writing

Away from Here – Poem by Me

Brooke4 Comments

Welcome back everyone!

I’m hoping I figured out how to format my poems so the lines are split as I intended them on here, so bear with me as I switch back to the “normal” formatting. Per usual, I have another poem to share with you all! The topic for this one kind of came to me out of nowhere; it was one of those poems where I just felt like writing and the words started to write themselves. I sincerely hope you enjoy.

growing up where the grass is greener only makes
the rest of the world feel grey. it's easy to get used 
to smelling the roses, but it's hard to leave. except 
maybe it's not. because i don't like this type of
perfection and i'm dying to get out of here but it's
hard because everyone looks at you like you're crazy
when you want to leave such a beautiful place

but all this place has taught me is to see the ugly
because no matter how amazing my home is
supposed to be, i can't let myself like it. that
would be acceptance, and i refuse to accept a life
here. i'm going to go far, far away. it's not an if, 
it's a when, how, and where

I believe the formatting worked out since I used the “verse” option- how perfect for poetry! If not, I’ll be trying something else out next time I post a poem. I would appreciate it so much if you wouldn’t mind leaving me a comment to give me some feedback on this poem, or thinking of a writing challenge for me to use in a future post! Thank you in advance 🙂

Brooke

Eyes on You – Poem by Me

Brooke4 Comments

Hello everyone!

I have another poem to share with you all today. After I realized the formatting issues my previous poems had been having on here, I decided to try something new. I took a screenshot of a Word document with my poem on it, so I apologize if it’s weird to read the poem as if it’s a picture that you’re looking at. I’m trying to figure out what the best way is to share my poetry on here, so I’ll be experimenting with posting solutions for the next few poems I share. Thank you all for understanding!

I apologize for the awkward formatting again, and I hope you enjoy this poem. The idea of it came to me when I was in class- yes, when my chair squeaked as I moved around. I’m a squirmy person, and it’s something I’ve only realized in the quiet, working hours of school 🙂

Brooke

The Perfect Trip – Poem by Me

BrookeLeave a comment

Hello everyone!

Today I have another poem to share with you all. It’s inspired by a faux-camping experience I had earlier in the school year with my friends, and I thought it would be a funny/interesting thing to write a poem about. Regardless of the background behind it, I hope you all can find something to relate to within the poem.

we pitched a tent as fast as we became friends; people say that these experiences bond you like nothing else can, i didn’t believe it until now. this tent is our friendship, we litter it with blankets and snacks and all the things that make life comfortable. we shower each other with compliments, it’s all about making ourselves comfortable. as we make a campfire and roast s’mores and do all these stereotypical “camping” trip things, i look across the fire and see your faces, smiles flickering along with the shadows. i realize i’ve never been camping with anyone else before. we watch the stars and talk about life, we laugh until 3 a.m. while eating dry cereal straight from the box. i feel like a kid again, i feel like it’s easy to be myself, i feel comfortable. i don’t care about being comfortable in the tent anymore, and i don’t care about having the perfect trip. with the perfect company, the destination no longer matters.

I hope you guys enjoyed this poem. Please feel free to leave feedback or suggestions for future poetry I share on here- even though I’ve been writing poetry for a while, I don’t claim to be an expert and I would love others’ input since you guys are the ones reading it 🙂

Brooke

Speed of Light – Poem by Me

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I apologize for the bad quality- it’s straight from Google Images. Here’s the prompt list that inspired this poem.

Hello everyone!

I was searching through Google images looking for poetry prompts again, and I found this list above that really inspired me. I was particularly intrigued by the speed of light one, so I’ll be sharing a poem with you guys based on that today. I’d also like to thank you guys for the support I’ve received from my poems thus far.

Speed of Light

3.00 x 10 to the eighth meters per second couldn’t feel any slower in the dark but it’s fast enough to bring us together while we bask in the glow of a humid summer day. i think love might travel faster than light because it’s too easy to fall into it- it’s not even considered traveling when you’re in free fall. light casts a shadow on your love; it’s hard to look past the rays of sunshine and and accept the darkness. but in the end, light travels and we’re stuck on the ground. in both the light and the dark, it’s you and me.

