Happy Birthday, Me!

Hello Everyone!

Today is the 31st of March and is therefore my 22nd birthday! I am so excited to celebrate this year, blaring Taylor Swift's 22 and writing until I physically can't anymore! There are so many exciting things ahead and I'm hoping that this is going to be when I really start to realise my potential and get stuff done!

So, yes! Happy Birthday, Me!

31/3/20 - Happy Tuesday! University Inspired Writing Prompt!

Today, 31/3/20, 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 #49:

"The bitch just poured red wine into a bedazzled Starbucks cup and I have never felt more envious of someone’s lifestyle choices before!"

The above quote was something that I had said, recalling some of the events of what happened after a day at Comic Con. I had been listing off the most bizarre, yet on brand things that my social circle and I had managed to end up involved with during that evening and thus ended up mentioning the antics of one of my friends attempting to be subtle by pouring their alcohol into a reusable cup! 

When they did it initially, all of us had been completely dumbfounded by the ingeniousness. It was a fantastic idea, and what made it more apt was that the cup was covered in silver dimonte crystals! An amazing choice!  

I hope that this prompt inspired something, even if it was just a smile! Feel free to check out my previous prompts by looking through the hashtags below! 

Thank you so much for reading!

And remember! 

Per Ardua Ad Astra!

- Imogen. L. Smiley

Achievement Unlocked: Publication

I'm so happy to share that my Love Letter To Five Centimetres Per Second by Makoto Shinkai has just been published on Just Films & That's blog! This piece was really fun to write. You can read my contribution here:
https://justfilmsandthat.tumblr.com/post/614011915831787520/five-centimetres-per-second-by-imogen-smiley

Thank you all for supporting my craft thus far! 

And remember:

Per Ardua Ad Astra

- Imogen. L. Smiley

Achievement Unlocked: Publication

Hi everyone!

I'm delighted to announce that I have just had my first publication of 2020, 'The Introverted Hypochondriac's Coping Mechanisms', is officially up and available to read on Frost Meadow Review's website: http://frostmeadowreview.com/pandemic-poetry/

Thank you all for supporting my craft thus far! 

And remember:

Per Ardua Ad Astra

- Imogen. L. Smiley

24/3/20 - Happy Tuesday! University Inspired Writing Prompt!

Today, 24/3/20, 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 #48:

"Why is your house full of flamingos?"

This was a question posed by a new friend upon visiting my house during the second year I was at university. Due to them not being very close with me at the time, they were, in no way, familiar with the characters from my stories or the inside jokes which had ensued consequently. For example, my character Floyd Daniels from the Neon Series, was known under the username Mr FlaminGO, which was a reference to the bright pink dye he had put on his hair before he was arrested for a crime he didn't commit at the start of the series. The joke about flamingos, and my favouritism toward him meant I was often gifted home-ware with a flamingo motif, from candles, to mugs, to garden ornaments.

During my second year, a garden flamingo whom we'd named Floyd in my character's honour, had been placed beside the fireplace, as a nod to an inside joke about him being set on fire. However, with my friend not knowing any of this information, they came in and just saw a living room filled with flamingo stuff. It was very funny to me and my housemates, who were all in on the joke. 

I hope that this prompt inspired something, even if it was just a smile! Feel free to check out my previous prompts by looking through the hashtags below! 

Thank you so much for reading!

And remember! 

Per Ardua Ad Astra!

- Imogen. L. Smiley

20/3/20 - Favourite Character Praise Friday - Donna Sheridan

Hello and welcome back to Favourite Character Praise Friday! This is one of my absolute favourite posts to write and I hope you enjoy my picking apart of my favourite characters enough to stick around while I examine my next victim, I mean, character. Don’t worry, I do not rank these characters in a particular order, it just so happens that some characters are better worth sharing praise for at a different point in time to others! Remember, every fifth instalment is Least Favourite Character Praise Friday, so keep an eye out for me probing at characters I can’t stand and raving about how well they were written in order to evoke such a reaction.

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

Donna Sheridan from Mamma Mia & Mamma Mia Here We Go Again!

Warning: This will contain spoilers

Mamma Mia has been a part of my life for over a decade. I remember watching it on DVD throughout my early-teens and being obsessed with it. My sister and I learned all the songs and it was one of our favourite films to just sit down and watch. My mum used to put it on solely to make us shut up for an hour. We became very invested in the story of Sophie and her parentage. But eventually it became a film we were tired of.

