Meet Ryann Belden

We were lucky to catch up with Ryann Belden recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ryann, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

From a young age my mind would craft intricate stories whenever I’d listen to music. I’d write in various notebooks and hack away at the family computer whenever an idea came to mind. At the time, I didn’t realize it wasn’t just a hobby, but a slow brewing passion. Things began to shift when I was eleven and diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, an autoimmune disorder that affects the digestive tract. As one may assume, beginning middle school with debilitating stomach pain and poop issues does wonders for self esteem and making friends. I was embarrassed of my condition and feared what others may think of me if they found out. From guttural stomach growls during silent tests and waiting agonizing minutes for the girls bathroom to clear out, I slowly withdrew from friends and all activities in school. The anxiety of it all heavily affected my mental health to where I constantly felt overwhelmed and overstimulated. Back then, I remember being so confused as to why I reacted the way I did and how I handled copious amounts of stress. Music and drawing served as my only outlet for relaxation and as a distraction from my reality focused on bowel movements and a strict, bland diet.

When Christmas came around my parents gifted me a laptop I had begged all year for so I could play Minecraft, every twelve year old’s holy grail. Considering my life at the time was devoted to achieving 4.0 grades, music, drawing, and watching my diet, the thought of spending my nights gaming sounded like another great escape from reality. Many nights were spent interacting with other players all across the globe and acting out stories with one another.

It was in this new virtual world of mine that I met my best friend Isabella, my “soul twin” as she likes to say it. We instantly clicked. Not only was she the same age as me but was also adjusting to the struggles of a new middle school. We bonded over our favorite book series, Maximum Ride, by James Patterson and became inseparable despite the long distance barrier. I found someone I could trust and not be afraid to be myself with, tummy issues and all. We spent every night for three years during middle school writing out fanfiction that eventually blossomed into our own standalone story. Somewhere along the way my body began to rebuild itself and went into remission all on its own. I look back, treasuring those nights with all my heart no matter how cheesy or corny our little fantasies were. As a kid, my writing had little to no sustenance or meaning but now it felt as though I stepped into a whole new world with her by my side. I wouldn’t trade those nights for the world for I had finally found my soul twin, and my purpose as a writer. Today, Isabella and I have both pursued a career in writing through the help of each other and the creative writing tools college has instilled in us. To this day at twenty-three, we still co-write various pieces alongside our independent work.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

In 2023 I graduated California State University San Marcos with a BA in Literature and Writing and have been an avid writer since. In my last year of college I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis, another autoimmune disease that goes hand in hand with Crohn’s disease. As much as it was a struggle to get back on my feet, I was determined to seek help. With some medication and stress management, my body has only been getting stronger. I have also picked up a passion for digital art and graphic design and am considering going back to school for an illustration degree to be a graphic novelist. In the meantime, I’ve been working on a handful of original stories (or novels). Writing has become a way for me to express myself and to tackle the difficult topics I grapple with today. Many of my works serve as an allegory for those who have disabilities such as myself, struggling to fit a societal mold and how to overcome it when you’re destined to be unique. All my life I have struggled with stress, anxiety, and a brain that functions differently than most. There have been positives and negatives in this journey affecting my writing process, which isn’t always easy, but it certainly is challenging in the best possible way. It has not only helped me discover new things about myself, but has strengthened me as a person. Some nights I sit down and the words flow right through my fingers, others are spent staring at the computer screen in doom unable to find the words and to sit still long enough to calm myself. It’s times like those I remind myself that it is through my characters that I can create the representation of others like me out there to feel seen, heard, and not feel so alone. Once I was ashamed of my condition and “weirdness” where now I hope my story can encourage others to embrace their own. Be you! Be weird!

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

First is my ambition to create a story that readers can relate to in an impactful way. I strive to invoke strong emotions in my readers and draw them into a world that can serve as their own escape from reality as other books have done for me.

Empathy has been a big variable in my life from the start of my sickness to my young adult age. I take pride in connecting with others who have felt what it’s like to feel sick on the inside and feel weird in their body apart from “the normal”. I’ve been down that path and I’m ever so thankful I had my best friend to walk it with me. We may be different and disagree often, but it is our love for eachother that gives our relationship more highs than lows. When she disagrees with me I can trust it comes from a place of love, as I know she also does with me. It’s through my stories that I hope to walk my readers down that same path to acceptance of themselves.

My favorite quality of all (and this may sound a little self absorbed) is my sense of humor. I use humor to deal with difficult topics as well as accept them and move on. It allows me to laugh in the face of judgment from all those who look down on us different (and weirdly cool) people. Besides, it’s virtually impossible to deal with a chronic illness centered around your bowels and not make poop jokes.

My advice for those early in their writing journey is that everything has already been thought of in the writing world. All that matters is how your story is told. Everything has already been done, so just do it better in your own way! I spent many nights worried my works were too similar following a similar theme or plot outline when in reality we always draw inspiration from various works. Even if your work is “too different” there is an audience out there for you. The world is huge and people love stories, someone will see yours and understand it. Another piece of advice that I encourage others that Isabella had eventually drilled into me (because I’m so stubborn) is to read as much as you can. Read the genres you wish to specialize in and study what you like about your favorite authors writing and what you don’t. The first step to writing is to be inspired, and there’s a world of inspiration out there ready for the taking.

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?

As I had touched up a little on before, my favorite book series as a growing tween was James Patterson’s Maximum Ride. I had originally taken it up as another distraction, but quickly fell in love with the characters and their found family. Not only was it my new safe space, but the catalyst for both my long term friendship and my love for the craft of writing. It was a story about finding family in close friends and combatting enemies as a team, something I yearned for eventually and found. The only difference was they were fighting external monsters whereas my monsters lurked beneath my surface. I strove to be as resilient as Max, overcoming any obstacle in my way with my own “freaky flaws.” In the end I truly found my own found family.

Image Credits

Ryann Belden