The MuseInks Interview with Activist, Storyteller, Screenwriter, and Poet Andie Woodard

Andie Woodard is a queer writer and activist. They recently earned an MFA in Creative Writing at Antioch University, where they developed their skills at writing culturally sensitive, relevant creative nonfiction and poetry. 

Andie has been awarded runner-up twice in the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference’s Personal Essay Contest and received a Best of the Net nomination from Prometheus Dreaming for their poem “Self Portrait.” They are also an accomplished screenwriter.

I met Andie when we both freelanced for Scribe Media. We became "publishing siblings" when we both had chapbooks published this year by Bottlecap Press (read on!). 

I'm so glad they agreed to chat with me about their writing journey. Take it away, Andie!

Andie Woodard:

I have always wanted to be a writer, since I was a little kid. 

I had multiple interests, so I always thought I'd be a writer and something else—a lawyer, or a detective. But I'm grateful for that perspective these days, in this "gig economy." It set me up for success to know early on that writing would always be part of my identity, part of what earned my living, but not all of it. 

I journal several times a week, and out of those journal entries will bloom a poem or a gnarled part of an essay that needs to be straightened out with a lot of elbow grease. 

I'd say I produce more poetry than anything else, but that has more to do with the volume of words, how quickly you can call a poem "done." This perspective is also why I tell people I'm a writer who happens to write poetry, but I wouldn't call myself a "poet." Poets have a particular way of seeing the world and will languish over each word, each line break, in the poems they produce. They're careful. My philosophy has always been, "Good enough means done." When it comes to succeeding in Capitalism (I'm not a fan, as a general construct, but whether you're winning or losing in Capitalism, you're still playing the game, right?), you could say that this mindset makes me marketable. 

My writing superpowers, though, are my introspection and curiosity. I know what questions to ask to fill in the gaps. I know how to communicate a feeling as well as an idea because of these values I hold in my back pockets.

My biggest writing success to date is having my chapbook, Trailer Trash, published by Bottlecap Press. I have been working on Trailer Trash since 2016, and it has seen a number of revisions. 

I thought I had a full-length collection of poetry, but upon closer inspection, I realized I had just 25 polished, succinct pieces that communicated what I wanted to say: being perceived as a woman in Capitalism means you're already losing. But: when we share that burden together, when we do not look back at trauma with gratitude for "making us stronger" but envision a future where the people we love may be treated more fairly, there is hope.

I started working in publishing in September, 2020. Honestly, at the time, working for Scribe Media was my dream job. I found the company by doing a search online in early 2019 and applied as an Author Success Manager, but then, I had no experience in working with books of any sort (I had just been working in content marketing), so they didn't move forward with my application. 

The online videos about the Scribe Tribe encouraged people to apply again and again if they felt this place was the best fit for them. There was a video of a woman who had applied three times before she was brought on. When I applied again in August, 2020, I didn't expect Scribe to hire me. I did have one book under my belt at that point—a wonderful man found me on LinkedIn and took a chance on me because he liked my writing voice and thought I was the right person to help him finish his book—but it was just the one. I thought this would be my second "no," one step closer to getting hired, maybe when I finished my MFA. 

To my surprise and delight (and to the chagrin of my Imposter Syndrome Demon), they hired me, and I have enjoyed basking in the literary realm ever since. 

With the flexibility of "full-time" freelance work from Scribe, I finished my MFA in Creative Writing, with a focus in Creative Nonfiction and a "genre jump" to Poetry, at Antioch University in 2022. Antioch is focused on "literacy citizenship," writing about identity with thought, research and care, which has helped me "babysit" the books I worked on at Scribe as well as write more carefully for my full-time work in the nonprofit sector.

I no longer work with Scribe, but I still make time for literature. I work full-time at a nonprofit funder, working to fight sexual violence by uplifting nonprofits with relevant missions across the country, but in my off time, I help other authors cross the finish line of their own books. Whether they need structural editing, line editing or proofreading services, I'm there for them.

People who are interested in my services may email me at ModusOperandiee@gmail.com or call or text me at 972-341-4802. They can read samples of my work—from books to short screenplays to media criticism—on my website at https://ModusOperandiee.com.