We were lucky to catch up with Emma Berry recently and have shared our conversation below.

Emma, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

My dream has always been to publish a book. It’s weird because I don’t usually tell people I’m a writer. Maybe it’s my imposter syndrome holding me back from my true calling, but I also prefer the label “storyteller”.

My grandfather is a storyteller. My family and I would visit my grandparents every summer at their house in New Hampshire. Before dinner, my grandpa would sit with my sister and me on their screen porch overlooking Mt. Chorcorua, and we’d request one of our favorite stories. I was always in awe of how he could recall all of his stories, start to finish, all from his memory. No matter how many times I heard a story, I always clapped with the same amount of enthusiasm as if I were hearing it for the first time. One of my favorites was the one where he went fishing with his father. Not only would I get to hear about what my grandpa was like as a child, but I also got to hear more about his father whom I have never met. When the two of them would go fishing, my grandpa would become impatient waiting for the fish to catch his bait and his father would repeat the same phrase “Take it easy, old timer”. Looking back, I can see that maybe my grandpa wanted to teach me the value of patience. His patience paid off in the end because he caught a huge trout and this would be the part where my grandpa would get extremely animated and pretend to wrestle the fish in his hands. My sister and I would sit there, eyes wide open, hanging on to every syllable.

Stories bring people together in many ways. I always felt closer to my grandfather after one of his stories. It felt like I got to meet a different version through every story. Storytelling helps us understand one another and connect with people on a deeper level. Stories can teach us empathy and lessons, but they can also transport us into worlds entirely different from our own and bleed into our dreams when we fall asleep.

I am the girl who fell in love with fictional worlds and characters. Reading and writing have always brought my daydreams to life. Words are the spark that lights the magic of our world. They are used to ignite sentences that bring castles crumbling and inspire riders on horseback to ride into the sunset. They form bedtime stories that parents whisper to their children, making their eyelids grow heavy with the promise of dazzling dreams. They have the power to bring people together and even tear them apart. As a reader, I know what it’s like to get invested in a book and how sometimes it may lead you to throw it across the room in frustration. Those reactions of frustration and the feeling of excitement you when a character finally does that thing you’ve been telling them to do since chapter five, that is what I hope to create for others.

Emma, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

So, my name is Emma Berry. I am 27 years old, and I’ve lived in Massachusetts my entire life. I am a Gemini (please don’t let that scare you away). I prefer the comfort of hibernation season, which starts at the end of fall and stretches throughout the winter. If you know me, you know I can be loud and opinionated, and if you don’t know me, I probably won’t be loud until I’m comfortable, but I’ll still be opinionated.

I am currently studying to get my MFA in Creative Writing from the Newport MFA. I started the program in January of 2024 with the dream of finishing a Shakespeare-inspired fantasy, but I have now put that project to the side, and I am working on a mythological fantasy inspired by the myth of Atlantis. I have yet to finish one of my manuscripts, but I have a really good feeling about this new book I’m working on. I am always the most inspired by retellings, and I am fascinated by the rise of retellings we’ve seen in the last few years. I have not been able to get Circe by Madeline Miller and Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel out of my head since I read them. Retellings can be such a powerful way to tell a story the way it should’ve been told from the beginning, and that’s what I hope to do with the book I am working on (actually both of my books).

In addition to my writing adventures, I recently co-founded Readin’ Magazine with a fellow bookish creator, Sera Wright (@serareadthat). Readin’ Magazine is a reader-led online magazine, and our first issue launches on February 1st. Readin’ will publish articles from some of your favorite bookish creators across 8 different sections: Romance, Fantasy,/Sci-Fi, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Suspense, Beauty, Culture, and Community. Plus we will also be featuring columns & guest articles as well. I’ve been a creator in the bookish space for a while now, and Readin’ has ignited my passion for content creation. It’s the perfect space for book lovers, readers, or anyone looking for a sense of community to connect. I remember after watching The Devil Wears Prada for the first time I wanted to go and work for Vogue or Cosmopolitan or Seventeen. And now I am kind of living out that dream, minus the Miranda Priestly attitude (although shout out Meryl Streep).

In my 9-5, I am a Social Media & Community Engagement Manager for a small independent publisher. I wear a lot of different hats and do a lot of different things from social media management to influencer management to working on publicity campaigns for specific books. I love books and I love that they have infiltrated every area of my life.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

This isn’t necessarily a resource, but advice that I have learned to implement within my writing process.

Writing can be whatever you want it to be. You don’t have to outline if you don’t want to or plan the book from beginning to end. You don’t have to write it chapter by chapter. You can start in the middle and end somewhere in the beginning. There is no right or wrong way. There are structures that you can choose to use or choose not to use. Stories come from your head and your heart, and you know the best way to write them down. Trust your instinct and let the story take you with it.

I think with social media, it is hard to distance yourself from the lives of other people, and the comparison game is the worst game to get sucked into. If you want to write a book, do it, but don’t feel like you have to document every second of the process just to go viral. No one is waiting for your book (unless you’re a famous author, obviously), so there is no reason to rush it. Just because someone else wrote their manuscript in 6 months doesn’t mean you have to, and it doesn’t mean that you’re behind. Everyone goes about life at their own pace, so why rush the process if you don’t have to?

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

When I told someone I was going back to school to get my MFA in Creative Writing, they asked me, “Why?” and I replied, “Because I want to write a book and publish it”, and they responded by laughing and saying “No, really, why?”.

I think it’s hard to tell people you want to be a writer. Being a writer is a marathon profession, not a sprint. It can be lonely, frustrating, and even unrewarding. Not every writer is going to go viral on social media and get a book deal, and many writers will be passed up because they didn’t go viral on social media or have a following of 180K followers. It can be brutal for aspiring authors. And it’s hard knowing that people won’t take your journey seriously until you’ve been published. I wish it was easy to block out that noise, but sometimes that noise is coming from your friends or family who don’t think you can do it. Some people might find that motivating, but some might find it debilitating. I think you get chosen to be a storyteller. I think the stories choose you, and it’s your job to tell them to the best of your ability. For artists, in general, you can wait a lifetime to be recognized for your work. Just look at Vincent Van Gough. He never knew how amazing his work was. I think when someone tells you that they want to be a writer or an artist, try not to tie their worth to their recognition. They are working tirelessly to bring their art form to life, and it’s not easy to get that public recognition, especially in a world with our influencer and celebrity culture.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.readinmag.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/berryydiaries/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-v-berry/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@berryydiaries

Image Credits

@candaceelizabeth_ on Instagram (Candace Elizabeth) for all photos accept the one with the two peace signs.