Meet Serayah Silver

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Serayah Silver. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Serayah , really appreciate you joining us to talk about a really relevant, albeit unfortunate topic – layoffs and getting fired. Can you talk to us about your experience and how you overcame being let go?

Funny you should ask that question; getting fired was one of the best things that happened to my creative career. I had been working in food service, particularly coffee shops and bars, for over ten years. It was quick, somewhat steady income, and under capitalism, what more could you want? Still, it was the kind of work that drained me socially, mentally, and creatively.
There were, and almost always are, racial elements at play as well. Black people working in the service industry know how White people act when they see you behind the counter. I think for (some of) them, they get a flash back of what some have called “the good ol’ days”.

Anyway, I remember being so burnt out, telling myself when I got three paying clients, I would feel secure enough to quit that job and do the work I’ve been called to do full time. Around the time I got my second client, I was fired out of nowhere for “being racist” (irony of ironies).

Instead (or rather in the midst) of spiraling out, wondering what I would do next, I was blessed with a life long lesson. When you pray for change, be prepared for it to come. Being fired from a job that was tolerable at best, ended up being the stoke in the fire I needed to fully focus on my creative endeavors.

I realized I was using that job as an excuse not to follow my dreams. There was a part of me still clinging to the ideals of capitalism, a part of me that didn’t believe in my ability to make a living doing what I actually wanted to do. Nothing stifles a dream faster than disbelief in the possibility of its becoming. That self doubt had to be dealt with somehow, and while it would have been cute to learn my lesson without a proverbial slap in the face, I know everything happens for my highest good.
That experience became a milestone for me, the final test in the lesson I’ve been learning since grad school; believe in yourself and watch the dream grow. Sometimes the rug being pulled out from under you is actually alignment inviting you back onto your divine path.

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 am an Artist; Writer, Dramaturg, Editor, Painter, Facilitator, and Consultant. My professional focus is guiding Black, Queer, Southern writers to and through the truth of their stories. I serve as excavator, first witness to the worlds we are building. My joy and my job is to inhabit a newly written world, have a look around and ask generative questions. From there, I work with these Artists to break through creative blocks, reveal character traits, untie knots, and fill plot holes.

As a writer in my own rite, I am interested in social unveiling. I tend to write about the monsters we create with our inability to look at ourselves and or each other. A monster, in my stories, is simply one who brings our attention to a point we have been overlooking or actively ignoring. My characters are always Black, Queer, Southerners, ordinary people living extraordinary lives, finding and dealing with the magic that exists at the intersection of these identities.
I believe Art is a form of collaborative magic. Whether I am hired as a reader, consultant, screenwriter, or editor, my passion is for story, my craft is a practice. My purpose is to invite and encourage Black, Queer, Southern writers to find and hone their creative voices, keep telling their stories and always remember that the worlds we are building are necessary for our survival.

As far as most recent projects are concerned; a film I wrote about Frances Thompson, the first Black Trans woman to testify before congress called Under False Colors is doing the festival circuit and just recently, one of my flash fiction short stories was published Neon Oragami.

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?

1. Believe in the possibility of a dream becoming reality.
2. Do the work, knowing that the first draft is just as important, if not more so, than the last.
3. Great Art does not occur in a vacuum. Art is a conversation, so be prepared to ask, listen and speak.

For me, it took a while to believe I could live the life of my dreams. Capitalism says, “work until you die”, but I wanted a practice of work that would keep me alive. We all have dreams of what we can be as children, and along the way that dream is either confirmed or denied. Some of us feel we have been denied, but the dream stays alive inside us, spilling out wherever it finds a place to expand and grow. Believing your dream is possible is the first step to actually seeing it in your reality. There must be a persistent, almost delusional, aspect to this belief in order to hold on to it when the rest of the world says it is impossible.
My advice to keep the dream alive, is to act like it is already so. Foster your dream in small ways at first. Write down how the ideal day would go as someone who is living your dream. How would they dress, what would they eat? How would they answer the question, “what do you do for a living?” Speak in the present tense. This will free you to follow the thread of desire, without expectation. Do what you want to do, instead of what you’re told. Your intuition knows the way. You just have to train yourself to believe the place you want to go actually exists and is waiting for you to arrive.

Allow yourself to try and fail. Allow yourself the grace to create something that isn’t quite as good as you know you can be. Remove the editor from your brain (that’s my job anyway) and let the creation of the thing be enough for a while. It doesn’t have to be pretty at first. In fact, it might not be, but let the work be what it is so that you can come back to it and turn it in to what it can be. Perfectionism kills creativity. Let the work be wonky. Wonky work is better than no work at all.

Finally, be brave enough to talk about your work as if it matters. Talk to trusted others about what you’re thinking, what you’re dreaming, what you’re in the midst of creating. Seek out those who are already doing what you want to do. Read their writing, go to their exhibits. When you feel confident enough to do so, ask them for advice. “What would you do if you were in my position? When you were in my position, how did you feel, and what have you learned?” Art is a conversation; with self, other, with future and past. It is so easy when you’re first starting out to want to hide and hoard your work away from others. “It isn’t there yet. I’m not ready.” but what if your being “there” is on the other side of a conversation? What if that something your story, your painting, your sculpture needs is in a film, a lecture or a titled head question from a friend?
Resist perfectionism. Resist conformity and comparison. See other Artists as potential collaborators, as speakers in an on going conversation. Your perspective is your own. Your voice is your own. No one can say, be or do it quite like you can. That is your Art. That is your reason, and that is enough. At least at first.

Tell us what your ideal client would be like?

My ideal client is someone who is in the midst of writing a story they could not help but create. The story that keeps them up at night, the one they keep coming back to over and over again. My ideal client is a writer, director, actor or performance artist who feels their work needs another pair of eyes, hands, or a bit more context. My ideal client wants what’s best for the world of their story.

My clients have ranged from poets, to playwrights, from novelists to nonfiction essayists and journalists. My ideal client is someone who is ready to put their story into conversation with others in order to fully flesh out or polish the work.
The world wants your work, and I want to co-create with you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://serayahsilver.com
• Instagram: king_katalyst_