31/3/18 - Random Monthly Post - I Love Musicals

Hello everyone! Today marks the end of my third month on this blog and in order to honour the passing of such time, two months ago 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 March's Random Monthly Post?

Why I love musicals.

Those who know me in the "real world" will be very much aware of my obsession with musical theatre, and I am sure that fans of this blog will have managed to grasp that from some of my previous selections for Song of the Week. Surprise, surprise, I adore musicals. I have been a fan of musicals since I was young, starting at the Disney classic, High School Musical and the subsequent sequels as I grew up. However, as I grew older, I gained a taste for stage plays as opposed to TV musicals.

For several years, my aunt used to buy my family tickets to see musicals on the West End as Christmas presents. Thanks to her generous gifts, we had the opportunity to watch Hairspray, The Lion King and Wicked on stage. But after my sister expressing a distaste over Wicked, we have no longer gone to musicals. However, this has not quashed my adoration for musical theatre.

I have watched many musicals in film form, Grease, Mamma Mia, Hairspray and RENT to name a few, but I am a huge fan of Hamilton: An American Musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Hamilton was the first musical that I had actually taken the time to invest my time in that was outside of the pre-established bracket. I came across it on Tumblr but was hesitant to buy into the hype when it first came out. I was re-introduced to it at a karaoke night when I was at university last year, and this re-inspired my deep love for musical theatre. A group of students that were at the karaoke night, decided to go up and sing Alexander Hamilton, or as me and my friends that are fellow fans happen to call it "The Exposition Song", where context for the entire show is established. I recognised the song, and when I got home, I listened to the entirety of Act One.

I became a hardcore fan of that musical not long after that, and found myself revisiting Grease, Mamma Mia, Hairspray and RENT with a nostalgic fondness.

But what exactly was it about the musicals, or more specifically, Hamilton, that got me invested again?

The lyrics.

As a spoken word poet, and a writer as a whole, I tend to lend my ear to lyrics. I am eager to hear what singers are saying in their music. So when I finally listened to Act One, and later Act Two of Hamilton, I was astounded at the power behind the lyrics.

I ended up manipulating lyrics from my favourite song from Hamilton into my UniSlam 2018 solo - I Wanted To Die, The quote from the song was as follows:

Let me tell you what I wish I'd known 

When I was young and dreamed of glory

You have no control

Who lives who dies who tells your story

And I wrote the following in reference to those lyrics:

Recently, I began to rationalise

Realising we have no control 

Over who will tell our stories 

Once we're gone. 

Before I went on to tell the stories of people of signifiance that influenced me when I wanted to die back when.

This musical had done something completely different, it had managed to use a genre of music, not assoicated with Broadway and Theatre and produce a musical that made Millennials and Gen Z kdis want to watch it, and learn about American History. It brought new generations and invested them in musicals! Not only that but because the entire musical IS the soundtrack, people who couldn't afford tickets to Broadway could STILL ACCESS THE MUSICAL!

The lyrics from songs in Hamilton seemed to be so powerful! And it isn't just that one musical, no. I also recently became infatuated with Dear Evan Hansen, a muscial staring Ben Platt.

There are very powerful metaphors and images within the music in that show - for example, the repetition of the following part:

I've learned to slam on the brake

Before I've even turned the key

Before I make the mistake 

Before I lead with the worst of me

These lyrics are repeated in Waving Through A Window and Words Fail with immensely different meanings and intentions. This musical taught me a lot about how I should regard delivery when performing on stage myself.

In short - I love musicals.
In slightly longer - I love musicals due to the lyrics in their songs.
In essence - Lyrics in songs from musicals can be immensely powerful and I love them so much!

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

28/3/18 - Writing Advice Wednesday

Today, 28/3/18, is the sixth 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!

So, what is today's topic? Beating Writer's Block! 

As a Creative Writing student, the idea of writer's block can be horrifying. The concept itself has the potential to greatly impact the way we perceive the outcome of a specific module, because if we have writer's block then we have the potential to have stunted ourselves and our potential heavily. 

So, how do I manage to evade writer's block? 

1. Read - I find that reading helps me keep writer's block at bay. Being immersed in the world of another writer, published or not, allows me enough space from my assignments to collect my thoughts. Sometimes, what I require, is not a writing prompt but a sentence, or a phrase, or an image. Therefore, exposing myself to a variety of written stimuli has the potential to provide me with the muse I may require in order to further my piece. 

2. Re-evaluate what I already have -  Should I get stuck midway through creating a piece of writing, and struggle to work out what I am to do next, I go over everything I have produced in reference to said piece in a bid to find plot threads I could pull on to move the story onward etc. It is very helpful when doing coursework. 

3. Music - Look into music that fits the general theme of the piece and see if something gets my creative juices flowing again. One of the main aspects of writing which my screenwriting lecturer once offered us was to examine the concept of our piece and probe it to find out what the theme of the piece is - what is the core message you would like your readers to gain from the piece that you are creating? For example, in my screenwriting piece it was "live in the now" as it told the story of friends mourning over their friend who passed away because hypoglycemic of shock after a night of drinking. She did not let her Type One Diabetes keep herself from enjoying her life. However, her irresponsible behaviour evoked an early death on her part. Once I had the theme recorded, I began looking for music I could use that discussed a similar topic and got song suggestions from "Live Like There's No Tomorrow" by Selena Gomez to "This Life" by Tim Halperin to covers of "Ikanaide"! It gave me a vast sea of lyrics and images I could use for muses within my screenplay! 

