Book Worm & Writer: Eri
The Art of Reading and Writing With Eri
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing a former collegiate colleague, Eri, a writer, blogger, and book nerd. Our conversation was indeed a breathtaking and inspiring one. For a bit of background: Eri is currently a senior majoring in film & video production and is a creative writing minor at the University of West Georgia. Eri gravitates more to her creative writing minor; however, she is open to sitting in the writer's and staffing room for films and television production. Writing is an intricate art form to her because it allows her to cope, reflect, and introduce others into her world. Some topics that matter most to her are mental health, physical health, and sexuality. Her love for books played a significant role in allowing her to become the writer she is today.
On Eri's Instagram page, one can become fascinated by her book collection!
" Reading books takes her into worlds she wishes could be her reality. Her favorite genre is fantasy, and her least favorite is horror, especially supernatural horror. Being in school can sometimes make it hard for her to take adequate time to read as she would like; however, e-books help her get a book in while she is at work or in between other tasks.
The next question was, "What would you suggest to those who would like to start reading or reading more but do not know where to start?" She suggested that someone start off small, like reading a poetry book, graphic novels, comics, online stores (outlets like Wattpad or blogs), and plays, then work themselves up to more extensive chapter books. One thing that she highly discourages is buying super-hyped books starting off. Although New York Best Times sellers say it is incredible, and the bookstore has flashy signage showcasing the book, it can be intimidating to read once you do not make time to read it or see how big the book is.
Books are cool….but I am Writer
Eri utilizes her blog to create short stories, poems, short shorts, personal essays, and script excerpts. As a writer, she expressed that it is essential to use your voice to give constructive feedback to other writers and be able to receive feedback where you see best fits to progress in your own writing. Re-writing is necessary because it allows one's work to evolve. She admires writer and producer Ava Duvernay because she is a woman who wears many hats, her work is impressive, and she is considered an underdog, which is never wrong. In addition, we touched on the common difficulties that many writers may face, which is staying disciplined in creating consistent content.
She states that there may be periods when she may use cleaning her space or television series as an excuse to procrastinate and not write at times. She prefers to be in an excellent mindset to put her best work out. If she is not in the best mind space and still needs to push herself to write, she leaves the house to keep herself motivated and accountable to get the work done. Overall, traveling, whether going to a different town in your state, can generate some of the best ideas for a story. "The tired old saying is write what you know, but I think it should be changed to write what you want to know," she explains. She also adds that many writers should research, get out, and experience things they would like to write about because adding your own spin to it [leaves] a more significant impact on other people. Her advice to upcoming writers who need help finding their gist in writing would be to start journaling and reading, which correlates well with writing, and going out and conversing with people. Simple conversations generate great ideas.
