the gridlock of wanting to peruse writing

 Writing is something that I only recently discovered to be my passion. And yet, I still do not know if I want it to be a passion. See, the thing that puts me into this gridlock is contributed by many factors. Like the fact that I may not think I am good enough, the fact the writing industry is plummeting, or the fact that no one in my family wants me to become a writer and are just too kind to say otherwise. I mean, I do understand their concern because of the other reasons I listed beforehand, but I worry because what if it is true? I mean what if I am not a good enough writer, or what if AI takes over media before I even have the chance to graduate? Not saying that AI is not already taking over the world, but I hate to be the one to break it to you, it practically is.  

Is this something that other younger writers deal with as well? Resentment from others about wanting to actually take writing seriously as a career? The feeling of thinking that you are not good enough compared to others?— And that is another worry: the feeling that you are not better than someone else, but it is only because that they do not try to hone that skill. Is that too specific? Because sometimes I wonder if my peers, the ones that are pretty more-than-decent- writers, are better at it then me, as someone who wants to make it their career, but they do not focus on improving it as much as I do. It is like they could if they wanted to, but they just do not. Instead they spend their time on a more advancing vocation, like something along the lines of STEM. 

I wanted to use this post as an opportunity to discuss the fact that everyone, including me, has struggles and doubts when writing, but I also wanted to take it as another opportunity to discuss and ask others if they go through this too. 

Catch you next time when you flip the page ๋࣭ ⭑⚝

(sorry if this one was a bit gloomy)

an understanding of the audience of your writing

 This morning, I was watching one of Haley Pham’s older YouTube videos about her reading to complete her massive TBR (a list of books that are to be read), and she picked up a book by Brain Sanderson called Tress of the Emerald Sea. 

I, personally, have never read the book, but in the video she did, and she said that the author of it originally wrote the book for his wife and was not going to publish it, but was encouraged by his wife to do so, which he then did. The book now has sold more than 100,000 copies. 

After that, Haley talks more about how Stephen King (I do not think he needs any introduction), writes with one person in mind because if he does so with the thought of pleasing everyone in mind, the stories he produces would not match the quality that it so evidently does now. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EQLIqn3AJ0 - is the link to her video if you want to watch it (I recommend you do, she is literally my motivation for reading).

Now, this really got me thinking about how we write for the intention of the impression of everyone, including me, when I was only moments ago overthinking the skepticality of my choice of wording when i wrote “Haley talks more about how Stephen King (I do not think he needs any introduction),” because I was under the impression that everyone reading this would think I was being pretentious for saying that, which I honestly still do, never having read one of his books but still knowing so much about him. This also leads me to a piece of irony which I found in Haley’s video where she says that she actually did not enjoy Tress of the Emerald Sea and rated it only three stars. 

But, this feeling of an author is like this paradox of wanting people to read your writing, but also wanting to write something without the external pressure of an audience. This conclusion is a scenario which I feel like is an inevitable part of writing that literally just comes with it, and if anything, it could be something to appreciate, if you looked at it in that lens. What I mean is that there is the beauty in writing of putting yourself out there. I do not mean to be sappy, but writing is a challenge, and viewing the art in this perspective gave me a new appreciation for writers. I think it also gave me more aspirations into developing my writing, and I hope that you, reader, get the motivation to write as well by reading this! 

Also, if you had not read the banner yet, I have changed the publication of the posts to biweekly, twice a month on Sundays, due to the start of the school year! I hope all of you readers can understand, due to the immense pressure that grades and extracurriculars bring, something which all you probably relate with. The next post will be on the 30th of August. 

Catch you next time when you flip the page!

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!