When Love Is A Silent Song - A Crazy Experiment 🤯😲

I recently had a crazy idea while reading feedback and editing a short story I wrote for my MA Creative Writing assessment.

Dear Reader,

Happy Sunday!

I recently had a crazy idea while reading feedback and editing a short story I wrote for my MA Creative Writing assessment.

What if I developed this story into at least a Novella?

With that idea came an even crazier thought.

Maybe you can return to wattpad (after almost 4 years off the app) and serialise it as an experiment/commitment to see how far you go.

Safe to say I returned.

Then another crazier, crazier idea came to me.

You could serialise it on Substack too, you know?

And here I am.

I'm excited to tell you that I'm starting a new journey here in this newsletter. I will attempt a chapter-by-chapter series of my novella, When Love is a Silent Song.

Do you know what is fun? Aside from the initial 5,000 words written for the assessment, everything published here will be newly written.

This will be a journey in real time as I try to give my short story, Ade, room to breathe.
To stretch. To become.

As an experiment, I will try to write without being too strict about perfection, since that is one of my weaknesses. I will write the chapter, give it a decent edit and dump it on you guys. Just to see how it goes.

Your support will mean the world.

Read, offer comments and feedback, share, repost, etc. I will interact and attempt to add your feedback in a second draft if this experiment is successful.

THE PITCH:

Now that I have your attention, let me pitch the idea to you, see if it gets your interest.

'Call Me by Your Name' meets 'The Song of Achilles' in this tale of forbidden love and star-crossed lovers.

What happens when the love you buried comes back louder than ever?

Ade and Ekong were almost high school sweethearts—at least, in Ade’s heart. A single mistake and the passage of time drove a wedge between them, but years later, a message from Ade reignites something Ekong thought he’d buried for good.

Now a pharmacist in Edinburgh, Ekong is married and preparing to become a father. His life is steady, secure…safe. 

Ade, a successful lawyer living in Accra, is still single—haunted by a love he never truly let go and pressured by his Nigerian mother to find a wife.

Their lives have taken different paths. Their choices have shaped who they are. But one truth remains: Ade has never stopped loving Ekong.

As old feelings resurface, the two must confront the weight of their past, the boundaries of their present and the impossible question:
Can love that was never allowed to bloom still find a way to grow?

Set between Ghana, Nigeria and Edinburgh, this story explores identity, longing and the kind of love that refuses to be forgotten—even when the world says it should be.

When Love is a Silent Song is a tender and haunting exploration of queer longing in a world where such love is still forbidden.

That is the general idea, or at least, what I hope it becomes.

Welcome aboard.

THE COVER:

As this is going to be on wattpad, I had to design a cover-ish for it.

These are what I got.

A.

B.

C.

Which one do you prefer?

THE SCHEDULE:

I don’t know yet. Maybe you guys can suggest something.

However, I am happy to just start. The schedule might be a bit rocky but I hope with time I can settle into something more steady.

I believe that will be all, for now! 🕊

Thank you for being here.

With love,

Alpha