30/4/18 - Random Monthly Post: Slice Of Life?

Hello! As today is the last day of April ((where on earth has the time gone)), I am going to share, yet another, random post about something without a set theme. This month was the first cycle of the NaNoWriMo series in 2018 and I was eager to participate. More can be found out about that over here! However! I will not be talking about my experience. Instead, I wish to talk about my motivator if you will.

Now, I can hear you all asking me now, "what WAS the motivator?". So I'll tell you now, plain and simple.
What motivated me to write the piece in which I did for Camp NaNoWriMo April 2018, was the genre of the piece itself. And what was that genre? Slice of Life.

Slice of Life is a genre I actively indulge in. I hope one day, to write compelling pieces of realism that depict the trials and tribulations of a normal life. I want to write how amazing experiences feel when you are engrossed in the moment as it comes. And so, I sought to write a Slice of Life piece about a character, Rio, as he went to university.

Anyone who has taken a look at my writing prompts which derived from my experiences as a university student myself, will admit that being a student has the potential to provoke many interesting stories. I wished to work with these ideas and experiences, honing them to craft an authentic enough sounding narrative for Rio, a Fresher at the University of York.

But why Slice of Life? As a genre fiction writer, surely you'd be more invested in complicated plots that come from space operas and fantasies.

Indeed I am, but at the same time; there are many things that a person experiences in their daily life that are just so wonderful. Sometimes it takes seeing the world through the eyes of another person to make you understand that.

Albeit, my most complicated pieces are usually genre fictions, it is arguable that one has the prowess to create something immensely poignant when you craft a story in the here and now. I have usually been too caught up in the macrocosm of a story to shed tears over the characters that die in the process of reaching the endgame goals. Admittedly, I want my characters and their deaths to evoke emotions in the reader, but sometimes its easier to do that in different manners.

I feel, personally, that Slice of Life pieces with a backbone of plot tend to be skillfully crafted and creators ought to get more credit for their works.

I hope to write more personable pieces of Slice of Life and Realism in the future!

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

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

28/2/18 - 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

31/1/18 - Random Monthly Post - Story Dice

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

Story Dice! - Yes, Story Dice! 

Anybody who knows me outside of the realm of screens would be aware that I am a great fan of Story Dice. My best friend gifted me with my first pack of dice for Christmas two years ago as a Secret Santa gift. Since then I have been hooked on the infinite possibilities that can derive from a roll of the dice. 

I was then gifted with another box of dice, and actively give the dice to friends for birthdays and Christmas' because the idea of accumulating such a vast variety of ideas from such handy tools is something that need not be looked down upon! 

In order to demonstrate my point, I will be showing you a ten-minute freewrite that derived from a roll of the story dice! 

Shelf, Drops, Pull-ups

-_-_-_-

No matter how hard she tried, Tia couldn’t reach her mother’s medicine. The pot of pills was painful for her mother to reach for since the accident but Tia couldn’t wake Dad to fetch them.

She frowned, clambering onto a chair and stretching toward the high shelf.

“Tia, are you ready for school yet?” Her mother called.

Glancing at her pyjama clad body, the young girl sighed. She was nowhere near ready for school. She whined at the injustice of it all and got down, heading to her bedroom to get dressed.

-_-_-_-

Tia hung from the monkey bars in the bottom playground, looking wistfully at the bigger kids who put in very little effort to cross from bar to bar. She needed to get taller so she could get her mother’s medicine. She had to.

-_-_-_-

The next day was filled with shouting. Tia had managed to snag the pills from the high shelf but in doing so she had fallen off the chair and landed funnily, her leg in indescribable pain. Her dad heard her crying and yelled.

Her mum wheeled in and started to cry, seeing the medicine in her young daughter’s hands. She managed to speak through choked out sobs, “I got them down for you Mummy.” 

-_-_-_-

It is actually that easy to come up with a story! This started off with three dice and ended up as a short story about a young carer! It is so cool what can happen with just a roll of a dice! 

Thanks for reading! I hope you will consider purchasing story dice, they are very helpful! 

And remember: 

Per Ardua Ad Astra!

- Imogen. L. Smiley