“The broken voice on the phone grew quiet. I stared out from the balcony at the distant skyline so intensely that I began to see through it. All of the tiny atoms revealed themselves – the world was vibrating, shaking, falling apart at the seams. Was everyone’s? Or only mine?”
Is the sole purpose of the poet to relive those moments no one wants to let cross their mind? To subject themselves to such emotional intensity that they wonder how they have the mental capacity for it?
Is the sole purpose of the novelist to make up worlds for others to disappear into? Running deep into the scenes and away from their monotonous lives?
Is the sole purpose of the journalist to inform those of the free world? To dig until they find the truth and share it with those who listen, no matter the cost or danger?
As someone who ventures into all three fields, I find that my purpose of writing each leans towards each of those. The quoted text, which I pulled from one of my newer works, Fall, 2017, at the beginning of this piece shows an example of how emotionally charged my poetry, flash fiction, and similar writing tends to be. I began writing poetry in fifth grade and ventured into the other two branches at the beginning of my high school career.
I had my first poem published in a literary magazine when I was in middle school. I then did not have time to pursue any publishing seriously. In my senior year of high school I had some poetry published in Elizabethtown College’s literary magazine. I ran my high school’s newspaper and had an internship with the Elizabethtown Advocate, where I wrote roughly one to two stories per week. I also did work for my last college’s newspaper, The Torch. In the realm of novels and fiction, I have one serious project in the works that I hope to be able to finish and publish within the next four years.
I have recently begun submitting work to some literary magazines and looking into pulling some of the related work together in order to make progress towards having a full length manuscript. A lot of work that I produce can be found on my blog, which I have had for almost two years now.
When I write I have a process that stays roughly consistent no matter what I am writing. I always leave the title or headline for last, putting ‘Title here’ or ‘Headline here’ at the top as a filler so that I do not accidentally forget to add one. I write the draft in Times New Roman 10pt font and always have it single spaced. I correct the formatting (if there are requirements) after the piece is completely finished. I will write the draft usually all at one time and then go back and edit it the next day. Pieces for publication, if deadline allows, are usually edited as many as three times.