, what is my actual advice for motivation: 

In essence, I would suggest trying new things! When you go into a new area of writing and people read your work, particularly on a website like wattpad, it can take some time, but once you have people behind you and excited to see what you'll do next, you will probably feel more encouraged to create something incredible 

Thank you for reading!
And remember:
Per Ardua Ad Astra!
- Imogen. L. Smiley 

27/2/18 - Monthly Film Reviews - The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

Hello everyone! Today is the fourth instalment of another segment I am implementing. Once or twice a month I will be writing and posting reviews of films that I watch. Some may be older, having been released years ago and others may be new cinematic releases. Throughout this year, I hope to share my opinions of films with you and hopefully persuade you to give the film a watch if you haven't already!

Great! So what exactly will I be discussing in these reviews?
Plot
Character and their development
Viewer Engagement
My favourite moment
My least favourite moment
Anything else!

So... which film is going to be the subject of my fourth Film Review on my blog?

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower (2012)

These reviews will contain SPOILERS!

Plot

I have always been a intrigued by the concept behind The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, telling the epic coming of age story of an awkward anxious character as they start a new school is one I rarely see at the moment, no matter how much I personally relate to it. The story of Charlie and him managing to befriend the misfits in the senior class left me in a very empathetic state, for at college, me and the majority of my social group ended up leaving some of our friends behind when we headed off to university. Seeing the experience from the eyes of someone in a similar circumstance to friends of mine, made the experience even more emotive. I feel that this was a great aspect to the film. You find yourself empathising with the protagonist and his struggles because you can see someone you know, if not yourself, in his shoes. 

Character

There are many aspects to this film that I find great! I found that the characterisation of Charlie was stellar and is therefore one of the top ones. I ended up feeling very attached to this character, willing him to open up and flourish in the company of those that surrounded him. Charlie is a very likable character, and one that you can root for! I felt that his struggles were authentic to teen life and his trauma being revealed in the manner it was, did not limit the story. However, other than Charlie, the other two main characters, Sam and Patrick seemed to be considerably less well-rounded. But when compared to the rest of their social group, at least there was more to them. 

Sam served the purpose of being the attractive, endearing and oblivious love interest. She had the brunt of Charlie's affections and yet, she seemed to wave it off every time until he kissed her during truth or dare, instead of his girlfriend, Mary-Elizabeth. 

Patrick, although a complex depiction of a gay character, seemed to serve as the hook to bring Charlie into a social group and then only existed when the conflicts of the story required him to. This was sad, as I found his character very interesting and hoped to see more from him. 

That being said, the dynamic between the step-siblings, Sam and Patrick was positive and very free-spirited. Them being the same age provided the audience with a positive depiction of a healthy dynamic between siblings that were not of biological relation. A lot of the time, step-siblings are antagonised in works, it adds stigma to reconstituted families and I am so glad that Wallflower demonstrated that step-siblings could love eachother and be amazing friends. 

Viewer Engagement

I was greatly engaged by the story at hand. Admittedly, part of it was over how daft these characters would have to be to not recognise Heroes by David Bowie. But I felt that the authentic depiction of what life is like when you are anxious and unsure of your social standings was greatly refreshing and captivating to an audience. I hope to watch more movies of this nature. 

My Favourite Moment 

Both of the car scenes, but more importantly, the second one at the end of the film, where Charlie, in Sam's stead, stands up and feels the wind through his hair in a state of euphoria, being with the people he feels the most comfortable around! - And with the line "We are infinate" hit me in the emotions! I was so moved at the idea that yes, we may not be perminant in our existence, but we can last forever, in the memories we leave behind when we leave this world. It was a beautiful sentiment! 

My Least Favouirte Moment 

I really struggled to come up with a least favouirte moment. In the end I found myself choosing the scene in which Sam left as it seemed to be less emotionally charged than I would expect considering the circumstances which surrounded it. 

Anything Else?

This film gave me a revitalised adoration for Heores by David Bowie! I love it even more than I did before. 

Thank you for reading my review and I hope you give this film a watch!

And remember:

Per Ardua Ad Asta

- Imogen. L. Smiley

27/2/18 - Happy Tuesday! University Inspired Writing Prompt!

Happy Tuesday! University Inspired Writing Prompt!

Today, 27/2/18, is the next instalment of University Inspired Writing Prompts. Since my first year at university, I have been compiling a collection of writing prompts inspired by my time studying in Derby. I hope that these prompts help you create your own works!

All of these prompts are dialogue based, and are inspired by real conversations I have been part of whilst at university.

