When it comes to writing, A.G. and I have pretty different styles. Although we both are more of pansters as opposed to planners, she is much better at sticking to deadlines and worldbuilding while I am not good with deadlines and focus on more realistic stories. These differences can make me question whether I’m cut out to write stories. Yet, I realized that it all comes down to why I write and who I’m writing for.

I’ve been doing so much academic/debate writing that I haven’t had any energy for my creative writing. I was also focusing so much on having to release A Heart Adrift for other people. Don’t get me wrong, I am beyond excited to finally share this story with you all but, the main person I am doing this for is myself. Writing a full story comprising of tens of thousands of words seemed an impossible task a few years ago. Yet, with Hey There Delilah and A Heart Adrift, I realized that it was possible for me to do and I could discover so much about myself throughout the process.

I really enjoy writing because it allows me to dive deep into certain themes and share them through stories. Writing helps me to clear all the thoughts constantly running through my head and make sense of the world around me. It is supposed to be fun and a release for me rather than work. So, moving forward I want to finish A Heart Adrift with renewed joy for what I have written.

This mindset also affects how I would like to publish A Heart Adrift. When it comes to the editing…I really don’t want to edit it too much. Not because my writing is that good and doesn’t need it, but because like I said earlier, I don’t want the writing to feel like work. I will have some beta readers look over my writing and make plenty of edits I’m sure, but I won’t be hiring a professional editor. Although there still may be grammar mistakes when I publish it or technically my story could have been better with higher quality editing, that’s not the goal of my writing. I’m not writing to have the most polished perfect story, I’m writing to complete the story. I’m okay with my writing being a little bit rawer and showing some of my weaknesses. I think this raw feel also fits A Heart Adrift better because the characters also show such raw emotion and struggle with their values throughout the story.

This post is getting a tad long, so I’ll end it here with one last update! Thank you so much for being patient with A.G. and me as we balance Silver Arc with school and extra-curriculars. We are always so thankful to share our stories with y’all and hopefully give you some advice and comfort on your own writing journey! I will be more active on our Instagram now, so follow @thesilverarcblog for Q&As and other fun!

Word of the Week: Tome

Definition: a book, especially a large, heavy, scholarly one.

Etymology: early 16th century (denoting one volume of a larger work): from French, via Latin from Greek tomos ‘section, roll of papyrus, volume’; related to temnein ‘to cut’.

Example: She pulled a heavy tome from the library shelf, coughing as dust billowed up in small clouds.