Guest Blog: Vaeda Black Details Her Writing Process
Writing has always come easy to me. I’ve been writing as long as my memory spans. It started when my parents got me my first notebook/drawing book when I was little. I wrote things like “the thunder is crying for me” and “why did I do this to my friends.” This really freaked out my mom. Mind you I was around age 5, just learning how to write letters. I spent a lot of time writing at babysitter’s houses and in my living room.
I think I found my passion for writing in fourth grade. I had this amazing teacher who encouraged my class to create stories and to embrace our imaginations. It was the first time I had really freely written something from start to finish. I can’t thank him enough for teaching me the things I learned in that class.
For one of my mom’s birthdays my dad got her a poetry book by Sarah Kay and it was the first adult poetry I’d read in my life. I must’ve been in 5th grade at the time. I began to watch poets on YouTube perform and I loved the passion in their words. I wanted to write like that.
Eventually I fell in love with poetry. I found this beauty within the words I was writing that really inspired me. Some of my favorite poets to this day are Sarah Kay, Rudy Francisco, and Neil Hilborn. What appeals to me is that their work is so real and raw. Watching them perform gives me such strong feelings and I aspire to make people feel that way when I perform.
As I got older I was writing almost every day, and singing almost every day. The magic happened when I tried putting my skills together. I found that I had a knack for writing catchy hooks and deep lyrics. My first real song was probably Jumper, which is about a infamous cheater who is so wrong, but feels so right. I was young when I wrote this song, too young to even completely understand and grasp what cheating really was. My imagination was a great tool in my writing as I grew.
Eventually, I ended up hitting a plateau in my songwriting. I wanted to perform my songs, but I didn’t play any instruments. So, over a summer I began to teach myself piano. I came to a place where I knew enough to support my writing. I never bothered learning music theory because I felt that it took away from the fun of music for me. I still feel that way. I’m a mediocre piano player at best, but I’m fluent in my songs and being familiar with the instrument really helps me develop my music into what ranges from kickass power ballads to simple but powerful tunes.
My writing process has been developing since I was a little girl, and it’s grown with me throughout the years. I couldn’t think of one thing I’d rather be doing more than spilling my emotions out on a dirty notebook page and a half tuned piano.
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