I hope you enjoyed this poem. Please feel free to send me any feedback or suggestions for future poetry prompts, as I’m always looking to improve my work and try new things 🙂

Brooke

My Stationary & Writing Essentials

BrookeLeave a comment

Welcome back everyone!

As you all know, I love to write. Between blogging, my creative writing, and schoolwork, I do a lot of it. Therefore, I’ve learned a lot about what writing utensils I like best and what other things I like to have to make my writing process go smoother. I know there’s a ton of stationary addicts and studygrams out there, so I thought this would be an interesting post to do. I’m not too much of a stationary enthusiast beyond studygram stalking on Instagram, but I do enjoy having nice pens and such, so keep reading if you want to see what I use.

Before I go into my list, I wanted to clarify that none of these are actual “essentials.” Although I prefer to use these items when I have a more formal and organized set-up while working, when ideas flow I will write with whatever I have, just trying to get my thoughts out on paper. You obviously don’t have to buy expensive stationary or have a perfect desk set-up to be organized and write well, so don’t take this post as me saying that 🙂

  • Pilot G-2 pens (0.38 mm) – These are my all-time favorite pens for taking notes and doing school work. I’ll use the 0.5 or 0.7 mm versions as well, but the 0.38 is my favorite because it’s easier to write small.
  • PaperMate Flair pens – I mainly use these for school projects and notes, but I like having so many color options in a thicker pen. I don’t like using these outside of school purposes though, because then their thickness becomes inconvenient.
  • PaperMate ClearPoint mechanical pencils (0.5 mm) – I do not like writing in pencil, but if I am, it’s with one of these. I’ll use the 0.7 mm but I like the 0.5 mm better. I like that these take a pretty long time to go through lead, and they just don’t get as dull as other mechanical pencils.
  • Post-It note mini tabs – I don’t know if this is really stationary, but it’s another main thing I use for school work and organizing paper at home. What I mean by “mini tabs” is the ones that are super small and you can stick out of a book or a notebook just to mark your place- I do this in my school books when there’s an important quote or to separate sections of the book for easy flip-throughs.
  • Zebra Mildliners – I finally hopped on the bandwagon by asking for these for Christmas, and I love them. They’re really fun to practice calligraphy with once you get the hang of it as well. I kind of just use them for fun and my creative projects, but they would definitely be great for school notes too.
  • Zebra Sarasa pens – My mom accidentally ordered these instead of the Mildliners at first, but she ended up keeping them because she liked them. They write smoothly and I have a whole pack so there’s a lot of color choices- I’ve enjoyed them thus far.
  • Rocketbook reusable notebook – I’ve talked about this quite a few times on my blog and I have a full-blown review that you should go check out if you haven’t already, but it’s a super convenient way for me to write down to-do lists and other things I don’t intend on keeping without wasting paper. I also like to do creative writing in here sometimes.

I will say I also have a 3-pack of the beloved Muji pens (0.38 mm) that I got for Christmas, but I haven’t used them on a daily basis so I’m not sure what I think of them yet. I’m sure I’ll love them based on how much everyone else does though. I know I’m no stationary expert, but I do know what I like, and I enjoy trying out new pens and other cute things.

I know all of these things are pretty basic in the stationary world, but it’s genuinely what I like to use. Let me know if there’s any less-basic pens you think I need to try, as I would love recommendations 🙂

Brooke

Hello & Introductions – Poem by Me

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Welcome back everyone!

I was searching for a February poem-a-day challenge, and I couldn’t find one that I liked. Instead, I found one that’s just generic to winter, so I’m going to be using it as much as I can this month. I figured I would share the first poem that came out of it (I’m writing this on February 1st), so here you go!

Here is the winter poem challenge I found off of Google images in case any of you wanted to use it!

Hello & Introductions

so this is how it starts, when i raise my hand and wave, or when i shake your hand with mine, bracing for impact because i have sweaty palms and i wait to see if you rub the sweat off but you don’t. that’s new, you must be quite polite. i feel more comfortable talking to you. i don’t wince the next time i shake your hand, or the time after that. not even when the shake turns into a grasp because you don’t let my hand slip away from yours. thank you for saying hello and thank you for being kind.

