This is a new project I'm working on. I am interviewing writers that I'm a fan of and sharing those interviews with all of you for your enjoyment. I want to thank all of the writers who take part in this; you guys inspire me and get me writing!
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So, our first interview is with the talented BrookeJade. She's the author of Paige Tyler and the Time Keepers, Protecting Lexie, Two-faced; Everyone Has a Dark Side... and His Name's Noah.
They're all great stories and here is a peek into the mind of the girl who wrote them.
1. What made you start writing? Was there a person or experience that motivated you?
Yes I do, but it's not the sort of experience that most people would tell you about if you asked them that question, mine was really negative.
When I was in grade one, I had a teacher who I didn't really like, and one day I was in 'integrated studies', which was like a mix between science, history, geography and all these other things. We'd just started a new topic and my teacher asked me to read out the name of it, which was something like 'natural catastrophes'.
I was trying to read the word 'catastrophe' and no matter how hard I tried I just couldn't do it; I kept stuttering and stumbling over the word. My teacher got annoyed at me and said, "Geez Brooke, no wonder you can't read," in front of the whole class.
I felt like I was about two centimetres tall and all I wanted to do was run out of the room and cry. I didn't, but I still felt like someone had just slapped me across the face.
Anyway, me being stubborn little me, decided then and there that I would not only be the best reader possible, I would go one step further and write. I already had the world's biggest imagination so it was just a matter of putting everything into words.
Another event that sort of motivated me to write Paige Tyler and the Time Keepers is a response I got on the first chapter through a Yahoo question. My question was, 'What should I name my story?' Here 's what this person replied...
Paige Tyler Meets Teeny Bopper Fanficition, Yay!
I think that is the most fitting title. Go read some Ernest Hemingway. Stories that are wrote like fanfictions don't, well, shouldn't (Twilight snuck by, unfortunately) sell on the market. Your story is also rather unoriginal sounding, cliche, and it is possible to describe things in too much detail. People want action. They don't give a damn what color your protagonist's eyes are, or how she styled her hair. You can hint at it, but going and describing appearences is a waste of time and will lose readers every time.
Example:
"Layla had gorgeous emerald colored eyes, and waist length black hair..." <-Boring
"Emerald eyes met her reflection in the mirror as she traced the scar down her cheek because blahblah..." <- Interesting, story is moving forward, character development is happening. People fall in love with a character's personality. Not their appearance.
Yeah it sucked, but I got over it.
I know that some people are probably going to say stuff like 'whatever, she's just doing that for attention' and all that but the truth is, I'm not, and I probably wouldn't be writing today if that hadn't have happened.
2. You're still very young but your stories are well-written and engaging. What aspects of your life do you think make the biggest impact on your writing?
First of all thanks for that, and secondly, I would have to say music, I get a lot of ideas from the lyrics of songs, (as clichéd as that sounds) also other people's stories. I don't copy them, but I do get ideas and things, for example: I was reading this story about a vampire and it was written in the POV of a guy, and so I thought I'd give it a try and write a story where the main character was a guy. (That story is 'Two Faced' by the way)
As for things in my life that impact my stories, I don't have a very good relationship with my dad, and if you've ever read 'Paige Tyler and the Time Keepers' you'd know that Paige is always fighting with Marcus, (her dad) and while my dad really isn't that bad, we do fight a lot, so I know what it's like and thought I could play on that a little.
Also, in the last maybe three years, I was going through a bit of a rough patch, (I'm not going to go into detail) and a lot of that has had an effect on my writing.
Sorry I think I got a bit off topic in some places
3. What's your favorite song?
There are probably too many to name, plus they change all the time so I never really have a favourite song for too long. At the moment it's probably 'We Dance to a Different Disco Honey' by Short Stack; although it's been out for about a month now I just can't get over it. They are a great band and I love them just as much, if not more, than All Time Low.
4. You have several stories in production at the moment. Which one is your favourite and how do you manage to juggle them all?
In spite of what most people think, Paige Tyler and the Time Keepers ISN'T my favourite story; at least not at the moment. Out of the ones that are on Wattpad, I would have to say (in spite of my lack of uploads) Protecting Lexie is one of my favourites.
HOWEVER I do have another idea for a story which will probably be called 'The Good Girl' (not too sure on the name) Like everything else I write, it will be fantasy. I don't think I'm going to upload it for a while though, I want to write a few chapters first, and finish a story or two.
As for juggling them all, I don't. I am hopeless at writing multiple stories at once and I seriously need to stop, it's a terrible habit that I really need to get out of and I have WAY too many ideas for my own good.
5. What do you think are your greatest strengths as a writer and your weaknesses?
I would have to say that my greatest strength is also my greatest weakness. I like to describe things in GREAT detail, and a lot of the time I overdo it, and when you over describe, people tend to forget half of it so it might turn them off your story.
On the other hand, people generally get a pretty good idea of how things look and what I'm seeing as I write so that helps.
6. Where do you get inspiration for your characters from?
Oh, I like this question, um... my inspiration comes from all over the place, but with Paige in particular it comes from Rose Hathaway from the Vampire Academy series. I LOVE those books and absolutely adore Richelle Mead as a writer.
