Learning to Swim

My name is Kynnedi Smith, and I am a senior. I began writing "Learning to Swim" during the summer of 2020. I was sitting on my uncle's couch in July, thinking about a horror story I read in the past: "The Tower" by Simon Clark. I read it and wrote a script for a talk show with the book characters for my 8th grade summer project. Since then, I have been trying to write a book, but have never been able to commit to it.

While I was sitting on my uncle's couch, I thought about water. I thought about how when I was younger, I was afraid to jump into the deep end of the pool. Originally, I wanted to write a horror story about a swimmer, who suffered a great loss and almost drowned (as a metaphor), due to her fear of being without what she lost. I wanted my story to have the same affect "The Tower" had on me. It was a distraction from reality, and I felt like a character in the book.

As I left my uncle's house, I had my laptop with me, prepared for the long ride home. I started writing a monologue, throwing the reader into the middle of the story. At this point, I hadn't set the goal of writing a book. I kept in mind that I wanted to write a story, no matter how short or how long. I continued to keep this mindset, in order to stop myself from believing I had to write a 300 page story. I didn't want to make myself feel like writing was a task instead of a hobby. Therefore, I chose to let the story write itself.

3 chapters in, my agenda for the story changed from horror to catharsis. I had my dad read the first chapters (he reads all my writing), and he gave me feedback on it. He told me that, as someone who has lost a parent, this book helped him feel heard, and it was carthartic for him. I was taking my time with the story, and I had no intention of publishing it. I was just writing it for fun because I wanted to read a story like this. But, once he told me to continue writing this, and not just for fun, I considered his advice and continued to write it as inspiration came. However, the story became more serious as I wrote, and I kept coming to my dad for advice.

I wanted to share this first part of the story as my capstone partly because I wanted to carve out time to write it, and working on it as a capstone prevented me from procrastinating. The other reason is the fact that I want people to read my book and develop a substantive connection with not just Roni, but any of the characters. I want this novel to be a safe space, for lack of better words. The title may not be the final one for the first book (it's a series); it's a work in progress.

It's taken me about 9 months to get to where I am with the book. I have written the first part and am ready for people to read it. I hope, as you do, you connect with Roni (or any other characters, as mentioned above) on any level. She's there for this reason: to help you understand that no matter what you are struggling with, you are not alone. She is not there for just those who are struggling with their identity (concerning sexuality and body image) or the death of a parent. She is there for all of you because we all struggle with something. I appreciate your reading my novel at all, and I hope you enjoy it.