Listen (Up)
- kianalinwriter
- Jan 13, 2021
- 2 min read
Not a directive (though I realized belatedly that the title sounds a little bossy)! Just the first section of Inkling. Of the three, this was probably the hardest for me to get sorted out. Having all of my material for three books together made my task of arranging three times as difficult, and figuring out the first section of the first book–super intimidating. But I like to think it worked out, so here we are!
Initially, as the name suggests, LISTEN is about putting my thoughts out there. The first maybe twelve poems are a pretty general bunch, touching on how trivialized we as people have made our existence. Now, I'd like to say I'm not a particularly dramatic person unless I'm trying to be funny, but one of my favorite poems of the book is in that first part of the first section–and it was written about soap. Sort of.
You see, I've been on TikTok nearly as long as the app has been around (yes, for real) and I've seen the rise and fall of a number of trends. One of which is really just a weird hack that I saw over and over to the point that I started getting existential about it. (Perhaps that's a better way to put it: I'm not dramatic, just philosophical . . . 💁🏻♀️ You buying it?) So yes, I have written and will write about anything, and Inkling is definitely the most, let's say, generic of my books. But they're still things I think are worth saying.
That's really the point of LISTEN. Get it out. Have a starting point. A style and an expectation to build upon. Though I also have to admit that things go a bit downhill from there in terms of mood. As it progresses and gets closer to FEEL (section two), more of the grief and hardship that I was experiencing at the time I was writing start to come out. But more on that next time.
So what about you? Is there a poem you particularly like from the first twelve or so in Inkling? Have any questions about specific pieces or how/why I arranged things or made those choices for the book? Let's chat!
And if you haven't read Inkling yet, what's stopping you? 😁
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