Up Close: Kelsey Baker

By Adam Gerchick (Contact)

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Kelsey Baker doesn’t quit.

For the 17-year-old Loudoun Valley High School senior, writing is a passion, a gift and a struggle.

Kelsey, who lives in North Fork in western Loudoun, has already made a name for herself among the county’s literary community. Among her accomplishments is winning the middle-school division of the 2007 Young Voices of Loudoun County short-story contest – a contest for which she is now a student judge - and organizing a monthly writers’ group for Young Writers of Western Loudoun, a local non-profit, where she mentors other young writers and seeks to promote their work.

For any student, Kelsey’s achievements would be noteworthy, yet Kelsey has managed to earn her stripes despite suffering from bipolar disorder. As she and her mother, Nancy Baker, both note, the disorder can be emotionally devastating to the point that, her mother said, “It can be hard to get her out of bed.”

That has not stopped Kelsey, who this year will graduate one year early from Loudoun Valley with an advanced studies diploma and head to Longwood University in Farmville to major in English and pre-law studies.

In an interview at her western Loudoun home, Kelsey described her love of literature, the difficulties of the writing process and her mixed feelings about judging others’ work.

Q: When did you start becoming a dedicated writer?

A: I've written all the time, and before that I'd tell stories instead. I'm just good at making up stories. I've always been doing this.

Q: What do you like about writing?

A: Well, you can convey a lot of messages through subtle stuff. I like how you can be open and really get someone wrapped up in the story.

Q: A lot of people, even good writers, like their product but the hate the process. Other people find it soothing; they just sit down and get into it. How is writing for you?

A: It's actually . . . it's both. I have bipolar disorder, so there are manic phases where I can be really creative, and it can be really soothing, to a point. And then sometimes, when the manic goes down, it's very difficult to write extensively.

Q: I know that you’ve written about living in western Loudoun. What has been the effect, if any, on your writing of living in a semi-rural area? Do you think that your surroundings have influenced your style?

A: Definitely it has influenced the style of writing. It's just, the local writers that are around, they have basically a similar style of writing. It's pretty relaxed.

Q: And how connected are you with the local literary community?

A: I'm pretty well-connected, for a senior high student. I know Meredith Bean McMath, who is a local playwright and author. And she's really helped me with my writing, helped get me going. There's Bobbi Carducci who published [ “Young Voices of Loudoun County”], and she's been a really great mentor for me.

Q: You've written twice for the Young Voices of Loudoun County short-story contest. Tell me a little bit about what you wrote each time.

A: Well, it was the same story, actually, to be honest. I just put in the same story. The story is set in a suburban area, which I'm not very well-versed in. But it kind of pokes fun at real-estate signs, and I kind of have a weird sense of humor. So, the real-estate sign has long tendrils of hair that end up growing out of the sign and ensnaring people. So it's the story between the time it gets there and ensnares all these people and then [when] the main character goes and gives it a haircut, basically.

Q: Now you're a judge for the contest. How is it different being a judge?

A: Well, I don't really feel that anyone can judge a piece of work. I don't feel like there should be a distinction between one person being a different level from another person. I mean, I can judge other people's work, but I don't know, it's hard to say if one is better than the other.

Q: What are you looking for when you do judge?

A: I like a story that will keep me interested from start to finish. It really has to have a good topic sentence, basically.

Q: Describe for us in more detail your writing style. You've said some of the people here have influenced you. Do you have any other literary influences?

A: I read a lot of different types of writing - Oscar Wilde, a lot of that. Not such a big fan of Shakespeare; he's kind of emotional and melodramatic for me. But Sophocles, and I read all sorts of modern books, too. There's Francesca Lia Block; I’ve read basically every story that she's ever written.

Q: You’ve written primarily shorter pieces. Do you like the short-story format? Can you see yourself writing a novel, a longer piece?

A: Sure, if I can keep my attention to it long enough, then I could write a novel. I like the short-story format because you can get everything that you need to say in a concise piece that will keep your attention and not have you trail off. But I like to work in dark humor.

Q: What specifically do you struggle with when you write, other than the typically ups and downs? Is there an especially difficult aspect of it for you?

A: I think it's just picking out the right word, because there are so many different ways you could say it; and, it's like, in [A.P. Literature], one answer is better than the other, but only just slightly.

Q: What has your involvement with the Young Writers of Western Loudoun been, other than as a contest entrant and writing judge?

A: I started a writers' group that met once every month that was just young writers coming together to share their work and get critiqued, and get them published, basically. I've helped with a lot of their writing workshops, and I'm working on putting together a workshop now.

Q: And what is the main purpose of the whole organization? What do you do in the group?

A: Well, it's basically getting the younger voices out there. It kind of shows people that the younger audience has something to say. I mean, it's not just an older person's world for that.

People would send in their writing through e-mail to everyone in the group so people would have a chance to read it. And, when we got to the group, we would basically critique it. It was . . . constructive criticism. As constructive as possible.

Q: Would you say that you’re regarded as one of the most dedicated writers in your class? What do your classmates think of your work?

A: I'm more dedicated than most people. [But] a lot of people don't even know that I write anything at all, unless they read the school magazine, which I occasionally put stuff in. I'm not really that well-known when it comes to people in my own age group; it's more an older audience.

Q: In keeping with that dedication, you plan to major in English as well as pre-law. What do you think you are going to do with those degrees?

A: I want to write, regardless of what job I do. But I wanted to be an English teacher for older kids, maybe senior high through college.

Q: Writing isn't your only interest; you do a few other things. Tell me about some of them.

A: I do photography and all sorts of different art, like watercolor, painting, stuff like that. I dabble in music; I actually might be playing a show for the First Friday thing in Leesburg.

Q: What music in particular? Which instruments?

A: I can play a lot of instruments, but not necessarily well for all of them. I like to stick to guitar, because that's what I'm best at.

Q: What advice would you give to young writers who aspire to be serious in their writing?

A: I would have to say to keep focused. People who write but not necessarily get published usually have the tendency to drift off from their work, and if you can just get at least a sloppy copy, then you can send it to someone, and they can fix it to whatever can make it better. But you just have to get in finished, at least in a finished form.

Q: For the record, what's your favorite book?

A: My favorite book? Well, it's in book format: The Oedipus Rex cycle. That's actually my favorite book — a play.

Q: When you're not writing and you're not playing, what's something fun that you like to do in Loudoun that you would recommend?

A: Definitely the bluegrass jam, for a family. And that's in Round Hill.

Q: Finally, what is something that you think your friends would be surprised to know about you?

A: I think people are most surprised when they hear the amount of times that I've been published, because most people think, well, she put something in the school magazine, or she got a story published here and there, but they don't actually see that I've been dedicated to this for such a long time. And I was first published in elementary school. One of my essays was picked for the Martin Luther King "I Have a Dream" essay [contest]. I just kept working from there.

Tagged: Loudoun Valley High School, Up Close, western Loudoun

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