"ᴱᵛᵉʳʸ ˢᵉᶜʳᵉᵗ ᵒᶠ ᵃ ʷʳⁱᵗᵉʳ'ˢ ˢᵒᵘˡ, ᵉᵛᵉʳʸ ᵉˣᵖᵉʳⁱᵉⁿᶜᵉ ᵒᶠ ʰⁱˢ ˡⁱᶠᵉ, ᵉᵛᵉʳʸ qᵘᵃˡⁱᵗʸ ᵒᶠ ʰⁱˢ ᵐⁱⁿᵈ, ⁱˢ ʷʳⁱᵗᵗᵉⁿ ˡᵃʳᵍᵉ ⁱⁿ ʰⁱˢ ʷᵒʳᵏˢ."
Welcome to our lair, where you'll find interviews with the amazing winners of The Orca Awards! Get inspire by the authors o...
Hey guys! Here's our interview with bugsies whose book The Girl who saw Tomorrow has won First place under Fanfiction!!
Read on to find more about this lovely author! <3
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Who or what inspires and motivates you to write?
I believe motivation to write comes from within me. As anyone, I'm driven by what inspires me, but even at times it feels bland I go find my own motivation.
My way to do so is watching scenes from movies and TV shows. It's visualised so I can really observe. Some scenes are so well-acted and well-shot that it inspires me to create a theatrical experience for my readers. It can teach you a lot about writing, like what kind of scenes should be snapped past to give the reader an adrenaline rush, what scenes need to have more detailed description and what concepts need to be spaced out to make it a slow-burn.
Then, of course, there are the comments. I love it when people decode the Easter eggs I leave in the chapters and make theories and try to predict future plot twists. Comments like those are like fuel, they keep me going.
What genre do you enjoy reading/writing the most?
My favourite genre to write in is definitely fantasy/adventure. There are so many concepts to explore! In Fantasy, the universe is the limit; there's so much unknown, so much uniqueness and so many opportunities. I also like reading Fantasy/Adventure stories but since I do spend a lot of time writing that genre, I prefer to read lighter genres as well like Humour and YA.
Is there any scene you particularly enjoyed writing in your book?
There are many! Since it is a Harry Potter Fanfiction, I love writing all the scenes where I could explore Hogwarts beyond what's mentioned in the books and seen in the movies. It gives me a chance to research more about the castle and its surrounding areas, and it's so much fun!
I also enjoyed writing the scene where Margaret goes to Muggle London with Tonks during Christmas to get everyone Muggle gifts because she's more familiar with those. Such a happy occasion! Lastly, I plan on developing the Wizarding World much more than what we've already seen, going to places that were mentioned but never shown or were only shown briefly; so I'm eagerly looking forward to that as well.
What according to you is your strongest point in writing? What advice would you like to give fellow writers struggling in that category?
I write only for myself. I believe I'm capable enough and that I have morals good enough to be able to create a story that spins away from clichéd tropes, and is enjoyable and memorable for a reader to read. Even if I want to know opinions on a chapter, even if I'm excited, I know that no comments are going to change the plot I've planned.
So if you're a writer struggling with sticking to a plot or if you're feeling demotivated reading the comments because you feel like you'll let your readers down, I want you to know that you're wrong. Your own plot twists will never sound thrilling to you – you already know when and how they're going to happen; whereas your readers don't. Write for yourself, write a story you'd want to read. Be confident about it and your readers would automatically have confidence in you.
You're writing a brilliant story that deserves to be told. So don't give up.
What's something you look for in a story?
Originality, something that doesn't sound repeated. I do like cliché from time to time especially if it's cleverly slipped in. I also like when authors take time to build the world they've created because it's so so important to have a sense of continuation of life around the main characters, no matter the genre.
And logic, of course. I've judged for some awards this year, and all in all, if the story is successful in explaining the logic it uses in its world, then everything else basically fits around it. Sense of humour is just a cherry on top in any story, really.
What mythical creature would you want to adopt as a pet?
I love this question! I would definitely want a Zouwu (as ambitious it may seem.) It's a powerful magical beast native to China, capable of traveling a thousand miles in a day, and it resembles a gigantic elephant-sized cat. It may come off as monstrous but is really "like a big kitten," as Newt Scamander says, and can be tamed with love and care and its special toy.
What is something you have improved in your writing over time?
The balance between dialogues and descriptions. There has to be a description after a fair bit of dialogues – a character's thoughts, their surroundings or even their actions – to slow it down and make readers feel certain emotions that cannot be conveyed in dialogues alone. In a similar fashion, there has to be some dialogue in between long paragraphs of, for example, recollection of events. I've learnt that monologues of descriptions can be tiring to read whilst constantly ongoing banter is going to get boring, and so there needs to be a balance.
Thank you for having this interview with us! Best of Luck and Keep Shining!
