Author Spotlight

Spotlight #3: aiyorii

This month's spotlighted author is aiyorii with their story Boy Online! 

aiyorii is a college student who thrives on a lot of alone time, watching too many movies and eating a lot of Lays and shawarma. She is in her Shake-it-off era, and a fan of music; as she says "My Spotify is a jungle"

About the Story:

"Do me a favor; stop staring at me."

"Why?" I dared to ask.

He smiled and shook his head, kissing me on my forehead.

"You don't wanna know."

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Anay, born and brought up in an Indian family, has had a hard time figuring out his sexuality, and that changes when he meets his 'prince charming' online.

What happens when 'Prince Charming' wasn't just someone he knew online?

Interested to know how this story came to be or the author's challenges of writing it? Read on to know more.

What sparked the inspiration to write the story?

Honestly, what inspired me was reading other great books in and outside of Wattpad, and really good friends at the time whose life revolved around the LGBTQ+ community and their whole experience with getting to know themselves and expressing their thoughts and feelings towards the LGBTQ+ community. Many of my friends and I are fierce supporters of the LGBTQ+ community and we slowly came to know about people's struggles with their sexuality and accepting/acknowledging it. The idea was just a seedling, now my book has become a whole tree, haha.

What inspired you to start writing on Wattpad?

This might sound funny, but I realized I wanted to create something of my own while watching cartoons (too many to name) way back in the day, and wanted to represent my creativity using cartoons. Initially, I wanted to create a story, and visualized characters who were diverse in their own way, but it didn't take long for me to realize that I sucked at drawing and then I turned to Wattpad, where I found the writer within me.

Budding authors face countable hindrances, what hindrance(s) did you face the most?

Consistency, and building an audience. This was really hard for me to do, and it was only after multiple trials and errors that I realized, that consistency and building an audience go hand-in-hand. Writing what you love, is only worth it when you have people to share it with and read it.

Negative criticism is inevitable, how do you deal with it? And what would you suggest the others do when faced with such?

Negative criticism is still criticism, and if that's going to help me become a better writer, why not? I'm not always optimistic, but according to me, negative criticism means honest feedback. I'd say, take it with a pinch of salt.

What according to you sets LGBTQ+ themes apart from other genres?

The diversity of the book, I think, is unique to Boy Online, and the many different characters define the book when they're in a scene together, and I think they give it a simple and feel-good energy. I think one can be diverse and still embrace simplicity, which is exactly what Boy Online is and how it differs.

What do you feel is the biggest myth about writers?

"A magician never reveals their secret."

How do you avoid or get out of writer's block?

I take a break--although they are long ones, taking some time off from writing and doing different things not only clears my writer's block, it also gives me new ideas and plots to try out.

Any advice for your fellow/new writers?

Consistency is key. Even if you take a break, no matter how long, resume writing--always come back to your book.

What's your message for our readers?

The knowledge you gain while reading a book is immeasurable--love it and live it.

We're delighted to have aiyorii as one of our spotlighted authors!

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Interested to know how you can become one? Each author here has been noticed by us for their outstanding book. Keep working on your story and submit your story to our reading lists to get noticed more easily.