Prompt Nine: 

"You guys are looking at me like you've never seen a travel mug filled with pasta before..."
"Wait... you've put pasta in a travel mug? Oh my GOD you are a GENIUS!"
"You do realise, letting it wallow in it's sauce will make it mush, right?"
"GOD stop being so pasta-aggressive and let me eat my travel mug pasta!"

This is based on a real conversation which took place during my screenwriting class. My classmate was running late and was therefore unable to eat her lunch, so her housemate dumped the pasta she had made into a travel mug and hey presto! The ingenious idea of taking pasta to university in travel mugs was established! Apparently it kept the pasta warm and it wasn't completely disgusting by the time my classmate had the chance to eat it!

Hopefully this prompt inspires something - even if it is just a smile
Thank you for reading
And remember:
Per Ardua Ad Astra!
- Imogen. L. Smiley

26/2/18 - Monthly Film Review - The Greatest Showman

Hello everyone! Today is the third instalment of another segment I am implementing. Once or twice a month I will be writing and posting reviews of films that I watch. Some may be older, having been released years ago and others may be new cinematic releases. Throughout this year, I hope to share my opinions of films with you and hopefully persuade you to give the film a watch if you haven't already!

Great! So what exactly will I be discussing in these reviews?
Plot
Character and their development
Viewer Engagement
My favourite moment
My least favourite moment
Anything else!

So... which film is going to be the subject of my third Film Review on my blog?

The Greatest Showman (2017)

These reviews will contain SPOILERS! 

Plot:

The plot of The Greatest Showman is like the basic rags to riches story. P.J Barnum has a dream of having living a life and giving his children one that he didn't have when growing up. In order to do this, he actively commits fraud by providing the bank with false deeds for cargo that he didn't own, upon ships that had sunk in the South China Seas. These deeds were collatoral so he could inact his money making dream. He opened a museum to showacase the unusal and originally, it is filled with waxworks. His children insist that it would be better to include living exhibits in the museum. This leads to Barnum creating what the modern audience would refer to as a "freakshow" containing archetypal figures such as conjoined twins, a bearded lady, a person with dwarfism etc. And from there, showcasing these unique people, he begins to make money.

But the growing acclaim and the rising fame is not enough for Barnum, and he then begins to pursue new talents to give him greater prospects and a better-rounded review from critics and high society in order for his wife's family to approve of him. In doing so, he ends up in a scandal with Jenny Lind, an opera singer that he took along with him to America to perform. Her emotive performance lead to Barnum making her a priority and later lead to a scandal between himself and Jenny.

I found this story and its arc, looking at Barnum and the Circus as an entity and then as individuals was very interesting! I really enjoyed the story of this film!

Character:
I feel like, with most films, the conflict of the central character is the most prevalent and the actions of the characters around them can often be overlooked and swept under the rug. I found myself rooting for Barnum at different points throughout the story, wanting him to achieve his dream and wanting him to redeem himself after making mistakes and forgetting the reason he even began to create this circus in the first place.

Barnum's character is ambitious and this is one of his most endearing characteristics, however it is also his greatest flaw. This makes him a very relatable and compelling character!

Viewer Engagement:

I was greatly engaged in the story of The Greatest Showman, the film was greatly enhanced by the muscal numbers interwoven within the story. I feel that not having the music would have limited the potential of this film and reckon it would not have sold as well. Most of the more memorable moments in the film revolved around the musical numbers. They were ever so captivating to watch and will stick in your head for days!


My Favourite Moment:

I am sure, many of you would think that my favourite moment within the film would be that of the Rewrite The Stars sequence, and as high of a contender as that was, considering how strenuous that performance was bound to be for Zac Efron and Zendaya, my favourite moment was not that at all. My favourite aspect of this film would have to be the moment in which Barnum approaches Philip Carlyle and proposes that he joins him in running the circus. The Other Side, and the sequence that went along with it was greatly choreographed and executed. When I discussed favourite moments with my friends, this particular moment appeared to be somewhat overlooked. I, therefore, feel more inclined to declare my adoration of it, as not as many people seem to be doing so. So yes, The Other Side, the song and sequence, was my favourite part!



Least Favourite Moment:

Despite the fact that Barnum's fraud and his wife, Charity's family's dislike of him was made clear from very early on within the story, the reprocussions appear to be waved off rather quickly. Barnum goes to Charity's parents home and reconcilles the relationship within approximately ten minutes if that. It seemed to be underplayed in the overall scheme of things and I feel that it had the potential  to have been fleshed out even more.



Anything Else?

I loved all of the music in this film. This soundtrack will be one I actively revisit. Never Enough had me tearing up in my seat at the cinema! It is such a powerful song!

Thank you for reading my review and I hope you give this film a watch!

