Megan Frilling

Hello, name is Megan Frilling! I’ve lived in Ohio my whole life, but currently reside in Columbus and am working for The Ohio State University. In my free time I enjoy reading, writing, going on walks, listening to music (Noah Laban’s album, Stick Season, has been a recent obsession), spending time with friends, and plotting ways to move closer to the beach.

Question 1: What inspired you to start writing?

i’ve always been an avid reader and dreamed of being a writer, but never really thought it was a possibility. my AP lit teacher during my senior year of high school was one person that really inspired me though. he helped me feel confident in my writing abilities and always encouraged me to keep writing.

Question 2: How have your past experiences influenced you as a writer?

for as long as i can remember, i’ve been embarrassed of the idea of people i know reading the things i’ve written. if i were to guess, this is because i have some internalized fear that people will read my what i’ve written and think it’s bad or take it the wrong way. a lot of the things i write about relate to emotions and feelings i typically keep close to my chest and don’t share with others and i tend to use writing as a way to work through what i’m feeling and move on from things i’m struggling with. but i’ve been working through this recently and i think it’s making me a much better writer. i’ve started to learn that i don’t particularly care about what others think about my writing and i’m going to write about what inspires me instead of caring about how others will perceive it.

Question 3: What have you written that you're the most proud of?

i absolutely loved the poem that was included in Livina Press, but i would say the poem i’m most proud of is one called “you’re out too far” that was published in warning lines literary’s fifth volume (their twitter handle is @warninglineslit and the full poem can be found there). it was actually the first poem that i ever finished with the intention of submitting it for publishing. the title was inspired by uncle, who always tells my cousins and i that we’ve gone “out too far” in the ocean when we go on family vacations to the beach and this poem features a different take on those words.

Question 4: What do the words “writer’s block” mean to you? 

for me, writer’s block means it’s time to take a break. i try to write only when i’m feeling inspired or when an idea comes to mind. i know that the minute i start trying to force the words out it’s not going to sound right or be my best work, so that’s when i out my phone/laptop down and find something else to do until the words come to me again. sometimes it only takes a few minutes and sometimes it takes days or weeks, but i know eventually i’ll come back to it.

Question 5: When did you first call yourself a writer? 

i’m still not sure if i would consider myself a writer if i’m honest. in my writer’s are far more dedicated to their craft than i am. they schedule time each day to sit down and write, whereas i’ll have weeks where i spend every free minute writing and other weeks where i don’t think about writing once. i do hope that one day i get to the point where i genuinely think of myself as a writer though.

Question 6: What is your writing process like? Are you more of a plotter or a pantser?

i would say that my writing process is barely considered a process. the first draft of every poem i write exists solely in my notes app and has zero formatting whatsoever. it’s just one long paragraph of words. sometimes there’s punctuation but normally it’s just a big run on sentence. after i have all of my initial thoughts down it goes into a google doc and that’s when i add line breaks, punctuation, and do whatever editing is required. none of my poems go into the google doc until i feel as though i have a relatively coherent string of words written down, so there are probably a hundred half-finished poems just hanging out in my notes app.

Question 7: What is your kryptonite as a writer?

for some reason i can’t write about love without feeling like an absolute idiot. i can write about heartbreak and love lost and all that jazz, but the minute i start trying to write about being in love of falling in love i feel like i’ve just put the cheesiest words known to man on the page. maybe one day i’ll get past it, but today is simply not that day lol.

Question 8: Do you play music while you write — and, if so, what’s your favorite?

i use music as a way to help me concoct ideas and work through my thoughts, but i don’t typically listen to music while i’m actually writing because i’ll get distracted and just start writing down the lyrics of whatever song is playing. i do usually listen to music while i’m editing though and then i’m normally alternating between hozier, taylor swift, or 60s/70s classic rock or soul music.

Question 9: What do you think is the best way to improve writing skills?

this is probably something that everyone says, but keep consuming art. it can be books, poetry, movies, tv, you name it, but being a consumer of other people’s art has certainly made me a better writer. it introduces me to new ways of writing and story telling that i enjoy and might want to experiment with myself, but also exposes me to styles that i don’t enjoy as much and may want to avoid in the future. either way, i learn something new about how i want to write and the kinds of stories i want to tell.

Question 10: Who has been the biggest supporter of your writing? 

my friends for sure. i have this thing that i’m sure a lot of people do where i think that pretty much everything i write is garbage, but they make me feel like i’m the next emily dickinson. it took a lot for me to work up the courage to tell people i even wrote poetry and that some of them were being published, but they’ve been nothing but supportive.