the craft. the beauty of creativity.
Pardon me while I wax poetic a bit in this edition of the newsletter, but I guess I’m feeling a little sappy about the privilege of creativity. It’s not one many get to take part in. The daily struggle of “capitalism doesn’t care about your creativity,” has many of us stuck in a mode of survival. Making lunches, going to extra-curricular activities, meetings, working, caretaking, and otherwise doing our best to stay afloat. To be able to carve out the time, to be able to quiet the noise that says, “there’s more ‘serious’ things to do with your time,” is a superpower.
Nothing is easy about this journey. Many of the friends I went to college with who also had an interest in writing or journalism, do something completely different now. Whether they enjoy it or not, that’s life. Many of us don’t necessarily go into the fields that we decided on at the tender age of 18. However, I realize there is beauty in still being here. After so much writing for free. After so many pivots in the industry, I’m building a career young me would be proud of.
I started out writing music during college and heavily pursuing a career in that. I had the opportunity to work with GRAMMY-nominated producers and even had an artist shoot a whole video to one of the songs I wrote. It was promising until it wasn’t. Until I realized that the industry was changing and I would have to learn so much more about my voice and music theory to be the best to stand out in an extremely competitive industry.
Somewhere around 2013, I started a blog only because I’ve always had a lot to say and I needed somewhere to put it. I wasn’t being paid the big bucks or anything, just writing what I thought and building a community.
Eventually, I got a contract to write about local music pretty regularly and I thought, if I can only write enough to cover my car note, I’ll be in a good place. I may have been being paid about $35 or $40 per article. But I knew I could write up to 10 pieces in a month, and so I hustled to make that car note.
The list goes on of moments in my journey to right now, and if you’ve been around you know parts of the story already. My point here is, it has taken much perseverance, much mental toughness, and much relentless faith to keep believing that there was value in my words. So to be here, to be living in the manifestation of the things I hoped to do, well, it makes me want to shed a single thug tear.
Here’s the thing about creativity, you literally start with nothing. No tangible thing. Only an idea. A seed. Then, you water that thing. You cultivate it. You study. You add a humidifier. Maybe a light to keep it warm and when you least expect it, when you’ve stopped watching the seed in anticipation, all of a sudden, there’s a bulb. And it’s tiny and barely there, but you know, you know that if this tiny bulb can poke through the dirt, that more is possible. So, you keep going and then after some time passes, there’s a new leaf and another and another.
Most recently, I put out an original song in support of my debut novel and it’s a song my husband and I wrote thirteen years ago before we ever knew who we would become to one another. Thirteen years later, I am still manifesting the dream of creating and releasing music. And it may not look the way I thought, getting a song placed with one of the top artists in the world and charting on Billboard and winning GRAMMYs but friends, it is happening. An idea that started from nothing. From the original beat my husband dreamed up, to writing lyrics that talk about being aimlessly in love with someone, so much so that you watch them when they sleep to a major publishing deal and releasing a debut novel.
I come from Philadelphia and it makes me emotional, honestly, as I write this. My life could have gone one million different ways but God saw it fit for me to be on this path, to see more places than I could have imagined, to meet more people than I ever could have conceived, to create things from nothing into something. What a privilege. I get to be creative and still be able to eat, keep a roof over my head, and find joy even in a world that keeps us in a continuous state of grief.
Let your gratitude be the reason you show up to the work because it’s an honor to be here. To have the capacity to create and be in your right mind, and good health (even if everything’s not perfect, you opened your eyes today if you’re reading this).
Anyway, thank you, for just allowing me to share my heart in this one.
You’ll notice a few retreat applications are open. Apply. Even if you’re unsure, apply. Even if you tried before and didn’t get it, apply. Even if you are telling yourself you’re not ready yet, apply. Stop telling yourself no before anyone else has a chance to. I offer this with love. <3
FIYAH is accepting submissions, a quarterly speculative fiction magazine that features stories by and about Black people of the African Diaspora. This definition is globally inclusive (Black anywhere in the world) and also applies to mixed/biracial and Afro-appended people regardless of gender identity or orientation. (Deadline: Jan. 31)
If you are a serious-minded, committed writer with a solid grounding in the fundamentals of fictional craft, you should consider applying to become a Kimbilio Fellow in New Mexico. July 21-27th. Applications are now open. (Deadline: March 15th.) https://kimbiliofiction.com/application-season-page/
Torch Literary Arts retreat, applications open Feb. 5th. Get your materials prepared. Torch Literary Arts welcomes applications from Black women writers with works in progress across poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction (memoir or lyric essays), and script (plays or screenplays).https://www.torchliteraryarts.org/retreat
Zenith Cooperative is accepting applications for their mentorship program. Mentors will also be available to answer general questions about pitching, finding a beat, making connections with editors, and other elements of writing and the journalism industry. (Deadline: Feb. 6)
Jenny Zhang is open to pitches for TV, Culture. Read slate's pitch guide first https://slate.com/pitch. Email jenny.zhang@slate.com (rates start at $350)
A Public Space is accepting submissions for their Editorial Fellowship. (Deadline: Feb. 15)