It was a movie that wasn’t a big part of my life until my second year at university, where on a whim during a girls’ night in, my housemates and I decided to watch it, and we were belting out the lyrics, discussing who we thought was Sophie’s father and whether we were excited to see the sequel that was due to come out in the summer.

I saw Mamma Mia 2: Here We Go Again several times while it was in the cinema. Each time, the conclusion made me emotional. I didn’t realise how fond I was of Donna until I watched it at home with one of my housemates, Emma. The two of us ended up watching the previous film several times when we were living together in the previous year. So, for Donna to have died in the follow up film was a big shock to us.

Now! Onto what you guys are here for! The praise! 

The first reason I adore Donna as a character is she showed complete and total devotion to her daughter. It seems clear from the state of their business that most of the profits are going toward Sophie’s wedding. Donna is having to repair broken shutters, as well as cracks in the paving by hand instead of hiring a professional from the mainland to provide a service, meaning the quality of her hotel is slowly falling into disarray. Not that Donna outwardly appears to mind, or will care to admit, as long as Sophie is happy, she’s fine putting in all the extra effort. She doesn’t want to become a bother to either her friends, nor her only family, her daughter, and instead shoulders all of the responsibilities, knuckling down until the point where she is emotional at the thought of people giving her a hand.

I love how free-spirited Donna was always shown to be, when The Dynamos, Rosie and Tanya recall their glory days, they refer to her as the life and soul of the party, however, it is hard to imagine, until seeing the second film, where you get a glimpse of the summer that lead to Sophie’s conception. You see how fluid and graceful Donna was, not caring where she ended up, or how, she just wanted to experience life to the fullest. She is relatively care-free which can be misinterpreted as careless. She just wants to experience everything as soon as she encounters it, which does lead to her being with three men in a short space of time. I love that she could just go from being a completely free, fluid and happy graduate to a full-time single mother. It is a dramatic change and the way that she adapts shows how dynamic of a character she is. I really admire that about her.

I also loved the fact that ultimately, at the end of the first film, she was happy to let the love of her life, Sam Carmichael slip through her fingers once again. She had no intention of making a scene when he returned to her life and simply hoped that he would leave without causing hysteria. He made it very clear from his first interaction with her that he came in peace, raising his hands in mock surrender, and offering her assistance instead of belittling her for her efforts. As far as Donna was aware, he knew nothing of their potential child together, and it was just fate that had brought him back to the island. She made it clear, when singing The Winner Takes It All on the cliffside that she felt that Lorraine, the woman he left her to marry, had already managed to succeed in capturing his heart, and he was simply there to mock her for her efforts twenty years ago. Unbeknown to her, he had returned to reconcile and instead would end up proposing to her, in order not to waste all of the time, effort and money Donna had thrust into the wedding for Sophie, which would have otherwise been wasted. She, finally having heard his side of the story, accepts his proposal and they are married, something she always wanted.

Please, if you have opinions on Donna Sheridan, feel free to share them with me! Don’t forget you can check out my previous Character Praise by looking through the hashtags below.

And remember!

Per Aruda Ad Astra

17/3/20 - Happy Tuesday! University Inspired Writing Prompt

Today, 17/3/20, 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 #47:

"I have exactly 37 pairs of novelty sunglasses and none of them appear to be apt enough for this scenario"

      "Can I have the sparkly parrot ones anyways?"
"Absolutely!"

The above conversation took place during the summer of my first year of university, where I participated in a volunteering event at a local school. Two of my friends and I were running a "Smash The Crockery" stand at the school's summer fete as we were deemed responsible enough to take care of children's health and safety, whilst there being enough of us to prepare, clean and maintain the stall. Due to its nature, it was relatively popular. 

However, toward the end of the fete, we were in a scenario where we were trying to capture the children's attention as they were rushing for one last go on the bouncy castle before it was deflated. In order to do so, we decided amongst ourselves to wear some of the novelty sunglasses I had brought with me in a tote bag. But attracting children's attention proved harder than we had anticipated, and thus, we kept having to change it up. 

I hope that this prompt inspired something, even if it was just a smile! Feel free to check out my previous prompts by looking through the hashtags below! 

Thank you so much for reading!

And remember! 

Per Ardua Ad Astra!

- Imogen. L. Smiley