It’s finally time to find out who wrote what! You may recall that last Friday, we each crafted a small piece of writing responding to the prompt, “Write a romcom-esque story beginning with a character saying, ‘Don’t you remember?’” This was definitely a more challenging collab than we’re used to, but I think that’s what made it so rewarding! Personally, we’re pretty impressed with the writing we each churned out; were you? And, more importantly, could the writers and devoted readers of OTF figure out who wrote each piece based on writing style alone? Let’s see what happened!
We’ve included brief excerpts from each piece below, but if you want a full refresher on them, click this button! Just remember that it’s (sadly) too late to fill out the guessing form, if you didn’t already.
The Results!
Writer 1
Caden had thought about that kiss everyday for eight years, never thinking he’d run into Steve in his new city. He wondered if his lips still tasted like warm skittles and repression.
Shelby: 2 votes
Sydney: 3 votes
Aimée: 3 votes
Kayla: 1 vote
Blaze: 5 votes
Commentary:
Shelby’s Guess: Blaze
First reasoning is it's gay AF which means it's either Sydney or Blaze, but I already know which one is Sydney so this one must be Blaze. Also points for the names—I could tell that was a Blaze thing by using an uncommon name (Caden) versus the other writers using more generic names.
Sydney’s Guess: Aimée
I was tied between Aimée and Kayla for this one, but ultimately when I compared this one with the other piece I was sure was also either Aimée or Kayla I decided on Aimée. There was something about the humor in the piece that I felt matched her voice. This piece also mentioned a baked good and I know Aimée has been on a baking kick recently!
Aimée’s Guess: Blaze
It's the details! The last names, the types of smoothies, all of it. Blaze has such great attention to detail in her writing, especially in her creative pieces.
Kayla’s Guess: Sydney
Writer one references the 90s, acai bowls, and a text message that includes a smiley face. Of all four writers (that were not myself), Sydney is the one person I think would include all of these three things. She is also a writer who is experienced in fanfiction, and this is one of the most typical "romcom-esque" stories of the bunch.
Blaze’s Guess: Blaze
It’s mine! I’m curious since I’ve written fiction pieces for OTF before if people will guess it due to my style of dialogue.
One of Kayla’s friends’ Guess: Sydney
Because Sydney’s writing style might use 3 exclamation point sentences in a row, and maybe because the characters are gay?
One of Aimée’s friend’s Guess: Kayla
It just seems like Kayla, and I know she was born in ’95.
Actual Answer: Writer 1 = BLAZE!
Writer 2
The friends had reached their place of work by this point, but June moved to block Lily from entering the building. Frowning somewhat, June said, “Madly in love? Really?”
Shelby: 1 vote
Sydney: 0 votes
Aimée: 4 votes
Kayla: 7 votes
Blaze: 2 votes
Commentary:
Shelby’s Guess: Aimée
Honestly it was the ellipsis plus statement and exclamation point that got me (("her relationship with Andrew was…far from passionate. But it was sensible!")). I can literally hear Aimée saying this for some reason. Though I did originally think Blaze because of it being dialogue heavy, as are her Cliff & Wy stories. Definitely almost threw me.
Sydney’s Guess: Kayla
This was the other piece I was deciding on between Aimée and Kayla, so because I worked out that I thought the first piece was Aimée, I knew this one had to be Kayla. Similarly to how I felt the first piece had Aimée's humor in it, this one had Kayla's. This piece was also longer and since this awesome collab idea was Kayla's brain child I figured she was pretty excited about it and potentially wrote something a little longer. But Aimée and Kayla are bffs for a reason so I could be totally wrong about these guesses!
Aimée’s Guess: Aimée
...because I wrote it. :)
Kayla’s Guess: Aimée
This is Meme. Hands down. Aimée has some of the best conversational writing I have ever read (if you haven't already, go and read her Gilmore Girls fanfic piece!). She has a gift for giving every character a clear and distinct personality and sticks to it when she writes conversations. This piece is no exception. June and Lily both have very distinct voices that you can almost hear when you read the piece.
Blaze’s Guess: Kayla
Because it feels like a story with a lot of love and dialogue.
Vidha’s Guess: Kayla
Because it’s cute and funny and my favorite.
Mike’s (Aimée’s husband) Guess: Aimée
I knew the second one was you (Aimée) because it had the best writing. *sees Aimée starting to type* But no, don't include this—your head's big enough!
One of Kayla’s friend’s Guess: Kayla
Because it’s a classical rom-com with a hetero love triangle like a Taylor Swift song.
One of Aimée’s friend’s Guess: Blaze
At first I thought Aimée because of the June character, and her obsession with Olive and June nail polish…I did originally have Kayla down for this one. “Blake” is close to “Blaze,” so process of elimination and detailed writing style.
Actual Answer: Writer 2 = AIMÉE!
