Coffee Talks

With Aimee

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Our new author of the month is Aimee, who is also known as eoscenes on Wattpad.

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Hello! Thank you for taking the time to get involved with CoffeeCommunity. It's great to hear from authors like yourself and get to know a little bit about what motivates you to write longer works of fiction.

So, to begin, tell us a little bit about yourself as an author on Wattpad. For anyone who hasn't met you before, how would you describe yourself and your fiction?

Like many Wattpad authors, I am a university student who writes to share my perspectives and dreams about the world. As an immigrant, a person of colour, and a woman in STEM, I try to infuse my books with these experiences to show how different identities can intersect in the crazy 21st century. My favourite genres are Young Adult and New Adult. In my stories you'll find academic rivalries, wholesome romances, diverse representation and booksmart people trying to be people-smart.

When did you start writing and what does writing mean to you?

I started writing in 2015, around when I was fourteen. At the time, writing was just an outlet for my overactive imagination. I would dream up scenarios and plotlines wherever I was (I still do). Fleshing out these characters, fiddling with the plot, and producing a finished body of work—all from my head—was just bliss. Now, in addition to this, I've learnt that writing can be a force for positive social change. People have told me that my Wattpad stories changed their lives or their outlooks. Outside of Wattpad, I've performed poetry and published articles and reached into the lives and hearts of others. Writing is what I want to do for the rest of my life, in whatever capacity I can, to leave a mark on the world.

Out of all the stories that you've written so far, which one is your favourite and why?

Nightlife is my favourite at the moment. It is the one that is nearest and dearest to my own experiences. Plot-wise, it's about a second-generation Chinese immigrant who has to juggle falling in love, her overbearing family, multiple jobs, and the stress of university. But underneath that, Nightlife is about finding your path in life when it seems the world is screaming several, incoherent things at you. I found that readers loved Nightlife—it was healing, inspirational and a safe space—for the same reasons I do.

What is your writing process like? Are you more of a plotter or a pantser?

Plotter. All day, every day. I pantsed my first two novels and they both took over a year to finish. I'm sure I could have saved half of that time if I had just known where I wanted the story to go. My writing process starts with my characters. They begin as slightly-worse human beings (prejudiced, or unable to set boundaries, or the life of the party but the party never stops) and I first figure out in what ways they are going to become slightly-better human beings. Everything in between is called the plot, and for that I use the 3-Act Structure (I am devout). This sounds insane, but I get more of a rush from plotting my books than I do writing them.

Writing for sustained periods is a hurdle that every writer, beginner or experienced, faces from time to time. What powers you through those longer bursts of creativity and keeps you focused?

I may be an outlier in that it's rarely ever hard for me to sit down and stay focused on writing—it doesn't feel like work, because it's my outlet from work (and life, blergh). But things that add to my focus are a well-chosen, atmospheric playlist, putting my phone far, far away and being in a room alone. I get into a zone that's almost like driving: meditative, routine, and familiar. That's why I advocate so strongly for plotting; it takes away much of the stress of writing. The plot is the world's best GPS, and those bursts of creativity where you put your fingers to a keyboard are simply driving yourself from A to B. Cruisy.

What top tips would you advise for getting a story, a novella or a longer piece of fiction off the starting line? What kind of story developments motivate you to see it through to the end?

I think it's all about momentum, energy and where you put it. I have so many ideas in my head that I would love to write one day, but I know if I started them all now, each story would suffer. I only let myself write one book at a time (not including editing written works or publishing on Wattpad) to avoid getting derailed by a shiny, new story. Sometimes it seems daunting getting an idea for a full-fledged novel, so I break it into steps—figure out the characters, then the plot (using whatever system you like—3-Act, 5-Act, Hero's or Heroine's Journey), and then write the first chapter and never look back. The story developments that keep me going are, honestly, my love for my characters and the message I want to get out there. I hear some authors can be apathetic to their characters, but I am so invested that I need to finish their story and do their character arcs justice.

Lastly, what was your first ever experience with the power of the written language?

I can't pick the first one. At my after school care programmes, I would read while the other kids played sports. I would aim to finish schoolwork early so I could read. I read well past bedtimes if I couldn't put a book down. I think I've been writing ever since I could string original sentences together. I kept a daily diary from ages eight to fourteen, which means that as soon as I stopped describing every day's mundane events in painstaking detail, I joined Wattpad. I have always surrounded myself with the written language and the worlds it can build. I'm unsure when I figured it out, but eight-year-old Aimee already knew: she had important things to say, and she had to put it all down on paper. (Sometimes I pull those diaries out from their boxes and read meticulous descriptions of why, exactly, I hated that night's dinner.)

Thank you once again for this lovely coffee chat! We're glad that we had the chance to get to know you more and wish you all the best for your writing journey. ☕