And remember:

Per Ardua Ad Asta

- Imogen. L. Smiley

26/2/18 - Monday Book Review - Poetry Edition - Killing The Black Dog

Today is a very special day! As it has been eight Mondays since the first post on this blog, it means, it's finally time for the second Poetry Version of Monday Book Reviews!

Today, I will be looking at Les Murray's Killing The Black Dog! I was introduced to this collection on the recommendation of one of my lecturers last semester. A classmate of mine lent it to me during the latter end of the previous semester and I figured it was worth reviewing! 

Killing The Black Dog is a collection of poetry which discusses depression and how it impacts the sufferer. In this book, the pieces which refer to "the black dog" are discussing depression directly. I found the idea of establishing a prominent metaphor interesting and helpful when conducting analysis of individual pieces which I could use for my portfolio at the end of the previous semester.

As someone who does not suffer from depression, I was hesitant when reading this collection, afraid that I would not be able to completely grasp the motifs behind each piece in the book. But I did in fact manage to comprehend the imagery and the depth of the pieces produced, despite not having experienced depression first-hand.

I felt that the voice of this collection was heavy and upfront and I really enjoyed reading the collection itself! It was very interesting! I would totally recommend giving this a shot!

Thank you for reading! See you in two weeks for another instalment of Monday Book Reviews! - Next time, we will be going back to prose! 

And remember:

Per Ardua Ad Astra

-Imogen. L. Smiley

26/2/18 - Monday Book Review - The Great Gatsby

Today, 26/2/18 is the fourth instalment a series of Monday Book Reviews, expressing my personal opinions on works of fiction. Today, I will be looking upon a piece called The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby was a text that I originally read during my A-Level Qualifications. I returned to it after re-watching the film and having my distaste toward specific characters reignited, and decided to take advantage of rereading to address and validate an opinion expressed by my former teacher; that this book was one of the best novels ever written. 

I found that there were many aspects to The Great Gatsby which make it a classic piece of literature and a great read - the conflict in Nick Carraway's interests demonstrates how despite intending not to pass judgement on the people who have not had the same opportunities as he has had is ironic as that is what Nick says he is setting out to do on the first page of the book. Throughout, he notes that the characters that surround him are awful and corrupt people being influenced by the grandeur of money. 

I found that one of the most compelling aspects of The Great Gatsby had to be the air of mystery that surrounded Gatsby himself; the idea that people that were classified as New Money could just appear out of nowhere at all and create a name for themselves, just as Gatsby had done, yet his method of managing it had aroused suspicion and he therefore had an impressive reputation surrounding him. Not that the people from West Egg cared enough to steer clear of his parties. 

I found that the way that Fitzgerald wrote the book was incredibly clever, for his work seemed to demonstrate how Nick found himself being corrupted through associating with those he met in New York and the more he dabbled in Gatsby's affair, the more clouded his resolve became. It wasn't until Myrtle Wilson was killed that he seemed to have a somewhat clear perspective on events, and even then he was passing his own judgement on how the situation was handled. 

I feel that this book is very interesting and definitely worth the read! 

Thank you for reading! See you in two weeks for another instalment of Monday Book Reviews! - And because the weeks have overlapped! You're about to get a double wammy! The next post will be a review of poetry collection! I'm so excited! 

And remember:

Per Ardua Ad Astra

-Imogen. L. Smiley

25/2/18 - Song Of The Week Sunday!

Song Of The Week Sunday:

Today, 25/2/18, is the day of the next instalment of Song Of The Week Sunday - where I will be sharing a piece of music that I listened to more than any other during the space of the previous. In this instance, from week beginning 19/1/18 and ending today, 25/2/18, the song I listened to the most was the following:

Words Fail from Dear Evan Hansen!
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKP9UdIcXFk

This song is one that I happened upon during my ventures in the Musical Theatre side of YouTube in a bid to find lyrics I could analyse for a project I am producing on mental health. This song, Hell, this MUSICAL provided me with everything I possibly needed! I was delighted to have such access.

This song in particular is the song equivalent of a soliloquy, in which Evan discusses his actions with himself, and the audience. The use of metaphors are beautfiul, I particularly adore the one about "slamming on the breaks before [Evan had] even turn[ed] the key". I felt like that image proved to be fruitful for explaining living with social anxiety! And it was a repeated image from an earlier song, 'Waving Through A Window', in which Evan's central conflict with being social is introduced explicitly. The fact that the epitome of the consequences of his actions due to this internal conflict is being conveyed through the same image was immesely powerful!

Kudos to the singer, Ben Platt for the level of emotions conveyed in this piece! It really resonated with me as a listener!