Thank you for reading!

And remember:

Per Ardua Ad Astra!

- Imogen. L. Smiley

27/3/18 - Monthly Film Reviews: Lady Bird

Hello everyone! Today is the sixth 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 sixth Film Review on my blog?

Lady Bird (2017)

I watched this film at QUAD Derby's Oscar Film Event, where the Oscar Nominations for this year's Academy Awards were screened again for one week. I watched it with some of my friends as part of a binge-watch, where we spent the entire day in the cinema.

This review WILL contain spoilers.

Plot:
As the genre of this film was more coming of age than anything, I was delighted by how direct this story was in relating to me. Unlike most coming of age films, that appear to be targeted at 15-17-year-olds, this one was aimed more so at students that had just begun or were about to begin their university careers as the story of Lady Bird was set during her last year at High School. I found the plight easy to understand and relate to as it focussed on how Lady Bird wished to go to university in New York but her family could not afford to support her.

Character:
The character of Lady Bird was heartbreakingly realistic. She seemed ignorant to the struggle around her as her family did not want her to be privy to the significance of the family issues involving finances. Her ambition appeared to be bigger than she could achieve, and yet, she was determined to give it a shot, despite conflict with her mother. Some of heaviest pieces of dialogue derived from when Lady Bird and her mother were at odds during the film, for example, "But do you like me?" which was thrown at her mother during an argument when they were shopping for prom dresses.

Engagement:
It took me a short while to manage to be invested in the story, despite regarding Lady Bird to be a relatable character. It took a short period of time to really want to root for the protagonist and learn more about where her journey would take her. However, once she ended up in a relationship, I was interested. As someone who has gone to university, I am aware that it can be deemed to be silly to engage in romantic relationships so close to graduation, so I wanted to know how things would go. From there I was hooked.

My Favourite Moment:
My favourite moment was one which made me cry during the film; when Lady Bird is on her way to the airport, and her father gets out of the car with her to say goodbye, and instead of seeing the farewell, you watch her mother drive away and do a lap of the surrounding area because parking at the airport is too expensive. As she turns the car around, as a viewer, you are hoping that she is going to speed back to the airport to say goodbye to her daughter, despite being in a state of heightened tension and conflict with her because of her decision to study in the city. I was so upset when she missed the chance to say goodbye and just cried into her husband's arms. It was so sad!

My Least Favourite Moment:
I was not a fan of the ending of this film, I felt like the build-up to the ending left the resolution to be rather anti-climatic. This was because Lady Bird had finally gone to university and got what she wanted, so I was unsure as to whether this was the point where a quick downward spiral would begin to show viewers that sometimes things don't go according to plan. It seemed to be a quick snap and flat resolution to the conflict.

Anything Else:
I may or may not have cried when Lady Bird finally referred to herself by her given name, Christine when at university...

Despite my opinions on the ending, I would recommend the film! And I hope that you'll consider giving this film a watch.
Thanks for reading!
And remember:
Per Ardua Ad Astra!
- Imogen. L. Smiley

27/3/18 - Happy Tuesday! University Inspired Writing Prompt

Happy Tuesday! University Inspired Writing Prompt!

Today, 27/3/18, 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 #12 

"I can't drown my demons, they know how to swim"

"Goddamn, I think mine know how to fucking waterski"

The above prompt derived from a conversation between myself and one of my friends about our how we deal with the stress of waiting for our grades over an extended period. We found it immensely hard to cope with the idea of waiting for weeks on end with our grades hanging in the balance. But at the end of the day, both of us managed to do well! 

I hope that this prompt inspired something - even if it was just a smile
Thank you for reading!
And remember:
Per Ardua Ad Astra
- Imogen. L. Smiley

26/3/18 - Monday Book Reviews - Poetry Edition - Too Black Too Strong

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

Today I am reviewing a collection called 'Too Black Too Strong', which was written by Benjamin Zephaniah. I found this collection in my local library in Derby and would like to use this platform to take the opportunity to say that libraries are immensely important to the local community and it is best to take advantage of the resources available to you or otherwise, they may not be for much longer. Libraries across the UK are being closed due to a lack of usage and therefore a lack of funding. This is a heartbreaking reality of life today and I apologise for forcing you to engage with it in this manner but I encourage you, here and now to please, take advantage of these facilities and use your local library!

Now, back to the collection at hand.

This collection, like the title suggests, is very strong and emotive. The pieces within this book are very vocal about black issues and the significance of specific factors in improving and worsening them. The voice, therefore, was easy to hear. When I was reading this collection, I felt as if the words were being spoken aloud to me, it was that prevalent. It was a refreshing experience.

