Danielle Holian has written a beautiful piece of poetry. Her poems capture the soul and steal your heart. Read on for her incredible thoughts on the process of putting her stories together on the page.
Purchase her book HERE
Who are you and what do you do?
I’m Danielle Holian, author of Beautifully Chaotic. I studied media in college branching out to journalism, marketing, and film.
What was the road to publishing? What made you pursue independent publishing?
It just felt right. I didn’t expect to publish Beautifully Chaotic as it spontaneously came together.
I wrote this collection over the course of 2018 as therapy mostly, just writing unconsciously
without a goal, firstly. I originally wanted to publish other work beforehand, but this felt right as
my debut. I wanted to do it all myself as the stories in this book are very personal to me - maybe
for future work I’ll try to find a publisher.
Your poems are simple but pack a powerful punch what would be your style of poetry?
Writing for me is generally different every time I sit down to write. I began writing short stories,
lyrics, novel-like work, then found poetry. It depends on what I’m trying to say, because
sometimes I could write a story in simple form, or have word-vomit and need to express a lot
writing longer poems. I don’t sit down giving myself rules to write something short and sweet to
please attention spans, I prefer to allow myself to do whatever I please.
What is the best experience performing your poems?
I haven’t performed any poems from Beautifully Chaotic, yet. I previously performed
unpublished work and getting a taste of the stage, performing and getting instant feedback on
my work, I find, is always good.
How long did it take for you to put these poems together?
I wrote the entire book last year, so I just began writing early in 2018 keeping notebooks around
and writing whenever inspiration struck. Once the idea came to me later on, going through the
poems the stories were there on topics I'm passionate about. The entire experience surprised
me.
You picked very specific themes in this book why is that? What drew you to those themes?
I talk about some hard hitting themes throughout Beautifully Chaotic, mostly because I want to
these topics each to talk about in everyday life. As this is my story, I did find it hard, initially, to
open up and talk about my personal experiences. But, once I started talking, life became easier.
I knew I could’ve written about things that would grab people’s attention right away, or follow
other artists in my industry, but I stand for what I believe in without trying to sugarcoat the truth
because we live in a hard world where it’s difficult at times to even discuss easier topics.
What’s next for you?
I’m working on my next book, to be expected in 2021. I’m currently working on some short films,
so branching off again into other media forms for experience and just to adventure in other
mediums to express myself.
Who are some of your influences with your poems?
I think moving forward for future collections, I probably won’t discuss the same topics that are in
Beautifully Chaotic. As I said, I had previous work that I was going to publish first, but this
collection felt right as my debut, and regarding previous work there were no similar topics. But,
currently, I’m interested in writing about self-discovery, all the different kinds of love, and
creating a life that’s fulfilling. . .but then again, my next book could be something spontaneous.
Who are some of your favorite poets?
Currently I am in-between reading work by Olivia Gatwood, Rupi Kaur, Nikita Gill, and Lauren
Eden.
What do you love about the poetic format?
I find with poetic format it gives natural wording life in an artistic way. As I said, I write short
stories and lyrics, as well as poetry, so I write in all different ranges and it’s exciting to see
something come together, while being able to express something I’m passionate with poetic
significance.
Fun Questions
If you were stuck on an abandoned island what five items would you take with you?
My notebook and pen, a radio, a blanket, a flashlight, and a hammock.
If you had to choose coffee or tea? Which is better?
Tea!
If you could only have one last meal forever what would it be?
My current food obsession is mash potatoes!
