Today we’d like to introduce you to Cheyenne Bramwell.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Cheyenne. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Hello! I am a writer, podcaster, and creator who has found my voice through my art. Growing up with social anxiety and a stutter, I had a really hard time communicating and feeling confident in myself and my opinions. But I realized that I could express myself exactly the way I wanted if I wrote down my thoughts first. So that’s what I did. I started with just scribbling in my notebook. Little poems and short stories mostly. But I couldn’t stop there.
As I grew in confidence with my writing, I became more confident in myself as a person. Over the past couple of years, I’ve begun to share and publish my work. I’ve self published a poetry collection all about being a writer, called “Words Are Hard”, and am in the process of putting together my second collection called “Genre-Fluid”. I also publish a daily poetry blog at www.poemafterpoem.weebly.com and have hundreds of microfiction and micro poetry pieces on Twitter, where I’ve found my voice.
Along with the written word, I’ve fallen in love with the podcasting community and have begun to explore that medium as well. Since my interview on the Horrible Writing podcast, my voice and work has appeared on seven other amazing podcasts. And last year I become a producer and voice actor for my own show, Magical BS Pod. This year, I’ll be launching my storytelling podcast, Word Wonk Pod.
I also run panels and cosplay at conventions, where I meet an amazing amount of creatives and fellow creatives that inspire me to grow as a person and a creator. This has been another huge way I’ve increased my confidence and pushed myself out of my comfort zone.
Being able to do all of this, and still have a stutter and anxiety has proved to me that I really can do anything that I put my mind to. And I’m doing my best to encourage anyone else to follow their passions and share their voices along with me.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Smooth is not the word I’d use… Throughout every step of the way, I’ve felt doubt in myself and struggled to not let my anxiety and depression tell me that I’m not good enough or worthy enough to be in the eyes of the public. Let alone my work. And I’ve worked food service jobs throughout all of it, having to keep myself afloat while I devote what time I can to my passions and creative pursuits. Reminding myself that if I do enough and put enough work into it than I will one day be able to support myself doing the things I love, instead of what I have to do.
Podcasting has been full of a struggle just to form the right words and sentences while speaking. Because with the combination of my stutter and my anxiety (which feed off of one another), even that can be a struggle sometimes. It’s been an adventure just finding the confidence to lend my voice to audio projects. But it’s been an amazing journey so far, and with every project I do, I feel like I’m accepting myself and my struggles a little bit more!
Please tell us about your work.
I’m not sure if I’d call myself a company yet. I don’t have a name for it or anything, other than my own. But what it includes is all of my podcast projects, the self publishing of poetry, fiction, and mashup books, and my poetry blog. I specialize in work that crosses the boundaries of genre and form and refusing to limit myself to one particular category of writing. I write lengths that range from ten word stories to full length novels, along with everything in between, and forms from traditional haiku to ghazal and epic poetry. I’m known for jumping between genres and combining them in unique ways, but also for my frankness in speaking about mental health and what it’s like being a writer who struggles with theirs.
I’m most proud of my variety of works, and the effort I’ve put in (and will continue to put in) to publish my work and share it with everyone I possibly can, even on the days where I struggle with the confidence to share anything at all.
I set myself apart from others with my balance of a positive, loving attitude towards anyone I interact with, and my frankness about my struggles. My cross-genre work also assists with setting me apart from the writers who feel trapped in just a single type of writing.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I would have jumped into podcasting earlier and found my audible voice faster. That, and not let myself get torn down so much by the doubts in my mind. I’m still very new to my creative business life, so I’m sure I’ll have more detailed answers to this in the future when I look back.
Pricing:
- Words Are Hard eBook: $3.00
- Words are Hard Paperback: $8.00
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.cheyennebramwell.com/
- Email: cheyenne1bramwell@gmail.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PoemsByCheyenne/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/PoemsbyCheyenne
- Other: https://www.amazon.com/Words-Are-Hard-Writers-Block-ebook/dp/B07TX8BJ31/
Image Credit:
Photos in/by tree, and orange light photo taken by Tabitha Arment.
Group shot, and key shade (Original Character by Cheyenne), taken by Sousa Kalliovski.
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