Meet Na’imah Bryant

Today we’d like to introduce you to Na’imah Bryant.

Na’imah, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My journey with writing began with exploring my first favorite form, which was poetry. Writing grabbed more of my attention over time, and I remember being introduced to styles of poetry in school. I fell in love with creating haikus around third grade. Haikus were the form of poetry that allowed for my “beginners’ simplicity” to shine. The five-seven-five pattern was comfortable for me to test my hand until my content began to hold more weight. I spent a few years working to better my craft privately and studying more styles of writing outside of poetry and haikus. In that time, I gained confidence and complexity! I’m thankful for exposure to the countless books and videos over the years that have opened my eyes to more opportunities in writing. Fast forward through time a bit, and I’m writing “thinkpieces” and informative articles on platforms available to anyone, anywhere.

I remember being in genuine denial the first time I called myself an “author”. It’s an exclusive title to work up to, and I felt I still had a lot of requirements to meet before it would really impact. I don’t regret (finally) choosing to share segments of my mind though, because some thoughts deserve a chance to be shared and tossed around. You never know what else may bloom from them. People agreeing with my content is not my biggest concern. My concern is whether or not the readers were intrigued by my words enough to save room for a new perspective. I believe what makes it so important is the significance behind word composition. It’s served as a pathway to help me find and use more of my “voice”, as I am usually not a very verbal person. It’s like the hidden gem of communication.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
In the past, my largest struggles were learning not to take opinions so personally and to handle criticism with confidence. I’m a very sensitive person at the core, so it makes it harder to not take criticism so personally sometimes. The thought of not getting my point across the way I’d intended had me afraid of taking a chance on myself. Moving an audience is a job and a talent that comes with a lot of planning and organization. While knowing your message is left up to the audience for interpretation, you ultimately don’t want it to be misconstrued. When you create content for the public, you end up caring about the feedback. It can sometimes be an indicator of how you’re doing, and I was so afraid of negative criticism that it became easier to sabotage my work before I could even get it out. I wasn’t able to touch any positive change in my mindset without, first, undoing this fear of imperfection that I’d developed. Even though details do matter, I used to burn myself out worrying about details that ended up not costing me very much in the end.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
Recently, I’ve been laying low with my work, and it’s been a huge reliever. I’m in the process of taking a new direction with my writing, so as of now, there is not a business centered around my work specifically. I do have public and private platforms where my current articles and poetry reside though, and I sincerely appreciate HerCampus for building and maintaining a platform for myself and other young authors. I’m thankful to have been encouraged by a group of passionate women with an insane amount of talent!

What were you like growing up?
I’m an introvert at heart, but I had a very colorful childhood. I was very quiet and standoffish growing up, but it wasn’t done with ill intent. Spending time with myself is what allowed me the space to experiment with my interests and different tastes outside of my friend group. I had an expansive imagination that always kept me busy. I grew up mainly taking interest in things that were under the radar of public interest. My interest in music growing up led me to join band from middle to high school, and I learned so much about being a musician. I also took up dancing as a little girl. It started as a fun hobby, and later bloomed into a genuine passion for a long time. Things went from rec-center recitals to dancing competitively on a team, and later performing in showcases for entertainment purposes. Dancing was, and still is, another very important form of self-expression for me. To sum it up, I was a well-rounded child growing up. A little anti-social, but well-rounded lol.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hercampus,com/author/naimah-bryant
• Email: naimah.bryant@gmail.com
• Instagram: @naimahamian

Image Credit:
Solomon Jones, HerCampus

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