"Days" — Feedback

When I was twelve, my best friend broke some exciting news: she'd stumbled across something incredible while Googling around for an apricot tart recipe. Instead, what she found was Apricot Pie, a writing website devoted to homeschooled writers—about as niche as you can get! Luckily, I fit this niche; I was homeschooled, and I'd been writing from the age of six, intrinsically compelled to put pen to paper (among my standouts: Jacie's Box, almost certainly influenced by The Boxcar Children, and Shamrock Harding, definitely drawing from Junie B. Jones). I was a voracious reader, and a tireless writer by extension. Thus far, my sole readers were my family, but now I had a whole new audience to foist my pieces onto. My first piece posted onto Apricot Pie, "Days" is pretty representative of my early literary days, when I loved to explore concepts and ideas that ultimately didn't have a whole lot to say about me, my thoughts, or my life. I also tended to adhere to pretty traditional forms and rhymes (above and love, anyone?!). This piece meant a lot to me when I was young, though, and it still does—it represents my thirst for writing, conjures memories of those first exciting days of being part of a community that welcomed me with open arms, and offers a nod to the future—the eventuality of finding my voice.

"From Me" – Feedback

This piece marked a turning point in my writing. Over the previous years, I'd begun to embrace infusing my poetry with more of myself, creating composite works that were based in fiction, but had bits of me sprinkled in—or vice-versa. The writing community I'd found on Apricot Pie not only offered constructive feedback on my pieces, but a well of their own voices to drawn from, writers who used language in surprising and titillating ways. That's what I aimed to start doing with my poetry, and for me—someone to whom poetry doesn't always come easily—this felt like the pinnacle of that exploration. This poem ended up earning me a place in my college's literary magazine, which I would serve as an editor on the following year and which, ultimately, pushed me toward my publishing career path. In a lot of ways, I have this poem to thank for getting me exactly where I am, right now.

"lessons learned, lessons unheeded from Shel Silverstein" — Feedback

This poem is pretty self-explanatory, but it's one of my more recent pieces that is based entirely on my personal experience. Of course, I had to rhyme—an old faithful of mine—but I think this poem perfectly encapsulates the evolution of my literary voice: I became comfortable with translating my personal life into poetry, and I also got more creative with rhyme schemes. Moreover, this piece perfectly encapsulates the power that what I read holds in my writing life; it was The Giving Tree that served as the perfect representation of my experience, a book I'd read countless times as a child. Yet here I was, a grown adult in every sense—almost ten years exactly since I'd posted my first poem on Apricot Pie—and I still felt so much the same. The lessons that I learned in books stayed with me, and I applied them in my actual life, but I also took note of the artistry of the writers I admired, and learned from reading their words. It's a full-circle moment, and if there's one thing I love, it's that!