We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Prudence Brooks. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Prudence below.

Prudence , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I’m excited about many things I’m working on, but my most meaningful completed project is my debut poetry collection, TRUCE. The story follows my husband and I from our first date to the present day, but the themes run deeper than just being in love with someone. TRUCE is a reckoning with myself and my notion of intimacy. I have significant trauma in my past, and I also live with multiple disabilities. The shame surrounding those things has created obstacles in my relationships. Unpacking some of that shame through writing has allowed me to slowly open myself up to being honestly loved. The process of writing TRUCE wasn’t pretty, and it brought up difficult feelings for both of us. But ultimately, trust grew exponentially in our relationship. I was revealed, cleaved open across the page in front of him almost every day for six months writing this book, and he was also unveiled in his own ways. I know myself and my husband better for writing TRUCE, and I’m grateful I decided to put the effort into immortalizing us. TRUCE will be available for purchase on Amazon in January 2025.

Prudence , 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?

I started writing poetry when I was nine years old and continued through high school despite knowing few others who were interested in it. There were no slams or open mics in rural Indiana, where I spent most of my childhood. The only way to get anyone to see me read poetry was to promise music, so I started organizing shows with local musicians. I continued writing poetry after high school, although I stopped performing publicly for a few years due to economic and health factors. I moved to Oregon from the Midwest in 2017, and at that point in time, writing was a coping mechanism. But in the years since, it’s become a purpose for me. Sharing my work on Instagram was a monumental turning point in my writing journey because I learned that people value what I have to say. Instagram poetry helped challenge and dispel a lot of my shame and imposter syndrome, which made me want to take poetry more seriously. I realized I was holding back because I was ashamed of who I was and feared that my rural public school education wasn’t enough to be a writer. Now, I take continuing education classes through Portland Community College, and I’ve done workshops, classes, and retreats with many writers I’ve met online. I never want to stop learning about this craft. I can feel myself growing in every poem I write. Each new day is a new chance for me to write the best poem I’ve ever written, and that keeps me getting out of bed. I’m very proud of how far I’ve come, and this year, I finally felt confident enough to start a Patreon, which I’m having a lot of fun with. Making money from my writing is a new experience, but it feels like the way I should’ve been living all along. I’m a writer at heart.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I’m anti-brand. While creating a brand is useful for sales, it is terrible for writing. The urge to stay within your “brand” to gain more readers stifles creativity and curiosity. I never want to stagnate in my writing, so I am adamant about presenting myself as utterly human. I don’t use many hashtags and don’t have a substantial social media following, but I don’t necessarily want one. I prefer a smaller number of loyal readers over having 20k followers who don’t engage consistently or support me financially. My readers appreciate authenticity, and my authentic self just doesn’t fit within a brand. With that said, there are some ways to increase reach. I post almost daily, including a feed post and at least one story. It’s helpful to post around the same time every day and to use a consistent background color (I use deep gray) on your posts so that people notice them when scrolling. You can use black text on a white background, but be aware that your posts will not stick out from the thousands of other poets who use that method. I would recommend choosing a specific color or something that sets you apart. The most important thing to do, in my opinion, is engage. Respond to the comments on your posts and also comment on other people’s work when it speaks to you. Genuine connections will get you more sales or paid subscribers than a hashtag ever could.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

The speaker of the poem is not always the poet. This is an assumption that is constantly made about poetry. Much of my poetry is based on my life, but some is entirely fictional. Poetry isn’t based on fact; it’s based on feeling. A poem doesn’t have to be true to life to be meaningful. Sometimes, my most compelling and profound poems come from stepping outside myself and writing from another perspective. Poets don’t owe you information about ourselves because we write and share emotional pieces.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.overusedmetaphor.com
• Instagram: @prudence.writes
• Other: Tik Tok: @prudence.writes