Another standout aspect of this collection is Zephaniah's use of flow and rhythm when telling the stories he wished to within verse. It flowed with ease. I found it very simple to grasp and apply the tempo to the words. I was happy that I could, therefore, read the poems as they were meant to be read as when I read poetry usually, I struggle to understand how it ought to sound, even my own spoken word can do that to me at times. I was glad that it was so easy to apply as it made my reading experience so much more enjoyable.

I would recommend reading this collection. It is very powerful and engaging!

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

26/3/18 - Monthly Film Review: 5 Centimeters Per Second

Hello everyone! Today is the fifth 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 fifth Film Review on my blog?

5 Centimeters Per Second (2007)

This is a film that I recently finally got time to watch, not once, not twice, but three times over. It was the Japanese animated film called '5cm Per Second'. Today, I will be discussing the English Dub with you all.

I would like to warn you in advance that this review will contain spoilers for the film.

Plot:
'5cm Per Second' is constructed in three short parts, telling the story of Takaki as he grows up. The narrative is split, being told by two different narrators. In parts one and three, Takaki tells the story in a self-reflexive manner, having experienced the happenings of these events and telling the reader the story of this time with knowledge of what would happen next. However, part two was told by a different party, a girl who was infatuated with Takaki when they were in High School called Kanai. I felt that this structure allowed the viewer to gain insight, not only into how Takaki viewed these events, but into how other people regarded Takaki himself.

Character:
When I watched this film, I had to watch it three times as two times my POV was skewed by the presence of friends of mine, who also wanted to watch it. However, I feel that this has not limited my perspective on the characters, but enhanced them!
Takaki:
Both of the friends that watched this film in my company, shared an opinion on the character of Takaki. They both seemed to find him boring and had very little interest in what his story had to hold as there was very little immediately captivating and interesting about him in a conventional sense. As much as I agree that he could have been viewed as boring, the short stories we are presented to as a viewer, are pieces of mundane realism; mere snapshots of daily life where nothing outrageous occurs. It is only through Kanai's POV that we learn what makes Takaki special, as he does not regard himself in that manner.
Kanai:
My friend, very much identified with the character of Kanai when we watched the film together, and since then, I struggled to not see parallels between them. However, I feel that this does not weaken my interpretation of her character. This is because it demonstrates that the character of Kanai is accessable to the audience and her life was authentic, despite differences between herself and my friend. Kanai's shyness, and admiration for the object of her affection, as well as her struggles with ambition made her accessable to an audience and she was therefore, very interesting to watch.
Akari:
I loved the way in which Akari was depicted within this story, as we know very little about her as the story progresses. You hear from her in story one, when Takaki goes to visit her when they're still in Middle School before he moved away. However, after that point, she is seen but little more is learned. Instead, when we see her in story two, she is silent and her face is partially obscurred. And when she is seen in story three, you rarely see her face when she is speaking. This established distance between Takaki and Akari as time passed on. He no longer knew her.

Engagement:
Despite the opinions of my friends that said that the story itself was boring, I found the three parts of Takaki's story to be very interesting because it was like watching a person's life on screen.

Favourite Moment:
The ending, it felt ever so nostalgic to watch Takaki walk toward the train tracks, down the same route he and Akari once walked when they were in Infant School prior to her moving away. I loved the way that a parallel was established and how the pair finally came together again, just for a moment.

Least Favourite Moment:
The ending. Yes, I am aware that the ending was also my favourite part. But the ending broke my heart so much, that I resented having to rewatch it twice over. Each time, it sent my mind spiralling into a state of existential dread. It made me recall promises that I had made to friends I no longer speak to due to them having moved away, and the promises I have made to my current groups of friends. It broke my heart to be faced by the reality that time can split two people up so much while also providing such beautiful memories. It was the epitome of my existentialism!

Anything Else:
N/A

I hope you enjoyed my review and will consider watching this film.
Thank you for reading!
And remember:
Per Ardua Ad Astra!
- Imogen. L. Smiley

26/3/18 - Monday Book Reviews - Of Mice And Men

Today, 26/3/18 is the second instalment a series of Monday Book Reviews, expressing my personal opinions on works of fiction. Today, I will be looking upon a piece called 'Of Mice And Men' by John Steinbeck.

Of Mice And Men is one of those classic novels you are made to read in secondary school that you learn to appreciate as time goes on and you grow older. I read the novel in Year Ten, back when I was fifteen years old. So almost five years ago.

As a reader, I was greatly invested within the narrative that would later allow me to exceed my predicted grade for English Literature and impress my tutors! I loved the story and the characters, and found the plot engaging and emersive, something that sells a book to me is that factor alone, so I was very happy to find out that I would be studying such a book at a GCSE level.

As a writer, however, I learned considerably more than I did as a reader. I had been told before reading this novel that Steinbeck was a GOD for descriptive language and I should savour any opportunity to read his works whenever possible, so when I finally got the chance, I was very excited. This story did not disappoint. I learned so much about the application of foreshadowing and symbolism from this text as it was the first piece we ever completely deconstructed to analyse in such detail. I therefore learned a lot of techniques that I would later apply to my own prose in the future, such as the significance of colour symbolism. As "basic" as the instances can be argued to be within this text, I learned greatly from how Steinbeck wrote the character of Curley's Wife.

