Interviews With Wattpad Authors

Interview With Kismetwinters

Next, I interviewed Kismetwinters, or Jesse Sprague. Her story, Deprivation- The Feast and the Famine, has over 23k reads as of this interview. It's a great story and I definitely recommend it!

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Who is your favorite author (It can be on Wattpad or in general)?

I grew up on Tanith Lee, she made me into the writer I am. I would love to say there is no one favorite but just looking at my bookshelf tells me there is. I have her books stacked two deep on two of six shelves.

What inspired you to first start writing? Is it a big part of your life?

I wrote because the people in my head were my best friends and I wanted to give them all the life I could. At times in my life they were my only friends. So yes, writing is a huge part of my life and a huge part of who I am.

What was your reaction when you first hit over 20k reads?

Excitement? I knew it was coming at that point, I'd been watching for it for days. Oddly, 10k was more exciting just because then I still didn't believe it was really happening. It felt surreal. My book sat at 5k for six months after I completed it barely moving at all. And I'd pretty much given up on goals for it, so when it started going up again, I was on cloud nine for a while.

What can you say to frustrated writers who work hard but never get many reads?

Two things really-

1. Don't focus on the reads too much. If you are comparing yourself to more successful people all the time it's just discouraging and you know what? There is always someone more successful than you. Get to 10k, well others have 20. Get to 20k well others have 40k, 50k, 100k, 1 million. If you've taken the time to look at what it takes to succeed, then you know what you need to do. Do it and work on your novel. The rest will come.

2. Figure out what it is you aren't doing. Are you pouring all your energy into your work, replying to comments, going in the forums but you're not reading and commenting on others? Well then you know how to fix your problem. For me that thing was that my target audience isn't the predominant one on Wattpad. I don't write YA and I don't write Fanfic. So knowing that, I knew that I would probably never be a story and that didn't have to upset me. And then I thought about how someone with my problem could try and get more of an audience... well when there are less total people for you to reach then visibility is even more important. So I applied to be featured.

Can you connect to any of the characters in your stories?

I connect to all of them in different ways. Some of them represent some aspect of what I wish I was, some represent some aspect of what I fear I am. And then they grow into their own personalities over time and it's like connecting to a family member- you know that they are part of you but they are also just themselves.

Where do you get inspiration for your stories?

Everywhere. But I think I usually either start with being told something 'can't' be done and then have to do it. Or I get an image stuck in my head and that grows into a story.

How did you find about this website [Wattpad]?

A mentor of mine posts his stories online. The sight he uses isn't one that I would ever use since it's for erotica but it got me wondering if there wasn't a way for me to do the same thing.

What has influenced your current style of writing?

Everything. I try to sample every style and see how it fits. Play in any genre that appeals.

Lastly, do you have any advice in general for up and coming wattpad writers?

Don't get discouraged. Sometimes someone will have a meteoric rise in popularity but most of us, even the popular ones, paid our dues for a long time and worked at it. If success doesn't come instantly, take that as a challenge not as a condemnation.

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Thank you to Kismetwinters for doing the interview! Definitely give her stories a go!