Emily Sierra
Interviewed by Peggy Jackson
27 February 2021
NJCU Alumna
& Writer
Emily Sierra is an NJCU alum with a bachelor’s degree in English and Creative Writing. They specialize in fiction and memoir/personal essay, and is invested in blurring the lines between genres in their writing. During their time at NJCU, they were a co-editor of Paths Literary Journal, worked as a writing tutor at the Hub, and in addition to reading at multiple events, has co-hosted many as well. They completed both an honors thesis in fiction and a senior capstone in memoir.
What does a typical day of writing look like for you? What is your process, schedule, ritual(s), and/or habit(s)?
E.S: I’ve found that my writing flourishes most when I don’t force it. Yes, I have a word count goal I aim for everyday; I keep it at 100 words to keep it manageable, not daunting, but still rewarding. However, I write whatever calls to me in the moment. When I focus on only one project, I can become overwhelmed or over critical of myself. Having several small projects not only keeps my writing fresh, as I tend to play around with style for every piece, but one project tends to influence another. I either write in the early morning when I wake up or when I’m alone at night; there’s probably a scientific explaination why that is, but it just feels right to me. I try to sit at my desk and ensure my environment is clean (clean space = less cluttered brain), but there are definitely times when I’ll be in bed and use my phone instead (though I always edit on my desktop).
How do you create a safe writing environment and mindset to help cultivate your creativity?
E.S: Like many writers who incorporate “the self” into their work, I deal a lot with trauma in my writing. In both my fiction and memoir work, I gravitate towards the stories that our physical bodies collect. While this has produced some powerful work, it can also be mentally exhausting. When writing such material, I have to make sure I am really grounding myself and not re-triggering myself. I meditate often to help me do this. I also talk to myself a lot while writing, verbally checking in with myself helps me assess my mental state.
Specifically, when I worked on my capstone project about my father dying, I had to listen and really hear what my body needed. I wrote primarily at night when I was alone and could freely express myself. If I needed to cry while writing through a painful scene, I cried. I cried a lot. If I needed to stop, I stopped. If I needed to keep going, I would write until I felt satisfied. I would then let the writing sit for days and only revisit once I felt ready to read not from an emotional place but from a critical perspective. I was lucky to have moved in with my partner around this time; he is, besides my life partner, my writing partner, which gave me a special environment to write in. He knows when I need to be alone and when to check in. He can also review my work from an editorial perspective.
Are there any common themes or techniques you find yourself returning to in writing? And how do they transform in different pieces?
E.S: As I stated, I deal a lot with trauma in my writing. My thesis centered around womanhood and the complexities of navigating life while being a woman. I write a lot about bodies, how they change, how they’re cherished, how they’re abused and how they carry that abuse. Sex is also a topic I often write about; I focus on the absurdities surrounding sex and arousal. I believe one of the professors on my thesis defense panel described it as “grotesque,” which was a major compliment for me!
In terms of technique, I love a good list and I love some good repetition. I have to be careful not to go overboard though, as it can easily be overdone or come off as cheesy or too try-hard. While I don’t typically write in the first-person, besides memoir, I find that each completed piece has a distinct narrator. It isn’t necessarily my voice or a character’s voice but a distortion between the two. Because of that, I find that while my short stories work well together, they tend not to read the same. But I enjoy the individuality and uniqueness of each piece.
As an NJCU alumni, what do you recommend undergrad students do to prepare for life post-college?
E.S: This shouldn’t be surprising: make lists! I am not one of those people who scream “Stay productive! Always be doing something! Work, work, work! Grind, grind, grind!” As someone who graduated at the peak of the pandemic, I was extremely overwhelmed and paralyzed with the notion that I was not doing enough. I didn't instantly land the career that I wanted. I wasn’t getting published in the journals I was sending my work to. I couldn’t even think of applying to graduate school. I still haven’t done those things. I felt like I had somehow wasted four years of my life and that I was letting down my mother, my professors, my peers, and myself. I had to do some serious self-reflection and had to have some long talks about managing my expectations of what post-grad life would look like for us now.
I found that by writing out lists of things I wanted to do or needed to do, that the tasks somehow looked more manageable. That they weren’t these scary, all encompassing monsters that watched me at the foot of my bed at night. I had to come to terms with the fact that the things I wanted to do immediately after graduating would have to be put on hold for the time being. And I had to accept that it wasn’t a bad thing. I have lists for my daily tasks and I have lists for things to keep in mind for the future.
The power of checking them off, of the physical acknowledgement of “Hey you did it! You did the thing!”, is my favorite way to end a long day. And even if you don’t do everything you want to do in a day or in a year, there’s still something to be praised for trying. For surviving and for living, especially now of all times. My biggest advice is to be kind to yourself and be proud of your achievements, no matter how “small” other people may see them as being.
Where can our readers keep up or check out more of your writing?
E.S: I have a writing Instagram account called “@sierra_writes” and I hope to be published in other journals soon. My AO3 account is absolutely classified information, sorry!
And of course, you can find me in HYPE literary magazine as well!