I absolutely adore this book, and would very much reccomend it to anyone that is considering engaging with a classic piece of literature!

25/3/18 - Song Of The Week Sunday

Song Of The Week Sunday:

Today, 25/3/18, 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 19/3/18 and ending today, 25/3/18, the song I listened to the most was the following:
Found Tonight by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Ben Platt
Link - Audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aQykuIaJVI
Link - Live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Tivcf-zIOU

I happened across this piece of music on Monday morning at 6am. I was scrolling through intsagram and thought it was going to be a mash-up made by crafty hands of a Broadway fan. How wrong I was, the first thing I heard was Lin-Manuel Miranda singing “have you ever felt like nobody was there” and I shrieked, making such an inhuman sound. Because that was Lin-Manuel Miranda singing lyrics from Dear Evan Hansen. I saved the song and played the clip over breakfast with my housemates and watched one of them react in the same manner I did. Sheer awe. She, like me, is a great fan of the newer musicals on Broadway, her personal favourite being Dear Evan Hansen.

We watched the full video in the library after eight hours of lecture and then subsequent classwork. We were dumbstruck by the culmination of lyrics and the additions of lines from songs from other pieces from the musicals. For example, the one that made my heart shatter was the “it’s only a matter of time” from the song Who Lives Who Dies Who Tells Your Story, the closing song of Hamilton. That song in particular, holds great emotional significance with me and to hear just one line made my eyes well up with tears.

The way in which the piece is constructed is beautiful and thought provoking at the same time, with minor edits to the lyrics to fit the wider context of the piece. For example: We may not have reached our glory, is an altered version of the first line of The Story Of Tonight, the original goes as follows: I may not live to see our glory. The edit was put in place to refer to the wider story of the song – a declaration of support for the March For Our Lives campaign. Which wasn’t stated until the end of the beautiful mash-up. Once I saw the #IWillMarch I knew this piece would just have to be my Song Of The Week as this piece offers such a vast talking point into social change.

For those of you who are not aware of the March For Our Lives campaign, it is a movement that took place to resist the lack of gun control and the severity of gun violence in the USA. There have been several peaceful protests demonstrated in order to reflect what is happening and the lack of patience people are having for it now, such as Walk Out. However, the bigger campaign was the national movement of March For Our Lives, where, across the USA, members of the public came together to protest.  

I have played Found Tonight multiple times on loop, each day since its release and cried when I watched the live performance that took place yesterday (24/3/18). There is a lot of emotional resonance with the lyrics, the way that the song is put together reflects the idea that our generation, this generation is making an effort to make changes and the people that are older than us are letting us lead the way. But that doesn’t mean this fight is exclusive and only centres around the young people – no this issue is prevalent and therefore, people of many different ages are coming together to demonstrate what people can do.

I may not live in the USA, but I am behind these people and I know that change will happen. History has its eyes on us.

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

23/3/18 - Favourite Character Praise Friday - Kurt Hummel

Today, 23/3/18 is the sixth 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 sixth Favourite Character Praise Friday?

Kurt Hummel from the TV series, Glee, portrayed by Chris Colfer! 

Warning! There will be spoilers!

Kurt's character in the first and early second series of Glee depicted a more realistic idea of what bullying is like in a school environment - it made both heterosexual and LGBT+ audience members able to resonate with his character.

Kurt Hummel was sixteen years old when he was introduced in the series. And toward the start of the series, the viewer learns of Kurt's plight of being a closeted gay teenager, he is un-confident in who he is and initially struggles to be outwardly proud of himself. He learns to love himself for his quirks when he becomes more invested in the glee club at his high school. He finds solace in not being deemed weird in a room of other people that would also be deemed weird, a group of misfits learning to embrace one another and take on the world. Despite him being deemed weird for being meterosexual and meek, the fact that he and his schoolmates learned to embrace one another quickly made him easier to relate to as a character, regardless of who  was watching the show.

Within the first season of Glee, Kurt gains confidence in himself and his sexuality, acting on feelings he harbours for other characters and being more outwardly expressive in social situations. He gains friends and becomes close with his classmates. However, in the second season of Glee, Kurt's pride in his sexuality makes him the prime target for bullying.

Despite Kurt's character arc following being a gay teenager prior to the legalisation of marriage equality in the USA, he is actively shown to be more than a gay character. 

Kurt's character arc and the struggles he tends to face throughout the series, tend to focus on his sexuality. In the first season, he had feelings for Finn Hudson, and had to accept that the object of his affections was heterosexual, and the plot thickened because eventually Finn's mother and Kurt's father ended up in a romantic relationship. This put strain on Kurt as he learned how to love Finn as a brother. 

In the Season Two, the bullying Kurt experienced became a prevalent experience and due to it, he transferred to Dalton Academy. He ended up in a relationship with Blaine Anderson, an out and proud gay student from Dalton. Towards the end of season two, he transferred back to his old school to compete with his friends at the National Show Choir Competition. 

