Welcome, writer.
My name is Ayla Gard. I started this newsletter and community to share—imperfectly and with my full heart—what I know about writing, how I write, and what inspires me to start a poem, essay, or story. This isn't about writing from nonhuman perspectives, though I might sometimes cover that, too. This is about channeling our own warm blood into our words.
The world is flooded with writing by machines. But we are not machines, and we are not supposed to let machines take writing away from us. Don't let them. Root around in words like a truffle pig. Chicken-scratch with your claw hands. Pull sentences apart with your gnarling teeth. Write like an animal.
Each week, I'll post a little lesson that will teach you something I know about writing, share insight into my own process, and inspire you to keep putting words on the page. I write across poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, so the lessons will draw from all of these genres.
Let me help you write like the messy, warm-blooded creature you are.
Why subscribe?
You'll get full access to the website, the archive of everything that's been posted so far, as well as email newsletters about new content when it's available. You'll also join a community of writers who share the same commitment to warm-blooded prose and poetry. Once I get this thing running, I'll start offering paid subscriptions, which will offer even more: my messy drafts, submission opportunities, classes, and feedback on your own writing.
About Me
I'm an Australian environmental writer living in California whose work explores the tangles between humans and the natural world. My poetry, essays, and stories have appeared in publications like Orion Magazine, Scientific American, BuzzFeed, and Pile Press. I also work in communications for The Nature Conservancy, and before that was a Senior Director of Content at BuzzFeed and a copywriter and creative at advertising agency, Leo Burnett. I've co-authored a travel book and I've written a novel's worth of copy for an award-winning digital game. So, I have been writing for many years, across all all kinds of genres and formats and for countless different audiences: all human.
I have an MFA in Nature Writing and an MA in Poetry from Western Colorado University, and undergraduate degrees in Arts (Italian) and Commerce (Marketing) from the University of Sydney. You can find some of my work at aylagard.carbonmade.com or follow me on instagram at @aylagardening.