Maleah Day Warner currently lives in American Fork, Utah.
What are some names of the books or other media you have created?
Lies of the Magpie is my debut memoir and the 2020 AML award winner for Creative Nonfiction. I also host the Power Principles Podcast.
What inspired you to become a creator of media?
My fourth grade teacher told me I would be a writer, and I believed her.
What has been the highlight of your career so far?
Meeting Alex Boyé at LDSPMA conference 2021, of course!
Winning the 2020 AML (Association for Mormon Letters) award for Creative Nonfiction was thrilling and an absolute surprise. Many thanks to AML for boosting my confidence as an author. 🙂
What was the best advice you’ve ever been given in your creative journey?
Ally Condie said she gave herself permission to take her time in her writing journey. This advice has helped me to be patient in the LONG process of becoming a writer and the even LONGER journey to publication.
What advice do you have for someone just starting out in your field?
Be willing to be really bad at your craft. You have to be bad BEFORE you can be good. But no one wants to be bad, so we procrastinate creating. Go ahead and be bad. Produce that cringe-worthy first draft. Clunk through the gag-inducing second draft. Imagine that you’re required to produce 200,00 really awful sentences before your brilliance can shine. Then you can sit down and start writing junk. Jeff Savage says you have to dump a whole lot of manure on your page before the flowers will grow.
What keeps you inspired in your daily creative work?
Most of the day I wrestle with enormous amounts of self-doubt. When I’m on top of my creative game, it’s remembering my WHY that keeps me going. And reading. When I lack motivation, reading gets me back on track.
What would you like others to know about you or your creative process?
I love mothering and writing and try to combine the two whenever I can. I want to see more stories with mother protagonists.
My mission is to educate, validate, and elevate the work of mothering.
In what ways do you feel you have been able to be a voice for good in your creative pursuits?
I believe that a healthy world starts with healthy mothers. Postpartum depression, anxiety and mental health issues are a huge battle for mothers right now. I also believe in the healing power of story. Maybe a mom who feels alone and is struggling can find hope, healing, and an enormous hug and boost of encouragement from reading my story.
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Instagram: @maleahdaywarnerwrites
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