Inner Reflections: June Edition

Meeting The First Member

June 1, when the thread put out its first post, StoryWritersNeverLie was the first enthusiastic participant to become a member of the Let's Keep Tabs on Each Other thread. While being first does not hold any value on its own, showing a passion for the written word, offering an extra hand in the administration of the thread, and dedicatedly posting a 500 words or more entry every single day are qualities greatly admired at The 500 Club.

In celebration of our one-month anniversary, StoryWritersNeverLie shares her unfiltered thoughts on the many highs and lows of being a growing writer online.

Q: Hey, Sierra! Thank you for agreeing to this interview. Before we begin, would you like to share how many books have you written so far and what you are currently working on?

I would love to share that information. I'm currently working on a number of stories but my focus is mainly on two of them, Twice Bitten, a fantasy story that mainly focus on a female werewolf and how the laws they need to follow with a hint of other elements; and, His Commoner, a story that I'm hoping to have completed before I start publishing it on Wattpad, which is a more romantic story set with three siblings who run from a foolish Prince and to another Kingdom that is different from their own.

Q: What genres do you prefer writing? Why?

I usually prefer probably Fantasy, Science Fiction, and General Fiction, though I'm not the best at them, I still think I can cook up an interesting one. I say Fantasy is the genre that I always fall back to because it can really be about anything but there is no one element to Fantasy. I can have just dragons in a story and it'll be Fantasy or it can be filled with the magic of different types. Science Fiction is my next go to but it's a bit harder for me as I don't like to describe things that surround my characters and most of the stories that I like to write for that genre end up with having heroes or villains. General Fiction when I don't really have a genre in mind and focus on more than one or two of them for a story, which I've been known to do.

Q: What inspired you to pursue writing?

I can't really remember, honestly. I think it was an old friend of mine in high school or maybe because it was the only thing that I could do well that no one else could. I wasn't always the brightest person and I had to find something that could take me away from the world that I lived in. Writing did that for me and it will continue to do that for me because I write for my pleasure and sometimes others.

Q: As a reader on Wattpad, what mistakes do you often see writers committing in their works? How do you think they can undo them?

It would depend on the type of story I'm reading for these mistakes. If it's a story that has been on Wattpad for a while, I mainly noticed the longer paragraphs in a story that can turn a writer away, as well as not including a space between two paragraphs when it's clear that there was supposed to be. Many say the latter is a Wattpad glitch, sometimes it is, but I've also been one to deal with it and I managed to fix it but each to their own.

For newer stories, and sometimes newer writers, its the length of the chapters, the flow of the plot that moves too quickly, and how the characters are Mary Sues. Now, I see two ways they could undo them if they wanted to, ask for critiques but not everyone is ready for that, or go back and rewrite it to make the chapter longer.

But if a writer should do anything then they should enjoy their work, even if others might have a problem with it.

Q: How do you think we can support each other as members of this global writing community?

By not telling someone that they're doing something wrong because they don't like it. All writers are different, and that means that they need a different type of support, but that doesn't mean we get to be the ones to tell them they're writing wrong because we might do something else. We should build other writers up, give them advice when they ask for it, and explain our reasoning behind things.

Often I get told to not write my third person like I do because I jump heads, and I found many people don't even know there are two main types of third person: Omniscient and Limited; Both which focuses on its own thing. I don't like limited because if I wanted to show the emotions, thoughts, of only one character I would write in first person which I do sometimes.

But I've found people who like omniscient and instead of tearing me down about it, they support me. Even if they wouldn't read my other stories because of it. Even if they couldn't make it very far in my stories because of it. They give me advice about things that are helpful, something that I could use that won't take my writing spirit away and make me feel like a failure.

That's the type of people we need to be for each other. To see, faults, but do not crush a person because crushing someone is different than helping them. We want them to continue to write because you never know. That person could be the next J.K. Rowling.

Q: Last but not least, would you like to convey a message to our readers and aspiring writers out there? 

Never been good with conveying messages haha Probably to just be honest to not only yourself but other readers and writers that you come across. If you don't like something then don't focus yourself to read or write it, even if its the new popular thing.

See, not very good at that whole convey messages thing.

I don't know about that, Sierra. Your message to being honest to self has been heard loud and clear by our audience. Thank you for taking the time to share your honest and refreshing thoughts with us. I wish you luck and success in all your writing ventures!