Katie Lynn Johnston
Oyster River Pages: Why do you write and/or create?
Katie Lynn Johnston: Writing is something I've always done, but as a very introverted child I found it was one of the best ways to commute. You can show so much through writing—fiction especially in my experience—and not only does it allow you to connect with others and share thoughts and feelings, but it also helps you to discover more about yourself. I write to learn, to share, to experience, but mostly I write because I feel, very deeply, that it is the only thing I've ever wanted to do with my life.
ORP: What is the most challenging aspect of your artistic process?
KLJ: I think the most challenging part of my process is actually sitting down to write. Writers and artists as a group are, in my experience, the sort of people who get most stuck in their heads—wondering whether something is good enough, if they're good enough, or if their work is deserving of any attention at all. Sometimes I'll get in ruts wondering if the last story I've written will be the last one I ever write that's even half-way decent. I'll go back to old pieces and think "Oh, this was so good—why can't I just do that again?" But I have to remind myself that inspiration comes and goes—and, at the end of the day, I write for myself, not for opinions or praise.
ORP: What do you think is the best way to improve writing and/or artistic skills?
KLJ: To observe is one of the best ways I have found to improve my writing. Not only does reading other people's work inspire me, but deeply examining it shows me ways of writing I may have never thought of before, styles I never would have written in myself, or new things I can try out on my own. It is true that practice makes perfect, but observing others who have practiced their craft helps just as much.
ORP: What does vulnerability mean to you as an artist and/or writer?
KLJ: I see vulnerability in art or writing as bravery. It is one thing to confide, but quite another to take a story, a traumatic or important moment in your life, and examine it, over and over and over again and turn it into something new, something you can share with the whole world if you wanted to. Vulnerability and writing/art go hand in hand in my book, and I think one deeply affects the other and how we come to understand the final product of a story or other piece of writing/art.