Thank you for reading
And remember:
Per Ardua Ad Astra!

- Imogen. L. Smiley

23/2/18 - Happy Birthday Floyd Daniels

Today, 23/2/18, is Floyd Alexander Wake-Daniels' 24th Birthday! And in order to celebrate, I decided to post something in his honour!

I remember when I first came across Floyd's character and I didn't have a clue what sort of domino effect would come from his character. He was introduced in the first draft of my novel Neon Blood and was killed off several chapters later. Despite leading such a short life in this early draft, I became enamoured with him and decided to extend his life within the story, by writing a series of chapters to postpone his death.

When I gave the fourth draft of this story to beta-readers, Floyd won the Favourite Character Poll that I had constructed, to see how my characters were being received. He managed to win that poll by four votes; an absolute landslide! From there, the complaints about his murder came flooding in - my readers were greatly upset and conspired that he ought to be resurrected.

I fought against the people's wishes for over a year, but eventually, I decided to re-visit Floyd's character and work out whether it would be plausible for him to survive. From that mere consideration spanned a "cult" following. His spirit animal of a flamingo became the symbol of my social circle whilst at university and his development lead to the reconstruction of the entire series so his entire story could be told. He, out of all of my characters, deserved it!

Out of every character I have ever created, Floyd is my all-time favourite! Everything about him makes him endearing to me as a writer; his intellect and his skills as a tactician, his ability to be self-sacrificing, his sense of loyalty to the promises he once made and his general charisma and exuberance! He has a soft spot in my heart and the hearts of my family and friends! I cannot wait for his story to finally hit the shelves in the years to come.

So happy birthday Floyd!

23/2/18 - Favourite Character Praise Friday! - Ruby Kurosawa

Today, 23/2/18 is the fourth instalment the series of posts praising my all-time favourite characters for their quirks and flaws etc. called Favourite Character Praise Friday. I will be sharing these posts every two weeks to gush about fictional characters in a proactive environment. With this segment, I intend to demonstrate what makes characters great so you and I alike can use these facts to improve our characters!

This I will be tackling the first anime character of the blog and it is a character that up until somewhat recently I really didn't like. But now I adore her!

So who is the subject of my fourth Favourite Character Praise Friday?

Ruby Kurosawa from the Love Live! Franchise

For those who are unfamiliar with the Love Live! Franchise, there are two series' as it currently stands; Love Live! and Love Live! Sunshine! The series' focus on a central character, Honoka Kousaka and Chika Takami, forming school idol groups with students at their schools. Ruby is a character introduced in Love Live Sunshine! she is a first year High School Student at Uranohoshi Girls' Academy, with great interest in school idols, being a fan of Muse, the group Honoka established several years prior in the original series. She is co-erced into joining a new group called Aquors by Chika and her friends in the year above, and from there, the only way is up for Ruby.

Before anybody asks, yes I do in fact play the game, but my account is a third year oshimen, so I barely get any Ruby cards, so I will not be using the game to validate her development, as I do not have enough of her cards.

...So, why do I love Ruby, despite the fact that I used to strongly dislike her?

Warning! There will be spoilers!

In essence, the second season redeemed her character so much in my eyes that I just had to commend her development!

She tended to be in the background, always too meek to assert herself

Ruby was a very quiet character in the first season of Love Live! Sunshine! she was a character that therefore tended to blend into the background when compared to her more outgoing schoolmates, particularly fellow first year, Yoshiko aka Yohane, The Fallen Angel, whose quips and their friend Hanamaru's responses to them tended to summarise the majority of the first year students' interaction that was not plot-orientated. 

HOWEVER, when the second season rolled around, she grew more comfortable amongst her friends, tending to also jab at Yoshiko, and eventually grew to depend on her friends and go out on limbs herself to help others independent of the other characters in Aquors. 

Her main quirk was her immense shyness

When Ruby was introduced as Aqours' token "shy character" my mind immediately looped back to her predecesor, Hanayo Koizumi, who developed at a rate of knots after her best friend Rin, encouraged her to join Muse and pursue her childhood ambition of being an idol, even if it would only be whilst she was in High School. 

Ruby found herself in a similar predicament, being pushed to join Aqours with her friend Hanamaru, but unlike Hanayo, who managed to find herself at the butt of many jokes due to her insecurities about her weight, shyness and love for white rice, the only thing that Ruby could be humoured for was how shy she was. I was originally very worried that her character would be pushed to the sidelines and not receive what the fans of the series referred to as a "development episode". 

