Haven’t done one of these in a….*checks notes* year and change. Wow. But, I’d like to get back to doing this. Why?
For one, compared to my longer posts it takes way, way less time to write a round-up and that’s a good way to remind y’all that I exist in between my longer form content. It’s a good way to keep the writing practice up while working on longer, more in-depth content. Like freewriting, except with more Drag Race gifs and bad jokes.
For zwei, I like giving folks a look at what I’m doing. Call it vanity, call it egocentric, call it whatever you want. Here’s a secret—most artists are a little bit vain somewhere inside them. You have to be to do it for any length of time. I’m a big believer in giving people a head’s up, since my day job relies on informed consent to function. Some of my work is “activating” (that’s the word folks in my IRL world use since a bunch of jerks on the internet made “trigger” into a joke) I feel it’s fair to give notice. Some of my work is not, but hey, I like to see what other folks are doing with their time, and like I’ve established, I’m an artist and therefore at least 10% vain. If I like it, therefore everyone else MUST. Right?
For tres, I do a lot more than just write in-depth blog posts that always somehow wind up referencing Berserk, X-men and Transformers. If you read my blog, then perhaps you’d enjoy my other content, and perhaps you don’t know how to find it. Well, here it is.
Things are going to be a little bit different. I’m going to be trying to shout out creators, rather than just big shows. I know I’m still a…well, I don’t know what makes someone a mid-rank blogger these days, but I know my platform isn’t as big as some of the other folks you may follow. But, even if I don’t have the platform as a celebrity or public figure, I still have one. Why not share the love, you know?
Now. Let’s get into it.
Nothing. Moving on.
Just kidding. In all honesty, I’ve been very busy with Camp NaNoWriMo and NaPoWriMo (more on this later) and haven’t been watching all that much, not small creators, not big shows. I’ve been mostly listening to music and podcasts and watching the same YouTube videos over and over. Anxiety is a real …sitch. If folks are also into music, I might add a “listening” segment and then put up a spotify playlist for anyone interested. Let me know. I might wind up just doing it anyways, but I do crave feedback.
Here’s a brief selection of some highlights from the month, from some great creators. Some are poets, some are writers doing other work, and some make excellent edits and offer to share their expertise in the form of tutorial. Check them out.
Nothing. Moving on.
I kid, I kid. I was mostly reading other people’s poetry this month, as it was NaPoWriMo. I’ve included some of their Instagram profiles below. I didn’t have much time to read novels or anything of the like. I have started a book my dear friend got me as a present called “The Body Keeps The Score”. It’s very good so far. I’ve heard it reads like a textbook, but as someone who consumes a lot of academic writing…I feel like some of these folks haven’t read a textbook in a long time. It might also be free online, if you know where to look–should you be interested.
https://www.instagram.com/poemsinla/
https://www.instagram.com/aspeneyes_/
https://www.instagram.com/maggie.writes/
https://www.instagram.com/alixklingenberg/
https://www.instagram.com/life_and_light_poetry/
https://www.instagram.com/camisarahpoetry/
https://www.instagram.com/__ontheline__/
Here’s the meat and potatoes, folks. Well, I’m pescatarian, so here’s the potatoes and cheese, folks.
This month, as I’ve said, was NaPoWriMo. That stands for National Poetry Writing Month. There’s also an event called Escapril that occurs on Instagram during April. Both focus on writing a new poem every day. Some folks write in advance. I didn’t. I initially had a whole different content plan for the month but then a few of my followers, but mostly https://www.instagram.com/an_e_or_an_a/, suggested that I write a new poem every day. I aim to please. As an artist I am very little without the people who support me. So…I did.
I chose to utilize prompts to make the process easier. I’m going to shout out the accounts who’s prompts I used below (check them out, they’re fantastic):
https://www.instagram.com/little_indigocloud/
https://www.instagram.com/cgcpoems/
https://www.instagram.com/skyler.celeste.poetry/
https://www.instagram.com/ramrock_speaks/
https://www.instagram.com/yt.magz/
https://www.instagram.com/heartofquill/
https://www.instagram.com/hiitssky/
https://www.instagram.com/bynicoleting/
https://www.instagram.com/amykaypoetry/
https://www.instagram.com/theguelphpoet/
If you don’t want or don’t have Instagram, I have all those poems posted on my poetry website. Which, hey, I have a poetry website. It’s pretty cool. https://elkascottpoetry.wordpress.com/. Or, just go check out Instagram. Because it’s also pretty cool. https://www.instagram.com/elkatheinkstained
It was a really, really rewarding experience. I’m so happy that I did it. It’s really solidified some great writing habits and the prompts produced some work that I’m really proud of. I might put that into a book someday, and I know I’m going to perform some of these pieces. I’ll let my work speak for itself, but that’s what I’ve been doing all month.
