Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Diana Elizabeth Clarke. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Diana Elizabeth, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
The most inspirational advice a professor once told me was, “Writing isn’t a talent, it’s a skill.” As with any skill, you can learn your craft and fine-tune it. Being a talented writer doesn’t come from luck, but rather through exploring craft techniques, expanding your knowledge, and experimenting with your art. A writer is born through an idea and the determination to see your thoughts grow into words on a page; that determination alone can lead to developing a story that is painted inside a reader’s mind.
The writer I was prior to receiving a college education is not the same writer I am today thanks to not only the valuable advice and knowledge I received from my writing professors, but also from dedicating my time to developing story after story and never giving up on my writing. A career for a writer is full of rejections and, unfortunately, self-doubt. I had experienced this time and time again and wondered if creative writing was the right choice for me. Yet, my passion and love for seeing my imagination come to life through words always won out in the end. Once I was able to relieve myself from the pressure of success and perfection, I was able to write for simply joy. This weightless writing led to my best work because after I put words on a page I was able to sit back, read, and reflect on my work in order to edit, revise, and improve it.
No matter where you are in your journey, the more you write the stronger of a writer you become. It’s almost like developing a habit as the beginning steps for crafting a story or creating characters or writing images is not as difficult as it once was. In 2020, during the midst of the pandemic, I challenged myself to write at least fifteen minutes a day for thirty days in a row. I called this the “June Writing Challenge” as I documented my experience through vlogs on YouTube. As each day passed, I found it easier to jump in writing and the writing flowed more seamlessly. By the end of the month, I wrote over 20,000 words and found writing to be more simple than it was. I learned more about my personal process for developing a story, discovered how to let my inspiration lead me, and knew how to just write without worry. Since then, I have develop habits to write blindly and let my story and characters be my guide rather than forcing what I think they have to be.
The best way to learn how to write is to challenge yourself to write something new as often as you can. The practice I utilize to accomplish this is to begin writing immediately after the inspiration strikes. I call this the “in-the-moment practice.” Even if it’s just a sentence or two, starting the writing process when the creativity is fresh ensures that your ideas will never slip through the cracks as you can always look back on your in-the-moment notes and free writes when you’re ready to flesh your idea out and polish it. I personally just use the Notes app on my phone and have a folder dedicated to my writing ideas. When I’m out and about—walking my dog or going grocery shopping—and an object or conversation I hear inspires me I make sure to write down whatever is blooming in my mind in that moment so I can draw back to that inspiration when I’m crafting a story. Because of this practice, when I am in the “mood” to write or feel I need to create a new story I have a notes folder on my phone full of ideas just waiting to grow into something more.
Earlier this year, I had a flash fiction piece published with Washington Writers’ Publishing House because I wrote from inspiration in the moment. I was attending an piano recital and while the pianist was playing a Chopin piece I started to see a leaf flying in the wind. I noticed how the musician’s fingers flowed over the keys like a summer breeze. In the middle of the performance, I took out a pen and paper I had on me and just starting writing a story about a leaf lost in a breeze and flying like the music was narrating its story. In the moment, I only wrote a paragraph or two—but later I went back to those paragraphs and wrote the now published piece “The Flight of the Leaf.”
Whether you’ve been writing for ten years or just ten minutes, challenging yourself write whenever an idea comes and staying determined to create something new as often as you can will help you learn more about your craft, your process, and your creativity. A friend once told me, “You’re not a writer if you don’t write, and you can’t edit blank pages.” I echo these words in my head every time that self-doubt creeps in and thanks to writing in the moment, I haven’t worried about writer’s block in a long time and always have pages filled to revise and make my stories better.
Diana Elizabeth, 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?
Believe it or not, I began my writing journey at eight years old. I was a highly imaginative child and yearned for a way to share the crazy stories that played out in my head so I wrote them down like all the books I loved read. My passion for writing since then has only gotten stronger. I didn’t always think writing would be my career, but after going through all the ups and downs of life I decided to focus my goals and education on what I love the most and that was writing.
In 2020, I graduated from Utah Valley University with a Bachelors of Science in English with a Creative Writing emphasis. I later began a career in marketing where I specialized in creativity services utilizing the skillsets I gained from my publishing industry education (such as book design, digital art, and copywriting). A few years ago, I thought this was where my career was going to stay and briefly lost sight of dream to become a published author and share my writing with the world.
Not too long ago, I urged myself to live out the dream my eight-year-old self had and knew I needed to expand on my writing and make it more of a priority. I envisioned helping other writers blossom because I strongly believe that everyone deserves to share their story and not just the best of the best and the most perfect that traditional publishers want. To do this, I knew I needed to venture into entrepreneurship, so to get there and live out my personal and professional dreams (from being a best-selling book author to a CEO) I decided to return to school.
I moved cross-country, from Utah to Baltimore, to achieve a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing & Publishing Arts from The University of Baltimore. As a second-year grad student, I have already made tremendous strides toward my goals and am that much closer to see my dream become a reality. One day, I will be assisting all kinds of writers in their publishing dreams while also accomplishing my goals. Until then, I am working diligently each day to improve upon my craft and celebrate the little victories from completed a book chapter to publishing a short story in a literary magazine.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The only thing I want as a creative writer is knowing that my work speaks to someone and impacts them in a way that makes them think about their life and their world. I want my writing to be moving and thought-provoking. The best gift you can give any creative writer is to simply read their work and loss yourself in the story that they gave you. That is why all of us writers fight for our stories to be published, paid or not. For us, it isn’t about making money but rather creating an experience for people. We yearn for our stories to be read, no matter if it’s only by a few or many. I find success in knowing that my work is out there to be read by someone and there’s a chance my writing will speak to readers on a deeper level.
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.
Everyone has the potential to be a writer or an artist. Creativity lives in all us…we just need to harvest it and grow it. Recognizing your creative abilities is the hardest part of art, but once you get past that hurtle and just try you’ll realize that your mind and hands can create something beautiful for not only you but for others.
For anyone who is debating about whether or not they are a writer or for those that don’t believe they can be creative—the best advice I can give you is to just go for it and let yourself be surprised with what you can do and accomplish. Your creative writing journey can start from anywhere, whether it be journaling about how painful a sunburn was or writing down a memory about your grandmother.
Writing comes from your heart; it’s where your inspiration lives most of the time. To be a creative means to just let your heart speak for you and let it drive you to create something new.
When I was little, I would write about mermaids and talking monkeys—and most thought of my stories to be ridiculous but to me they were everything. I knew the writing wasn’t perfect, and sometimes it wasn’t even good, but because I created it and was able to share the wonders that lived inside head I was proud. I have written many stories over the years that are essentially awful, but I don’t regret writing them because every bad piece of writing was just another step closer to writing something amazing.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://dianaelizclarke.wixsite.com/writer
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/writerdianaelizabeth/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/writerdianaelizabeth
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/diana-elizabeth-clarke-773940195/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/DianaElizC
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj_98-D5CRRF4yNN6H1jp6A
- Other: https://linktr.ee/dianaeliz
Image Credits
Photographers: Nat Raum, Timothy Bolton, Adam Ramos, Jay Judd, Wendy Hurst