Short Stories

I will say that when I realized how integral the writer was to the filmmaking process, I decided to attack the role from a purist perspective. I decided that the most appropriate way to hone the craft was to attempt writing prose, hoping its facilitation of direct narration would provide a visual element to the content. Some of the writing is dramatic, attempting to verbally capture a tone or atmosphere, whereas some of it is more comedic and acerbic as I often am in my day to day life. They are also divided into 'Creative Writing' and 'Blog Posts', because - YES - I did once have a blog. The ones here just happen to be the ones of which I am especially proud.

Creative Writing

Mam is dead. by Kenny Stewart

I finished reading Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra about two weeks ago (sometime in mid-July 2018) and, like most, was both profoundly enlightened and largely baffled by the magnum opus. That said, I also found myself somewhat unable to shake the Joyceian affinity for stream-of-consciousness as a storytelling technique - in particular, the telling of a tale while nearly nothing transpires in the present. For the literary cherry on top of this story of a sundae, I hearkened back to Beckett's Waiting for Godot in detailing this one. For the well-read audience, the easter eggs hidden within may prove enjoyable - or possibly frustrating. Whatever the case may be, I hope this this see-saw of morbidity is well-balanced by the black humor.

If there are any Irish readers, I do apologise for any potential cultural inaccuracies. For what it's worth, I was drinking Jameson for nearly the entirety of the composition - I did me best.

July 2018

Pat's Notebook by Kenny Stewart

After a few months of dissatisfaction with my creative pursuits, I found myself in a more somber state of mind. Of course, I didn't know the foundation of ChomPics was just around the corner, but I found myself thinking that it was time for me to try my hand at more dramatic narratives. What began as a poor attempt at a Holden Caulfield impression was supplemented by dashes of John Knowles, throwing what bits of A Separate Peace I could recall. (I'm sorry Mrs. Haskell, I didn't actually read it. But thank you for the A on that book report.)

The finished product is a first-person narration which imitates those nameless aromas, evoking the sad nostalgia we can't put a finger on.

August 2013
How I Got my Pinkies by Kenny Stewart

When people see my pinkies, they react in one of two ways: "Woah, that's so cool..." or "Oh my god, ew ew EW!" Why is this, you might ask. Each of my pinkies most distal joints are crooked - 135 degrees to be exact (yes, I've measured them with protractors). I got tired of explaining to people how they got that way, so I decided to write a satire which is in NO WAY TRUE. I don't want anyone to think the OBGYN who delivered me was hungover; in fact, I was a C-section baby.

In actuality, I was born with crooked pinkies. It's hereditary on my mom's side.

October 2012
Menacing metropolis, righteous rural by Kenny Stewart

The origin of this creative writing piece is one which makes me chuckle looking back; a friend of mine was a freshman at Florida State University and had a creative writing assignment about "her favorite place in the world" due at midnight on a Thursday. She called me at 9:30 asking if I could do it for her in exchange for a bottle of vodka which, to my high school self, was a no-brainer. What resulted was, I think, a lyrical expression commenting on the je ne sais quoi in the tranquility of pasture landscapes.

February 2012
A Dose of Mendoza by Kenny Stewart

This was probably the first intentionally "leisurely" creative writing piece I can remember doing. I was a rising high school senior reviewing the specifications for NYU Tisch School of the Arts' Dramatic Writing Program submissions. The application required 15-25 pages worth of samples; luckily it was a writing program and not a reading program, as I misread it as saying we had to send fifteen 25-page samples. Naturally, I started hammering away at my laptop's keyboard. It wasn't until this story was at its completion that I decided to reread the application details, by which time I had concluded that it would suffice as the sole sample of my application.

It must have been good or entertaining enough. At the very least, so bad they pitied me, because I got in.

June 2011
Blog Posts
8/13/2014 - i plead the fifth to a homecoming date by Kenny Stewart

8/3/2014 - battle of the books by Kenny Stewart

6/3/2014 - it started when i decided to become lefthanded by Kenny Stewart
5/2/2014 - So I had a dream while I was taking my American history exam. by Kenny Stewart
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