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This month’s spotlighted author is random_quills with their story The Badass Nerd!
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The Badass Nerd follows Olivia Claire in her high school life, surviving through homework with her four best friends. She doesn’t take shit from others and isn’t afraid to stick up for those that deserve it.
She’s also not afraid to make others pay for their mistakes. She keeps mostly to herself but every now and again if someone needs her she will be the first one to pull up ready for a fight.
She’s infamous for it, everyone in her school knows it. They don’t mess with her friends and she doesn’t mess with them, that is until the new boy comes.
Carter Grayson, the self-proclaimed player has met his match when he messes with the girl no one should mess with. She’s ready to stop his player ways, not because she’s in love with him (not at all) but because it's the right thing to do.
The Badass Nerd is a fast-paced, fun, teen story filled with characters who take you on a ride of pop culture references, coming of age feelings, changes and relationships being made and broken. The author uses a dose of humor on every chapter and mixes it up with a witty plot, addictive writing and a creates binge-worthy story for readers to get immersed into very quick.
We’ve also conducted an interview with 7 questions. Interested to know how this story came to be or the author's challenges in writing it? Read on to know more.
Let’s begin with the question we are all dying to know. What sparked the inspiration for The Badass Nerd?
I have actually been trying to write my own novel for a very long time and I usually failed because I could just not see the plot moving forward. I was working on a fantasy novel when I realized I am more familiar with teen fiction and hence came the idea and inspiration of The Badass Nerd. It’s a little based on my own life, I have those four friends as I mentioned in the novel, and that’s how I got their personalities.
That's amazing, I think we can all relate to one or two of your characters and now we see why. What made you decide to post this book on Wattpad?
I have been reading books on Wattpad since forever and it fascinated me that although reading books is common among many such platforms, to be able to write books and be acknowledged by so many readers across the globe is simply amazing. I felt Wattpad to be the best way to start writing.
So you’ve been a reader for a while. What do you think sets Teen Fiction apart from other genres?
The fact that it's very easy to read. If I am someone who hasn’t started reading much but is interested in it, I believe the best and easiest way to start is teen fiction. It has a good story and it’s the most relatable. I used to read this genre a lot when I was preparing for a competitive exam. Every time I felt exhausted, I just used to open Wattpad and choose a teen fiction to read. It really took my stress away.
Yes, that makes a lot of sense, everyone has been a teen or is going to be a teen so it’s definitely the most relatable for everyone. Unfortunately, as a writer I’m sure you’ve received some negative criticism it’s inevitable, how do you deal with it? And what would you suggest the others do when faced with such?
To be honest, there are two kinds of negative or even harsh criticism; either it's related to my work or it's completely random. If it’s the first case, I genuinely feel happy that my readers are actually so engaged, they could relate to the characters to an extent that they felt those emotions the characters must be feeling. Even if it's negative. But, if it’s the second case i.e. the negative comment isn’t about my story at all, then I guess I just develop a thick skin and keep writing anyway. I can’t let it drag me down (cue: One Direction :P) when I worked hard on my story.
That is a great outlook to have as a writer on Wattpad the comments and readers are so interconnected with writing that there's no way past them, negative or positive. One comment we see a lot in teen fiction is about cliches. Some of them can be overdone but some just sing to the reader perfectly. What's your favourite Teen Fiction cliche to write or read and why?
I used to read Teen Fiction a lot as a teenager myself and it always felt like a way to refresh myself whenever work felt too much. Mostly, I read the bad boy series. My favorite was and still is “The Bad Boy, Cupid and Me” and I absolutely love it. I find it cute and elegant. Bad boy series are usually like that and loved reading it because I could relate a lot to it.
I think we can all say we’ve been addicted to a bad boy once or twice. Even if it might be more of a guilty pleasure than anything else. Going against pleasure now, every writer finds themselves at one point or another deep in the clutches of writer's block. How do you avoid or get out of writer's block?
As far as I have experienced, writer’s block isn’t always a bad thing. Here is the thing, I have started novels multiple times, all with different ideas, different stories, different characters, and different plots but not all of them pan out. When writer’s block hits, it's a good point to look back and decide if this idea has a future or not. If it is, then I guess the best way is to give it some time. Re-read the story, look back at the reason or the vision with which the story was started in the first place and move forward accordingly.
That is some great advice to give people. Any other advice for your fellow/new writers?
Keep writing. It’s not easy but if you really do wish for your name to be on the book cover, you have to keep writing. If a story is not it, keep thinking. There is this famous saying that sort of stuck with me; “if you want to read a book and it's not already been written, write it.” Thinking about what you want to read is gonna help you think about how you are gonna write it. You will be able to structure your thoughts and divide it and write it in a creative way.
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer our questions random_quills You've inspired us all and the advice is perfect for all current and upcoming writers here on Wattpad. Thank you.
We’re delighted to have random_quills as one of our spotlighted authors! Interested to know how you can become one? Each author in here has been noticed by us for their outstanding book. Keep working on your story and submit your story to our reading lists to get noticed more easily.
