How did you first discover your passion for art / writing?
Truthfully, I think I was born with the passion for writing! I’ve been told by my entire family that I’ve been writing since I first learned how to hold a pencil. At the age of five, I spent months handwriting a 100-page fantasy novel with a set of colored markers. While the plot was terrible, it was still a plot nonetheless, and somehow my five-year-old brain even incorporated plot twists and was able to create several different characters with their own personalities. At the age of eight, I moved my writing to a computer and began attempting to write. At the age of 12-ish, I began realizing that I had something going for me, and that I could actually publish my writing one day! I owe my lifelong writing passion to my mom, honestly. She read books to me every night from when I was a baby until I could read them myself. It really helped me get an idea of what writing was, and it helped me realize that I loved it even from such a young age.
Do you remember the first time someone called you an 'artist / writer'? How did it feel?
I sent the first draft of my book to an editor at the age of 12. When she sent me back pages full of extremely helpful feedback that I still cherish to this day, she had referred to me several times as a ‘writer’. I couldn’t quite wrap my head around the idea at first, because writing was just that – writing. I thought that being a writer meant that you had to be published, famous, or even remotely important, and I was none of those things. Once I was called a writer, I felt like I had reached a milestone. I was so proud of my writing journey and I realized that writing was more than a hobby to me, it was something that I wanted to pursue. Now I understand that to be a writer, the only thing you have to do is write, but at the age of 12, I was clueless!
How do you balance school, work, or other commitments with your art?
I usually balance my school, college, writing, and extracurriculars by doing the most important things first. I decide importance based on the consequence if I don’t complete it. I usually complete my college work, high school work, extracurriculars (like my literary magazine and doing work for the other organizations and groups I am part of), and lastly writing. It seems kind of terrible when I put writing on the last of the list, but honestly, my education is very important to me and I always leave time at the end of the day for writing, so it’s a win-win in my mind!
What role does experimentation play in your creative process?
Experimentation plays a huge role in my creative process. When writing, I try my best to let my mind wander as far as it can possibly go. When it reaches the line of normality, traditional, and typical, I push past those boundaries and write whatever comes to mind. Experimentation is so important to discover new ways and concepts of writing. If I didn’t push away the common methods and ideas of writing, I wouldn’t have been able to unlock my creativity and discover how limitless writing can truly be!
Do you think young artists face unique challenges in today’s world?
I really do. The world is at such a difficult place right now in the creative sense. There are so many young artists in a variety of different genres that are getting pushed down simply because they are that: young. Looking at it from another aspect, social media is also an underlying problem. With social media being the primary way to share your creative mediums with a broader audience, it seems as if the algorithm decides whether young artists get noticed or not. There are so many talented young artists who are in tiny corners of social media platforms, screaming for their well-deserved attention, but their hard work remains unnoticed. Since this technologically advanced social media centered world seems to control the creativity of young artists, it makes it even harder for them to share their writing with people who would truly appreciate and enjoy it.
I understand you are hard at work running The Odyssey Youth Literary Magazine, what are your biggest takeaways from the journey so far?
I have learned so much from my time running The Odyssey Youth Literary Magazine! My biggest takeaway is this: there are so many young individuals with some of the biggest stories you’ve ever heard. They come from all sides of the world, and at their fingertips lie the most whimsical tales, at their fingertips lie the most prominent truth. I’ve also learned that everybody is an adventurer at heart, but not everyone knows the right place to begin. It’s so important that we help people when we are able to, because we never know what might nudge someone down the right path!
How do you want to be remembered as an artist?
I want to be remembered as a writer who wandered off the traditional path, and in doing so realized that in the unknown lies the greatest but most hidden treasures of all. I want to be remembered as a writer who simply held herself to one goal: write. I hope that in time, I will be able to be remembered as the writer who uplifted others and helped them wander through their own terrifying but eventually beautiful world of the unknown.