By J. Faith Malicdem // Nov. 18, 2019
FOLKS! I am thrilled to introduce Seren, who is an esteemed writer I look up to and am lucky enough to trudge through journalism class with! From copyediting all of my written pieces before I submit them to an editor to making sure I drink enough water each day, Seren is a friend I hold near and dear to my heart. I can’t wait to see her stray away from her typical, traditional reporting and instead explore introspective, humanistic journalistic writing through PieFace. Here’s her take on the ever-so-famous PieFace list of interrogation questions. Enjoy!
What drew you to writing?
I have always loved reading. It was my way of escaping the real world. When I have free time, I was reading. This past summer, I read 18 books. It’s something I’m very passionate about, and this led me to become interested in writing as well. So going into high school, I knew I wanted to do something with writing because I ultimately wanted to write books for a living. I enrolled in the journalism course at my school, and the rest was history.
What do you typically write about? Do you have a specific style of writing? A specific format?
I’m definitely used to writing just general news reports. But I’ve always sprinkled in a little bit of opinion as well. I’m someone who’s passionate about many things, and I love to learn, so taking a deep dive into some issues, or into my own emotions, is something I love to do in terms of writing. I’m used to writing about social issues over anything else, but I’m really interested in entertainment writing.
Do you have any authors/journalists/poets/writers of any kind who you look up to? Have they heavily influenced your work? In what way?
In second grade, we were asked to do a biographical report on someone we looked up to, and when we presented in front of the class, we were asked to dress up as the person on whom we completed the report. People showed up to class dressed as Miley Cryus and Kobe Bryant. I showed up to class in a skirt and a blazer dressed as Christiane Armanpour. For those who don’t know who she is, she is a world-renowned journalist that hosts a segment on CNN and her own show on PBS. Also, a lot of my past female relatives have been journalists. My great-great grandmother actually started the most popular women’s magazine in Australia. Writing is in my blood, my genes. You could say, it’s natural life led to me journalism.
Do you see a future for yourself in writing? If so, in what way(s)? If not, what are your general life aspirations?
I definitely see myself pursuing writing. I don’t know if journalism will ultimately be what I end up pursuing. If I do pursue journalism, it will definitely be political or entertainment journalism, since those are the two beats in which I am interested. I’m also interested in pursuing creative writing, whether that’s in books or film/TV. Writing is in my future. In what way? I don’t know yet, but I’m excited for whatever the future holds.
Which tends to take reign in your writing: your brain or your heart? (do you tend to write more with emotion or intellect?)
This is a hard question. Obviously, when writing general news, it’s all brain. But when I am writing a column or an opinion, I definitely write from the heart. In order to get an audience to actually read your piece, you have to put a slice of yourself in there. Those pieces that I do write from the heart, end up being the pieces I like the best. They’re relatable and interesting, and they’re the most fun to write.
How is your writing set apart from others?
I think my writing is different from others because it’s quite conversational. I use contractions, adverbs, and varying sentence structure. I think this type of writing is the kind that I like to read because it feels like someone is actually talking to me, so I think that’s why I’ve adopted that tone.
What do you hope to contribute to Pie Face?
I hope to contribute pieces that I’m particularly passionate about that don’t have another place to be published. This includes movie reviews, personal rants, and all the things that sit in my Google Drive waiting to be put on the internet. Ultimately, I hope to contribute something meaningful. I want whoever is reading my pieces to think about it once they’ve closed the app. Because, that means, if even in the littlest way, I’ve changed them just a bit.
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