To Close A Series [2]

~ livelytwist

love-is

A friend called me after reading one of the episodes of the Fly series to say that the dialogue reminded him of the way we were, making me want to sing only this line from Adele’s Hello, hello from the other side! Instead tongue-in-cheek, I quoted William Faulkner in no particular order.

A writer needs three things, experience, observation, and imagination, any two of which, at times any one of which, can supply the lack of the others.

Are you writing about yourself, is the question I was often asked while the series continued. I have mostly reconciled myself to the downside of writing a personal blog, which is that readers assume consciously or subconsciously that the stories on your blog are about you. No longer so uptight about being vulnerable, I took this question and its variants cloaked in concern, to mean that the dialogues were relatable and believable. Their questions were in fact a roundabout compliment.

I have never previously dragged out a story on my blog as I did this series. What began as a one-off fun post, a bull’s eye response to a dear friend’s endless matchmaking, grew to ten articles spread over two-and-half months because you asked for more.

I told Ife Nihinlola, my partner in the Fly series and a talented writer whose essays I enjoy reading, that the best stories are woven around love and relationships; throw in a moral dilemma to achieve transcendence. After the badass protagonist has destroyed the villains and saved the planet, we will him to kiss the beautiful woman he fought for as they walk into the sunset. Nothing touches our core like what we are wired for, love.

As the series continued, we had to be deliberate about the twists we would introduce and the manner in which they would be resolved. Ife and I resorted to using readers’ feedback as a guide because we realized we had sparked something in our readers, we had connected. I was humbled and tickled when I read something to this effect: Timi, please don’t spoil it now that they are happy.

We tossed ideas about what felt natural and what felt as though we were trying too hard and all the while, the plot was challenging my own ideas about love and relationships too. The decision to conclude the series was bittersweet.

“What if in the next episode, I make the happy couple, twenty-nine-year-old Junior and thirty-five-year-old Old Woman, bump into one of Junior’s flirtatious younger female friends at the mall?”

I agreed with Ife when he said that he wasn’t so sure. I had thoroughly enjoyed my stint as a Shonda Rhimes scriptwriter wannabe.

In the end, this is what I aimed to do all along; make you rethink your ideas about love, sex, romance, relationships, and friendships while entertaining you. You tell us if we succeeded.

On Facebook, I noticed that a friend shared one of my posts on her Timeline. Underneath the article was a comment from one of her friends asking her to share my post on their WhatsApp group for further discussion. My brain thought about copyright issues, my heart saw so clearly, why I write.

On this blog, I don’t write for myself although I write for people like me. Big difference. Small difference. If you stopped reading, I would stop writing—what would be the point? I cannot thank you enough for believing in Livelytwist.

 

©Timi Yeseibo 2016

 

Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Timi Yeseibo and livelytwist.wordpress.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

41 thoughts on “To Close A Series [2]”

  1. “Shona Rhimes wannabe”. XD You are great at constructing dialogue, the back-and-forths between Junior and Senior flowed so naturally.

    Ah, you two succeeded, we rethought our ideas and were very entertained. Indeed, one might find love in the most unlikely places.

    I nodded my head in agreement @ “A writer needs three things, experience, observation, and imagination, any two of which, at times any one of which, can supply the lack of the others”.

    Recently, I haven’t blogged as often as I’d like to primarily because of busy-ness and mental fatigue, but by rubbing those 3 elements against one another, it’s easier to write again.

    Enjoy the rest of the week.

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  2. Nice, Timi. Worry about copyright when you write that book, will ya? Lol.

    I enjoyed the series. And I enjoy being able to stop by here and catch up every now and again. I hope we always make it worth your while.

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  6. I thoroughly enjoyed the series. The series has kind of automatically installed an auto check and reflect app that operates swiftly on flip on whenever relationships and love discussions came up.

    it has also made take a hard look at the preconceived ideas about love, dating,relationships and marriage buried deep between the shalt of my unconscious. there are articles and there are are articles, there are stories and there are stories.

    You definitely achieved the purpose of the whole dramatic of the fly series. i tremendously enjoyed them.

    thanks so much and much love

    Immanuel

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  7. Yesterday in church someone attempted to set me up on a date with his 26 year old brother. Lol Simultaneously my mind went to the Fly story in the same moment I asked the guy how old he was. I laughed so loud I might have embarrassed the poor but cute guy. Hahahahahaha

    For all the love I have for ‘Love’ an 18 year age difference might be pushing the envelope. hahaha.
    Oh but I was flattered though. Thoroughly so!!

