ann lilly jose

22 • literary fiction writer and poet • currently drafting let’s be suns tonight

[annlillyjose]

WRITEBLR REINTRO – ANN LILLY JOSE

hello there!

following through with my tradition of posting a new writeblr intro every single year, here we go – a brand new reintro where i talk a little bit about myself and my current writing projects. so, here we go, onto all that good stuff!

about me

i'm ann, a twenty-year-old writer from kerala, currently based in kochi

i live with my husband, who is a musician, and lead a very creative life of sorts

i'm an infp, enneagram type 2

i write literary fiction and poetry

i'm a discovery writer and have a thing for sad stories with traumatised characters

i work as a content writer and social media manager for a wedding company

you can find all my published work on my linktree

my aesthetics: wilted flowers, fallen leaves, silhouettes, shadows, gentle friendships, indie music, unplanned trips, birds, fireflies, annotated books, old libraries and buildings, post-colonial literature, voids, romance

my wips

i recently finished a litfic novel called dairy whiskey and am editing it right now, hoping to get it ready for agent submissions in a month or two. i put my heart and soul and blood and bones into it, so if you’d like to dive into the story and read a few excerpts, you can check out the intro here and every other excerpt here!

rock salt is my main wip since finishing dairy whiskey. it is the story of identical twins rain and norah as they move out for college and navigate their lives on their own, which ends up in them growing apart. if you like complicated sibling relationships and the struggles of growing up, you’ll love this book!

i so badly want to start writing it, but i don’t think i’ll be able to until dairy whiskey is in a more secure position. so, there probably won’t be any updates for a few months, but you can read the wip intro here.

this is a gay vignette novel that i started writing back in 2021 as a source of personal joy. this is the story of how a singer-songwriter desperate for normalcy meets a boy with a heart heavy with guilt. this is the story of how they fall in love and it’s honestly quite wholesome <3

i haven’t worked on this book in so long and i’ve been trying to sneak some words in, but it feels like the book needs a fresh start. i don’t know, i just might start it all over again. but until then, here’s an outdated wip intro.

green room is a literary/experimental memoir documenting my teenage years as a writer. it is a deep dive into craft and how it affects life, particularly how it moulds you as a person. i haven’t started drafting this yet, but here’s a wip intro for now.

so, that’s about it!

if you’d like to be pinged when i drop a new publication or a wip update, just send me an ask to be added to my general taglist and i’ll tag you in those posts.

thank you so much for reading. i hope writing has been going well for you. if not, here’s some strength, some kindness, and some caffeine to keep going!

– love, ann.

general taglist (ask to be added or removed)

@shaonsim @heartfullkings @vnsmiles @dallonwrites @wannabeauthorclive @sienna-writes @violetpeso @flip-phones @silassghost @ambidextrousarcher @zoe-louvre @writing-with-l @magic-is-something-we-create @femmeniism @frozenstillicide @wizardfromthesea @rose-bookblood @coffeeandcalligraphy @rodentwrites @saltwaterbells @snehithiye @at-thezenith @subtlefires

[weltenwellen]

Joy Sullivan, from "Late Bloomer", Instructions for Traveling West

[annlillyjose]

Any tips you’d give to other pantsers/discovery writers?

hi anon!

so without much ornamentation, let me tell you this: being a pantser/discovery writer doesn't make you any less of a writer. it doesn't make you less passionate, serious, or committed to writing. you are a writer if you're writing; you are one even if you're only brainstorming or carrying a few characters in your head. you are a writer if somewhere in your heart you feel like you are one. don't let anyone tell you otherwise!

now for a few tips to help you feel less confused and alone in the process of writing your book –

it is okay to not know where you're going. the journey you're embarking on will be beautiful beyond your expectations, so try to loosen up a little and let go of your anxieties.

if you're still anxious, try to take it one step at a time. you don't have to constantly be thinking about the ending/destination. try to figure out what lies right in front of you. what's the next scene? what's a character relationship that you want to explore? what dialogue would you like to include? take small steps that will eventually lead you to the end and be mindful of them.

expect to be blank. sometimes, you can be completely out of tune with your book and it doesn't mean it's going to be like that forever. writing your book is important but it's equally important to take breaks, listen to music or watch shows that remind you of your book, stay hydrated, eat that meal, reward yourself for the things you've done, and do nothing.

when things aren't working out, let it rest for some time. a fresh brain is essential for a pantser because you need so much headspace (or bandwidth as i like to call it) to be able to daydream your own book into existence.

do not laze around too much. if you're a pantser, you might fall into the trap of just waiting for the muse to hit you, but the truth is, it won't. get started on the book, sit down to work on it, immerse yourself in the world as much as you can. make an effort to bring your story to life.

allow yourself the time it needs to write your book. it is okay if you can't write a book in thirty days. or months. or years. every story needs its space and every writer takes their time. don't rush it.

being a pantser means you're testing out the waters as you go, so here's a little pat on the back for being brave and strong and unapologetically you!

– ann.

[annlillyjose]

i see this is making its rounds again!

