55 Word Story

The girl tugged at her chestnut hair, pulling it into a messy ponytail as she peered into the mirror.

“Are you ready yet?”

Snapping the elastic into place, she smiled. “Okay, ready.”

Her companion offered her an outstretched hand. “Then let’s go.”

The girl took her reflection’s hand and stepped through the mirror. 

Second Post: Memoir Reflections

Prior to this unit I didn’t fully comprehend what a memoir was. I had read several biographies, but had never understood the difference between the two things. The Glass Castle being the first memoir I have ever read, I learned from it the style and format of this type of writing. It wasn’t really like anything I had encountered before. The author’s writing was kept short but still very descriptive. The writer was particularly good at effective opening and closing sentences and I’ve noticed that has started to rub off into my writing. Every time I encounter a new writer it seems to help develop my personal style a little more.

            Though I would have liked to, I didn’t finish reading the Glass Castle. From the portion that I did read I think The Glass Castle’s message was about growing up and how your views of people change as you do. It also had to do with changing understanding of things, for example the author’s belief in the glass when she was young and how she begins to see through the empty promises as she grows older.

            Initially the task of writing a memoir, even a short one, was daunting. As I’ve said I wasn’t very familiar with this format of writing and writing about my personal life was not appealing to me. Because the memoir was only two pages we had to choose events with great significance. At first I was stressed about it, as there is no exciting, life changing event in my history that I could have written about. Once I chose the theme, which in itself was no easy task, the writing wasn’t as challenging as I thought it would be. The most difficult aspect of the project was capturing the theme, the people and my own views in such a short space. The limited pages forced me to reduce my writing to its most basic form and constantly revise and shorten sentences.

            I don’t think my writing itself has changed substantially from this assignment but I might say that I’m no longer so against writing about my own life. Though I’ll always prefer the stories of others to my own, writing the memoir was an interesting experience. 

First Post: Introductions

This being my first post, I’ll tell you a little about my writing and myself.

            I prefer writing fiction. Anything from science fiction to fantasy. For me it’s all about the story and the development of the characters. Some use writing to escape from reality but for me my stories are more of a reality than my life is.

            I’ll read almost anything but I enjoy fantasy fiction most. I also have an interest in reading historical fiction but personally prefer to write pure fiction as I enjoy creating worlds and people from scratch.

            I am not ashamed to admit that I prefer writing to real life. In writing there are no limits. I have no age, no gender, no past, and no future. I can be and can create anything. In writing, I can exist in any moment in time. I’m not bound to places or people, not even to myself. As corny as it sounds, for me writing is a beautiful and frightening infinity.

            As I’m new to the world of writing I haven’t yet developed a style. I often find myself copying the style of writers I admire. Sometimes I describe too much. Sometimes too little. Dialogue and description are my fatal flaws but they are what I find myself writing most. Funny how things work like that, isn’t it?            

             People irritate me so I prefer the company of characters. It’s through my writing that I explore human nature. Though my works may not be ‘pretty’ they have become a large part of who I am and my understanding of the world.

            Since its currently starring you in the face I thought I might explain the origin of my unusual blog name. It is the combination of two words. Sephora and Night.

            Sephora is the name a makeup department store. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t one of those shallow girls who obsess over makeup, but I actually chose the name for its sound.

            The beginning of Niephora comes from the name Night. Though night is my favourite time of day; the word’s significance actually comes from one of my characters. She is a fourteen-year-old girl who has endured horrific circumstances and came out fighting. Although this may sound admirable, Night herself is far from.

            She begins as a regular teenager, with a proper name and a family, but when separated from society she becomes Night. In some aspects she is more animal than human.

            Night is not perfect. She is extremely volatile and takes offense at most everything. Night is disgusting and cruel and in her entirety she is entirely human. Her absolute humanity is what makes her interesting.

            She is not my favourite character. Not by a long shot. I have very little in common with Night but she happens to be the most important character I have ever created. I think she represents my exploration of human nature through my writing.

            All those close to Night call her ‘Ni’. Hence the name ‘Ni-ephora’. (Pronounced like pie.) (Yum, pie.) Niephora is a name that says absolutely nothing and almost everything about me which is what made it perfect for this blog.

            This blog is for a writer’s craft course that I am in. I took the class with the purpose of improving on my writing style, particularly my dialogue skills. I am not certain where my writing will take me, but I am certain that I will never give it up. To do so would be to condemn myself to reality and that is not a life I am interested in living.