I’ve also been doing Camp NaNo, aka Camp National Novel Writing Month. I won. I know that’s a bit of a brag, but I picked 50K as my goal and I beat it. However….now I need to take a break from the piece because it’s been a lot. I’ve made a lot of progress but the book isn’t over. I’m posting an excerpt from the working draft today—read with the knowledge that this isn’t the final draft, so it could change with editing and time. This helped me kick-start some of my writing habits and re-solidify them, which is why I do these things. Not just the satisfaction of completing a goal, but to help force me to actually write and build those habits. That’s why I recommend it for writers, if they have the time.
The story is a fantasy story about two princes from warring kingdoms, one disguised as a knight and one journeying home after being hidden for years following the massacre of his siblings. Along the way they fall for each other, and through their bond they find hope and healing from their past trauma and a way forward for their kingdoms. At this stage of the draft anyways. I’ve been posting more excerpts over at good old Tumblr: elkatheinkstained.tumblr.com.
I’ve also been working on fanfiction. I’m not going to link to it—while I assume I have an adult audience, as I am a bitter old queen myself, it’s also the internet so I can’t assume that there are no children in this audience either. One piece I’ve been working on since the asteroid is a magnum opus for a small fandom that I’ve had in my head for a long time. It’s been a lot of fun, and that one is one I might be able to share here. I’m trying to work on finishing up some of my fics and starting some new ones, and just…creating what makes me happy, even if it makes me zero dollars.
I’ve also been working on writing scripts for YouTube. It won’t be on my main Elka Scott channel. It’s a bit different. It’s a long time coming, but I hope to have it up sometime this year. The script writing process is kind of fun, I haven’t written a lot of scripts and it’s hard to think of not just my words, but also what I want my body to do, and what I want to show on screen…it’s a lot. Any script resources you know of, let me know down below.
This section is also going to look a little bit different, going ahead. Since the schedule looks a little different from when I last did this, as does my life in general, but here we go.
On The Blog:
You’ve got two posts coming up this month! Lucky you!
May 6th: Dear Miura-Sensei
May 9th: For Whom The Pencil Scribbles: Writing from IRL
On YouTube:
* Hopefully * I’ll be uploading a new style of poetry video. I’ve been building sets. I bought a projector. I know. We’re getting fancy up in here. More stuff soon.
Writing:
This month I’m going to be working on finishing up some fic series and working on some of the ongoing ones. I’m also going to be working on some work that hopefully might be serialized? Maybe. When it’s done. I’m taking a break from my Camp project for at least two weeks. I need to do more plotting and more fleshing out to get past my stuck-ness. I’m also going to be trying to work on more scripting and more blog posts.
Projects:
I’ve realized lately that I want to edit and update the blog. I want to have a more consistent aesthetic, and things have changed IRL since I wrote some of what I’ve written—like people being outed as general nasties and my own life changing. So things are going to start looking different. I hope it’s a good thing, and I’ve been enjoying doing some graphic design. I’m excited to demonstrate how much I’ve grown since then. Maybe I’ll post some of the process on my socials.
I’m also trying to be on TikTok more. There’s a lot on the app that I consider toxic, but there’s also a lot of good stuff. I need to catch up and start competing with my very worthy foes. Here’s my TikTok here: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMLGbwcRQ/
Personal:
In April, I caught COVID. Thankfully, I’m vaccinated, so even though my immune system is weak from celiac and just general me-ness, I didn’t die. I’m still tired and the cough just won’t go away, but I’m fine. I’m alive.
So…I’m still in grad school. At time of writing I’m preparing to start a course where I’ll have to write a big paper. It was supposed to be my last course, and then I’d be done. It isn’t. I have another semester left, and I have to take a break between this one and my last one. I’m not happy. Feel free to revisit my last post and see why, but essentially the site I was doing my practicum at was incredibly ableist and trans/queerphobic and I am queer (bi and enby, so technically trans) and have invisible disabilities. So naturally, I was booted and it was a whole shitstorm where luckily for me the site showed their entire behind and I’m going to be able to retake it. I’m going to just focus on getting through the big paper, going to therapy to deal with the trauma of being actively hated for months and then being dropped like a hot potato and hope that I can at least avoid being intentionally misgendered for the foreseeable future.
I’m also trying to branch out with my art. That’s one thing that this has taught me; do the art that you want. Fight for how you want to express yourself. I want to work on stuff that scares me. I’m an adult. It’s not 2010 anymore, and cringe is dead. I really want to be the artist I want to be, because I spent months. Literally months. Trying to be the perfect enby and failing miserably. I was trying to be trans someone else’s way and it wasn’t working and I’m just tired of this. I thought this would end after not being a teenager anymore, but apparently being an adult means that you have to make a proactive effort not to let other people tell you who you are. So that’s done. Being the person I want to be has to be intentional. I’ve learned that.
Wow, that got depressing. That’s how my poetry’s been going too.
But things are looking up. I’m looking forward to another writing challenge in the form of the world of academic writing, and I’m looking forward to continuing to heal.
See you all again real soon, beasties. Follow me on my socials if you want more of me in between these posts.
Yours,
Elk A. Scott 