Abigail Bures The blossoming of a writer

The Blossoming Abigail Bures: of a Writer

BY ROSALIE ABATAYO

Like a flower that blooms with a sweet fragrance as their season sets in, writers—and pretty much artists, in general— grow from a bud of potential and blossom into individuals whose world is so massive to contain in a four-cornered box.

The same goes with Abigail Bures, the youngest of this Issue’s contributors and our featured fiction writer. This Wisconsinite is the author of Conversations Between Two Introverts, an excerpt of which is one of the prized curations in this NRM Issue 16: “Selfie.”

“I began writing more seriously about two years ago, and haven’t stopped since. I love the chaos of it, and even more so, the moment when the chaos comes together and everything finally makes sense,” Abigail tells NRM.

The conception of Conversations Between Two Introverts sprung to life out of the urge to write what you want to read, a helpful piece of advice that Abigail picked up from Instagram and Twitter. For Abigail, a narrative with a boy and a girl that doesn’t involve romance is one that could make her flip the pages.

Sixteen-year-old Abigail attends a small town K-12 school where she spends her time with academic load, playing basketball, and being a stage manager for the school’s drama productions.

If you think the workload could deter the creative mind, it’s somehow the contrary for this budding writer. “I actually came up with this idea as I was choosing my courses for the next school year because I wanted to take a psychology class. I also remember not having an accurate representation of a boy-girl friendship in anything I had read or watched, so I wanted to include that in this story,” Abigail shares.

With the help of a professor and six months later, Abigail completed the first and second drafts of her debut novel.

“During this time our school was through zoom, so I had plenty of time to daydream. I made a grid of post-it notes on my wall to map out the parts of this story and how they connected to each other. I found this process very beneficial, as it helped me organize my thoughts when I did sit down to write,” she says.

Fiction tethered on reality

In her writings, Abigail has a knack for fiction, mainly because of the endless possibilities that her creative imagination can take her when working on them. But her works nevertheless continue to be grounded on reality.

“A theme that I often express through writing is the idea of mental health topics. I want people to be more open to change and [to acknowledge] that something may be wrong,” Abigail says.

Being a part of America’s youth herself, Abigail’s works largely reflect the perspective of young people.

Aside from long-form fiction, poetry is also a medium where Abigail finds her thoughts on mental health and youth woven into verses. Her poem, I am sorry, speaks from the perspective of a person who feels guilt for enjoying the things they do; while in Land of the Free, Abigail presents the certainty and conviction of the youth of the present day.

“I absolutely love the idea that I can take my inner thoughts and make them into reality through the words that I write,” Abigail says.

“In each piece of writing that I produce, there is a part of me that I write into the work. Even while the world I create is completely made up, or a piece of fantasy, there are still sprinklings of my own reality inside. I find that it is extremely important to keep at least small amounts of reality, or the audience will not be able to connect with the characters and therefore understand the reasoning behind their actions,” she adds.

For those who are passionate about writing and starting their writing journey, Abigail says, “Find a quiet space and begin writing privately. This alleviates the pressure that comes with announcing your passion to the whole world. Another helpful idea is to connect with other writers online.”

“There are many at different stages of their writing journey, and it’ll be easy to relate to others which makes the idea of writing and joining the rising community a lot more fun,” she adds.

Abigail: when the flower blooms

Like a flower that blooms with the right amount of sunlight and water, Abigail has her source of beams of sunlight in her life, too—literally and figuratively. Abigail and her younger brother live with her parents on a fruit and vegetable farm. Being so, she’s out on the fields for three quarters of the year, with June as the busiest month and her most favorite.

When not writing, at school, or in the fields, she bonds with her grandmother living across the street, where they enjoy watching award shows, playing Taylor Swift vinyls, and talking over milk and cookies.

Indeed, Abigail’s family is among the sources of sunlight that allows her to grow into the artist that she wants to be.

“My family has always been super supportive of this possible career path for me. My parents have done research about possible college choices that would better my career, and my mom made a nice dinner when I first submitted a piece of mine (even though it hadn’t been accepted yet). My grandma is always very sure that I can do whatever I put my mind to, and she helps support me with kind words,” Abigail shares.

In exploring the world of literature, the likes of Ally Carter, Lois Lowry, and Kiera Cass are among Abigail’s inspirations.

“Recently, with a new generation of authors, I’ve picked up the books of Victoria Aveyard, Ali Hazelwood, and Chloe Gong, and I absolutely loved them! I am so inspired by their youth and commitment to their work, and I hope to be just like that someday,” says Abigail.

“Also, an honorable mention of my inspiration has to be Taylor Swift. I am a big fan of mysteries, so I enjoy analyzing her lyrics and finding parallels to different songs or music videos. I just find her work so beautiful and meaningful,” she adds.

Still fueled with fiction anchored to the real world, Abigail is now working on a piece that explored a narrative at the start of the pandemic where a savior appears to try and help stop its spread.