Kurt manages to convince Blaine to join him at his school in Season Three, their relationship becomes more prevalent in the plot from that point onwards, demonstrating how complex relationships can become, especially when you are still finding your feet. I found that it depicted a realistic interpretation of the woes of long-distance relationships and managed to encourage the viewers throughout the series that regardless of what happens, choosing love is more important than the scars it can cause. 

I loved seeing Kurt develop and learn how to be the best him he could be and then learn that he could only get better with Blaine by his side. Regardless of the sexuality of these characters, people learn these things on a daily basis! Some people are stronger together, and regardless of whether the connection is romantic or platonic, finding people that make you better and stronger as a person is an incredible thing! It is immensely empowering and it was a wonderful and fulfilling character arc; to show a character who was shy and afraid of emotional intimacy, growing to become a strong and confident character. It was so satisfying!

The character of Kurt and his relationship with Blaine is interesting and the representation it provided allowed young people to access a platform where they could see diversity they might not have otherwise been familiar with

Personally, I found that the LGBT representation in Glee was something that kept me captivated throughout the series. I was sceptical of what the story would offer after the senior class graduated from High School, and was tempted to stop watching after the death of Cory Monteith.

Prior to watching Glee, I had very little knowledge of LGBT+ people and their struggles. I began watching the show when Kurt met Blaine, and perhaps that helped me become so immersed in their complex relationship. I found that I learned a lot about what LGBT+ people struggled with through Glee before I began to educate myself further on the issues they faced. This is experience, is one that I am aware that I share with many other fans of the show. 

Perhaps, after Monteith's death, I was only loyal to the show due to longing for the directors to do the relationship between Kurt and Blaine justice. As I grew up with the series, I learned a lot about representation. I found that the LGBT characters in Glee, had emotional experiences throughout the series and felt that it was necessary to sometimes depict the brunt of the issue. Especially since in Ohio, the state where most of Glee was set, LGBT people were not greatly protected by government legislation. When the relationship between Kurt and Blaine was made official, it was 2011, four years prior to marriage equality being established in America. A lot happened since then, and the opening of doors that the legalisation of same-sex marriage gave to the people of America was incredible. I honestly loved the plotlines that focused on the idea of Blaine wanting to marry Kurt. It seemed so fitting. And despite it taking several seasons to actually come to fruition, seeing the characters learn together was amazing! 

So what can we learn about writing LGBT characters from Kurt? 

1. Writing LGBT representation is possible nowadays, you don't need to queercode your characters they can be who they want! - When I recently re-watched the first few episodes of Glee, I noticed that the way Kurt conducted himself could have been prime for potential queerbait, with his reserved nature and metrosexual tendencies. But what we originally saw with Kurt and what we ended up with were incredibly different stories and I couldn't be happier! 
2. You can make a character's struggle be about fighting against discrimination, but it is important to make sure a character has light in their life too - Kurt's story would have been much sadder had he come out and not had his friends in Glee there to support him. It would have been Kurt and his dad against the world! 
3. You can develop two characters by uniting their plotlines! This is an important thing to remember, especially if you are writing series works because if you are unsure of how to develop a character, make them affiliated with another character and explore how their dynamic would influence them - Kurt and Blaine developed together and apart and in the pursuit of wanting to get back together. It was really interesting to watch how they learned from one another! 

Thank you for reading my reasons that I adore Kurt Hummel! I hope I influenced the way you perceive your own characters!

Until next time!

And remember: 

Per Ardua Ad Astra! 

- Imogen. L. Smiley

20/3/18 - Happy Tuesday! University Inspired Writing Prompts!

Happy Tuesday! University Inspired Writing Prompt!

Today, 20/3/18, 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.

"We have to leave ornaments on the door to the cellar to appease the demon that lives down there. Before we had them on the door, he was always blowing fuses."

This quote derived from the fact that my housemates and I initially suspected that our student house, which is very old, was haunted by a demon that lived within the cellar.

The demon's been named Timothy due to asking a spirit board app what its name was. Since we were "introduced" to Timothy, he tended to be rather temperamental, making things go bump in the night, turning off our hot water, messing with our boiler and blowing the fuses in the cellar. Since then, we decided the best way to make sure Timothy knew we respected him, was to leave offerings for him. This meant that we began to hang seasonal ornaments on the door to the basement.

At the moment we have a flamingo Christmas ornament and a skeleton Halloween ornament hanging from the door. Since then, nothing else has happened. We believe that so far, we have managed to make Timothy like us!

I hope that this prompt inspired something - even if it was just a smile
Thank you for reading!
And remember:
Per Ardua Ad Astra
- Imogen. L. Smiley

18/3/18 - Song Of The Week Sunday

Song Of The Week Sunday:

Today, 18/3/18, 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 12/3/18 and ending today, 18/3/18, the song I listened to the most was the following:

Madilyn Bailey's cover of Closer by The Chainsmokers!
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZEFzhWDfnw

I fell in ove with this cover when I first heard it several weeks ago, but lo and behold this rendition quickly became a character theme for a character I am using for a project with a friend from my course! I, therefore am suddenly much more inclined to listen to the song on loop.

I love the way that Madilyn adds lyrics from other songs by The Chainsmokers to add to the story being told by the song, the way that she performs this piece adds a lot of emotion to the pop-song that never escaped our heads two summers ago! I still know every word to this song because my sister was obsessed with it once upon a time! 