I know this was a little bit more cheesy of a poem, but what can I say- it’s February, the month of love. I actually have hyperhidrosis (might be spelled wrong… basically overactive sweat glands) so this poem hits home for me. Let me know what you think 🙂

Brooke

Scattered – Poem by Me

BrookeLeave a comment

Hello everyone!

Today I have another poem to share with you guys. Originally, I was going to write a post about why I’ll always feel somewhat unorganized and all over the place, but I realized I could probably better articulate my feelings about the topic in a less formal structure. I’m also always looking for ways to incorporate topics relevant to me in my work, and in ways that I can share them with you guys. I hope you enjoy!

Scattered

does it ever scare you that there’s so much knowledge to be learned in this world that you’ll never absorb all of it even if you wanted to? that we don’t even know how much time we have and we’ll never really know what we’re doing with our lives because they’re passing us by as i write this very poem that you’re reading and reflecting on wondering what else you could be doing right now? exactly.

so we just go along. what else can we do? leaving pieces of ourselves behind as we rush to the next path, the next checkpoint that we want to reach. until the route changes and now we’re confused about where our destination even is. but the one thing that we can look back on is those pieces and realize who we are. scattered….

I hope you enjoyed this poem. I’m always looking for inspiration on poetry to write and feedback on what you guys would like to read, or how you think I can improve my work. Thank you for being so supportive of me sharing my work and trying out different things on this blog.

Brooke

Jumble – Poem by Me

BrookeLeave a comment

Hello everyone!

This is going to be a much shorter post than usual- I thought I would try something new and share a bit of writing on here. I wrote this on the fly to encapsulate what I’d been trying to write in my normal blog post format, but couldn’t figure how to do so.

my head’s a jumble of thoughts wanting to absorb all the information it can before it explodes constantly overwhelmed; no one to blame because i’m doing it to myself have you ever seen a balloon that would pump air into itself until it popped? i bet you haven’t. but that’s me i want to fly, but i can’t if i drag myself down. i have to continue to rise before the pressure gets to be too much before i pop, before i go into freefall because then, the thoughts would jumble themselves again

It’s a little scary posting some of my writing and something so different than what I normally write on this blog. I would love to hear your thoughts and if you would like to read more like this 🙂

Brooke

Caught Between Writing for An Audience and Writing For Me

BrookeLeave a comment

Hello everyone!

This is going to be a quick post, but it’s just something I’ve been thinking about lately. If you read pretty much any online advice about blogging, you’ll be told to find your niche and build an audience accordingly. As you can tell if you’ve been reading my posts for a while, I don’t really have a niche. I started this blog to cover my summer travels, then launched into high school advice, but I’ve covered many topics completely unrelated to both of those things. Even when I work on my creative writing, I think about this: should I have a signature writing style? How can I make my writing more likely to get accepted/selected for publication and contests? I write to create and I do want to share it with the world, but how much should I be angling it towards others’ enjoyment?

I’ve tried to brainstorm ideas on how I can turn what I’ve been writing about into more of a specific niche. So far, I haven’t really come up with anything, or tried to. I like the ability to write about whatever I want; it also makes it a lot easier to come up with new and interesting post ideas. I don’t want to feel constrained in a hobby I started for fun. On the other hand, if I chose a niche focusing on something I love, wouldn’t that still be fun? I’m not sure. I’m so conflicted on a lot of things I’m doing at the moment- I start activities for fun, but it quickly turns into wanting to get better and needing to appeal to others to do so.

I’m not sure if I should keep writing about whatever I please. I know I would most likely grow my blog a bit more if I chose a niche and stuck to the typical tips expert bloggers will give you, but I feel like it’s too late to do that now. I can’t change everything I’ve written so far (especially the name and URL of this blog), and I don’t want to start a new blog and abandon this one that I’ve put so much time into (7 months of my life, posting almost daily). I know I usually don’t get a lot of comments or engagement on my posts since this is a small blog, but I would love some advice right now. What would you guys like to see, and what brought you to my blog in the first place?

I could go on for longer, but the base of my internal conflict at the moment is this: should I keep blogging the free-form way I have been so I can do whatever I please, or should I pick a niche, clean it up, and try and make my blog more appealing to others? Feel free to leave any thoughts you have or let me know if you’ve had any similar struggles. It’s cheesy but as I’ve ended a lot of posts lately, we’re all in this together 🙂

Brooke