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

Tyler, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

It can’t be said enough that if you want to write, you need to read. The more you read, the more you build your toolkit. You get drawn to imagery and plot structure and you start to pick up on what authors did to build those moments. The other biggest way I learned, was just to start writing. For anyone who wants to be a writer, there isn’t a magic moment to begin. People often wait to learn more, read more, and delay starting because they feel writing before they’re ready would waste time. Right now, sit down, and start writing. Any amount of time physically writing is no waste of time. When you start, know you’re going to make far more mistakes than successes. You’re going to be frustrated. You’re going to come across more moments than you can count when you’re not sure how to proceed, but those are the best moments. That’s where you learn what you know and what you don’t. I’ll never forget this one day I spent about 10 hours writing and at the end had 0 words to show for it. Someone asked me if there was something I could do better to not have another day wasted, but I told them it was anything but a wasted day. I had 10 hours worth of material that I knew I didn’t want included. That’s just as precious as what lands on the page.

If you’re looking for more tangible tips and advice to build your writing toolkit, these resources were all pivotal to helping me get started:

1. Characters and Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card
2. On Writing and Worldbuilding by Timothy Hickson
3. Brandon Sanderson’s online lecture series (available on YouTube)

Tyler, 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?

I grew up in Savannah, Georgia. I remember wanting to be a writer but being terrified to show it. I later fell in love with medicine but didn’t know if I could ever get into medical school. Years later, I’ve written my first book, and I am soon to become a physician.

I grew up writing little movie scripts and short stories, finished my first book outline as a junior, but I didn’t show a soul. Writing then was an escape, and I was terrified to bring others in. What if they found the whole thing laughable? In their defense, it was, but you’ve got to start somewhere, right?

At the same time, I was a patient jumping around different research clinics for the better part of my childhood, which gave me great exposure to that side of the medical curtain. It wasn’t until I worked with physicians and saw the other side of that curtain that I found my place. Medicine would allow me to work hands-on with people through their most difficult days and create a lasting impact in their lives. I could also bring my experience as a long-time patient to help empathize with patients and their struggles.

During medical school, in the height of the pandemic, I finally found a story I felt was worth sharing. I was quarantined in a room with no windows, and my mental health declined quickly. I remember having these vivid daydreams, and an image appeared of a boy constantly jumping in and out of reality. My time running a Free Mental Health Clinic, my work in Pediatrics, and a dash of my own battles helped shape the boy’s story. Life in the pandemic was synonymous with isolation. We can’t go through life alone, yet the pandemic did everything in its power to make us all believe we had to. I wanted to translate that to a vulnerable high school student overcoming trauma while highlighting key issues of youth mental illness today (social media, peer pressures, anxiety/depression). In my opinion, children are the most vulnerable members of our society, and they’re surrounded by pressures very few of us can even fathom. Freeze Frame was made to highlight how everyone lives out their own trauma uniquely and to encourage us all to ask for help when we need it.

Today, I am currently interviewing for residency positions in Pediatrics while readying my next series for publishers. I’m also excited to say my first novel, Freeze Frame, is currently being adapted into a television series! For a while, I thought I would have to pick between a life in medicine and a life in creativity, but I know now I couldn’t do one or the other. I want to be a Pediatrician who writes children’s and young adult fiction, and I hope in doing so that others torn between two passions will take the leap and pursue their passions too.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Part of the reason I wanted to work in Pediatrics is because children are our most vulnerable population who often can’t advocate for themselves. Also, while adults tend to look at the world in a fixed manner, children see everything as possible, which is such a gift. They are our ultimate writers because they have the imagination to write stories they simultaneously live out. It’s precious. It’s what I love about writing stories for them. I get to share their unique struggles with a world that doesn’t understand what they go through, and I get to help preserve their magic along the way.

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?

I think it’s hard for non-creatives to understand why creatives can’t turn off their crafts. It’s not like other work that can be confined by strict hours or certain stages in life. It’s constant. Creativity is always on our minds, and the smallest things we see can inspire the most powerful creations. You can be getting ready for bed, the lights turn off, and suddenly a thought appears that you have to expolore. When you really give into your creativity, it fundamentally shifts the way you view the world, and you can’t go back. It would be like throwing a tennis ball for a dog and immediately asking them not to go after it. Don’t get me wrong, when I’m working with patients or studying medicine, I’m focused on the work in front of me. I do think being creative helps me be a better provider, though, because it drives me to be more observant and better understand the people I meet. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about storytelling. In medicine, you constantly meet new people, witness their stories and struggles, see rises and falls from different circumstances…how do you not get inspired by that?

Contact Info:

• Website: www.tyler-beauchamp.com
• Instagram: @_tylerbeauchamp or https://www.instagram.com/_tylerbeauchamp/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyler-beauchamp-a6b5b7119/
• Twitter: @_tylerbeauchamp or https://twitter.com/_tylerbeauchamp