I feel that this song encompasses a lot about what I want to write in the piece I am working on at the moment, depicting characters etc. with a desperation to live life to the fullest, be spontaneous and emotional and reckless. I want to tell stories about characters that refuse to let the vitality of youth pass them by, I feel that encouraging people to take advantage of opportunities to have fun would be a great thing to do with my more realism based projects. This song, therefore, also encompasses that and is why it is the song of the week!

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

14/3/18 - Writing Advice Wednesday

Today, 14/3/18, is the fifth 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's topic is how to pull an all-nighter!

The concept itself seems simple enough; it can happen to anyone at any point and it will destroy their sleep schedule for the next few weeks due to their body needing to catch up on their sleep. For example, I tend to accidentally pull all-nighters toward the latter end of the semester, or over the holidays from term due to having free time to binge-watch every single show that I have missed out on since departing for another term at university. And despite having only two modules this semester, I have still managed to pull an all-nighter or two.

Of course, everyone does this for different reasons. For example, when NaNoWriMo or the subsequent Camp NaNoWriMo events take place, it is not uncommon for people to stay up all night to catch up on their lost time and absent words. However, I will be advising you on how to pull a productive all-nighter with the preconception that you are not intending to stay up to do work.

There are many ways to manage staying up all night, but there are many important things that must be prepared in advance, should you not be living alone.

1. Hoard food in your room to make sure you can eat during the night - when I pulled all-nighters two years ago, during the summer holidays to binge watch InuYasha, a Feudal Fairy Tale, on my best friend's insistence, I found myself having to sneak snack foods upstairs so I didn't have to creep downstairs at 4am to acquire a bag of crisps or a chocolate bar to keep my stomach's excessive growling from waking the rest of the family up. Should you be living on your own, the idea of having to creep downstairs to avoid waking anyone else up is not an issue of great significance, however, it is one to anticipate regardless. You will find yourself getting hungry several hours into your quest to stay up all night.

2. Along the same lines as the previous piece of advice, if you can acquire a water bottle, fill it up once before you go to "sleep" and once or twice again during the night. If your family or housemates happen to be anything like my Dad, then you'll understand the horror when you go downstairs in the early hours of the morning, not having slept a wink yet, and have to insist that you are just getting a glass of water in order to keep yourself from being parched in your sleep.

3. Give yourself something to do - a motivation to stay awake. Several times, when I have been required to stay awake all night, I will have found something to do in advance. A lot of people that I know, claim that I am a ridiculously loud typer, this limits what I can actually do on my laptop during an all-nighter, or at least while I am away from university. When I am at home, my room is right beside my parents' and they tend to fall asleep to the sound of my fingers against the keyboard as it reminds them of heavy rain. Should you be in a similar boat - find something you can occupy yourself doing, watch films, read stories etc. If you have the advantage that I do, whilst at university, of having a bedroom far away from the rest of the rooms of my housemates, I am able to write until the early hours of the morning! Giving yourself something to do whilst staying up all night allows the mind to remain stimulated. You are, also, apparently less likely to sleep if you have been facing a glaring screen up until approximately half an hour before you attempt to sleep. This is because your brain is still alert after processing such stimuli. If you want to stay awake, use your computer! It sounds ridiculous, but the glare should keep your eyes and brain alert!

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

13/3/18 - Happy Tuesday! University Inspired Writing Prompt!

Happy Tuesday! University Inspired Writing Prompt!

Today, 13/3/18, 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 #11

"Oh my gosh I thought I was going to die in there!"
"I know, right! I saw my life flash in front of my eyes...I mean, I didn't but you know what I mean."
"You two are crazy. For Christ's sake the lift JOLTED, we wouldn't have gone plummeting to our deaths!"
"Well I hope not, I only just finished my coursework, if I knew I was going to die, I wouldn't have done it!"

This prompt is inspired by an event which took place toward the latter end of last semester, when my classmates and I had been allowed out of our Screenwriting Class for a brief recess. We climbed into the lift so we didn't have to climb down nine flights of stairs for food, and as we were approaching the fourth floor there was a huge bang noise and the lift was still for a moment. After a few seconds of silent panic, the lift resumed moving toward the ground floor. The conversation above was between some of my classmates as we approached the small food shop in our atrium, after reporting the issue with the lift. In the end we took the second lift back up to class to recount the "near death experience".

It was only then that we were informed that a lift couldn't plummet to the ground in the UK due to the shafts being built in a different manner when compared to other places. But at the time, we didn't know that at all!

I hope this prompt inspired something, even if it was just a smile!
Thank you for reading!
And remember:
Per Ardua Ad Astra!
- Imogen. L. Smiley

12/03/18 - Performing At Derby Uni's International Women's Day Celebration

Several days ago, I had the privilege of being asked by one of my classmates, who happens to be affiliated with the University of Derby Students Union, whether I would like to be one of the female voices speaking up and raising awareness at today's event - Derby Uni's International Women's Day Celebration.