HOWEVER, in the second season her character was skyrocketed into a greater level, I was amazed to see that instead of a singular "development episode" the first year students, lead by Ruby, managed to have a completely independent development arc, which focused on them depending on one another to help their fellow School Idol Leah from rival group Saint Snow, after she made a mistake and she and her sister Sarah froze up, and consequently failed to qualify for the finals of the Love Live competition. 

She was too reliant upon her older sister, Dia

At the beginning of the series, Ruby's central dilemma derived from a conflict of interest between her and her older sister, Dia, who had gone off school idols and refused to let Uranohoshi Girls Academy create a school idol group. When Dia's decision was overruled by the chair of the school, her friend and classmate, Mari Ohara, Ruby had the opportunity to join Aquors despite her sister disliking school idols. 

Toward the latter end of the first season of the show, the conflict that caused Dia's opinion to change was resolved. Kanan, a fellow third year student and childhood friend of Dia and Mari, found out that Mari had refused an amazing opportunity to study abroad and refused to tell her friends about it at all because she wanted to be a school idol. Instead, Kanan decided to throw the Love Live Tournament so Mari would cave into the pressures to go abroad and study. When Mari found out that her friends had sacrificed their dreams of dancing together on stage, for Mari's academic career, she was outraged and heartbroken. She sought to right the situation, and in doing so, she Kanan and Dia joined Aqours. 

With Dia now a member of Aquors, that meant that Ruby had access to her crutch; her older sister, who she had always dreamed of being a school idol with. And that factor, along with the previous two lead to making me worry that Ruby may find herself as an underdeveloped character, suffering immensely off-screen once her older sister graduated. 

BUT yet again, the second season gave her redemption for her dependence upon her sister; when Ruby met with Leah, they bonded over how they both believed that they had the superior older sister, arguing passionately about the amazing quirks of the sibling that they felt inferior to. And with Leah and her older sister Sarah now out of the Love Live Tournament, it meant that Sarah would graduate High School on a sombre note, her last performance being influenced by Leah's mistake and their inability to collectively recover from it. 

However, Ruby decided that just because their journey in the competition was over, did not have to mean that their final performance as Saint Snow had to be a sad performance. So instead Leah and Ruby worked along with Hanamaru and Yoshiko to create a stellar performance for the two idol groups for a Christmas Fair in Leah's hometown. 

I found that Ruby seeing her relationship with Dia through Leah and Sarah lead to her developing in leaps and bounds because ultimately she understood what Leah was experiencing. The ideas of no longer wanting to be in Aquors, once the third years graduated and how she didn't want to be the reason Dia might feel negatively about her final performance. 

So, what can we learn about writing characters from how Ruby Kurosawa was developed in Love Live! Sunshine!? 

1. It is absolutely fine to allow shyer meeker characters to take the spotlight, they have their own thoughts too 
2. Showing a character overcome something such as their greatly introverted personality and learning how to embrace its can be a great story to tell 
3. Sometimes characters that you underestimate can further the plot on levels the reader or viewer may not even consider

Thank you for reading my reasons for loving Ruby! I hope my praise influenced the way you perceive your own characters!

Until next time!

And remember: 

Per Ardua Ad Astra! 

- Imogen. L. Smiley

20/2/18 - Happy Tuesday! University Inspired Writing Prompt!

Happy Tuesday! University Inspired Writing Prompt!

Today, 20/2/18, is the next instalment of University Inspired Writing Prompts. Since my first year at university, I have been compiling a collection of writing prompts inspired by my time studying in Derby. I hope that these prompts help you create your own works!

All of these prompts are dialogue based, and are inspired by real conversations I have been part of whilst at university.

Prompt Eight:

"Great, thanks to you I have to lock my door and put a salt ring around my bed because the demon in our cellar is in love with me. Why did you do this!" 

This is a quote from my second day living in my current house. We had a friend over, who installed a  ouija board app in order to ask the demon in our cellar whether he was enamoured with any of us. When she got to my friend Jenny, the demon changed their answer to "yes".  And as Jenny's room is on the ground floor, her room is now COVERED in salt! 

Hopefully this prompt inspires something - even if it is just a smile
Thank you for reading
And remember:
Per Ardua Ad Astra!
- Imogen. L. Smiley

18/2/18 - Song Of The Week Sunday

Song Of The Week Sunday:

Today, 18/2/18, is the day of the next instalment of Song Of The Week Sunday - where I will be sharing a piece of music that I listened to more than any other during the space of the previous. In this instance, from week beginning 12/1/18 and ending today, 18/2/18, the song I listened to the most was the following:

Battle Scars by Paradise Fears!