Writer 3
“You were dating someone at the time, of course, I couldn’t be that lucky, and it was clear Matt—and just about everyone else in the room—was turned towards you, waiting for your next move, next breath…”
Shelby: 3 votes
Sydney: 2 votes
Aimée: 4 votes
Kayla: 3 votes
Blaze: 2 votes
Commentary:
Shelby’s Guess: Shelby
It me.
Sydney Guess: Blaze
If you haven't worked this out yet, I came at this challenge in a bit of a process of elimination angle. I knew the other 2 pieces had to be either Shelby or Blaze. Since we've gotten to see a lot of creative writing from Blaze, I felt confident that this story came from her.
Aimée’s Guess: Shelby
I unfairly knew this one all along because of behind the scenes work I did for this piece, but I still think it screams Shelby. I'm pretty sure it's quite heavily based on her and Zack's own meet cute story!
Kayla’s Guess: Shelby
I don't think I've read much of Shelby's creative pieces, but this one seems like her. This is the piece I am the most torn on because I am not 100% sure between her and Sydney. However, some of the verbiage in this piece has me leaning towards Shelby. "The almost utterance of it broke my heart" and the way she describes the Brownstones as if they are actual people just screams Shelby. She also uses the word horny and that is classic Shelby.
Blaze’s Guess: Aimée
It feels like Aimée’s detailed writing!
One of Kayla’s friends’s Guess: Blaze
A lot of derivative language…but I’m really not sure.
One of Aimée’s friend’s Guess: Aimée
Noticeably the only piece to mention the “Tube,” others mentioned the subway via Metro Card. Stout was the bar for the SJU basketball hangs...but I don’t feel like Aimée would write as much about tattoos so it made me think Blaze too, but the two perspectives “either I did remember” and “or I really didn’t remember” made my choice of Aimée solidified.
Actual Answer: Writer 3 = SHELBY!
Writer 4
“Fuck you, bitch! Don’t pretend like you’ve never woken up with your head in a toilet trying to piece together alcohol-laced memories from the night before.” The brief mention of booze made my stomach lurch, but the snicker on Audrey’s face as she leaned up against the bathroom door was enough for me to muster up the courage to sit upright for the first time all morning.
Shelby: 4 votes
Sydney: 4 votes
Aimée: 2 votes
Kayla: 3 votes
Blaze: 1 vote
Commentary:
Shelby’s Guess: Kayla
I almost went with Aimée on this one because of the painstaking detail the writer put into the setting / character (describing the hair for example) BUT I have to go with Kayla for two reasons. The first, I *swear* writer #2 is Aimée, so by process of elimination .... the second, something about using "AKA" and "Fuck, fuck, fuckedy-fuck" does make me think of Kayla. It also reads exactly like the type of books Sydney and her love to read.
Sydney’s Guess: Shelby
Part of how I knew the last piece was Blaze is because I knew absolutely that this piece was Shelby's. It was too angry and emo not to be her.
Aimée’s Guess: Kayla
This is another one that I kind of already knew due to behind the scenes work, but it does give off a lot of Kayla vibes. Liquid marijuana shots, a brooding and rich love interest (a la 50 Shades), the HGTV-level details about the apartment—all very Kayla!
Kayla’s Guess: Kayla
Me. I know who wrote it lol.
Blaze’s Guess: Sydney
Because of the New York and concert references! A lot of the stories mentioned New York as their location though, but I felt like this one was Sydney’s.
One of Kayla’s friends’s Guess: Shelby
The swearing is my best guess.
One of Aimée’s friends’s Guess: Sydney
At first I thought Kayla because of her Breakfast at Tiffany’s piece earlier this week/the Audrey character, but the writing style, using “fuck,” and context about alcohol and weed makes me decide Sydney wrote this.
Actual Answer: Writer 4 = KAYLA!
Writer 5
Don’t you remember…
You ruined us and I still loved you.
You shattered me and I still loved you.
You slept with her and I still loved you.
Shelby: 4 votes
Sydney: 5 votes
Aimée: 1 vote
Kayla: 0 votes
Blaze: 4 votes
Commentary:
Shelby’s Guess: Sydney
Basically a Taylor Swift song, ergo Sydney Weinshel. Other than mine, this was the first one I knew for certain.
Sydney’s Guess: Sydney
It me :)
Aimée’s Guess: Sydney
Mostly process of elimination here. But the deep feeling behind this beautiful poem feels very Sydney to me.
Kayla’s Guess: Blaze
If there is one piece that absolutely screams Blaze it is this one. Her words are almost like poetry and this is the clear "poetic" piece of the bunch. I truly don't have any doubt who wrote this piece.
Blaze’s Guess: Shelby
Because she’s always the one to throw in a little poetry here and there!
One of Kayla’s friend’s Guess: Aimée
Process of elimination?? This wasn’t easy, y’all! But it was fun.
One of Aimée’s friend’s Guess: Shelby
She’s known for doing lists.
Actual Answer: Writer 5 = SYDNEY!
Any Last Overall Thoughts from the Writers?
