late luminescence

photo: Menton, France

my love is mine mine mine

we went to nice, guys! and menton, with the lemons and the sea glass, and this lovely picture. it was nice, unironically. like, i would absolutely go back and recommend it. 

day 0

AHHH ok wait there's so much to update on oops-

2/10: Delft solo trip! Shopping (came up empty, dilly dallying) + Hummus (AH) + Church + Vermeer Center.

2/11: superbowl mondayyyy: bruschetta + the eagles & guacamole & the beginning of my demise (health-wise)

2/12: criminology course coffee shop *experience* (audrey gets ousted from the weed shop... wild) 

2/13: gameco night (fun speed friending competition) + danceco hip hop + PROSTITUTION IS LEGAL HERE WHA- for ofc criminology

2/14: valentine's in den haag! : picked up my residence permit, public library-ing, aesthetic bookshop x coffeeshop, FIRE CHINESE FOOD... and lots of paper tulips :)

2/15: amsterdam : ferry to HUGE thrift shop, found a cute top for tiff (10 euro budget to buy outfit for other person) + fake chipotle

2/16: rot. be sick. 

2/17: real life werewolves start! DUN DUN DUNNNN (its so hard and so fun)

howdy :)) it's been around six months... instagram kind of has become an addiction, IM IN COLLEGE (bizarre to think the last time i posted i wasn't... that's how normal it's become?), and it's nearly the end of winter break. i've been writing, i promise. 2023: to new chapters!

photo: concrete crack in Arcadia, CA

The game plan: WE ARE GOING TO WRITE EVERY. DAY. Draft a piece every night however I need to, and then "publish" the piece on here the next morning/noon (because you girl isn't a morning person). The pieces are going to be, and I am purposely using crass language here, shitty. The worst thing you've ever read. No expectations. I'm never going to be a freaking writer if I don't write. And for Tanvi and Nelly and all of my friends who have watched Set It Up, I'm essentially clobbering myself with a pillow and declaring that I won't stop eating salsa and chips until I see this through. Lovely. Thank you for staying for my dramatics.

7/22/22 Update: I WILL GIVE MYSELF REWARDS! Reward for one week will be being able to post/story (depending on confidence level) about my favorite piece of the week :))

Hello, hello, hello!

No piece in this post, though I do eventually want to write one about these turtles! I can't believe I didn't know that the mall near my house HAS TURTLES. Smh Audrey.

Today's post is kinda heavy, and not the most interesting, but for other young writers out there I think it's important to say this.

I start this blog almost exactly a year ago, and in that amount of time I have indeed grown a lot as a poet. That being said, I also fell into the very competitive mindset when it came to writing competitions and literary magazines. I was basically entering these contests and submitting work to publications that I did and still do not feel was my best. As a result, most of my pieces did not win or get published. I too often justified this with the luck component of the writing world.

It is definitely true that to win writing competitions one needs a certain degree of luck. But effort is just as important, and luck without effort is worthless, because what does it matter if you win or get published with pieces that are not your best? It would be rewarding bad character, and would stunt growth as opposed to aiding it.

I've been rather silent on all of my favorite writing communities and haven't finished any pieces these past few months. I'm trying to find my voice again. I want to produce pieces I can be proud of, as I was with my earlier pieces.

One of the things I have decided is okay is to continue updating this blog. I've definitely neglected it, and I think it could be healthier for me to focus more on posting work I like as opposed to posting on writing communities pieces I think other people will like. Whenever I finally work my way back to being okay with submitting pieces to contests and publications again, my work might come up and down a bit, but I don't know if that will be happening for a while.

In thinking about Late Luminescence, I also considered completely wiping this blog and starting over from scratch. I've decided not to do this, despite how bad I think my previous pieces are. It's important to me that other young writers see how terrible I was, because really, with enough dedication, it's not hard to become better.

I have a long way to grow, and I hope you'll stick with me for it. Have a phenomenal summer!


Best,
Amaryllis Joy (Audrey)