Nicolas Visbal

NICOLAS

VISBAL

Writer . Photographer. Teacher

My creative process is not as concrete as I would prefer. Sometimes I plan projects meticulously only to end up scrapping the entire concept. Other times, I wake up with a sudden urge to create, and I type for hours on end– it is here where I feel I do my best work.

When I get possessed with the urge to write, I either eat unhealthy amounts of bread and ramen, or I eat nothing at all in favor of a strict coffee-only diet. I recommend neither.

I juggle a lot of interests at once, so if writing poetry or prose does not fulfill my artistic itch, I switch to a different format like photography or music production. This way, there is a constant momentum to my creative process that mitigates writer’s block and keeps me somewhat sane and satisfied.

In all my artistic endeavors, I must be brutal and honest. I enjoy exposing aspects of my life. It’s not my priority if people relate, sympathize, or disagree with my expressions. What matters to me is that I express myself honestly.

What inspires you to do your work/ where do you find inspiration?

For me, writing poetry and prose requires patience and attentiveness– my surroundings can randomly inspire me, and I find myself writing in inappropriate and odd circumstances. It’s like a muse suddenly lures me to the page: blink, and I’ll find myself writing for hours, completely withdrawn from my environment, and enveloped in the need to create.

I draw from my personal life to write and create, and the people closest to me inspire me the most. My fiancée has always supported me, and even if my poetry and prose seldom reach a romantic tone, she influences all my work deeply. I have a brother that always augments my creative process, and any collaboration with him invigorates my inspiration. I’m thankful to have a large family that I wouldn’t change in the slightest.

How did you start making art/ figure out you liked it?

I think that my brother and I were bred to create. I can remember as far back as the third grade where I’ve found outlets to express myself. At middle school, I spent my days in class writing “a novel” about supernatural creatures and a heroic young adult protagonist in his journey through the afterlife. I still own that novel today, and even though it’s precisely the type of book you’d expect a twelveyear-old boy to write, I knew then that writing was a part of me. I enjoy working in restricted and limited mediums. I don’t like having limitless control, and I invite outside factors to participate in and “corrupt” my art– this is one aspect that draws me into film photography. Limiting myself to writing specific poetic forms, limited points of view, and manipulation of language/syntax. I enjoy challenges.

Film photography is exhilarating, and I find its patient, slow, ad costly process very rewarding compared to the satisfaction of writing a short story. Therefore, I often stress in poetry and prose, and whenever I plan to submit my work, it usually rests a year before submission. In that time, I constantly revise and edit until the written work fits my criteria– if it ever does.

What do you hope to do with your work in the future?

I hope to teach in some way in the future. Post-pandemic, I was a primary education music teacher and experienced great fulfillment teaching classes. I love to write, film, and create, and If I find myself in a career that favors those qualities, I’d be grateful. As it stands, teaching is my current passion.

The Comet .............12 Loser.......................39 Tuna ........................42 Litlle Prince.............70 Cement....................57