Friday Feature: @another_proser

This week’s featured Proser says that she no longer identifies with her birth name.

She made the decision to disconnect from it more than ten years ago. “We don’t say that name anymore,” she says. You all know her here as @another_proser but, outside of Prose, she is known as Remmy Ar’emen (pronounced “are-m-n”). She plans to make this official, legally, as soon as possible.

She lives in Melbourne Beach, Florida, and works as an artist, “teaching painting classes to people (primarily women) while they nibble on snack plates and drink wine.”

P: What is your relationship with writing and how has it evolved?

RA: Sometimes it’s like sinking or swimming with an ink blot road map stained with question marks and scribbles of indecision. I started out as an elementary kid who told her teacher, “If someone held a gun to my head and asked me to spell a big word, I’d die.” It was actually online, text-based RPGs which taught me the most as far as spelling and grammar go. (No one would play with me until I got it right.) I think the storytelling part just comes natural to me, but the two together has been an evolution from cringe-worthy to inspirational and provoking, perhaps cringe-worthy for the content more than the execution. That, for me, is a win.

P: Briefly discuss the value that reading adds to both your personal and professional life.

RA: Personally, reading reminds me about the words whose existence I may have forgotten, and introduces me to new ones which I often question. Are they event real? It’s an adventure that both puzzles me and inspires me. It’s never been my strong suit (I was a math junkie) but, when I find the right book or encounter the right poem, it sinks into my soul like blood to a sponge.

Professionally, reading has allowed me to break stereotypes. It enables me to have a business meeting over the phone and give someone an image of me, through my words, which contradicts what I actually look like. Reading has improved my writing and comprehension abilities to the point that I’ve spent half a decade in corporate positions. I may never have been hired were it not for those skills.

Ultimately, reading is like breathing for me now. I read signs when I walk by, even ones that have nothing to do with me and are of no real interest. Reading has become a necessity for me, a compulsion.

P: How would you describe your current literary ventures and what can we look forward to in future posts?

RA: I’d describe my literary ventures as impulsive and otherwise non-existent. I aim to make people think, regardless of what I’m writing and how I’m writing it (rhyme, prose, etc.). More often than not, I have a hard time picking something to write. My interests are so diverse that I almost want to write everything: political views, religious exploration, random opinion writing, short stories, novels, screenplays. I’ve started half-a-dozen of each variety but it seems that I never manage to get much further. Too many distractions and other thoughts about other writings I want to put down. So, in the future, expect more of the same. Any and all kinds of writing.

I write because I enjoy the way it feels, thoughts to my fingers and onto a page, but I post it publicly to provoke thought and get feedback. The feedback I enjoy the most is the kind that comes out as an instant reaction. First thoughts, initial interpretations, or feelings. Sure, I also enjoy the critique and breakdowns, but I’m a human behavior junkie, so I like reading about the ways writing effects people.

P: What does Prose. mean to you?

RA: Prose. has been an unexpected diversion from reality with uplifting vibes and such diverse writing that I sometimes get overwhelmed with all of the material to read from. I don’t really do the smartphone thing, so I can’t say that I’ve even seen the app, but the Prose. website has been extremely easy to use. I love that you can comment on anyone’s posts regardless of who is following who. Love that. I also really love the challenges because of my previously mentioned trouble picking what to write about.

P: Where else can we find you and your writing?

RA: You could find it on tumblr, and in a few cities on craigslist, but why bother? I like it better here, and you can comment and like here without having to follow me. Maybe one day you’ll be able to find my work at a bookstore or acted out on the big screen. Until then, enjoy this homey nest of interactive literary goodness with me here, on Prose.

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This #FridayFeature blog series is designed to help you get to know your fellow community members better. Would you like to nominate someone for interview? Have a question you’re dying to ask of someone on the platform? Send us a private message here or visit our contact page to get in touch: theprose.com/p/contact.