literature in lyrics

 For some reason, it never occurred to me that musical lyrics were a form of literature itself. The reasoning behind this may be because of the oversaturation of the music industry that is widely perceived or its prominence of elite individuals at face value. But the root of this epiphany was the fact I realized that writing lyrics is not something that you need a record label to do or need to be ‘qualified’ for, which I assumed is a hypothetical predetermined factor that decides your success or not. 

Once you take away the pressures of the industry, writing lyrics seems as delightful as writing a poem or a narrative with a tune in the background! What I am trying to say here is that you do not need to be exactly ‘famous’ to write songs and that you do not even need to share your music if you want to, but you should not be scared to try and write a song because you think you do not have that reassurance of being ‘certified’ enough. 

Continuing the fact that it never hit me that lyrics are a form of literature, I find it foolish that I did not realize that I myself could write lyrics sooner because personally, when I listen to a song, it is the lyrics that attract me toward certain artists and lyrics. But again, the fact that I did not start thinking of writing songs or poems until recently is what disappointed me the most. So, what I want to conclude from this post is that you should try writing songs even if you are scared or intimidated by the music industry because it matters to start out somewhere!

Catch you next time when you flip the page!

should you read the book or watch the movie first?

 This is a question which I take rather seriously. Now, it would be blatantly hypocritical to say that you should watch the movie first, as this blog is called Long Live Linguistics, but I think there are levels to this question; widely accepted to result in the book being picked up first. 

For a while, I myself was a firm believer that the book should be read first because it provides more insight on the story- but, what if that is the reason that you should watch the movie first? Meaning that the movie provides the story as a whole, but the book reads the details. So, this resulted in utter confusion in my head, which made me understand that this question is really a question of choice. 

I watched the Harry Potter movies before reading the book, which is something I regret doing because of how much better I think the books are compared to the movies, and if I had not watched the movies prior to reading it, I presume I would have enjoyed the books certainly better- because I am a reader. On the other hand, some fans of the series go on without reading the books at all, because they may not care enough to read it; or, some may watch the movies and decide to read it after watching it because they found delight in the movies that they want to gain more knowledge of the franchise- and vice versa. 

So, my conclusion and answer for this question is that if you are a reader, read the books first, and if you are a cinephile, watch the movie first, and if you really like it, read the book after. But if you are neither, I recommend you read the book first, because you can create your own point of view on a story without anyone else's imagination penetrating your perspective.

Catch you next Wednesday when you flip the page!

The Pressure of Writing and Reasons not to write:

 The most profound essay that I have written in my life was when I wrote an academic essay about the lack of emotional intelligence being the cause of Romeo and Juliet’s demise as an assignment for a class I was taking a couple months ago. Now, after getting immense positive feedback for that essay, from teachers and students, I was grateful, but I had not realized how hard it would be to start writing my next essay.

The pressure of writing is something that every writer experiences, but is something which I have never indulged into the psychology of, maybe because I did not want to label my faults, thus making them true. Whether it be because of the suppressing pressure to do good, or the magnifying pressure of wanting to meet others expectations, it is ubiquitous.  

Now, before I share the pressures I was faced, and am still facing, I wanted to discuss why I had not posted last Wednesday, which was July 8th. If you cannot tell by the topic of this post, I had faced pressure to write prior to that Wednesday, which is why I went AWOL; this was my own fault, and I want to apologize deeply for it. I had a new set of eyes on this blog, eyes of people whose opinion I hold very high, and so I crumpled under the pressure of trying to be only appointed to perfectionism. 

Task paralysis is what I felt when I was trying to pick up the pencil to write my next essay, and last week when I was experiencing difficulty to come up with a topic for this blog that would have topped the last one. Both of these synonymous overwhelming feelings were because of a present audience that I was trying to absentmindedly  impress. I did not know how to proceed and how to do as magnificent as I did the previous time; I was frightened by the responses that I would receive if I could not triumph to the level I had already done before, again. 

What really helped me to come out of this writer’s block was time to be leisure with my work and trying to forget about the audience’s expectations. I tried to get to a headspace of realizing that their expectations were not mine to hold up, which was difficult to get into, because I felt that it was petty to think that sort of way. Soon enough I landed on the epiphany that I needed to prioritize my time to fuel my thoughts instead. By doing this, my ideas were actually thought out and not half-baked, and to let them settle and process, before being jumped into them unaccountably. I also allowed myself to write frivolously, so I myself would not burden the work with unwanted expectations, which to my surprise, worked purposefully.

