Member Spotlight: Emily Perkovich

Why is writing important to you and why do you think it’s an important medium for the world? There are innumerable answers to this in the vein of thought that recorded history is what keeps humanity from repeating mistakes and allows us to celebrate wins. For me personally, it is important to help other feel less alone and to de-stigmatize topics that are difficult to talk about because of society’s lack of knowledge surrounding them.

What are your tried and tested remedies to cure writer’s block? I don’t think that I get writer’s block. I sometimes need to leave one work alone and move on to another, but I prefer to let my emotions and thoughts lead me to writing rather than forcing the words.

What is your favorite time to write? Writing most readily comes to me in the late evening or early morning and on long car drives.

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received and would like to impart to other writers? Learn to take criticism. Obviously not all of it will be constructive, but I think that creatives get stuck inside their head and forget that just because something makes sense to them or is obvious or works, does not mean that it is going to speak to your audience. If someone tells me they aren’t getting something, then it is worth exploring whether that is a ubiquitous opinion and how I can make the writing work the way I need it to.

What excites you most about being a writer in today’s age? The possibility of a larger audience.

Emily Perkovich’s baby, sweetheart, honey is out now with ‎Alien Buddha Press.