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFaBmcCz_HU

This song has been one that I tend to listen to when working on pieces of work that focus on mental health. Or at least, when I feel that I can handle it. I absolutely love this song. It's very emotive and I tend to get emotional when listening to it.

This week I played it several times, as for homework, I am analysing messages about mental health in music to demonstrate the power of imagery and metaphors to go along with the physical symptoms of an issue. For an assignment I am doing for my coursework, I am writing prose about the experiences of anxiety and the first piece that I chose to start analysing first was this song. It is not as well known as Stressed Out by Twenty One Pilots, and although it's an amazing song, I felt it was better to use lesser known music.

With it being on loop, I felt that this song earned the position of the Song Of The Week!

Thank you for reading
And remember:
Per Ardua Ad Astra!

- Imogen. L. Smiley

14/2/18 - Writing Advice Wednesday

Today, 14/2/18, is the fourth instalment of a new series of posts; Writing Advice Wednesday, where my advice to new writers will be shared once every two weeks. 

It is important to remember that my opinions are not law in any way, shape, or form! Not everyone has the same experiences as I do in this field but it is valuable to share opinions on topics to try and help others!

Today I will be discussing how I write such long pieces of prose. It may seem like a random topic but it is one of the most common questions that I am asked whilst at university "How do you write so much" etc. At the moment, my works of prose have been very long - my current WIP will be a five piece series, the first book currently standing at over eighty thousand words. 

How did I manage it? One word. 

Characters.

I have created so many characters for this series. Admittedly, there are only four central characters in the first book, but that book established the majority of the context before the perspective would shift. For the second book there are nine main characters and an extra eight side characters that have influence on the plot; most of these characters remain as main characters throughout the rest of the series.

With that considered, that means that for the second book I had nine potential plots; every single character has a story that led them to that point - so what are you going to do? You can explore all of them briefly and find out which characters have the most compelling stories that can relate to the prevalent plot thread.

A lecturer of mine once told me that character and plot co-exist, they influence one another and if you are struggling to write enough the issue may be the lack of characters or depth of the pre-existing characters! 

When I initially attempted to work out which characters would get the honour of having a book focusing on their stories, I looked to characters that had complicated backstories and interesting lives that could further the plot! 

Thank you for reading! I hope this helped you in any way, shape or form! 

And remember:
Per Ardua Ad Astra! 

- Imogen. L. Smiley

13/2/18 - Happy Tuesday! University Inspired Writing Prompts!

Happy Tuesday! University Inspired Writing Prompt!

Today, 13/2/18, is the next instalment of University Inspired Writing Prompts. Since my first year at university, I have been compiling a collection of writing prompts inspired by my time studying in Derby. I hope that these prompts help you create your own works!

All of these prompts are dialogue based, and are inspired by real conversations I have been part of whilst at university.

Prompt Seven: 

"The date was going well but then I had a coughing fit on the Ferris Wheel"

This is inspired by a quote said by one of my friends as she gave me and my housemates the details of her date at the Christmas Funfair! She had been ill but decided to go on the date regardless, and just as things were getting romantic BAM coughing fit! 

Hopefully this prompt inspires something - even if it is just a smile
Thank you for reading
And remember:
Per Ardua Ad Astra!
- Imogen. L. Smiley

12/2/18 - Monday Book Review - The White Devil

Today, 12/2/18 is the third instalment a series of Monday Book Reviews, expressing my personal opinions on works of fiction. Today, I will be looking upon a piece called The White Devil by John Webster

I was introduced to this play back when I was at college in 2015, studying Gothic Literature. This play, by Webster is what is known as a Pre-Gothic piece that derived from the Jacobean era. The genre of theatre this piece was classified as was a "revenge tragedy". I was greatly intrigued by what this play would have to offer.

The play focuses on a politically corrupt Rome. The main characters, Bracciano, Duke of Rome and Vittoria Corombona, are having an affair. In order to be together, their spouses, Isabella and Camillo are murdered. The events that surround this create a great spiral of chaos, murders and plots to kill people end up taking place left, right and centre in order to avenge the other characters. It is very interesting!

I will admit now that I became greatly obsessed with this play towards the end of the term when we studied it. I found the characters and their lack of black and white morality fascinating as almost every character went into interactions with anterior motives that the audience would be aware of through dramatic irony.

I reread this piece and found myself completely re-invested in the domino-effect of murders!

I found that the greatest hindrance of the piece would have to be the language, if you are not well versed in older theatre, I would recommend starting off with a different piece of literature as this play plays with a lot of olden Italian phrases as well as language you would find in Shakesperian works. I found this play an amazing one to read, as I spent hours upon end translating essential phrases in the text into modern English in order to memorise them for my exam.
For Example:
Flamineo: Am I your dog?
Flamineo: Am I your bitch?

