Request to Join + Writing Sample

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leothestewart
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Request to Join + Writing Sample

Post by leothestewart »

Hello, everyone! I would love to join the Writers' Grove if possible. I am rehabilitating myself and getting back into writing after dealing with changes in my ADHD medication, which has led to a number of challenges that I'm finally beginning to overcome. I strive to meet the guidelines of sharing and critiquing works here, but ask for a measure of patience as I find my rhythm again.

I have been writing since I was old enough to put together cohesive sentences (about 24 or so years, and I'm 30 now), and enjoy sharing my work. I've been lucky enough to have some really brilliant mentors over the course of my life, ranging from grade school teachers to published authors, and I hope that I've been able to take their advice and feedback to heart.

Here's a little taste of some prose I've written, just for flavor's sake:

I have always had insomnia, even when I was very young. I remember laying awake listening to the radio as softly as possible so that I didn't wake anyone up, but also so that I was listening to something other than the eaves. Sometimes I would crawl in bed with my grandparents, on nights when my grandpa was still awake and listening to the police scanner, not that this helped with my sleeplessness. I'm not sure how many of you have listened to a police scanner for two or three hours well after midnight, but it's honestly a little spooky. The voices that come through are crackled and garbled, and the beeps and chirps of the radio channel aren't a noise most people hear in their daily lives unless they're a first responder or dispatcher.

Some nights, when I fought the fear and let the voices in the eaves converse without my intervention, I would start to see things in the knots of the wood on the walls.

Granted, as a spooked kid in a dark, creaky house, the overarching likelihood is that I dreamed or imagined it; nearly thirty years on, however, I know better than to doubt for the sake of doubting.

I would stare at the walls and see faces. They were not just static expressions--eyes, mouth, nose, typical features--they looked like they were moving and talking to each other. They hardly ever talked to me, though they would look at me. But I could see them at night, going about their business and interacting, and then in the daylight, they'd be still. Sometimes they would still look at me during the day, but they only talked at night. I would look out the window and see lights and shadows out in the lawn, or on the street, even on clear nights when there was no rain to shine off of. When I finally slept, I often dreamed of a wide, black plain, with huge mountains rising in the distance and tall smoke stacks behind me, with thick plumes of black smoke rising into a red and purple sky. It always felt like I was stuck between the two--between the smoke stacks and the mountains--and that I was supposed to choose which one to go towards. The problem was, I couldn't go anywhere, so I always woke up feeling afraid.
The spreading wide my narrow Hands
To gather Paradise – -e. dickinson
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Leyawenn
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Re: Request to Join + Writing Sample

Post by Leyawenn »

you have my vote for spooky writing. :)
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leothestewart
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Joined: 01 Jul 2021, 18:18
Gender: Male
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Re: Request to Join + Writing Sample

Post by leothestewart »

Leyawenn wrote: 16 Jul 2021, 23:00 you have my vote for spooky writing. :)
ahaha! thank you, Leyawenn! i appreciate the sentiment :cloud9:
The spreading wide my narrow Hands
To gather Paradise – -e. dickinson
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