[weltenwellen]

Wildness Before Something Sublime Leila Chatti

[annlillyjose]

I miss the person I used to be when I was a Tumblr kid. I miss the feeling of being free, even while I was dealing with the immense weight of the entire world in my chest. I miss my own naivety. I miss the way I used to feel nostalgic, and poetic, and like a person even when I didn't feel alive. I miss when the world was AI-free. I miss who I used to be without adulting daunting on me. I miss life without bills. I miss posting random things without wanting them to be curated. I miss being a kid without wanting to rush, or match up to a set pace that doesn't feel right. I miss being human. I miss the way a book's pages would feel like a warm hug. I miss my ideas, my thoughts, my sensitivity to the world. I miss everything about who I was when I was only seventeen; funny how I thought I'd never make it out of that age. I miss me. I think I miss me so damn much.

[annlillyjose]

people of tumblr who remember me, hiiiiii!

[daily-spooky]

[hauntanelle]

poetry isn’t a fun hobby it’s a divine responsibility

[escuerzoresucitado]

[coffeeandcalligraphy]

the homo lost gods epigraphs must be studied

[homesicktadpoles]

My Works in Progress

Lick the Orange Bloodbath on My Chin is a poetry collection that delves into my strangest, most profound feelings and thoughts, as well as my observations and perceptions of loved ones and living beings.

Augustina is a poetry collection that reads like you're dreaming or walking on one foot. In it, you will crawl into Coraline's little door and find on the other side not your other mother but girlhood, nature, disorientation, delusion, time, love and other things that will make you dizzy.

I am planning to share excerpts from my writings every now and then, so look forward to it.

if you are interested in being added to a taglist for these projects, please let me know, and if my page sparked something within you, please do interact. i dream to make this place a little land of its own and connect with people from anywhere, everywhere.

thank you for your dear time.

with all love and soul,

Lost Girl

august 2, 2024

[annlillyjose]

guys i'm turning into a morning person!

[weltenwellen]

Velimir Khlebnikov, Collected Works, Vol. 3: Selected Poems, tr. by Paul Schmidt

[coffeeandcalligraphy]

hottest character alive — new reeve art by sarah dropped

[annlillyjose]

What do you think makes someone a writer?

great question, to which there's only one answer in my books: someone who writes.

not someone who writes all the time, but spends too much time thinking about the book they're writing in their head, creating worlds, magic systems, characters, conflicts, etc. those who keep making mood boards, mock book covers, character art, etc. those who do not get the time to write because of school, jobs, kids, writer's block, etc.

technically, anyone who tunes into their imagination to create something with words, in my opinion, is a writer!

[annlillyjose]

hey ann! how are you? are you currently working on anything? what are your 2024 writing goals?

i'm really sorry for taking so long to answer this (i assume this was sent earlier this year?)

my goals were so different when i came into this year, but now that we're past the halfway mark, these are my goals:

continue drafting let's be suns tonight

write poetry occasionally

write two short fiction pieces

resume sending out work to litmags

what are your writing goals? tell me in the comments!

[annlillyjose]

hi ann!

what's your best advice for writing a poetry collection?

hii, thank you so much for the ask!

how you write a book is subjective to your process and goals, but here are a few things that really helped me while drafting stray ghosts:

allow yourself to be honest. i was super insecure of my poetry, and then i decided not to worry about that when i'm writing. my first draft was always more like a journal entry. if yours is, too, that's not bad at all. in a way, i think it's the perfect thing!

find your zone. poetry, for me, is like an act of prayer. it could be different for you. find out what it means to you, and create the right environment in which you can write poetry.

don't worry too much about "good poetry". writers who write prose and poetry are always confused about whether their poems are any good or if they even classify as poems. let the feeling come when it does, stay for as long as it needs, and go when it goes. don't obsess over it.

read other collections. while you're reading poems on the internet (litmags, social media, etc.), try to get your hands on poetry collections and read them. this will help you find out what you want your collection to be like.

focus on your tone. this is usually a writer-specific thing, but a consistent tone makes a really great poetry collection. this can be through the kind of words used, the stories told and emotions explored, the imagery used, etc.

take your time. i wrote stray ghosts in a year. some people write collections in over five years. some people collect poems they've written through their youth, about 10-15 years, and publish them together. there's no rush. there's no right timeframe.

be flexible. a lot of things will change as you go. your plans could go south, something better might come up, or you might fall into a slump. you might even feel like you never want to write anything anymore. they're all part of the process. it's all part of the process, and it'll all pass.

allow yourself rest. poetry is a deeply personal process. if it gets too much at times, it's always best to take a step out of it, relax, and come back when you feel truly ready.

find a friend. it is awesome to have friends who can read your poems for you, hype you up, and suggest edits if you want them to. i found my clan here on tumblr. if you find your people, it'll get a lot easier to keep going.

take it one poem at a time. while you have a collection planned, don't worry too much about it as a whole. dedicate yourself fully to the poem you're writing right now. once that's done, move on to the next. one by one, they will come together. you can always edit and put the collection together in the end.

i hope this will help. and of course, like always, all writing tips are subjective, and what works best for you works best for you. here are some other things that helped me, and could help you: titling my collection in the beginning, deciding on the number of poems (this changed in the end), creating mood boards, and submitting individual poems to litmags once they were polished and ready to go!

again, thank you so much for the ask! sending the bestest wishes for your collection!