We recently connected with Michelle Burton and have shared our conversation below.

Michelle, appreciate you joining us today. 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.

Learning “the craft” is a never ending journey. Everyone has to start somewhere, have the courage to begin and don’t be afraid of what comes after. I have been writing since I was a little girl, and have learned so much along the way and still have so much more to learn. I think it’s important to stay open minded to constructive feedback, and to make sure to give space to your writing. If you’re too close to a piece you won’t see where you can improve upon. Also, expect others to interpret your writing differently than you do! The best writing should always be open to interpretation as it gives perspective and freedom of expression to the readers. Keep going and don’t be afraid to “be bad”

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am at my core a poet. I love writing lyrics, poetry, prose and more and have always used writing as an outlet. Since I was 7, I was utilizing writing as a creative and emotional outlet. I started taking my education more seriously as a young adult and have taken multiple creative writing classes. I hope to one day become a full time author. I am a free lance writer and offer my services to anyone that needs help editing their own work or would like to collaborate or need a piece for their own use.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I believe encouraging, and supporting our creative friends and artists is so important. The best way to help other artist is to bring up there names in conversations, talk about what sets them apart and offer their contact information. Show up for their shows, or donate if you can! And of course spread the word on social media and every where else! Artists are some of the most creative and hard working people I know. They dedicate so much time and effort into their creations and work and often are underpaid. Even our smallest actions to show support will encourage them to keep going!

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I think creativity is all about expression and gaining new perspectives. It’s so rewarding to write something that others can feel connected to or relate to in some way. I love reading other work and gaining new perspective from it, as it helps me to stay open minded to the world around me.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @bilbo14_roks
• Facebook: Michelle Burton