Diane Webster

Macrame: You have been writing since an early age, and there is a life-affirming quality and a certain lightness to your writing, which gives readers tremendous joy. With over 2,000 poems published around the world, writing has clearly had an enduring presence in your life. What does your writing mean to you, and how has that evolved over time?

Diane Webster: Writing has always been my passion, and I am so grateful I discovered that at an early age even if I didn’t wholly realize it at the time. Writing keeps me alive, keeps me engaged, keeps me interested, lets me keep discovering and allowing the child inside to escape. Writing came naturally to me. Once I learned the alphabet and how to put words together, I wrote my stories. It was a way to express myself, to tell what was inside me, to release that creativity. Then the desire to share, to publish my work wiggled into my being. But I was afraid. Afraid of exposing myself, afraid of judgment, afraid no one would care. Since retirement, writing is a blessing. When I am writing, I am at my happiest.

Macrame: Your writing is often grounded in everyday life – simple human experiences, familiar objects, and observations of nature. Yet, through your craft, you elevate ordinary things and make them sparkle. Is this an intentional choice for you or an intuitive tendency to write this way?

Diane Webster: Both, but more intuitively I would say. Through my career I narrowed my attention from panoramic views to single scenes. Instead of the entire snowcapped mountains, I zoom in on the bit of snow that broke away and rolled a path halfway down the mountain. I would like people to notice the simple, little things in life that maybe they couldn’t see before because the mountain was too big. Awesome, yes, but look over here. This piece of snow pushed itself away and slid gleefully down its mother’s roof top. Hear the giggles? Feel the wind through each bonded snowflake? Breath deep the crisp, rushing air?

Macrame: Throughout your poetry there is a sense of an author who treats every subject, no matter small, as precious, deserving your full attention. Do you have to work hard to achieve this effect? Is this a reflection of how you see and interact with the world around you?

Diane Webster: The world is precious, and we have so much to be grateful for. All we have to do is look and take it in. The big picture doesn’t have to work hard to be seen. Many times the smaller aspects of life are ignored. I thought of myself as one of those smaller, ignored objects so I want to bring attention to those objects. Show they have worth and wonder and awesomeness. Yes, this is how I view the world around me. The hillside is alive with blooming wildflowers, but I’m in awe of the one stem growing beside the wooden fence posing for anyone who cares to see. I see that.

Macrame: Early on, as a self-taught writer you often relied on editorial comments for feedback on your work. How meaningful to you has the relationship between your writing and the response you received from the external world been? How has that relationship changed overtime?  

Diane Webster: In the beginning it was very important. I may not have liked what I heard, but I learned and tried to incorporate those suggestions into my writing. Later I learned that I didn’t have to take all the feedback as the right way to write or to get my ideas across. It was an epiphany that I could use an editor’s opinion or discard it. I always appreciate when an editor gives feedback. But I have learned that I am the one who has the choice to incorporate it or not. I have learned to trust myself but listen to others.

Macrame: How is your poetry born and brought into life? Does the story appear to you all at once, or do you develop each poem bit by bit, over time?

Diane Webster: Usually a poem is inspired by an image. Then I decide what that looks like to me or what other image it reminds me of and how I want to represent that image. As I write and play with words, the poem develops quickly from there. Usually within minutes. I picture the scene in my mind and write the words to describe what I see or what I feel while the movie plays out in my brain. Sometimes a phrase intrigues me or a sound. I play with these in my mind before I write. Like moving jigsaw puzzle pieces around until they fit and start to display a picture.

Macrame: Who are you as a reader? How did becoming a writer influence, if at all, what and how you read?

Diane Webster: I read what interests me. It’s my escape or my way of seeing through another person’s eyes. I read a lot of World War II non-fiction. I always read Stephen King novels. I have recently gotten into detective novels. I am amazed at a wonderfully phrased sentence and how easily that showed exactly what needed to be shown. “I wish I had written that,” goes through my mind. I don’t think me being a writer influences what I read, but like I said I do notice those special sentences or turn of phrases that certainly invoke awe and envy.

Macrame: Your poetry can be found in many places throughout the web. Is there a place where we can find a collection of all or most of your poetry in one place?

Diane Webster:  No, there is no place where my work is archived. Only in the file cabinets I have at home.

Macrame: If you were meeting our readers for a fireside chat, what stories from your life or bits of wisdom would you share with them? It doesn’t have to be related to writing.

Diane Webster: Persistence is a major factor. Works for writing. Works for life. One “bit of wisdom” I give is, “If you can make it through the first 100 rejections, then you’ll be okay.” I’ve seen people’s eyes widen trying to image 100 rejections. But 100 rejections aren’t that many. I recently had a poem accepted that had been considered by 47 different editors. Persistence.

Macrame: What is next in store for you?

Diane Webster: I would like to publish a chapbook or several chapbooks of my poems. I would like to publish in a major publication. I would like to continue to write. Write until I die.