1. Tell us about yourself and your most current project/s?
I’m a horror writer who grew up just outside of Pittsburgh, and I’m a graduate of Seton Hill University’s Writing Popular Fiction MFA program. My second novel, What Remains, a post-apocalyptic survival story, was recently released by Crystal Lake Publishing. I also have my second poetry collection, In the Woods Only the Trees Hear You Scream, forthcoming from Rooster Republic Press. More recently, I started a year-long project, where I write, read, and share a poem a day from October 2025 - October 2026.
2. Where did the inspiration/idea come for this project?
Most of my projects start with a question. For What Remains, the question was, “What if the world is ending, and the only person you have to depend on is your ex?” With poetry, the question can be a little more nebulous and often grows and develops throughout the drafting process. The question that eventually took shape as I started writing these eco-horror poems for In the Woods Only the Trees Hear You Scream was, “What would a biography of a person’s life from inception to death look like if it is explored through their experiences with nature?”
This latest project is more a question of if I could produce a poem a day that I wouldn’t be too ashamed to share online. As someone who is normally methodical in the drafting and editing stages of a project, I loved the idea of creating work that is less precious. I want to put something out there that’s more raw and visceral that I can enjoy working on and then send off into the world.
3. What does the writing process look like for you?
Once I get that initial question or idea, I spend a lot of time thinking about the project before writing anything down. For me, it’s a great way to weed through ideas. If it lingers, and I remember it long enough and develop it in my mind, I assume there’s something to it. Then, I do some free writing to get a feel for story. From that point, I either work on an outline for fiction or start playing with form and structure for a poem. Madness ensues after that with drafting, editing, drafting some more, etc. I’m slow and steady with fiction. Poetry tends to reach a final draft a lot sooner for me.
4. How do you handle writer’s block?
I write about having writer’s block. When I was in high school, dreaming of being a writer without access to formal creative writing classes, I listened to a lot of craft podcasts. One was Start Writing Fiction from The Open University, which interviewed established authors about their writing processes. In it, Michèle Roberts discusses how she journals about writing, writers block, and feeling inadequate when drafting. She says it teaches her the practice of sitting down to write and freeing up her mind for fiction writing. It has worked wonders for me, and it has probably made my journals a very boring read as I discuss my love and hate relationship with the craft more than juicy gossip.
5. How do you feed your creativity when feeling drained?
Reading books, listening to podcasts, and watching TV shows and movies helps fill my creativity cup. Amazing storytelling is infectious. It makes me want to get back in the sandbox and have fun with the craft. When I’m feeling drained or uninspired, I usually check if I’m hungry, tired, or so caught up in my own writing that I forgot to fill up on inspiring works.
6. What advice would you give writers who feel stuck or uninspired?
The best advice I ever received was to dare to fail. Accept that some work is going to be garbage, especially when starting out. Your work can show your progress and development. I’m always suspicious of writers whose first novel or collection is their best. Are they learning and growing? I look back on some of my early published work with some embarrassment, but I’m glad they are out there. They show how far I’ve come over the years.
7. Have you ever thought about giving up on writing? If so, what pulled you back?
There have been a few times where external factors like jobs and finances have made me put writing on the back burner. I always return to it though because it makes me happy. The practice is calming and centering. I’m an over thinker, and writing helps me get out of my head and return to that mindset of childhood imagination and wonder. Growing up, I used to spend days creating elaborate stories for my action figures. I pretty much do the same thing now, except that my stories do not center on Batman or the X-Men any longer, and I traded the figures for a Word document.
8. How do you keep your voice or ideas fresh over time?
Beyond reading and watching media, I try to study our strange world and have new experiences. I love history, which is a bottomless pool of information about the world and the people who inhabit it. Likewise, working on personal growth and having new experiences helps me widen my view of the world. I think my work is far more nuanced now that I have learned more and grown over the years.
9. What do you wish more people understood about the creative process?
Something that took me some time to realize is that the creative process isn’t linear. There are no clear-cut beginnings, middles, and ends. I might jump from editing to drafting, and then back to brainstorming. Staying away from too rigid of a process has helped me deepen the writing and refine it.
10. What is the most honest thing you’ve ever written - and did it scare you?
In the Woods Only the Trees Hear You Scream is probably the most honest and personal work I’ve ever written. A lot of the poems center around my experiences growing up and losing a parental figure. I felt very exposed and uncomfortable when I realized other people would be reading it. I try to chase that discomfort now. As a reader, I’m drawn to that which is personal and uncomfortable. It’s scary, but it’s true, and I think readers are drawn to that honesty.
Where can my audience find you?
You can stay up to date with previous and upcoming publications on my website, coreyniles.com. I’m CoreyLNiles on most social media platforms, where I will be posting my daily poems this year between my usual nature and animal pictures.