Meet Audrey Emmett

By Kelly Schwint

Growing up with her nose always in a book, Audrey Emmett considers herself a writer, but more importantly, an artist above everything else. She’s been writing poetry since she was 13 and even self-published her first book at 17. Since expanding her audience in the past year, she’s been posting consistently on her Instagram account @Audrey_Emmett . Incorporating visual art such as photography and graphic design into her poetry, Emmett never fails to urge originality in her art. In this interview, Audrey Emmett talks about her writing process, self-publishing, and how being vulnerable is her main message through her art.

Tell our readers a little bit about yourself.

AE: My name is Audrey Emmett, and I’m a writer, poet, and student. I live in Chicago, Illinois, but I’m originally from the Bay Area, California. I’m 20 years old, and I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember, but I started writing poetry when I was 13.

What is your writing process usually like? Where does inspiration spark for you?

AE: I used to be very inconsistent in my writing process. I thought I could only write pieces I was proud of when inspiration hit me, so I would just kind of wait for that. Since quarantine, I’ve been trying to be more consistent. Sitting down at some point during the day, no matter when that is, to write something, whether it’s a line or an entire poem. I just find that when I create out of habit, rather than when I’m just feeling inspired, I can write things that I’m proud of much more frequently. Where does inspiration strike? So many places. I follow so many writers that are just amazing. I actually find that music inspires me a ton, like lyrics, melodies, even production, just is really inspiring. I like to listen to music when I’m writing. Then watching interviews with other creators that I admire. That always really inspires me.

How did you develop your writing process? How did you find that that works best for you?

AE: I had always heard that it’s like, if you want to grow as a writer, just start writing every day, but it was always really hard for me to find that consistency even when I wasn’t feeling inspired. I would write something that I didn’t like, I would just get kind of frustrated and give up. I find that if you push through that and just start doing it just out of habit, you might write stuff that is no good, but the good stuff comes more frequently in that sense.

Do you think your work comes out better when you’re inspired through a spark, or when you’re forcing it, or it’s kind of the same?

AE: I think I’ve gotten to this point where I can kind of find a force inspiration even if I’m not feeling inspired. I will do something that makes me feel inspired, so I will listen to music, I will read other writers’ work that I admire, I’ll watch interviews. I’ll just be like, “Okay, now I’m feeling inspired” and I can do it. However, you can’t recreate those sparks of inspiration.

You mentioned in an Instagram video you started working on your first book when you were in eighth grade. How have the contents and themes of your poetry progress since then?

AE: So when I was in eighth grade, I obviously didn't have a lot of life experience to draw from, so a lot of my work was fictional and that was really fun. I still love writing fiction, but now as I’ve grown up a little bit and I’ve had more experience in life and in love, good and bad, I find that in my work now, I’m able to be a little bit more vulnerable and share and draw more from my own life experience. That definitely influenced my writing.

How was the experience of writing your second book changed since writing your first book?

AE: So for my first book, I think I didn’t really have an intention of writing a book. Being a writer was a dream of mine since I was younger, but I always just assumed that I would write novels or something. Poetry kind of snuck up on me, took me by surprise, and how much I love to read and write it. The intention of writing a book was never really there until my followers started asking for one, and then I thought, “Oh, okay, this could be definitely something I could do.” My first book was definitely more of an anthology or a collection of just poems I had written up until that point. My second book, it’s more of a narrative. [While writing] I was thinking, with each piece that I wrote, I was thinking, okay, how does this fit into the book as a whole, and how does this fit into the story I’m trying to tell?

So you would say it’s a lot more of a story? Are there arcs and climaxes in the story?

AE: Yeah. So with my second book, I was, I tell the story of three different relationships that I went through and it all kind of centers around one theme, whereas the first book was definitely more of just like an anthology or collection.

What was the experience like of self-publishing your first book, and would you recommend others do that for their first book?

