Coffee Talks

With Kamila

The Gifted by axgirl13

Hello, Kamila! Thank you for taking the time to get involved with Coffee Community.

So, to begin with, 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?

I write fast-paced speculative fiction with strong female heroines. I love stories full o breathtaking adventures, emotional roller-coasters and epic climaxes, and that's how I write my stories. So if you're looking for a page-turning, bingeworthy books, I'm your girl!

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

I've been writing things for a long time. Mostly it was just fanfictions, simple things that I never showed anyone. But around 2020 during pandemic writing became my main escape from harsh reality. It helped me realize that writing is one of the things I enjoy the most. So I decided to get a leap of faith and post the things I write on Wattpad, just to see if my stories, that brought me so much joy, could bring joy to other people too. 

How has your writing journey been so far? What are your goals as a writer?

My journey so far was amazing. I feel I was very lucky that my stories got so much recognition on Wattpad. I'm still a bit baffled every time I see my name on the winner lists of contests, or when people leaves lovely comments after binge-reading my stories. It all feels like a dream. Receiving this much support on Wattpad made me feel more confident with my writing so I dare to dream a big dream of one day publishing one of my stories via traditional publishing.

Now, let's talk about this year's ONC! Why did you participate in the Open Novella Contest?

Because I love the idea behind the contest! I absolutely adore the atmosphere and social aspect of people gathering and sharing the same experience of spinning their stories from the given prompt list. I did participate last year for the first time, but I horribly overshoot the length of my story, so I never submitted to the last round, because by the deadline my story was already over 50k words. But I decided to try it again, learning from my experiences from last year and this time I managed to keep it under 40k words :) 

Which prompt(s) did you choose this year?

I chose: 

20. You finally build enough courage to talk to that cute someone you see every day on the bus. Their face turns dark as they respond "You shouldn't be able to see me." 

Even tough it sounds like a romance prompt, I thought it would go well with the sort of superheroes theme I had in mind. 

Besides the prompt(s), what else inspired you to write your ONC winning story?

I had an idea for a paranormal superhero themed story at the back of my mind for a while now, but I also knew it would be huge undertaking and I would have no way of making it novella size. So after looking at prompt list I come up with an idea to write a backstory of one of the protagonists of the main novel, as it would be perfect for the novella size.

Tell us about your writing process during the ONC. What did you enjoy the most? Did you encounter any struggles writing your story?

I think the biggest struggle for me were the strict deadlines. It's not easy to write a complete novella in three month. And with full time job and family it can be really hard to find time to write on a regular basis. I'm not going to lie, there were moments, quite a lot of them actually, when I was thinking: I can't do it. I'm too tired after work, too many things are happening in my life and I would never keep up with the deadlines.

But then I was announced the first round winner, and I thought it would be a shame to let that go to waste and not even give it a shot. So I kept pushing myself to keep writing, even though it didn't always feel easy and words didn't exactly flowed.

The thing with the deadline is, they work both ways. They are stressful, yes, but at the same time keeps us accountable and it's just a motivational kick we need to finish our projects. And suffering under those deadlines with all fellow writers make the whole experience very rewarding.

I think the most enjoyable part is seeing just how many different stories people can spin from the same prompts. It really is amazing how perception is different to everyone, and the way some of those prompts were used is mind-blowing.  

What advice would you give writers joining the ONC next year?

Choose the prompt that speaks to you. Don't pick up too many, because sometimes by trying to combine too many ideas together we end up with stories too complex to remain a novella. Don't put too many side plots and too many characters. You can have amazing stories focusing on just a couple of characters and one main storyline.

Give us your ONC winning speech!

I want to thank all amazing writers who participated in this year's ONC - I had a blast working alongside all of you. Thank you everyone who read and comment on my story during ONC and to all people to encouraged me to keep on fighting and finishing this story.

Thank you to amazing DreamlandCommunity for hosting ONC book club and providing a place where we could all complain how silly we all were for staying late up at night to keep up with the deadlines.

And first and foremost, thank you to the whole Ambassadors Team working extremely hard to make ONC happen every year. You are heroes and you are making Wattpad a better place for all of us <3

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