We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Shea West a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Shea, 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.

As soon as I could write coherent sentences as a child, I did. I have these tiny slips of paper that my mom held onto from childhood; the edges are frayed and colored from two decades of being in boxes. Silly poems and funny notes, mostly. But it’s evidence that I had the kindling for the writer’s spark in my bones from the beginning.
At the beginning of the pandemic (which is such an ominous segue into an artist’s history), a friend of mine told me about a virtual writing workshop held online. The course was about three hours long, and we focused on six-word stories and worked through a few exercises, too. I’m not sure what it was about the course that lit me up, but it did. After that, I entered numerous writing contests and wrote a short story weekly for about a year. The learning came from the doing. Advice often doled out to writers is that to get better at writing, you must write. In these communities, I found fellow writers, folks I could write with and improve alongside.
My biggest obstacles were me, myself, and I. Remembering how and where to use a comma felt tiresome and unfamiliar. If I could go back in time, giving myself grace would be the first thing I’d give myself. A reminder that the learning was happening and I just needed to keep showing up and ignore any hint of self-deprecation that dared eke past my lips about my writing. Having a true writing community was the most essential thing I picked up along the way. Without honest eyes looking at your work, I’d argue other creatives who know your writer’s voice are invaluable.

Shea, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Most writers have day jobs or some variation of them anyway, and I’ve had plenty. As a former pastry chef, wedding cake maker, and egg slinger, I know all about endurance in working a challenging job. Then I had kids, and my career ideations shifted out of necessity because parenthood is exhausting!
The shift into writing wasn’t a dramatic one, nor was it a snub at the birth work I do daily. It’s an AND. I squeeze writing into my life when the kids are at school, between client calls, and when submitting claims to insurance. Writing is the thing I do on my phone when I am waiting to pick a kid up from the millionth sports practice of the season.

Do I write romance? You bet your X’s and O’s I do, but I always want my voice and style to be unique in that space. Writing prose and literary fiction is my bread and butter, and if you read any of my short story work, you’ll notice it immediately, even if the genre is dystopian.

As a creative, this is the spark we all have, and that’s why I love to write. There are a million ways to write about the color blue, and I’m most proud of the risks I take when describing something in a way you never imagine you could. I’ve never been afraid of writing about the hard stuff, like mental health representation and social/political views. It’s important to me that when people read my work, they see something in it that they can say, “Yes, that’s exactly what my anxiety feels like.”
I write about strong, outspoken women because we need to see them in the art we consume. I’m proud of how I write my characters, that women can be an AND, too. They can be funny and brilliant. They can have depression and be the liveliest person in the room. They can put their middle fingers up to the patriarchy and love being a stay-at-home parent. When I write about the male characters in my work, I show their flaws but also how beautiful it is when they are vulnerable and soft. I hope that when readers read my work, they feel all kinds of warm and fuzzy, but they feel seen, too.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of writing is how limitless the imagination can be. It wasn’t until I began writing consistently that I understood this concept.

Creating a novel from scratch by stringing words together is wild, but I do it. When I write, I get to make these fictional spaces, people, and places with my voice and style, which is specific to me. I love that writing is the creative outlet that lets me be whoever I want.

Of course, the best part is when a reader finishes a piece I’ve written and I hear their feedback. Those moments when they say they felt seen in the characters in the work is so satisfying.

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?

Non-writers think writing is as simple as sitting down and putting words on a page. In theory, this is true, but in action, it’s not.

Writing is a lot like foreplay or conditioning; writers like me need time to recharge and fill our cups before we can write words that are worth anything. Some well-known authors get up and write every day at 5 am. I am not one of them. This works for them, and it may not work for everyone else. Habit matters, but it’s not as simple to feel creative when a million things are happening in my world—baseball practice, lunch making, day jobs.

All creative art requires a give and take of energy, and when I’m given the space to pour into my art, the art thrives. More than anything, I hope people know that art isn’t always good. You can write 3000 words, and they can be absolute garbage, but this is part of the creative process. Pushing through the uncomfortable parts of writing helps you to get those occasional sunbreaks.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sheawestauthor.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sheawestauthor/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sheawestwriter
• Other: Threads: www.threads.net/@sheawestauthor

Image Credits

Fraya Photogrpahy
Vicky Rei Art & Illustration