I was asked to go on stage and perform several pieces of spoken word that focussed on women or empowerment in one way, shape or form. I was delighted to be given such an amazing opportunity and spent hours pondering over the choices of pieces I would do. I decided that I would read three poems to fill my ten minute performance slot. 

During the event, I got to watch several of my friends and fellow performers take to the stage and discuss feminsm and issues surrounding such for this event. I was moved by the performances of my former UniSlam teammates, as well as my friends and fellow regulars in the Derby Spoken Word Scene! 

My first piece, Red, was the poem I used to audition for Team Derby for UniSlam 2018, and a poem that I haven't performed since then. Until today. I was incredibly nervous, and excited to share the piece which gained me my place on Team Derby. The poem told the story of how after a break up, a woman associated with only red, was left longing for her former significant other and how she longed to see them again, despite the messy break up. 

The second poem of my triad was called Wildfire, and was one which I wrote for coursework, the piece itself discussed how the speaker was able to idolise a person and how despite their illness and ailment, they managed to continue on making progress and succeding in acheiving their goals. This person was compared to fire through a variety of metaphors. It is a personal favourite of mine. 

The last piece out of the three that I performed was relatively new and discussed women and female empowerment in the context of a romantic relationship. This short piece was entitled You Say He's My Type. This poem discussed not only how daft it can be to categorise people in this manner, but the issue that spans from it. It tells the story of an asexual woman, who is in the process of attempting to stop her friend from setting her up with a mutual acquaintance. It discusses how setting people up with romantic partners does not make you responsible for the impacts that that relationship may have had in the future. It also mentions how unfair it is in society that a women seems to almost require a male to speak on her behalf. 

The above photograph, taken by Emmaberry depicts me reading some of my poetry at the event. I am so grateful for this experience! 

12/3/18 - Monday Book Review - Frankenstein

Today, 26/3/18 is the second instalment a series of Monday Book Reviews, expressing my personal opinions on works of fiction. Today, I will be looking upon a piece called Frankenstein by Mary Shelley!

I have always been interested in the classic pieces of Gothic Literature like Frankenstein, Dracula etc. I am so glad I am finally getting the chance to talk about one of these pieces with you!

I was familiar with this particular work of fiction before getting the chance to study it whilst at college. I had watched several film adaptations, my favourite being the 1994 version of this story. I was intrigued to see how the original tale was actually told.

I found it very fun to read and study whilst in English Lit with my friends as it allowed us the opportunity to explore controversial ideas and conduct pedantic and outrageous analysis of the plot-line. We found ourselves coming to the conclusion that there was some overbearing Oedipus complex present through the product of Victor Frankenstein's repressions and transgressions, killing the woman in his life that resembles the woman who rose him. It was great fun! I really enjoyed the experience.

But what did I think of the actual story? I found myself greatly immersed with the concept and found it quite an interesting read - the character of Victor was interesting and easy to dislike, I hope to write a post about Victor sometime in the future! His character's not-so-tragic tragic flaw is his pride, a common one and a flaw that is easy to relate to regardless when the reader reads the book. Being ambitious and prideful are common issues nowadays as they were to Victor Frankenstein.

The structure of the novel was easy to understand, although, it was fascinating to see that the creature and Victor spoke similarly despite being separate from one another for an extended period. It was really interesting, and whether it was a conscious decision made by Shelley made, or not, it is very clever.

I found that the story itself was compelling as it established a contrast between the world that Shelley lived in and how far science has come. Yet at the same time, the piece is timeless as the field that she depicted within her piece is rarely touched upon; reanimation of corpses. Of course we have the defibrillators and we can reattached severed limbs, but we have not attempted to create a brand new being from the mangled body parts of the recently deceased. The premise of such a being causing havoc still has the potential to evoke both horror and terror in the eyes of the readers. It was a clever concept! I really enjoyed it!

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

11/3/18 - Song Of The Week Sunday

Song Of The Week Sunday:

Today, 11/3/18, 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 5/3/18 and ending today, 11/3/18, the song I listened to the most was the following:

Don't You Remember by Adele!
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBNxha5MYzA

This song was one of my favourites when 21 came out way back when. It was so emotionally charged and I felt that it applied to several characters that I was writing at the time. Due to this, it quickly became the most played song on my iTunes.

Since going to university, I have listened to considerably less Adele, but out of sheer curiousity about whether it would apply to a character I would be writing about during this semester, I began listening to 21 again and was hit by the emotional rollercoaster that is Don't You Remember! And although it would only apply to the character loosely, I fell in love all over again!


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

- Imogen. L. Smiley

9/3/18 - Favourite Character Praise Friday WITH A TWIST

Today, 9/3/18 is the fifth 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!

HOWEVER, there is a twist! As suggested by my best friend, every fifth Favourite Character Praise Friday, I will praising characters that I absolutely despise! This is to demonstrate how it takes great skill from a writer to create a character that the reader come to hate and not sympathise with! I hope that I can create characters that readers hate just as much as I hope that I can create ones that readers adore!

So who is the subject of my first Hated Character Praise Friday?

Daisy Buchanan from The Great Gatsby! Portrayed by Carey Mulligan in the 2013 film adaptation!

