my middle name + korean street food = applehotteok

Even at a very young age, writing was my creative outlet. My mind, often brimming with ideas and energy, would only find solace when my pen finally scratched ink on paper. Every piece of my writing has a small portion of my soul infused into it. It tells the story of my life or the life of another me in a parallel universe, but it’s all me.

During quarantine, writing has become a source of comfort for me, providing me a quick escape from reality. I gain inspiration from anything around me: a funny story I read on the news that day, a particular song I had on shuffle, or a future I daydream for myself.

I wanted to share what brings me joy with the rest of the world. 

applehotteok was originally a writing portfolio I treated like a blog in April 2021. I decided to make it more personal and start a new era of my blog in July 2021. I’m very excited to document my growth as I go through senior year of my high school and beyond.

Posting Schedule

• Mondays: Song Recommendations
  • Five amazing yet obscure songs that I want to share with you and the reasons why; compiled in a playlist for convenience every week
• Wednesdays: Writing Piece
  • A new poem or short story I wrote with commentary
• Fridays: Advice
  • Share your problems with me whether you’d like a listening ear or advice 🙂
  • Feel free to send requests to applehotteok@gmail.com or anonymous messages to my Tellonym
• Weekends: Miscellaneous
  • Post random but cool content like reviews or op-eds
• Note: Posting daily until September!!

Type of Writing Content

A brief note about the things I’ll post here (bolded) as well as other side projects I have going on (italics).

• Short Stories
  • Ranging from 1k words to a whopping 25k words, this is my specialty. A majority of them are inspired by songs I happen to have on at the time. I like to write about the highs and lows of romantic relationships, maybe sprinkle a little bit of tragedy in there too. But most are meant to make me (and you!) feel fuzzy and warm.
• Poems
  • These are my rawest thoughts, the most vulnerable without digging through my diary. It’s clear enough to just barely grasp what I’m trying to communicate, while ambiguous enough to not spill my entire heart out to you. Poems are the most mentally exhausting ones to write, considering how much time I spend trying to perfect what I want to convey, but I hope they reach out to you and validate how you’re feeling through these difficult times.
• Personal Narratives
  • My personality shines the most with these. It’s a genre of writing I’m the most comfortable experimenting with, thus creating an artistic flair that’s so distinctly me. Usually, personal narratives are what I enjoy writing the most and I hope you enjoy them too!
• Pojangmacha
  • Pojangmacha is the Korean word for a food stand. This is where I explain the origins, thought processes, and significance of most of my pieces, just like how you need a food stand to make street food in the first place. Sometimes I forget the purpose of a formatting choice or some genius reference, so I throw those tidbits and explain them here too. 
• Apple Blossoms
  • What comes before the apple fruit? Apple blossoms! This is where I post old writing projects or drafts as a throwback, something baby Kaylan has written between the ages 7 and 14. It’s mostly for nostalgia’s sake and a personal archive of some sort.
• Lyrics
  • Like my poems, these are some personal lyrics that tell a notable era of my life. They’re not perfected enough to post, nor do I have an accompanying track ready. Until then, these will probably never see the light of day. But I decided to add that I write these to highlight my love for singing melodies and tunes.
• Fanfiction
  • Fanfiction.net and Wattpad are my origins as a fanfiction writer since I was 13. Alas, those fics deleted off the face of the internet. However, my newer fics are now exclusively posted on AO3. Although I don’t necessarily flaunt my status as a fanfic writer, I am grateful for the confidence it has given me to start on my own original work. 
  • (And no, you cannot read my fics about imaginary characters.)
• Novel
  • I have three original pieces in the storyboard stage and one I’m actively working on: A Whisper of the Heart. Not going to spill the entire beans about it, but it’s about the ever evolving relationship between a woman with questionable morals and another woman who insists on interfering with her life, and they have history?! Cue romance! Cue drama! And cue office politics!!

Current Writing Projects

A taste of what I’m working on currently.

• Escapril 2021 (Poetry)
  • During the National Poetry Month of April, poets from all over the world participate in a challenge to write a poem daily using a universal list of prompts. I thought I wasn’t much of a poet but participating in it has made me realize that I have so much to say and express to this world.
  • I will slowly be posting what I have!
• A Portrait of Spring (Novel)
  • One of three novel ideas I’m storyboarding at the moment, A Portrait of Spring tells the tale of an aloof prince and a stubborn hunter who start off on the wrong foot but grow to appreciate one another, eventually wanting more than just mere friendship. 
• A Whisper of the Heart (Novel)
  • With its storyboard complete, I am now writing some of its first chapters. This story is a story I hold dear to my heart, and I hope to someday publish this. For now, I’m very excited to get my writing juices flowing!
• [REDACTED] (Fanfiction)
  • I have a collection of ficlets, song-inspired oneshots, and a multi-chaptered fic to post and work on. The most I can tell you is that they’re all romance (Is it the good or bad aspects of romance? Who knows??) and floating around on AO3.