Leigh Victoria Phan, MS, MFA
Bio
Writer, bookworm, sci-fi space cadet, and coffee+tea fanatic living in Brooklyn. I have an MS in Integrated Design & Media and an MFA in Fiction from NYU. I share poetry on Instagram as @SleeplessAuthoress.
Achievements (7)
Stories (166)
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10 Things You Learn Fast As a New Writer. Top Story - August 2025.
“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.” — Stephen King There’s a lot of commentary in the writing community about what it means to live the writer’s life. It’s a little bit different for everyone, but there are a lot of commonalities that almost all writers can resonate with.
By Leigh Victoria Phan, MS, MFA5 months ago in Writers
How to Develop Discipline as a Writer
“You can live with me in this house I’ve built out of writers blocks.” ― Pete Wentz This is probably my favorite quote on writer’s block — I think my house is most certainly built out of “writers blocks.” Sometimes, you might want to take a lighter approach to work through your fatigue as a writer. You can simultaneously be productive and give yourself a creative break.
By Leigh Victoria Phan, MS, MFA5 months ago in Writers
Blame Not the Father. Runner-Up in Leave the Light On Challenge. Content Warning.
Inside the Milan Dome June 5th, 2122 8:02pm Anselmo Bianchi was a tall man who stooped to fit inside the shadows of the powerful women in his life. He slipped into the dining room so silently that his appearance was as easily ignored as the servants slipping in and out with covered platters. Perhaps it was because the Bianchis of old had the sense to pivot from textiles to a clothing designer to an environsuit developer, but the family was matriarchal.
By Leigh Victoria Phan, MS, MFA5 months ago in Fiction
Bouncing Back from Creative Disappointments
“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” ― Winston S. Churchill You know, on a logical and fundamental level, that you need to bounce back. You know that the faster you do that bouncing, the better things will be. Despite all that dandy logic, if you’ve experienced a critical disappointment, you’ve probably got about as much bounce as an elephant with bad knees.
By Leigh Victoria Phan, MS, MFA5 months ago in Journal
Not By His Name
Summer of 1751, Paris Like most twelve-year-olds, Elias wanted to be an adult. Paris was a city that begged to be explored and enjoyed by someone old enough to enjoy its charms properly. He felt as if he fixed his hair just right, and if he kept his shoulders back and his mouth firmly set like his father, once he got a little taller, he could pass for such a fine adult that the right sommelier would pour him a glass of wine.
By Leigh Victoria Phan, MS, MFA5 months ago in Fiction
he will claw after you
1. save every cent that comes into your hands 2. construct walls outside your ears 3. so his shouting doesn’t penetrate too deep 4. don’t believe him when he says you aren’t capable when he says you’ll surely fail when he says you owe him everything You don’t. 5. take a job. take another job. 6. buy a new phone on your own plan so he can’t track you 7. Leave him. 8. build a new foundation around your heart 9. and ignore his texts 10. when he begs you to come back 11. remember how you slaved away to make him happy and how he never, ever was. 12. Go to therapy. that wasn’t poetic but really, as soon as you can afford it, go to therapy a soul educated in the ways of the mind can help untangle your hurts far better than you can alone 13. don’t look back at him 14. beware of the lies told by photos, moments rent from memory 15. find a better job 16. don’t be just a number build your own home. your sanctuary. 17. And never, ever, go back.
By Leigh Victoria Phan, MS, MFA5 months ago in Poets
She Feared This All Along. Runner-Up in You Were Never Really Here Challenge.
It’s a bad day. It’s sunny outside and the faint scent of salt blows inside on the fall breeze, but it’s always fine weather for her parents to fight. She follows her mom into their bedroom, hoping her presence communicates the fact that she cares and doesn’t want to leave her alone. She’s twelve, but nearly as tall as her mom.
By Leigh Victoria Phan, MS, MFA6 months ago in Fiction
How to Get Your Voice Into Your Writing
Are you afraid to open up? If you’re trying to stay straight-laced and chase an idea of perfect professionalism, it’s very hard to write long form content. It’s okay if you are, it’s not something most people can do easily. Frankly, it's taken me many years of therapy to be open about my perspective, who I am, and what I've been through.
By Leigh Victoria Phan, MS, MFA7 months ago in Writers
How to Integrate Yoga Principles Into Daily Life
If I could get away with doing it and no one would notice, I’d totally pop a nice, restorative pigeon under my desk. However, that isn’t very practical. A big part of strengthening your body through yoga is also shifting how you approach life.
By Leigh Victoria Phan, MS, MFA7 months ago in Longevity
5 Love Poems for Hearts Already Captured
So much of what we capture in poetry is strong emotion. There’s a lot of love going around, but love poetry often seems to gravitate to the less happy spectrum of romance. If I had a penny for every poem about heartbreak I’ve ever read (or written myself, I’m just the same as you), I’d be a very rich woman.
By Leigh Victoria Phan, MS, MFA8 months ago in Poets
10 Quotes that Capture & Invigorate the Poet’s Life
Quotes are fun, but I am all about specificity. There are a lot of quotes about writing that apply to any type of creative writer, whether fiction is your friction or poetry is your party. However, there are also a lot of quotes that are quite prose-specific and don’t capture the good and bad of being a poet.
By Leigh Victoria Phan, MS, MFA11 months ago in Poets
How to Take the Stress Out of Valentine's Day with Your Partner
Celebrating a holiday about love sounds fun, but how often does it end up being more stressful than pleasurable? Whether it’s your first year, fifth year, or fifteenth year together, Valentine’s Day tends to be stressful for one reason or another. It could be the cost, the pressure of impressing this person you care for, or the stress of not knowing exactly what would make your partner happy.
By Leigh Victoria Phan, MS, MFA3 years ago in Humans