Before we begin, I would like to establish that this is not a bash of Mulligan! She played this part amazingly! The subject of this post is why I dislike DAISY? 

Warning! There will be spoilers! 

She claims that the best thing to be is a fool - she is anything but

What tends to horrify me about people who read Gatsby is that they will declare it to be a beautiful love story between star-crossed lovers Gatsby and Daisy, kept apart by not only the bay but their lives being two worlds apart; old money and new money. Daisy is very clever and uses her smarts to her advantage, playing the role of the fool and taking advantage of the pity she receives along the way. For example, she indulges in the attention Gatsby handed her and claimed to love her old flame, yet when she caused him trouble, she refused to take responsibility for her actions. 

The juxtaposition between the person Daisy claims to be at the beginning of the book and the person she is revealed to be throughout is very clever, but it does give the audience a large reason to dislike her. 

She, unlike her cousin Nick, is depicted to be greatly materialistic

The first two lines of Fitzgerald's novel go as follows: 

'In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.

Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, he told me, just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.'

The introduction was written by Nick Carraway, the narrator of the story. He and Daisy Buchanan are cousins and yet this advice is of stark contrast to how Daisy lives her life. Due to how close the pair are shown to be ((with Daisy and Nick being of similar ages, and close enough for Daisy to have lamented over Nick's absence from her wedding due to the war)), it would not be unfeasible to suggest that perhaps Nick's father bestowed the same advice onto Daisy. It gives the reader the chance to ponder, that if Nick's father had given Daisy the same advice, did she carelessly forget the advice as she grew older or had she consciously decided to ignore when she married into money.

Throughout the novel, Daisy is demonstrated to be awed by the material things that she is exposed to. For example, when she visits Gatsby's home for the first time, she says that she has "never seen such beautiful shirts before".

It was clever to contrast the protagonist with someone so close to him. A contrast this striking was bound to be a clever and conscious decision made by Fitzgerald. It works well as it establishes conflict between the protagonist and the other characters around them.

It can be argued that despite rarely being shown in the role of a mother, she stayed with Tom at the end of the book in order to give her daughter the best start in life

In The Great Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan is a mother of a young daughter, who she gives to a nanny to take care of. As her daughter is not demanding to be the forefront of her mother's attention, Daisy is free to have an affair with Jay Gatsby. She does this whilst married to Tom Buchanan, and despite the fact she is aware that Tom is also having an affair and has had several beforehand, she opts to stay with him at the end of the book. It can be argued that because Gatsby was murdered, Daisy's way to escape had also died. 

BUT there is still the chance that she understood that Gatsby's illegal activities meant that her future with him would have been uncertain and she would have resented him had she left her husband with her daughter and Gatsby had been arrested due to how he acquired his fortune through illegal and unjust means. Therefore there is room to assume that she did not stay with Tom because she cared not for Gatsby but instead it was because she wanted to give her daughter a good life. 

So what can we learn about characters from Daisy Buchanan? 

1. Writing clever characters need not mean that they are nerdy characters, they can be witty and sharp, knowing the world they live in well enough to manoeuvre within it without causing harm to themselves. 
2. Writing characters with similar roots and completely different lives are interesting to analyse
3. There is always a way to try and redeem an unlikable character

Thank you for reading my reasons that I DON'T LIKE Daisy! I hope I influenced the way you perceive your own characters!

Until next time!

And remember: 

Per Ardua Ad Astra! 

- Imogen. L. Smiley

6/3/18 - Happy Tuesday! University Inspired Writing Prompt!

Happy Tuesday! University Inspired Writing Prompt!

Today, 6/3/18, 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 Ten: 

"I swear to GOD, why is it that it's Disney Night and NOBODY ELSE is dressed up!"

"I mean, I could be a pirate...?" 

"Whatever you say... OUCH! I swear to Christ!" *turns around* "If you pull at my wings one more time this Tinkerbell will tae kwon do you into the next life"

This prompt derived from my friends and I going to a nightclub for Disney Princess Night, which happened to be the same night as my friend's 21st birthday, so we did it as a double wammy party and clubbing experience. The only issue was that we were the only people in the club that were actually dressed up for Disney Night! I had gone as Maleficent, my friend Stacey had gone as the Evil Queen from Snow White and my friend Emma had gone as Tinkerbell. But drunk people kept pulling at our accessories!

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

4/3/18 - Song Of The Week Sunday

Song Of The Week Sunday:

Today, 4/3/18, 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 26/1/18 and ending today, 4/3/18, the song I listened to the most was the following:

No Day But Today from the musical RENT
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te7DR4iuJj8

I absolutely love this song, it provides me with an immense level of nostalgia and evokes a great warm feeling about living in the moment and making things count. This is why I would listen to this song as often I do, despite it not acquiring the position of being Song Of The Week. So why now? Because I finally got two of my best friends to finally sit down with me and watch the phenominal musical that is RENT with me on DVD over the weekend, and despite so many jokes deriving from other songs, we all got very emotional at the end, when we watched the documentary Mark created, accompanied by the song No Day But Today.

It put a lot of things in perspective in terms to my outlook over the last few days, so I decided to celebrate it and share the song!


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

- Imogen. L. Smiley