pic copyright Claudio.Ar (flickr)
"The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are."
I've also been reading a lot this summer which is soo nice for a change. I've read some great books including the House of Night series, The Interpreter of Maladies, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, The Last Olympian, and I'm currently reading Impossible.
As you can see, it's a nice mix between YA, children's and literary reads, which I'm trying to do. I want to broaden my viewpoints and influences in hopes that they will all help my writing.
After reading the Interpreter of Maladies, an amazing short story collection by Jhumpa Lahiri that chronicles the lives of Indian American immigrants and their families, I realized that I could do the same thing with my Muslim American characters. I was having such a hard time coming up with one plot and focus, because there are so many stories to tell that writing short stories solves that problem. It also breaks up the plot lines and allows me to write in pieces instead of a humongous novel, which at my age and attention span, is seriously hard to finish.
I feel bad for steering away from Ambrosia, but I think it's better to channel my energy and time into something I'm passionate about instead of waiting around and hitting dead ends with another story. I will get back to it eventually. I know that there are problems that some distance should solve. That's what usually happens.
I have ideas for 4 different short stories so far and they are all soo different that I'm excited to explore those sides of me. I want to do a bit of research too, so I can accurately depict the character's lives and not sound too stereotypical or melodramatic. I don't want to pity the Muslim characters, but I want to show the range in emotions and humanize their experiences to people who have never met or heard of them before.
Outside of that project, I found out that the ambrosia short story I wrote for 17 fiction contest eons ago didn't make it. I was supposed to hear something in August, but I found out that in the September issue that's out in stores now, they have the winning story. I am disappointed, because I really loved that story and felt that it was really special. I though that maybe it might have a chance at even making it as a runner up on their website, but nope. I'm anxious to read the winning story and compare. No hard feelings though. I have to get used to rejection:(
But what made me feel much better is the fact that another short story I wrote was chosen on Sparknotes Fiction Contest! The comments by readers so far are so amazing and positive and they say it's their favorite one so far. How's that to boost your confidence? I thought the story was really strange, considering it was from a guy's point of view and it takes place in a high school cafeteria, but I had so much fun telling this strange story that wasn't going to be big. I guess when I don't take myself too seriously, my stories take care of themselves and the humor and details spill out.
Writing is so strange, sometimes....
Well, I'm hoping I can still get my writing done when school starts in 2 weeks. I'm going to try again with the 17 fiction contest. It's good thing I have 3 more tries until I am no longer eligible haha. I also plan to write each short story in my new Muslim-American collection. We'll see how well my goals play out. It's a new school year, new experiences (dorming anyone?) and lots of new writing to do.
I love fresh starts:]
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