365 Interviews

Interview 143: MissMythoMagic

1. Can you tell me about yourself? I'm currently a fifteen year old, Australian girl, half way through grade ten. I have a small group of friends, my closest being Chey, Kat, Tom and Joe, all of whom are on wattpad, and I love them all dearly. I'm not in a relationship, and I don't plan on starting one any time soon. I live with my mum, dad, and two younger sisters. I have a dog named Mello, and he's a cocker spaniel cross miniature poodle.

2. What inspired you to write?  I started writing when I was seven. It was a messy handwritten "book" about a princess who went mute. It was never finished and wasn't incredible by any means, but I still have it. When I was eight, my whole grade had to participate in a writing contest. We were given a picture and had to write about it. I really didn't want to, but my teacher managed to coax me into writing something. Turns out, I came first out of 120 kids. Suffice to say, I was shocked. I didn't return to writing until I was 10, after I'd read the Percy Jackson series. At the time, I was very alone at school and had no friends. I wished I was a demigod in the books, so I wrote myself in. I had no idea that this was actually fanfiction, I just wrote it. Last year, I discovered wattpad. I published that first fanfiction book, and decided I liked writing, and have continued it most passionately.

3. If you could have one of your characters come to life who would it be and why? What would you do with them? I probably would pick ... Oh gosh, that's a hard one. Probably Percy. He's the one who started me off on the path of reading and writing. Without him, lord knows where I'd be. What would I do with him? Keep him! Well, not exactly. I'd probably treat him as my brother.

4. Where do the your ideas come from?  My ideas come from random places. I often get a lot of ideas when I'm in the shower, or in bed. Sometimes I wake up and remember a dream, and ideas sometimes come from dreams. Sometimes roleplays give me ideas, or simply reading books. Its all about exploring the literary world, really.

5. Do you work to an outline or plot or do you prefer just see where an idea takes you? There have been books that have very basic plot lines, but more often than not, I just go with the flow. I attended a writing seminar that said outlines help some people, but others find it easier to use improvisation.

6. How do you think you've evolved creatively? Whenever I look back on the very first chapters of my very first book, I groan in my head. Not very well written at all. I think I have improved tremendously. From where I am today, to less than a year ago when I joined wattpad, I have developed my skills more than I would've ever thought possible. Ideas are more detailed rather than vague, and I think chapters and whole books through a lot better than I did.

7.What is the hardest thing about writing?  The hardest thing? Easy; the ending. As my dad says, "Anyone can start a book, but it takes determination to keep going and courage to finish it.” Anyone can have an idea, but putting it down on paper is harder than you might think. And even if you start it, its ten times harder to finish. Especially if it’s an original. How do I know this? Because I’ve attempted to write original before. I’ve never finished an original book, but have the starts about five that I didn’t like anymore. So yes, the hardest thing is to actually finish a book.

8. Would you call yourself a wattpad celebrity? Why so or why not?  A wattpad celebrity? Oh, no, I wouldn’t. I’m just a humble writer. There are plenty of people who are better writers than I am. I acknowledge that I am fairly decent at writing, but I would never consider myself as a wattpad celebrity. I haven’t managed to write an original, and there are plenty of wattpaders out there who have, and who have tens of thousands of followers and millions of reads because of it. I’m only a part time fanfiction writer. I’d love to one day write original and be a “wattpad celebrity” but I have a long way to go yet.

9. Are you working on any new story you can tell me about?  I have been considering an “ask/truth or dare” book. My friend has one, and I found that just be reading it, I’ve come up with a few ideas for my own book. I consider it, so as to come up with ideas more tailored for my books. This is certain, but I may see how it goes.

10. What is your favorite quote? My favourite quote would have to be, “Everything is okay in the end. If it isn’t okay, then it isn’t the end.” I like the quote because it reminds me that things can get better, even in the darkest of times. I like to think of it as a way of saying, it will be okay.

11. What is your favorite film and why? Favourite movie? What’s with all the hard questions? Well, I guess it would have to be, um, I’m going to say the Pirate Movie. Probably because it doesn’t really have a point, and it makes you feel so relaxed and carefree. It’s so random and funny, and it just makes you feel like nothing really matters. Just that you’re having fun.

12. Where can you see yourself in 5 years time? In five years, I hope to see myself in my third year of university. Hopefully I will have moved in with my friends like we’re planning, and we’ve sorted out our lives. In five years, I hope to be setting up the rest of my life. I hope to have started, or possibly even finished, an original story that I can either publish on wattpad, or send to a publishing house.

13. Imagine your main character dies on page one.  Everything else remains the same.  Describe the new plot to your book. If my main character died on page one, I can imagine that the rest of the book, or at least a good half of it, would be trying to somehow bring the character. I do enjoy tormenting readers by killing off a character, only to bring them back later, as I have done a few times.

14. What advice would you give to your younger self? Advise to my younger self? Gods, where do I begin? I’d probably tell a younger me to think before she acts. A lot of impulsive things I’ve done are because I never thought them through. I tended to just act before I thought. So, that would be some good advice. I’d also probably tell her to be  little more open, and to embrace situations and opportunities as they come. That’s what I’d tell her.

15. Which famous person, living or dead would you like to meet and why?  If I could meet someone famous … Hmm, I’d probably pick J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter was the very first really book I was into, and I’d love to meet the maker. Aside from that, J.K. Rowling would be an amazing person to talk to, and get advice from.

16. If you could have been the original author of any book, what would it have been and why? I would’ve loved to be the author of the Percy Jackson series. Purely for the fact they’re my absolute favourite books of all time. When I was a little girl, I would pretend that I would go back in time and write the books first, and pretend I really was the author

17. What was the easiest part of writing? The easiest part of writing is making characters. That may be different for other people, but I love creating a person, giving them an appearance, personality, backstory; everything. I really enjoy designing people and everything about them. It can be like designing everything you want to be but aren’t. Like a better you. It can be a relaxing, fun pass time.

18.Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it? I’ve learnt from writing that everything has a beginning and an end, but that doesn’t means it’s over. I’ve learnt that there is an escape from real life, and that can be reading or writing. I learnt a lot through the comments on my books too. I’ve learnt so much about people and I know that there are kind people out there who appreciate me for me. I know now that I don’t have to be what other people want me to be. I’m okay as me.

19.Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers? To my readers, I want to say thank you so much. I love all my wonderific M&M’s so dearly. I want you all to know that you are the reason I stay on wattpad to write. You are all so amazing, and I don’t know what I’d do without you and your constant support. I’d be lost with you all.

20. Do you have any advice for other writers?  My advice to other writers would be never give up. Writers Block will come, but you can get around it. Always believe in yourself, and write because you want to, not because people tell you to. And if negative comments come your way, as they will, ignore them. You are perfect the way you are. Negative comments are an obstacle that you must overcome with sheer will and determination. Never stop believing and keep on writing!