However, I believe that the reason I enjoyed reading this play as much as I did was for that same reason, because I translated the language and found myself investing myself in the story even more.

All in all, I would 110% recommend this play! Just be sure you know what the characters are saying!

Thank you for reading! See you in two weeks for another instalment of Monday Book Reviews!
And remember:
Per Ardua Ad Astra
-Imogen. L. Smiley

11/2/18 - Song Of The Week Sunday!

Song Of The Week Sunday:

Today, 11/2/18, is the day of the next instalment of Song Of The Week Sunday - where I will be sharing a piece of music that I listened to more than any other during the space of the previous. In this instance, from week beginning 5/1/18 and ending today, 11/2/18, the song I listened to the most was the following:

Future by Paramore!

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oScRBsOV6I

I have been a huge fan of Paramore since I was about fifteen years old, and the music from their self-titled album, Paramore resonanes with me just as much as it did back then. The power of this song in particular always seemed to take hold of me when I needed it to. For example, without being too personal, over the last week and a half my mental health has been worsening bit by bit again due to several uncertainties that are sparking issues with my anxiety.

I happened across this song this week because my music player was on shuffle and I was immediately sent back to the first time I truly ever listened to it; I was in Naples on a school trip and my best friend was dozing in the seat next to mine so I opted to listen to music. I tended to skip this song as the introduction was slower than some of the other pieces. But we were in for a long ride so I figured I might as well listen to it fully.

The lyrics had me completely entranced! It was like a state of existentialism to a rthym I couldn't yet predict! The song seemed so well-thought out! I was amazed by the way that the fade in and out was used and the depth of just having a period of silence, as if that was the end of the song but nope BAM more music. Almost as if it was telling the listener that their journey wouldn't end immediately, that fighting for the future is a long battle and it takes a while, you can pause with nothing happening for a while and still be fighting for what you want.

I personally thought it was beautiful.

I still think it's beautiful and for that reason, it went on loop for hours on end so I could just sway along and feel the embrace of "even if you don't think you're doing it, you are, you're making progress", even though I've spent half of the week in bed sick! ((Phsyically and mentally dead since Wednesday...fuuun))

I love this song! I hope you'll give it a listen!


Thank you for reading
And remember:
Per Ardua Ad Astra!

- Imogen. L. Smiley

9/2/18 - Favourite Character Praise Friday! - Thresh

Today, 9/2/18 is the third instalment the series of posts praising my all-time favourite characters for their quirks and flaws etc. called Favourite Character Praise Friday. I will be sharing these posts every two weeks to gush about fictional characters in a proactive environment. With this segment, I intend to demonstrate what makes characters great so you and I alike can use these facts to improve our characters!

So who is the subject of my third Favourite Character Praise Friday?

Thresh from The Hunger Games, portrayed by Dayo Okeniyi!

Well, for those who do not remember Thresh's character particularly well, he was the male tribute from District Eleven that was drawn to participate in the 74th Annual Hunger Games. In the books, he was regarded to be built like an ox due to working in the fields of his agricultural district. He was the tribute that killed Clove from District Two after she claimed that the career tributes killed Rue, his female companion from District Eleven. He killed Clove by banging a heavy rock against her skull, but decided to spare the life of Katniss Everdeen as she was Rue's ally. 

The following character praise will contain spoilers

So, why is Thresh one of my favourite characters, despite not being a main character? 

It can be inferred that Cato and Thresh are trait-based inverses

Whether of not Suzanne Collins intended to make Cato and Thresh inverses is beside the point as there is plenty of space to delve into this idea; Cato was the last surviving career tribute and murdered Thresh in the books, as opposed to the films when the wolf "muttations" killed him. They were of similar physiques, but Thresh was still bulkier. Cato was broad due to training in the special academy to volunteer for The Hunger Games, and Thresh was built like an ox due to working to help support his family. 

Another point that supported this clever little titbit is how they treated the "innocent bystander"; in Thresh's case, he spared Katniss' life when she had every opportunity to shoot him. However Cato maimed Peeta, who had witnessed Katniss' escape after Glimmer was killed by tracker jackers. Peeta was injured to the level where he ended up having his leg amputated by the Capitol and replaced with a prosthetic. 

Neither man died as a martyr as Rue had done, but that did not matter; it is unlikely that his death would have evoked the same reaction from the masses had he been killed before Rue. 