AE: I always tell people that are trying to self-publish that it’s just such a trial and error process. There were months on end that I was having to make these tiny, little adjustments to both the poetry and the formatting and the visual contents to get it to a place where I was satisfied with it. That was a little bit frustrating, but overall, it was just so much fun. It was such a gratifying experience. It really made me appreciate the work that goes into not only writing a book but then the work that goes into publishing and marketing a book as well. I really also liked that I had complete and utter creative control because whereas if you do traditional publishing, you’re going to have people looking over your shoulder. I really liked that the final product felt very me.

What is your experience like having a platform for your art? Does it give you more confidence or does it make you nervous?

AE: That’s a great question. I’ve had my platform since I started writing poetry. Those two things began at the same time. About six years now I think, but I only really started posting consistently and noticed that my platform started growing pretty steadily in 2020 when I started writing every day and posting every day. My experience having a platform has been truly so amazing. It’s given me the ability to connect with other writers that I never would’ve had a chance to connect with otherwise. Then my audience is just, I don’t know how I lucked out. They’re just the most kind and every single message I receive and every single comment that people leave makes my day every single day. It’s so humbling. Yeah, it’s awesome. I really like including very intimate

and specific details in my writing, so sometimes it does make me nervous to share those things with so many people and with people in my real life. If it’s a piece or line that I feel like a lot of people connect with, I definitely am excited to post it.

Do you think that having a platform impacts what you write about or how your writing is? Do you find you try to people please in your writing?

AE: Yeah, that’s definitely a fine line. I know that shorter pieces, rather than a longer poem, it’s definitely more consumable, more shareable, more saveable, and definitely get more engagement. It can be tempting to posts things that I know will perform better, but I also love posting the longer ones even if they don’t perform as well. I feel like that’s more for me.

You’re working on a second poetry book, however, do you have any plans for professionally creating other art forms?

AE: Yeah. Honestly, before quarantine, I didn’t really consider myself a visual artist whatsoever, but as I started to incorporate more graphic design and photography into my writing, I find that keeps me really inspired. It’s just cool to flex my creative muscles in different ways, so in the future, I would definitely like to incorporate those elements into a book.

What do you study in college? I never asked that.

AE: I’m actually studying psychology. I decided to go a different route. I knew if I was studying writing and also doing writing so much in my personal life, I feel like I would just get burnt out. I really wanted to avoid that, and I really enjoy psychology, too. I definitely in the future for a career would ideally like to incorporate those two things, incorporate writing and psychology in my career.

Is there any specific message, theme, feeling, or something else you want your audience to take away from your art?

AE: The message or feeling that I would want my audience to take away is just to not be afraid of being vulnerable. With every piece that I write, I try to make it an immersive and intimate experience for the reader. I want them to feel like it’s just me and them when they’re reading.

What do you think the most valuable thing art can do?

AE: I think the most valuable thing art can do would just be to make people feel less alone. It’s such an amazing thing that we’re all able to connect over and to feel like you and your feelings are validated in a piece of art and that you feel understood. That’s the coolest thing art can do.

Although success can be measured in numerous ways, usually in numbers, how would you say you measure success?

AE: Yeah, it’s so easy to get caught up in the numbers, especially in social media. Especially because that’s such a tangible way to measure success, popularity, and all that. I feel the most successful when I get messages or DMs with people saying that they feel connected to my work or that my work helps them feel less alone in any way. That makes me feel more successful than thousands of followers would.

My last question is do you have any advice for anyone who wants to publish a book or anyone who’s kind of getting into writing, especially poetry?

AE: Yeah. I think nowadays it is so based on your social media presence. If anybody wants to start writing poetry or anyone who wants to publish a book eventually, my advice is just to not wait and just start. Just start making accounts, start posting, do it every single day, and just be consistent and engage with your audience. To me, there’s really no downside to that. You’re going to be helping not only yourself but other people too. It’s just such an amazing thing. Social media has, you know, a lot of downsides, but I think art on social media has no downsides.

Thank you so much to Audrey Emmett for taking the time to answer these questions!

Check out her Instagram: @Audrey_Emmett Buy her book on Amazon: Everything at Once