Helena's first writings were poems and short stories. The stories, written in Danish and then translated into Swedish by her husband, were first published in the "Ny Illustrerad Tidskrift" ("New Illustrated Journal") and subsequently collected in four volumes between 1875 and 1881. Helena did not think highly of the stories, which she regarded as potboilers. (The Nybloms had six children and needed the money.) Innately musical, she put more of herself into her poems, many of which were later set to music by Emil Sjögren and other composers. Her first collection of poems, written in Danish, came out in 1881. It attracted attention not just in Denmark, but also in Sweden, where it was praised by the poet Carl Snoilsky.