Suzanne Collins used great subtle images to provide insight into Thresh's life before he was selected for The Hunger Games

In Catching Fire, the second book of the series, Katniss and Peeta embarked on a Victory Tour. On this tour, they visited Thresh's home, District Eleven. And while Katniss' primary focus was on Rue's bereaved family, Thresh's family are acknowledged. His mother and grandmother stood upon a plinth to be acknowledged as grieving over their fallen son. It is presumed by the fact that he was so young, that Thresh was likely to be the primary breadwinner for his small family. This meant then when Peeta offered up a fraction of his and Katniss' winnings to Rue and Thresh's families, their emotional states were due to the fact that their fallen son/grandson's hard work was also being recognised. 

In the film, Thresh's character proved to be a parallel of his district in their responses to Rue's murder. 

In the film, the residents of District Eleven are greatly upset over how Rue was killed by Marvel and how Katniss responded to it; her emotions were genuine and raw and the people could tell that she felt strongly about the loss of her ally, as she reminded her so much of her younger sister. District Eleven's people began to riot at the fall of their female tribute and were sanctioned for it. Thresh, having heard that Katniss and Rue were allies, opted to spare her life as a form of acknowledging that she would not have wanted Rue to die. He said that he was sparing her "just this time" and it was "for Rue". 

Though the connection was subtle, I found that it gave his character a great amount of development. This is because most connections between allies were formed over the idea that a majority had something to gain from wiping out another force. For example, the career tributes stick together for the best odds of survival as they were trained in order to win The Hunger Games, and they only decided to make Peeta their ally so they could find and kill Katniss. Once she was out of the way, Peeta would have been killed too. 

Thresh had no allies in the arena. In the books, he kept to himself, hiding in fields of wheat as that was terrain he would be familiar with. However, despite that, he felt enough kinship with his fellow tribute to keep her ally alive, despite the fact that Katniss could have waited until his back was turned to shoot him. Katniss, however, only really seemed to avoid shooting Thresh in order to keep herself alive as Cato was running in pursuit him anyway, in order to avenge Clove.  

But what does Thresh teach us about writing and how to write minor characters:

1. Contrasting a "good" character with a more antagonistic force tends to prove interesting as there's room to interpret their similarities and differences on a somewhat level playing field
2. Small details about a character and their background can prove to give a reader insight into their life prior to the events of the story
3. When a minor character manages to save the life of the protagonist, there tends to be a stylistic reason why someone so "insignificant" had so much power

Thank you for reading my reasons for loving Thresh! I hope my praise influenced the way you perceive your own characters!

Until next time!

And remember: 

Per Ardua Ad Astra! 

- Imogen. L. Smiley

6/2/18 - Happy Tuesday! University Inspired Writing Prompt!

Happy Tuesday! University Inspired Writing Prompt!

Today, 6/2/18, is the next instalment of University Inspired Writing Prompts. Since my first year at university, I have been compiling a collection of writing prompts inspired by my time studying in Derby. I hope that these prompts help you create your own works!

All of these prompts are dialogue based, and are inspired by real conversations I have been part of whilst at university.

Prompt Six: 

"We ordered waaay too much Chinese food. Hey, random guy, I can see you eyeing this up, do you want our special curry?"
"Wait what? Are you sure?"
"Yeah absolutely! We hadn't ordered from there before! We didn't know that food was filling!"

This is inspired by an actual conversations my friends had with an acquaintance of ours whom we actually began speaking to because we offered him our leftover curry! If we hadn't offered him the food, he wouldn't have began talking to us and more importantly OUR FOOD WOULD HAVE GONE TO WASTE!

Hopefully this prompt inspires something - even if it is just a smile
Thank you for reading
And remember:
Per Ardua Ad Astra!
- Imogen. L. Smiley

4/2/18 - Song Of The Week Sunday!

Song Of The Week Sunday:

Today, 4/2/18, is the day of the next instalment of Song Of The Week Sunday - where I will be sharing a piece of music that I listened to more than any other during the space of the previous. In this instance, from week beginning 29/1/18 and ending today, 4/2/18, the song I listened to the most was the following:

Young Love by Eli Lieb!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jPba9WJCzE

I chose to select the above song as my Song Of The Week this week as today is the fourth day of LGBT+ History Month, a month used to celebrate the ways in which the LGBT+ community have become established, recognised and prevalent in society. The progress made by the LGBT+ community is immense - fifty-one years ago, we got the partial de-criminalisation of homosexuality, and as much as there's such a long way to go, the LGBT has gone leaps and bounds!

I love this song's lyrics and the video just adds to the amazingness as the representation of two men isn't overstated or depicted as a gimmick; their dynamic is exactly as it would be if the pair had been of the opposite sex! It is such a good song!

Thank you for reading
And remember:
Per Ardua Ad Astra!
- Imogen. L. Smiley