    🙂

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    1. Ok, the series is supposed to challenge our preconceived notions, but 18 years age difference, what a stretch! It does sounds like pushing the envelope. 🙂

      @flattered, yes girl, I know!

      Like

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    2. Seriously their is nothing wrong with the lady been older, I know most women don’t like it but it’s healthier for the woman to be older than when the man is far older than the woman

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  9. You just did to me what I aim to do when I write, because thanks to you and Ife I became a spectator in this drama, watching and feeling every moment of it all as if I was seated just a few feet away from the main characters at every seminar they attended, and I was even at the back seat of the car when they had their fights. Thank you for this.
    But, as with all good stuff I read, it has come to an end and soon it is going to become a false memory, implanting itself amongst the things I really did see and feel, and I imagine citing this series when I am giving my grandchild marriage advice. (Lol, I pray I get that old)

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    1. Your comment delights me as I’m sure it does Ife.
      That a reader could be so invested in a story is a great compliment to the writer.

      Thank you! And I pray you live long enough to give marriage advice. 🙂

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  10. Keep on doing what you are doing. We will be here reading. A friend once said a writers words goes where he/she can never dream of going.
    The comment from other readers says it all already. Even if it ended with be longing for more, it did it’s job.
    ✌✌✌ Timi and Ife. The ride was worthwhile.

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  11. If only you will promise me, you will be writing to me personally then I can rethink if you should stop writting, the only timi I know is your writting part, for when I saw you almost every Sunday I had not the opportunity to be a friend, plssssss don’t stop if you do you will stop been my timi

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  13. Well the series was worth every effort you two put in it and very much worth our time reading it because I was totally entertained and kept looking forward to what would happen next. Thanks again almost wished it wouldn’t end.

    I actually shared the story line on my whatApps group that consists of most of the girls in my set in secondary school (high school) and the discussion that started in the morning didn’t end till evening with varied comments and ideas about the concept of an older woman dating a much younger man. Needless to say it was a source of entertainment for everyone who participated in discussion.

    Great job keep up the good work!!!

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    1. Thank you so much for yourgenerous feedback. Readers like you encouraged us to keep writing.

      Someone said relationships are oxygen. I can understand why the topic of older woman, younger guy, would be intriguing. 🙂

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  15. The series certainly made this on off reader think – because in a roundabout way it did hit rather too close to home…. I suppose that is the point of all good stories, that they can be transferred from the writer’s mind to the reader’s without losing value, or better still make us all reflect deeply… Very good job by you both…

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  16. This series has provoked me to take a second look at my preconceived ideas about love, life and relationships. I wonder if it true, like Ife would like us to believe, that not everyone will fall in love. I wonder if indeed all marriages or relationships end in some level of regrets even if the parties concerned are too ashamed to admit.I wonder if our concerns about the age differences of our partners are indeed ,mainly not ours, but are actually those imposed on us by the subcultures to which we belong. While reading, I have wondered about a lot of things Pondering these things have been delightful because of the way the characters in your stories were portrayed and also because the issues are so relate-able to our everyday lives. I am waiting for the next story.

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    1. So many things to reflect on …
      This caught my attention:

      “I wonder if our concerns about the age differences of our partners are indeed ,mainly not ours, but are actually those imposed on us by the subcultures to which we belong.”

      As long as the partner in question isn’t immature, I think our concerns stem from the values of the cultures in which we live.

      I’m really glad you enjoyed following the series and that you could relate to the characters.
      Thanks for your feedback. Pending when the next story appears, here are a couple from the past that readers liked:

      Bus 281

      Bluetooth Lottery

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    2. Hmmm, I don’t know how I gave off the suggestion that not everyone would fall in love. I really think everyone can, and should. One of the things I tried to show is that we should rethink the kind of people we see as worthy of love. The idea of love between two people as something that lasts forever between two people is the part I asked questions about, and perhaps this is what you were referring to. In this case, I’m not even absolute yet in discarding the happily ever after, just that from where I stand, the evidence for its falsehood outweigh those that speak to its truth. But love is resilient, and the few times it extends into forever, it gives us all the good feelings we strive to have in our own lives too.

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