So, what I want to conclude here is that pressure is inevitable, but it is not insurmountable; what I found to cope with that is time. And yes, the title to this may be misleading, but if you do not want to write you can sink yourself in the pressure or choose to come out of it. In my opinion, I would attempt the second one. 

Catch you next Wednesday when you flip the page!

Finding initiatives to write:

 Writing is a skill to develop. But to do that you actually have to start writing, and for some, picking up the pencil is the hardest part. So, finding an initiative to begin writing is the best way to start. 

In some ways, you might be able to see writing from a perspective of a competition. Though it is pessimistic, it is an initiative. But positively, a learning experience. Most competitions provide feedback on the participants' work, which offers a point of view to your own writing that you yourself have not interpreted before. It can lead you down a new path of your writing with new improvements. Here are some competitions and programs and for essays, poems and articles that you should try:

• Betty Haigh Shakespeare Prize: open to 11-19 year olds, write a piece of writing up to 1500 words with quotations and adaptations of Shakespeare’s work. The deadline is on September 30, 2026. 

https://englishassociation.ac.uk/the-betty-haigh-shakespeare-prize/

• The Franklin Essay Prize: open to 13- 18 year olds, answer prompts including prompts with science and social studies topics. 

https://essai.in/franklin-prize-2026/

• Yale International Relations Association Global Essay Competition: open to grades 8-12, the ivy league organization hosts webinars to enhance writing skills to prepare for an essay competition with topics of global issues. Registration deadline is on December 30, 2026. https://wwwlearnwithleaders.com/competitions/the-yale-international-relations-essay-competition/

Catch you next Wednesday when you flip the page!

Reading and its consideration of being “performative”:

 Reading, something you are doing right now, is an art of empathizing and understanding an author’s words. Over this past week, I have really indulged into reading more than I used to, and  I have realized something that is very conflicting and hypocritical, on my part. When I started this blog, I thought I was more into reading classical literature than contemporary. But then I had a reading slump, which led to me trying to read different types of books rather than particularly classics. So, I started reading something that I would have considered ‘too childish’ or ‘too easy’ when I was all about classics- Harry Potter.  

After reading it, and very much enjoying it, it made me realize the reason that I was so much against reading books that are not classics is because I did not want people to think of me as a person who reads petulant books, so instead I decided that I would sometimes read tediously through classics that I would not enjoy; and as some on social media would call it, I was being ‘performative’. Basically, what went through my head is that classics have more history, longevity and complexity than modern books, and so therefore, they were better. Now, do not get me wrong, when I began reading classics, it was very enjoyable, but as it went on, I started to slowly lose interest, but who knows, maybe it will come back. 

What I am trying to say here is that reading should not be be something that is viewed in the same perspective as my old one, and rather should be something that is chosen to do based off interest and crave for knowledge, and not be done to seem intellectual, which I learnt the hard way by not taking my own advice. Because of perspectives like mine, reading has lost its meaning of being an art, which is exactly what this blog does not stand for. So, take this as a lesson or initiative to start reading, and to not be embarrassed about what you read, even though you have to start small, and do not worry, so will I. 

Catch you next Wednesday when you flip the page!

The Importance of Writing

 Think about a quote that will stick to you for a lifetime. It can be in any language, any form, or any structure. 

The fact that you are able to think of a phrase or sentence shows all you need to know about the importance of writing- words live past death. That is the same reason why books like Romeo and Juliet, written over three centuries ago, are still read in ninth grade classrooms to this day. 

This does not essentially mean that you should set out to be the next Shakesphere, but that writing is something that is immortalized, so it should be done with its best interests at heart; meaning that it should be done authentically to share one’s thoughts, discover feelings, or just to memorialize a time in an individual's life- more familiarly known as journaling or writing in a diary. This type of writing is writing that is most personal and most popular. It is an activity that we strongly request that every single person reading this should do. When we wanted to talk about the importance of writing, we wanted to share the idea that writing should not be done to gain popularity, but to remember, which takes us back to when we said that words live past death. Stories that you have written about your life, someone’s life, or even a made up fantasy kingdom with magic is something that will live on. Writing preserves the memory of the author in between pages that are forever memorialized. So, whether you think no one is going to read your writing, just know that if you do write, what you write about will live on past you and that if anyone would forget you, they would not forget your writing. 

See you next Wednesday when you flip the page!