Patricia Benito
The super talented writer Patricia Benito shares with us how she discovered her passion for writing, the birth of her first book, and her reflections on inspiration and life changes. Additionally, she gives us her top recommendations, all to be taken into account!
Hello Patricia! The first question we have for you is, how did you start writing? Has it always been something you wanted to do?
The truth is that it wasn’t something I had planned. I started writing by chance. One day I went to a recital on assignment, at a time when I was a bit lost because I had gone through quite a few changes in my life, and suddenly I found in poetry the perfect place to express and understand what was happening and how I felt.
To be honest, my first book was born unintentionally. After going to that recital, I started jotting down things that came to mind. Then I found that I had written several poems, which at that time weren’t even poems to me, they were thoughts I had been jotting down, and suddenly I said, “I’m going to make a book to give to my family.” And besides writing, I was very interested in learning how to format, how to make something beautiful, in short, how to create. I did it to give to my family but it all got a bit crazy and through word of mouth, that book grew a lot.
Interesting. And from there, how did your first book come about?
Every artist has their ritual when it comes to finding inspiration or times of the day when it's easier to create, what is your case?
In my opinion, or in my case, inspiration comes, above all, when you live. When you have real experiences. When you have something to tell. It’s true that I write less when I’m happy. I tend to be more inspired when I’m very sad or angry, when I don’t understand the world. That’s when interesting things come out and I always jot them down.
You've had a life with quite a few changes, why do you think or what have you done to cope with them "so well"?
Changes are a very complicated thing and yet they are also very simple. I think the most difficult part is the fear of change. So I believe that when you learn that all sides have correct decisions, that fear of making mistakes goes away.
After writing four books of poetry and having recently published the last one, what plans do you have now?
A book: “Yo no sé de otras cosas” by Elisa Levi. I’ve been recommending this book since I read it. It’s a story that I don’t know what it has, but it stays with you.
A movie, “Aftersun” without a doubt. I remember it and it gives me goosebumps for real. I don’t know if it’s because I watched it on the right day or what, but that movie stays with you completely.
And a city… I have to say New York obviously because it has been the most important city in my recent stage. I’ve discovered a lot and reinvented myself. I’ve wanted to take photos again, which is a bit of my guide to know when I’m doing well in a place. New York is a city that keeps me awake all the time, eager to observe and discover. It’s amazing.
The truth is, right now I have a feeling that I would like to do different things, tell very different stories. For example, I really feel like writing for children and teenagers because I think the future is there. We have to support them in the best possible way and try to prevent them from making the mistakes we’ve made. Another thing I really enjoy is writing songs. I think that’s where things are going and the rest, we’ll see!