Shelby’s Thoughts:
Admittedly, I had to have this two-part collab explained to me at least three times—but in my head, I went over it, like, seven times and still had a hard time. Like I’m sure my fellow writers were feeling at one point, I too had no idea what to write about. Honestly, I messaged Sydney and was like “Why am I too emo to write a rom-com scene right now?” So I struggled.
I ended up stealing mine and Zack’s first-meet story—as Aimée and her crazy good memory (literally, go get studied) guessed—just told through his perspective and with some obvious name changes. I’ve been feeling quite ~romantic~ about him and me lately so, naturally written the morning of, I used him and us as inspo.
As for guessing, this was also tricky! I proudly wrote, before we had even begun this second part, that I would be able to guess everyone’s voice pretty surely. But let me tell you, everyone came up with ways to throw me off. I originally thought Blaze was really Writer 4 since, as Blaze mentions in her thoughts, her fiction pieces are very dialogue-heavy. I also almost switched Aimée and Kayla up too—something about the placement in the piece had me second-guessing myself.
Aimée’s Thoughts:
KAYLA, SHELBY, AND MIKE ARE THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO UNDERSTAND ME. Lol, and to think I had five other friends among the voters! With my piece, I was trying to be as reminiscent of 00s romcoms as possible. In my head, June was Judy Greer, and Lily was maybe Jennifer Garner or Katherine Heigl. It obviously had to be set in Manhattan, it demanded the alpha/beta trope with the male leads, and it naturally became dialogue-heavy because I really was picturing it as a movie scene. I’m very happy with how it turned out and pleased with the feedback I’ve received, so I do think I’ll continue the narrative for OTF sometime!
Kayla’s Thoughts:
Man, people were really offended(?) by my language! Sorry y’all, but I do cuss like a sailor most of the time and my favorite word is “fuck.” I’m not shocked that the majority of answers pointed towards Shelby and Sydney because if it wasn’t me who wrote it, I would definitely have guessed either of them. For the piece, I tried to stick with a classic romance trope of brooding love interests with a dark past. I read way too many romance novels and it was just something that came super naturally. Additionally, I am known as a bit of an instigator when it comes to alcohol, so I had to throw in a classic hangover for good measure. I know it was my idea to do this, but I really had so much fun creating a story because we don’t do that much creative writing for the newsletter. Maybe one day I’ll do a follow-up to Finn and Audrey’s story if there is any interest!
Also, I completely forgot I wrote about Breakfast at Tiffany’s earlier last week, but I chose the name Audrey because she was the main character in the last book I was reading!
Blaze’s Thoughts:
Wow this was such a fun experiment! I truly was impressed by every story the team wrote and had a very difficult time deciding. After learning I got literally none of my guesses correct (besides my own piece obviously) I was really looking forward to seeing how everyone else voted. While we all have different writing styles, I think a common theme amongst us is our love for rom-com tropes and it was great seeing everyone fall into the rom-com genre so smoothly!
It’s really cool to me that some people actually guessed my/ my fellow writers’ pieces correctly! I do love figuring out first and last names for characters, as feel they really add to their personalities, and it was awesome people saw that as my style. I hope we’re able to keep doing more interactive prompts and I’ll get better at guessing the correct voices!
Shit We’re Loving: PEOPLE
Our Pick: The readers who participated in this guessing game!
To Aimée and Kayla’s friends, thank you for participating; we—I—appreciate the hell out of you. It’s been a … long year so far, at least for me (Shelby), and finding the energy, stamina, and passion I once felt for writing has certainly been harder than before. But it has been over two years and, regardless of my own issues, y’all never not show up. It is because of you that we should all feel like true writers, so thank you 🫶
Show Your Support: Children’s Literacy Initiative
School has officially begun for everyone from kindergarteners to university students and, of course, their devoted teachers—learning is in the air again. As we may be aware, many schools and their students across our country are severely underserved, especially when it comes to accurate, anti-racist, LGBTQ+ friendly, and sex-positive literature and books. Children’s Literacy Initiative has stepped in to change this.
Literacy is the very foundation of all learning and the pathway to liberation for every human being.
The CLI seeks to dismantle structural racism by providing Black and Latinx children with anti-racist early literacy instruction, support and advocacy needed to create equity in education. Educators currently serving high-need student populations can join the CLI and learn high-impact strategies and nurture dynamics to continue the necessary trajectory of improvement in our schools. Just some of the ways CLI assists teachers is by providing workshops and seminars about literacy content and pedagogy, by stocking classrooms with much-needed, high-quality books and other learning materials, and by coaching teachers to incorporate these practices in their classrooms.
At the time of this writing, the Children’s Literacy Initiative has served 295 schools, 5894 educators, and 104,419 students. They have also distributed 34,907 books. In the OTF fashion, we have already donated to CLI and we encourage you to do the same if you can!
Daily Intention:
Today I choose…
To look at the details.
Here’s some nifty buttons for you to press, enjoy: