Welcome, everyone. Today we have the lovely EXOtic_Devil
A big thank you to her for taking the time to answer these questions.
If you haven't read her books then please do. They're amazing...
Without further ado...
What inspired you to start writing?
I feel like people always recognised I was a writer way before I recognised it myself. The first time someone noticed my writing was when I was in primary school, somewhere in grade three I think? There was this cool competition going around for art and poetry. The first hobby I discovered was art. I am obsessed with it. I enrolled myself in the art competition (it was about soldiers and heroes at the time), but my year coordinator approached me and told me to enrol in the poetry section because she believed I had a way with words. It wasn't until I was in grade 8 that I actually decided to pursue writing (I was probably 12).
I had to create a story for grade 2 students and mine ended up in the top 5. After that, my English teachers started encouraging me to enrol in all sorts of events and competitions for writing. This is actually a difficult question to answer because ever since I created my first piece of writing when I was in grade 8, I became addicted. There's something magical about writing. You get lost in your head with all these different voices going around and when you look at your computer screen or paper, you see a whole universe coming to life. I really love reading, but I love writing even more.
I feel like I can escape and live a life I never would be able to experience. Writing has become an addiction for me. I've got over 60 ideas I want to write, and my goal in life is to own a physical copy of every one of them. That's what keeps me going. As to what inspires me—literally anything!
Did you have any writers' block along the way? how did you get past them?
I feel like a writer's block is a part of being a writer. I don't believe there can ever be a writer who wouldn't experience writer's block. Anything can make it happen. For me, it was school. I started writing on Wattpad when I was 14 or 15. Sometimes I could write every day. Sometimes I'd take a month's break because I couldn't form one word. It's normal. When that happens, I close my laptop and read or watch movies/dramas.
Sometimes you need to give yourself a break and find other inspiration. I find movies tend to inspire me more because they force me to "write" what I see rather than see what I read if that makes sense. It really depends on what gives you ideas and makes you think "Yes! This gives me an idea!"
Do you see yourself in any characters and why?
The only character I kind of see myself in is Lily Rega from my "The Fall" series. This is because that story is based on my life in high school. I had a lot of good memories from high school and, honestly, my life can totally be turned into a book or a movie. So I decided to do just that. However, Lily (like all my characters) is obviously more made-up than she is real because, you know, anonymity.
How old are you?
My age is for me to know and for my readers to find out. I like to be as mysterious as possible. (☞⌐▀͡ ͜ʖ͡▀ )☞ [You heard her guys start guessing down in the comments ;) good luck]
How old were you when you started writing?
14 or 15.
Can you remember what you felt when you first started writing? what did you feel?
I was definitely excited. But I remember feeling like I was doing something stupid and pointless. One of my teachers told me about Wattpad and encouraged me to start writing there to share my stories and develop a presence. She really believed in me (I miss her so fricking much) and encouraged me just as my mum did. I remember feeling "this is so stupid. No one is going to read anything written by an immature 14-year-old". I don't know how I got my audience. It's all a blur, to be honest. I just remember feeling excited but apprehensive.
What's your outside life like?
My outside life? My outside life can really be turned into a movie or a story. I guess that's why I have so much to write. My outside life is full of drama, excitement, adventure, danger, sadness and more. Literally. I could turn my life into any genre if I just exaggerate a little LOL. Life is what we make it out to be. For me, life is a game and an adventure.
Where do you get your ideas from?
I get my ideas from anything and everything. Literally anything and everything. Spider and the Elf, for example, was inspired by that scene from the movie The Amazing Spiderman where Gwen was tending to Peter's wounds after he fought the Lizard guy. That's literally how the story was born. One of my popular stories, Mitchell's Mate, was inspired by a few rape cases I watched on the news and the fact that Wattpad stories tend to "sugarcoat" the harsh reality of such a traumatic event. There's also my dreams and nightmares. Sometimes I wake up from a dream/nightmare and instantly reach for my phone to write as much as I remember.
What do you like to do when you're not writing?
When I'm not writing? There's a lot I could be doing. I could be sleeping. I could be online shopping. I could be walking my dog, helping my mum around the house, reading, watching a drama or a movie, babysitting my cousins, making covers for my stories. There's a lot I like to do, but writing is usually at the front of it all because I see writing as my escape and my therapy. My life is busy either way LOL.
What does your family think about your writing?
My mum has and will always be my number one fan and supporter. I seek her opinion for everything and anything, even about a story idea I plan to start. Sometimes I even talk to her about what I'm writing (in general and vague descriptions, of course). She knows about all my stories but in general. My dad... he doesn't really see writing as something worth the time.
What do you think makes a good story?
There's a lot involved in writing and even more involved in making a story good. For me, what makes a story good is the idea. The idea is the most important point, and then you start looking at WHAT makes this idea so good. Is it original? Is it unique? Is it captivating and engaging? Is it hard to stop thinking about? Does it make me fangirl and how hard? Does it have relatable or loveable characters? Does the idea allow character and further plot development? There's a lot more involved, but these come to mind immediately.
Writing is just like any other hobby. It takes time, patience, dedication, effort and practice. LOTS AND LOTS OF DEDICATION, PATIENCE AND PRACTICE. No one is born a perfect writer no matter what others may want you to believe. My first story (Her Seduction) is nowhere near as great as my recent stories. Every new story I write instantly becomes my favourite because I improve the more I write. And I will be bluntly and harshly honest here: not everyone can be a writer.
It is a really hard hobby/profession/talent. I've read so many stories on Wattpad (even outside of Wattpad) where I couldn't make it past the first 10 chapters (sometimes I don't even make it to ten). Some of these stories were even the ones with over 10 million reads. A story isn't defined by the number of reads or votes it has. It's about the time, effort, dedication and passion the author has employed.
What's your favourite genre? and why?
I've got a lot of genres I absolutely love, but my absolute favourites have to be supernatural and romance. If there is action in there, that's an immediate 100. I also like historical and comedy. If you ever read any of my stories, you'll notice that romance and supernatural sit at the very top with some other genre thrown in like action or fantasy or even horror.
What's the hardest thing to write for you and why?
For me, the hardest thing to write is smut. I can write horror like a professional murderer. I can write angst that often leaves ME struggling to breathe. I can write fluffy romance and adorable interactions that will leave you smiling like a creep, but smut... smut is a whole other story. For me, every word I write has to make the reader FEEL.
I'm really not confident when it comes to smut because "what if this sounds silly? What if this didn't make the reader feel anything? What if this made them cringe? What if this was too much? What if this wasn't enough?" Lots of doubt and uncertainty goes on in my mind when I write smut. :(
Do you work on an outline or do you just write with the flow?
Both. I have an outline for every story I write, but 70-80% of the time, I just go with the flow. Writing is an "instinct" thing. For me, I just need to write the first sentence or two and then the story basically just writes itself. Sometimes I don't even know what I wrote until I go back and do some basic editing. You go with what feels right. Or should I say write? ┐(͠≖ ͜ʖ͠≖)┌
Do you have anything specific you want to say to readers?
Readers. Please. Give authors feedback. Comment on their stories and vote if you like them, but please. Give them feedback. Nothing is more discouraging than having a silent audience. Imagine going to a comedy show and not having one person laugh. Imagine going to an Opera show or a musical and not one person claps. Writing is hard.
Good writing is extremely hard. If the author is serious about what they do, chances are that they do a lot of research, stay up late and even miss out on sleep because this is what we love. This is what we want to do in our life. The greatest way to say "thank you" to an author (other than buying their books if they have any published), is to give them feedback. A review, a comment, an email, a message. Anything. Tell them what you thought of their work. What you liked, what you didn't like (gently), what you think they did great and what you think they could improve. I promise you, no serious writer would hate this.
And lastly, Do you have any advice for new writers
New writers: there are a lot of writers now. Apparently, in today's society, anyone can become a writer, so what makes you different? What makes you special? No one wants a copy. No one wants a fake. You need to write something new and different, and to do that, I say write what YOU want to read. If there is a book you want to read but can't find, chances are that the book doesn't exist, so guess how you can make that book exist? Write it.
My popular stories are popular because I wrote something I wanted to read, something that no one has read before. Don't blend and don't conform. Don't even follow the trend or what's popular.Make a new trend. Stand out and be different, even if you only have five people following you. Five can turn to 50, 500, 5k and so on.
...
There you have it, Don't forget to vote, share and comment.