Creators of My Watty Favorites (Part 1)

Interview : adam_and_jane

Viv's story "Obsessed" has to be my favorite fanfic on Wattpad. It is mostly removed from cliches and is very well penned. It's got a very good plot and is a must read for Marooners everywhere.

First off, - what's your name? (or nickname, if you don't prefer to give your name away).

Viv

What are your major works so far?

Obsessed – An Adam Levine Fan Novel

What draws you to the genre(s) you write?

Um, have you seen Adam Levine? Nuff said…

What are you working on at the moment?

The sequel to Obsessed. It’s called The Liar’s Wife.

Which writers inspire you?

Where to begin? I’m always reading something. The Liar’s Wife is my musical reinterpretation of Jane Eyre, so shout-out to Charlotte Bronte (although I’ve discovered a sad lack of crossover between the Adam Levine and Charlotte Bronte fandoms). I’m heavily inspired by TV and movies too. I have a big writer crush on screenwriter Aaron Sorkin. I was watching his show The Newsroom while writing Obsessed, and it influenced the way I structured a lot of chapters.

What made you decide to sit down and actually start something?

I randomly caught an episode of The Voice and fell head over heels for Adam Levine. I’ve never had a celebrity crush like that before. Intense! I downloaded every Maroon 5 song ever released and started listening to them all day long on shuffle. The songs told me the story. It was like a movie I could see in my head, and it kept getting fleshed out with new scenes every time I listened to the music. I started writing down snatches of dialogue for my own personal amusement because I didn’t want to forget all the little scenes I was imagining, and that eventually became the outline for Obsessed. (The title is a little joke at my own expense, by the way.)

Do you work to an outline or plot or do you prefer just see where an idea takes you?

I work to an outline, but the outline evolves. I do “Choose Your Own Adventures” to let readers have a say in the plot. It’s a fun way for me to gauge how they are responding to the story.

What is the hardest and the easiest thing about writing?

Hardest is description. Easiest is dialogue. I tend to find descriptive passages boring to read and even more boring to write, so I kind of have to force myself sometimes.

Do you ever get writer’s Block? If you do, how do you win over it?

Yes. Sometimes it helps to gloss over the beginning and skip to the middle and end. Then write the beginning last.

Do you proofread / edit all your own books or do you get someone to do that for you?

Do it myself.

How do you handle hate mail or negative comments (if you get any at all)?

Honestly, the worst feedback is when someone stops reading. Whenever someone takes the time to read and comment, positive or negative, I take it as a compliment. I actually went back and made some edits to the beginning of The Liar’s Wife based on negative feedback I was getting from readers, and I think it made it a better story.

If you could have been the original author of any book, what would it have been and why?

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I love stories that mess with chronology, and this book has the most ridiculously convoluted timeline ever. Plus it made me sob my eyes out.

What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

Well, read read read, but any aspiring writer has already heard that a million times before. So I’ll say watch a lot of TV and movies.

Is there anything else you would like to add that I haven’t included?

Thanks for interviewing me! I don’t know why you picked me or how you stumbled on my book, but I’m glad you liked it.

What were / are you like at school? Were you good at English?

I was one of those annoyingly competitive straight A students until I discovered boys, and then I got distracted. But yes, I was always good at English when I applied myself.