365 Interviews

Interview 23: luckyelephant

1. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself? 

My name is Arshi, I’m 17-years-old, and I’m currently studying English Language and Literature, Geography, Business Studies and Psychology as A-Level subjects. If you were to describe me, you’d say “Arshi is the most laziest stressed-out person I’ve ever have met.”

2. What inspired you to write? 

I think my wild imagination. I used to let it all out by lying as a kid, but when I started to read, I discovered I could turn those lies into books and even get rewarded for it. That’s what got me started, at least. So take notes, kids. Lying gets you places. (Not really haha. Lying is bad. Don’t do it. Yeah.)

3. What’s the earliest memory you have of writing a story?

I wrote it when I was maybe…nine? It was this really dumb story about a girl who had dreamt that a pink fairy took her to pink Fairyland and they had pink cotton candy and wore pink shoes and I think they even had pink hair? A lot of pink, basically. I wrote it in my grandma’s cookbook, so it’s probably still around here somewhere. But I used to write diary entries well before that.

4. What is your least favorite part of the writing process?

I hate getting started. Pushing past those first five chapters or so is literally the worst thing ever, because it’s like you can’t rush and jump into the action, and you have to give backstory but still keep the reader hooked, and gah, it’s so boring.

5. Where do you get your ideas?

I get my ideas from everything and everyone, to be honest. Mostly I get ideas from my family, because they’re pretty out-there and do a lot of stupid stuff that make great stories. Other times I just think up scenarios of me and my current celebrity crush which usually involve something unbelievable, and voila!

6. Do you have a specific writing style?

I think this is pretty much the one thing I struggle on quite a lot as a writer. I try to be all-rounded, but I think my writing style is very focused on humor and sarcasm, and I don’t think I’d ever be able to write a story completely drenched in mystery or murder. It would have to have even a speck of humor, otherwise it wouldn’t work for me. Oh, and romance. Definitely romance. So I guess I do?

7. How did you come up with the title?

For The Disney Project, I mean, duh. It’s pretty obvious. 

For Taylor’s Peak, it has a hidden meaning which I don’t really want to reveal because it’s a bit of a spoiler, but a clue would be that Oneft – the town where the story takes place in – means “unnamed” or “nameless” in Icelandic. 

For Saving Dolphins, well…it’s about saving dolphins, so…

8. Who designed the covers?

I did. I’m OCD when it comes to that kind of stuff so I don’t think I’d let anyone make my covers unless I really trusted them.

9. What do you do when you are not writing?

School takes up like 90% of my time, so I’m either hanging out with my family or friends, eating, or watching movies or TV shows. *ehem Supernatural ehem*

10. Do you work with an outline or just write?

It depends on story to story. Sometimes I feel like planning stories out really drags them down, so with Taylor’s Peak, for example, I just jumped right in. There were instances where I had to think up character names and backstories on the spot! But for Saving Dolphins, I’m going to have at least a vague outline.

11. What does your family think of your writing?

I don’t think my dad and brother know/care (mostly because I’d be mortified if they did). My mom, on the other hand, is a complete saint. Anything with a boy and a girl in the same chapter ticks her off, so she’s constantly nagging me to write stories about animals or like toys or something instead of hormonal teenagers. I think she forgets I’m a hormonal teenager myself. Overall she really likes the idea of me writing, though, which I appreciate. 

12. What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?

I think it was the fact that I was practically – pardon me – God. I loved to see that I could control anything in my books; things that I couldn’t even dream about controlling in real life. I LOVE that about writing, and frankly, I think that’s the biggest factor that makes me going.

13. How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?

I’ll be damned if I ever finish a book, but aside from that, I’ve started about a hundred stories in my lifetime, if not more. I have written and completed a short story, though, but I don’t really count it as a story because it’s very…vague. 

14. What other books are similar to your own?  What makes them alike?

I’m not sure if you mean my own books or another author’s books, so I’m just going to go for the latter. 

Um, I like to think any writer whose books are plot-driven would be similar to mine. Specifically, I’d compare my work to Ally Carter, Meg Cabot, Rachel Cohn/David Levithan, and, I daresay, J K Rowling. I don’t believe I’m even close to being as good as them, but I’m (hopefully) on the way.

15. Do you have any unique talents or hobbies?

I’m actually the most talentless person ever. But I love to travel, take pictures, and pretend I’m social and good with people (spoiler alert: I’m not). I also have this massive thing for movies, and if I wasn’t as into writing as I am, I’m definitely be a movie-junkie.

16. Is there a message in your novel that you want your readers to grasp?

In all of my books – every single one of them – I make it a point to include at least five legit flaws in my protagonist, because I think it’s extremely important that my target audience (which I’m guessing are girls under 20) realize that there is no such thing as perfect. I also think it’s important for them to understand that you’ve gotta be your own person. Even though all of my protagonists have love interests (I’m hopelessly romantic), I try to portray them in a way that would show that they’re independent and self-confident. Because, really, you have to understand that you can only be your own hero. All this Twilight and Effie-and-Freddie crap is just that: crap.

17. Are events and characters in your books based on your own experiences? 

I take different things from different situations and people and jumble them to make one character or event, so not exactly. Inspired, for sure, but not based.

18. Do you have a new story coming out soon? If so, can you tell us about it?

Currently I’m just trying to work on Taylor’s Peak and Saving Dolphins. I didn’t think they’d get the attention they got, so I kind of just winged them. Now, though, I feel committed to them, so no, nothing new. At least not on Wattpad.

19. Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

I’m just going to throw something super generic out there and say that I love them more than anything. They’re what keep me writing, and because of them, my Wattpad experience is turning out to be as phenomenal as it is. But yeah, I love them regardless of them being silent readers or people who comment on every little thing, and I’d give each of them a big warm hug if I could. <3

20. Do you have any advice for other writers?

Write whatever the hell you want, my friend. There are a bunch of people who’ll tell you to use spellcheck and correct grammar and believe me, they’re 100% right, but there’s this amazing thing called editing. I think the most difficult thing for writers is getting what’s in their head out on paper, and that’s because of all these rules and whatnot. Trust me, that’s not your biggest worry. If you just get something out, you can carve it to perfection later, even if it looks like a sack of rotten potatoes now. I promise. But firstly? Just write. :) x