We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Arianna Urban a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Arianna, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?
Take breaks. It sounds extremely counterintuitive and I know there are probably people who will read this and go, “yeah right,” but it’s true. I have always been of the mindset that I don’t force my writing. If something comes to me then I sit down and write it, if I get to the point where it’s not flowing anymore, then I come back to it later. You can also always find a new perspective if you start to get too overwhelmed, or doubt where you are in your process, after you take a step back. I also read a lot, which is like writer 101, any writer will tell you that the best way to hone your craft is to read.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I write! I got my start with a magazine called UWeekly, as a weekly columnist writing about s*x, love, and relationships in college, my column was called From Ruby With Love. Writing under the pseudonym Ruby helped to protect everyone’s identity because I was not shy about writing about everyone I knew. I branched out of my column and my favorite assignments were always the concert reviews. I love music, it’s a huge part of my creative process to include music and I draw a lot of inspiration from it as well. I always believe in writing genuinely so if something didn’t live up to its hype I didn’t write a lot of fluff. I have also written about restaurants and covered fashion shows. I finally ended up changing my major in college to creative writing and graduated with my BFA in 2019. Since then I have self-published two poetry collections, one is called Feeling Out Loud, and the other is When I Believed in Love. Feeling out Loud is chapbook length and it was a passion project during the pandemic to see how the process worked and to stop myself from going insane. When I Believed in Love is actually a short story supported by poetry and probably the thing that I am most proud of, it’s currently available at any online book retailer. My next book is called Fragments and it’s essentially all the bits and pieces of thoughts that seem to always be tumbling around my head that maybe never made sense. I have recently jumped back into social media and growing my instagram following as well, so come find me on the internet and say hi!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Make the time for your art, whatever it is. If you’re a writer and you don’t know where to start, make a list, journal, write down anything and everything that comes to mind until there’s nothing left. Then sit down and write some more. If you don’t make time for the things that you are passionate about, they get lost in the noise, and everything dims. What I have found to be the most impactful for my journey is surrounding myself with support, moving forward even when I’m scared, and staying organized. I wouldn’t have the courage to shout my feelings at the world if it weren’t for the people in my life that challenge me to do it. Imposter syndrome will come, feeling like what you are doing is not good enough will pass, try to silence the voice that says you aren’t enough. Even if one thing I write impacts someone and makes them feel less alone, then I’ve succeeded. My advice is to join others in your community with the same big dreams and goals, that will lift you up when you fail and hold your hand when you try again.
Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
I am a single mother, who is neurodivergent and works 40+ hours a week at a job that pays my bills. Time is a huge hurdle for me. Making time to focus on myself and my writing can be challenging and at times I will sacrifice sleep just to read a single chapter, or edit something. Throwing the neurodivergent wrench into everything can oftentimes leave me feeling very defeated. There are days when I feel bad without knowing why or for how long it will last, this drains me of energy. I am still working to develop better strategies to move through these moments.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://aeurbanwrites.wixsite.com/thetypewriterdiary
- Instagram: aeurbanwrites
Image Credits
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