#MondayMotivation: Interview with Teen Entrepreneur and Author R.M. Archer

There’s something encouraging about seeing a young person diving deep in their dream careers. I met Archer on Instagram and saw that she is a homeschool senior who has a freelance editing business. Then I saw that she is releasing short stories and has a published an anthology. My curiosity perked. 

After interviewing her, I knew I had to share her responses. I love her insights and message to other young and aspiring authors. Enjoy! 

Tell me a little about yourself. 

I’m a speculative fiction author, so I write anything that takes place outside of the realm of reality. I tend to write fantasy most often (even if you wouldn’t guess it from this collection), but futuristic sci-fi comes in close second. 

When did you start writing? 

I first started writing when I was six or seven, and I knew it was what I wanted to do long-term by the time I was ten or eleven, so it’s been a while, lol. 

You’ve been writing much longer than I have. What motivates you to continue writing when you’re unmotivated? 

The most effective motivation for me depends on the story I’m writing. Sometimes it’s a theme I think is important to explore, sometimes it’s outside accountability, sometimes it’s even the guilt of not writing. But I think accountability is the most consistent motivator. 

What role does God play in your writing? 

Not as big a role as He should, unfortunately. It’s something I’m trying to work on this year, not only in my writing but in all areas of my life, to talk to Him more and seek His guidance. As it stands now, I mostly go to Him for general guidance on my writing in the morning and then forget about it, or I pray for Him to help me through writer’s block, but I’d like to get to a point where I seek Him intentionally before each writing session and more consciously aim to glorify Him through my writing. 
As far as within the writing itself, most of my stories tend to tackle themes from a Christian perspective rather than overtly featuring faith and God, but there are a couple of exceptions. 

Yes! I love this. My 2020 word of the year is surrender. I want to surrender to God my writing and the whole journey. It’s easy to get caught up in the emotional rollercoaster of rejections, great feedback, bad feedback and a desire to get published rather than trusting that God is in control. Shifting gears, I’m curious about what motivated you to start your own editing business. 

My parents are both editors to some degree–my dad is a professional author and editor at his company and my mom is just excellent at editing–so I grew up with a natural bent toward good grammar, and I was raised on good books and movies so I learned to recognize good storytelling. As I got into the self-publishing community a few years ago, I started to see a lot of self-published books that had great potential but were getting bogged down by the writing. Since I’d already had some experience beta-reading, I’m naturally analytical of writing, and I have a passion for helping authors communicate as clearly and effectively as possible, I decided to make an official business of it. 

You’re so young and already diving into your dreams! I love it! What do you wish you could tell other young aspiring writers? 

Don’t think you have to be published young. I published the first edition of this collection two years ago, and it really wasn’t ready, but I rushed into publishing it anyway because I wanted to be published young and it was “close enough.” Now, one of the original stories has been heavily revised and two others were replaced altogether. Don’t underestimate the importance of taking your time to learn the craft and practice all the stages of writing. Maybe you’ll end up learning quickly and confidently publishing as a teenager, but even if you don’t, you’ll be a lot more happy with the results (even if they’re imperfect, which is unavoidable) if you take the time you need to hone your skills. 

If you’d like to get to know, Archer a little better here’s some ways to keep in touch: https://linktr.ee/RMArcher  

Storyteller Squad friends, what role does God play in your writing?