Deryn Van Der Tang on Resiliency and Writing

Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work.

In episode #112 of The Writing Coach podcast, I speak with Deryn Van Der Tang.

Deryn is a writer and exploration geological cartographer who worked in the mining and oil industry before retraining as a housing manager and working with the elderly. Her life has taken her through divorce and widowhood, and around the world to multiple countries and continents.

A descendent of the 1820 settlers in South Africa, she has spent most of her life trying to find her voice and expression of her faith through writing, art, and photography. Her words and photographs have been published in a variety of places, and she has been selected for Senior Travel Writer competitions. Her blog Crossing My Bridges covers her soulful adventures through life and is interspersed with her love of poetry and art.

Through her writing, photography, and fine art, Deryn seeks to transform both positive and negative experiences into something spiritual and beautiful. She is inspired by nature and the natural processes of life, growth, and death — finding meaning in their metaphors and seasons.

 

During our discussion, Deryn describes:

 

• Why she volunteers to beta read and review other authors’ work
• The impact both mentorship and self-education played in her development
• What it was like being displaced from her home country of Rhodesia-Zimbabwe
• The importance of resilience for writers
• The relationship between biology, the natural world, and art
• The value of being exposed to diversity in both the natural world and human cultures
• And much more!

Listen now!