The Quill is thrilled to name Ariana Yeganeh February's Mawrtian of the Month. In addition to being one of our beloved Bryn Mawr seniors, Ariana is also a published author! She recently published her first book, The Girl Who Wasn’t Chosen, a fantasy book about a girl who has gotten the chance to never be ignored again. Ariana underwent a very long process - almost three years - of writing, editing and publishing for this book. This hard work is the reason she is the Mawrtian of Month, and we cannot wait to see what she does next! ReadHear what she has to say below about writing tips and personal motivations: 

Q: What is your writing process like?

A: “For writing this book, I had an actual outline, but then I rewrote it and now, I like to write basically without an outline, kind of like out of the hat type writing and see where it leads me. Usually, I find that the things that I really like writing about are the actual best parts of the book and I need to pursue those instead of neatly trying to fit it into some idea I had before even writing the book.”

Q: Do you have any writing rituals that keep you motivated?

A: “I like listening to music, but I think that’s every writer. Other than that, pretty much no. I do like to set deadlines, because I’m a bit of a logic type person.”

Q: What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while writing or publishing your book?

A: “Probably just being patient, I know that’s like a hard one, but it's just a very long process and it feels like you’re going nowhere, and you’re like ‘why am I spending all this time on this book?’ So just like having the patience to keep going.”

Q: How long did writing your book take total? 

A: “The first draft I ever wrote took me 4 months, but then I did a lot of editing and revising and that took me like 2-ish years and then with publishing it was basically like freshman to senior, so like 3 to 4 years.”

Q: What inspired you to write your book?

A: “It was an idea I had in middle school basically, where I thought I was a boring person, and I really wanted to write a book about a person who was boring like me that still did cool stuff to like show other people that you don't have to be some like super genius, ultra talented person to like do cool things.”

Q: Were there any authors or books that inspired you to become a writer?

A: “Definitely The Lightning Thief, it’s such a good book, I love that book. Also, I’d say like other authors like Mary Shelley and I forget his name, but the guy who wrote Eragon, because I was researching them and they actually published when they were teens, and so that was like ‘oh these are actual popular books that did well.’”

Q: Are you working on any books right now? 

A: “I have a project, I’m not going to say anything else about it.”

Q: What are your other hobbies aside from writing?

A: “I like singing, I haven’t done a lot of it lately, and I was in robotics and I really liked that.”

Q: Do you have any advice for BMS students interested in writing books?

A: “Don’t let your age be a factor, just kind of treat yourself like an adult, and you can have adult outcomes.”