II
Editors' Preface
We don’t believe that good writing is necessarily quantifiable. There are, of course, grammatical rules, spelling conventions, and verb tenses that writers can choose to take into account that might allow their writing to be more understandable, especially in academic writing. In creative writing, however, we think these rules become guidelines. We are more interested in the story being told as we believe good writing is all about storytelling. Writing would be much easier if it only consisted of identifying inconsistencies within a story and acknowledging bad grammar, but we aim to understand and value a piece’s true purpose as a story. A piece, regardless of genre, should draw a reader into a world and take them on a journey. We want these journeys to speak of real and relatable human kindness, life lessons, and personal experiences. We want stories that provoke curiosity.
The pieces in this issue allow the reader to experience a multitude of perspectives and stages a person may endure throughout their lifespan. We begin with “une alluvion,” which captures a carefree childhood afternoon and “Small World,” a window into the adolescent brain in the face of love. A piece like “Blind Alleys of the Heart'' mirrors the misdirection of our 20s and 30s with an ironic, sarcastic tone. We eventually reach death with “Life Ends in Immolation,” only to move past this end that isn’t an end and connect life and loss with “Lighthouse.” Through adolescence, death and whatever may come in between, the writing included here encapsulates what it means to be alive. This being no easy feat, the readers have the potential to leave learning something about themselves. And that to us is good writing.
We hope that the journey through the issue will encourage the reader to reflect on their own life while connecting to lives outside their own. This allows the reader to not only create a relationship with the story, but to create themselves. We hope the reader will experience and understand the displays of human kindness as lessons learned that need to be extended not only to others, but to ourselves as well.