In all honesty though, most of my characters don't have the personalities that I picture them with, which is a big reason why I'm going to re-write Paige Tyler and the Time Keepers. For example; Shaun is supposed to be an outrageous flirt and hopeless romantic (which he's not in the story, but will be once I'm done) Kade is supposed to be 'the leader', and Beau is supposed to be a bit of a nerd (which is why he works in the library) Alice, who I haven't mentioned enough of as I would like to, is supposed to be really sweet and innocent and then... well I'm not going to say what happens in case someone reads this and they haven't gotten that far yet.
7. Your stories are really good at creating a believable fantasy world. How do you go about creating them? What do you think it is that makes them so believable?
Once again, thanks. I think a big contributor to that is the fact that I like to describe, and I make up rules and boundaries and give everything a reason, if that makes sense. I also over think things, even in real life, (which isn't always a good thing)
I always go through all of the possibilities of a situation before I write about it, and I chose the one that I think is not only the most interesting, but also the most believable, which just goes to show some of the ridiculous situations I think up because some of the scenes in my stories are SO not realistic.
8. Do you have a plan in place for your stories before you start writing them, or are you just making it all up as you go along? Do you think that's an effective strategy?
Both, really. I mean, I always have a rough idea of what's going to happen but I usually just wing it for the first couple of chapters before I start planning it out, (either in my head or on paper) and going into detail on what's going to happen when and why it's going to happen and even where.
I think that it can be effective, but not always reliable in case you change your mind about something you've written in one of the earlier chapters because it doesn't fit the story after you've planned it out.
9. How long do you think it will be before you finish your first story, and are you in a race to see which one gets done first?
Well I know that Paige Tyler and the Time Keepers will be finished first because I'm so far along and there's only about five-ish chapters I need to write. The other stories are really just beginnings, but with the writer's block I have at the moment they're all sort of on hold, at least for a few more days until I can write something.
10. What are your favorite books to read and how have they influenced you?
I would have to say... Vampire Academy. Like I said before, I was inspired to create Paige when I read about Rose, but at the same time they're not really that much alike.
Also, 'Wildwood Dancing' and 'Cybele's Secret' by Juliet Marillier, are amazing books and I would recommend them to anyone who wants to read something DIFFERENT, however they're not really suited to young kids just because they're not written in the sort of language that most people under about the age of fourteen would understand. Although I did read 'Wildwood Dancing' when I was in grade five, but that's just me.
11. Who do you think was the most influential writer of the last decade?
J.K Rowling, definitely. For me though it would have to be either Richelle Mead or Juliet Marillier or even Cathy Cassidy, she's an incredibly talented author and the situations her characters are put in are both believable and incredibly unique for teen fiction. Definitely not clichés.
The only reason I didn't say J.K Rowling for me just then is because I haven't read all of the HP books. Yes, I know I'm like the only person on the planet who hasn't read them all but it's true. I've only read the first, sixth and seventh. Weird, I know but you'll get over it J
12. Are you planning to publish any of your stories? Now that it's possible to publish online, do you think you would try that or do you want to go the traditional route of finding an agent and getting a publisher to print your books?
I would love to publish my stories when they're finished, and I would probably go the old fashioned way. I mean don't get me wrong, publishing stories online as ebooks has revolutionised the way that writers do things, just like youtube's helped singers, but personally, I prefer to read books that I can hold in my hand and flick the pages, so that's the way I'd go.
13. Do you feel that Wattpad has given you a chance to find good things to read?
Definitely. There are some incredibly talented undiscovered books and writers out there that I would never have heard about if it weren't for Wattpad. Canse12 in particular, has to be one of my favourite writers of all time, and she hasn't even finished her book.
14. What do think you've learned from your experience on Wattpad?
Hmmm... that's a hard one because there is so much that I've learned. I think an important lesion is to take criticism as what it is, criticism. When I first came on here I got an extremely helpful message from a reader, but I took it the wrong way and thought that they were just being offensive, then I realised that I was being stupid and needed to get over myself. I took the advice and used it to improve my story, and now I'm glad that I got it.
15. What advice would you pass on to other writers?
Honestly? DON'T SPOIL YOUR CHARACTERS. I'm not kidding when I say that that's one of the most annoying things about some writers. Not everyone has perfect lives and not everyone can be popular and perfect. Not every main character has to be the most powerful and the best at everything, they don't need to fall for the 'hot guy' and live happily ever after.
Readers love characters for their flaws, (at least I do) and what's more is that they love the underdog. That person who has everything thrown at them and loses nine times out of ten, but pushes through the pain and suffering to come out on top. Look at Harry Potter for example, his life was crap before Hogwarts and even when he went there he wasn't the best and still struggled through all kinds of things. (sorry, that turned into a bit of a rant towards the end)
Also, don't get upset if your ideas don't work out the first time, you might just need to work on them a bit. I wrote five unfinished stories that were all about seventy pages long before Paige Tyler, and that's just in the last year. Writing takes a LOT of work, and you just need to accept that and keep going.
16. What are you plans for your future?
I have absolutely no idea. I would like to finish year ten (which I'm only just starting in February) with high marks, but more importantly I want to finish a few of my stories. Other than that I'm just going to take life as it comes.