Amanda C., the creative mind behind Skin & Thoughts, found her passion for poetry during her university days in Hong Kong, where a simple class assignment reignited her love for writing. From doodles and micropoetry on Instagram to self-publishing six poetry collections and two novels, Amanda's journey is a testament to the power of creativity and perseverance. Despite facing challenges like self-doubt and navigating the world of self-publishing, Amanda has embraced her unique voice and continues to inspire others with her raw, heartfelt words. Her story is a beautiful reminder that pursuing your creative passions, even in the face of uncertainty, can lead to incredible personal and professional growth.
What inspired you to start your poetry project, Skin & Thoughts?
1. The inspiration for my poetry project Skin & Thoughts came during my second year at university in Hong Kong. I took a Communications class where we were asked to create poetry for class. I realized I had a knack for writing poems and I also rekindled my love for writing poetry. I loved to doodle, so I made an Instagram account to post doodles and micropoetry. An example is in the image titled Original S&T project. I wanted to share my poetry with the world, and what better way than to use social media as a bridge between my work and my potential audience? Initially, I focused solely on the act of creation. I would spend hours making doodles and writing poems. Eventually, I came to a point where I had enough poems to make a book, so I thought why not, it's always been a dream of mine to become an author.
Can you share a bit about your journey as a poet from childhood to self-publishing your first collection?
2. My earliest poems were in the fifth grade for a school project, we had to make an anthology. Those were my favorite kinds of projects, where we were free to run wild with our imagination. I would even say that was my pre-first self-published collection. For most of my life until university, there were two reasons why I would write poems. One was for academic reasons and the other was when I felt emotional and wanted to use writing as an emotional outlet. In high school, I wrote poems less but I studied English Literature and had to analyze poems for exams. So there were two opposing views about poetry in my life, one was that poetry was boring and only accessible to those who were more elegant or upper class. The other was that poetry is for everyone and can make you feel so much whether "good" or "bad" emotions. In recent years I agree with the latter, especially as I have been discovering more poems and poets that I would want to read and that inspires me to write more poetry.
How did the concept of "Skin & Thoughts" come about, and what does it represent for you personally?
3. The concept of Skin & Thoughts came about around the same time as Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur. I wanted to come up with a short concept but also packs a punch. Skin & Thoughts was exactly that, where I could express my feelings, what's on my skin, my heart on my sleeve as well as express my inner thoughts through poetry. Poetry can also be so physical and visceral, aesthetic and moving. I believe that poetry takes the whole body into account, especially the act of writing poetry requires me to tap into my thoughts and what I'm feeling, which is Skin & Thoughts!
What were some of the most significant moments or experiences that shaped your writing style?
4. Some significant experiences that shaped my writing style include reading Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur, and reading a lot of poetry from the modern Instapoetry era. I loved the honesty and the rawness of each poem that came from the poets. And it was amazing that I could just click on social media or search and immediately be flooded by a ton of great poets and poems. My writing style evolved over the years, where I first began with strict rhyme schemes (mouse/house) and typical imagery (as fast as lightning, as big as a bear) and as times changed my style became looser, more free-form, to me poetry doesn't always have to rhyme nor does it have to follow conventional rules. That's the beauty of modern poetry, we let it take us where we want to go.
How has sharing your poetry online impacted your personal and creative life?
5. Sharing my poetry online has opened the door for deeper connection and conversation with friends and even random people on the internet. In the earlier days of Instagram when recent posts were more highlighted, I grew my following to about 1000, and within this amount, I had a couple of consistent readers every time I posted something new they would interact with my poems. I had people reach out to me wanting to collaborate whether it's they draw something, I write something or vice versa. With my friends who know that I write poetry, they tell me they are very inspired and they wonder how I can be so open and honest in my writing especially dealing with topics of heartbreak and mental health issues.
Can you discuss any specific challenges you faced with self-promotion and how you navigated them?
6. With self-promotion, one such example of a challenge is when I was self-publishing my first book. I had no idea what to do or how to market my book. Nobody was giving me pointers back then and even if I asked, the answers were not always clear. I had to discover for myself how to self-publish and then promote my book. I was hesitant to use ad campaigns as I was low on income. That was one of the problems.
How do you handle self-doubt and the pressure of comparing yourself to other poets?
7. When I experience self-doubt and comparison to other poets, I sometimes take a step back and have to remind myself that what I'm doing is enough for me and I don't need others to approve or that everybody loves what I do, but as long as I am expressing my feelings and hopefully inspiring people here and there, that's all that matters. Sometimes I just need a break too, and that's perfectly fine. Collaboration tends to battle comparison because you do not see the poet as a competition but as someone on the same team.
How do you balance your creative work with other responsibilities in your life?
8. I never had a tight or consistent schedule of when to post or what to make, I am more spontaneous so whenever I had free time I'd sit down and write some poems or work on longer-form projects. So I was able to balance my work and my other responsibilities quite well because I just created when I had time to create and when I was busier I would focus on what needed to be done first.
Have you found any particular strategies or practices helpful in overcoming creative blocks or periods of self-doubt?
9. Yes, some of the methods I use to overcome creative blocks are things like random word or object generators, or even asking people for opinions. I would use a random word generator and then from those generated words I would free-write or make poems using those words as inspiration. I sometimes ask friends and family what they think about my projects and take that opinion into account as I try to work on more projects.
What advice would you give to other women who are looking to pursue their creative passions but are struggling with self-doubt?
10. To other women who are looking to pursue their creative passions but are struggling with self-doubt I would say do it anyways. Self-doubt can stem from thoughts like "I'm not good enough" or "they're better than anything I'd ever make" but that's subjective and not necessarily true. I think creating and following your creative passions is so beautiful and unique to each individual person. Yes, you might make something similar to someone else, but they won't do it the same as you each time you wouldn't make the same decisions. So I would say go for it, do that creative thing as long as you have the capacity whether it's in terms of time/resources then I'd encourage people to pursue their passion, even knowing it might "fail" whatever that means to each person is different.
Can you share any personal or professional milestones that have been particularly meaningful to you?
11. Some personal and professional milestones include graduating from my undergraduate degree with honors in English Literary Studies. I have self-published six poetry collections and two novels to date. I am pursuing my postgraduate degree in English Literary Studies too and when I'm done I'll have a Master's degree!
How do you see the future of Skin & Thoughts evolving, and what are your next goals or projects?
12. For the coming future, I see Skin & Thoughts as less of a personal project to post my poems on Instagram, but an overarching portfolio of the work that I've completed. I will be adding to the portfolio as time goes by, and my next projects include a new young adult romance novel and exploring more creative ways to write poetry books, for example in my second book Broken and Breathing, I tried to do blind contour drawings to accompany the poems. For my fourth book, I tried to focus more on mental health issues, and for my fifth book Nathan, I tried to alternate between poems about my life in Hong Kong and India, since I grew up in India for half of my life so far. My latest collection is inspired by Sumerian mythology titled For Inanna.
IG: @skinandthoughts
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