Why do you write? What purpose does writing serve for you currently?

I write because I can't stop. The longer I go without creating anything, the more insane I become.

How do you usually start a poem, story, etc?

Having new experiences, meeting new people, but mostly when I'm riding the train, listening to music letting my mind wander. A line comes to me, or an image and I write it down and slowly spin something interesting out of it. Or sometimes it just hangs out in one of my 10,000 notebooks until one day I stumble upon it again and make it into something new.

How do you know when a piece is finished?

I'll edit it and rewrite it 5 or 6 times until I'm tired of looking at it. Either that or I'll have someone read it and somehow their eyes make it more real and solid and I don't want to touch it anymore.

What writers/artists are influencing you right now?

I've never been one to read many poets (Neruda is the only one I've read an extensive amount about) but I read fiction like it's going out of style. My favorite writers right now are Haruki Murakami, Sarah Waters, Andre Dubus III, and Chuck Palaniuk.

What do you want people to know about your work?

It's mostly fictional. People assume that the poems you write are about your personal experience but I hate writing about me. I think I have maybe 3 or 4 poems that are written from my voice. What I try to do is put myself in someone else's shoes, a scenario I've never been in and write from there. It's personal for me because it's something I've come up with, but for most part the experiences are not my own.

What question do you wish I asked you?

No idea. I hate writing about myself so I'm kind of glad there aren't any more questions. Read my poems!

View Rayna's Works Here