Tavi Gevinson created her first fashion blog at age 11, and at 18, she’s now the editor-in-chief of Rookie magazine.

Gevinson, who spoke on campus as part of Wisconsin Union Directorate’s Distinguished Lecture Series Monday, created the online publication aimed at teenage girls.

There’s always pressure to be original and have something new to say, Gevinson said, with so many outlets pressuring people into finding a way to stand out.

Creating something different can be intimidating, she said, partly because of the feeling that everything has already been said on the Internet and that it’s difficult to come up with something new.

When Gevinson was in high school, she struggled with depression, which, at first, made her identify as “a crazy artist.”

“Being unhappy is not the way to produce new ideas,” Gevinson said. “Even now I find it difficult not to write down everything that is happening to me.”

Gevinson said depression held her back from writing and achieving originality at first, but she said keeping a blog is a way to assert who a person is.

Gevinson also addressed fangirling, which she said a certain kind of creative release allowing a person to be bold and unique. Being a fangirl can make you a part of something special, she said.

Gevinson used the example of One Direction fans and said fangirls of the band are what make them so interesting.

“When you become a fangirl, you become a part of another person’s world,” Gevinson said. “Loving someone is only a reflection of you. It has no effect over the other person. You are the one doing the loving.”

Yet she raised several dangers of fangirling, such as wanting to create unique art but feeling stifled by the artists’ original work.