Literary Journalism...so far. Blog 17.

“Blame it on my wild heart.” So Stevie says, and so I agree. After all, we are both wild hearted witchy women who will never stay static for long, women who reinvent ourselves often but essentially always stay the same. My writing is as elusive and free as my philosophies; otherwise it wouldn’t be truthful to me. The way I write is equally as unconventional; words flow straight from my heart into my head and eventually find themselves scribbled into notebooks and journals. Sometimes I write without thinking, typing away at a blank page which becomes increasingly more filled with my words. This is ultimately how I start out any assignment, any paper I have to turn in. In true gypsy nature I don’t start at the beginning and I don’t start at the end, instead opting to write whatever I’m feeling at the moment about my particular topic and eventually piecing the parts together to create the end result.
Perhaps the most uneasy part of the writing process for me is finding a topic. I tend to be highly indecisive and constantly fickle, so just when I think I’ve found a topic which will hold my interest enough to write about, something else comes to inspire me and my entire topic has changed. Sometimes it’s a simple change, like going from writing about rain to writing about monsoons, or going from writing about my grandmother to writing about specifically her house. Other times it’s a much more intensified change, one that requires me to rewrite my entire essay instead of just reworking certain pieces and elements of one I’ve already composed. This was the case of my Literary Journalism essay. We were asked to research a topic which we would write about and incorporate ourselves and our own views into, and I became instantly excited at this prospect. This was the kind of writing that interested me, a huge fan of research writing. However I was instantly perplexed and uneasy when I realized my range of topic choices, and I knew I’d have to decide on one soon.
I left class that afternoon and began composing a mental list of possible topics. I started by thinking of things that intrigued and interested me, but was also easy enough for me to be able to interview others about them. At first I considered writing a paper on graffiti art. I didn’t know much about the topic but was eager to learn, and I’ve got several acquaintances that have a passion for graffiti. However I soon realized they were unreliable sources who I rarely ever saw and abandoned that idea. It was back to the drawing board again. One night in work I began brainstorming topic ideas with my coworkers. We all shared ideas and themes that we felt passionate about, but nothing really resonated with me. At least I was talking out my ideas though, as this is a process that helps me realize what I’m really focusing on and interested in. When I drove home that night I turned on the radio to Q 104.3 and felt better, knowing I would think of a topic eventually. Then it finally dawned on me: nostalgia as a form of comfort would be a perfect topic!
I arrived home and right away began my essay. It started off rough, trying to find an introduction is always the trickiest part for me, but I finished it in a matter of a few hours. I edited it that night even, cutting out pieces that seemed to not belong, and adding things in that I felt I needed. When I submitted my essay I was content with it and felt it was one of the strongest I had done for the class. My strongest section was when I discussed the perfect timing of a VH1 series called “I love the…” in our current nostalgic-obsessed culture:


there's more but i havent finished yet.