#NoSeriously

Interview: @ShardsofGlass

The Five Standard Questions

Question One:

What inspired you to research and write the tough topic(s) that your novel centers around?

I've always been interested in emotions and the mind. As a very empathetic person I find it easy to imagine how people feel and use that in my writing. I can put myself in people's shoes. My writing is very emotionally driven, lending itself to tough topics. My interest also came from studying A-Level psychology, when I became so much more aware about the way the mind works.

Question Two:

Has writing said tough topic changed the way you view writing, or the world in general? How has it impacted your creative aesthetic?

Writing about a tough topic made me think more about the way I was telling the story and how my stylistic choices impacted on the meaning of the story: writing a particular, stylistic way in order to capture the perspective of someone with a mental illness. Writing about a tough topic has certainly made me more aware of the presence of these issues in real life, and has made me passionate about tackling these issues.

Question Three:

How do you hope to help people with your writing?

Through researching these topics, and also through things I have learnt during my degree, I have become more aware of the flaws in our society. If I could even contribute a tiny bit to making change happen for the better for society in general, or helping one individual, it would make it worth it.

Question Four:

What does your writing process look like?

I'm a planner. I didn't used to be but I've found that planning really works for me. I create a chapter-by-chapter outline of what is going to happen in each chapter and then when I write I flesh out that basic concept for the chapter. I've also found that it's better if I don't edit as I go along. If I do I never get anything finished. So I try to put at the back of my mind the flaws I'm noticing as I'm writing and work on actually finishing the book and then going back and editing. Writing in the moment like that also helps me get inside the head of the character and imagine how they're feeling.

Question Five:

What are your long-term goals with writing? What are your long-term goals outside of writing?

In terms of writing I want to explore as many topics and genres as I can and to get my work out there and published. There is always room to improve and I want to develop my skills. I'm good at coming up with plot and the actual writing part but I find characters quite difficult, so I'd like to work on that aspect of my writing. Outside of writing I want to pass my degree and pursue a career editing in the fiction publishing industry.

The Five Unique Questions

Question One:

Your novel, The Water That Sings, focuses on the destructive effects of a mental disorder. Has this topic and/or these types of characters always interested you?

My interest in this area came from studying A-Level psychology, when I became so much more aware about mental disorders. I was also particularly inspired by watching the film A Beautiful Mind around the same time as my studies. I found the true story of Ben Nash truly inspirational. I wanted to bring the serious topic of mental illness to a young adult audience.

Question Two:

What is your favorite genre or sub-genre to read?

That's a hard question. I'm one of those people who loves almost every genre and I like sinking my teeth into a variety of different things. But my first love was fantasy so I'd probably have to say that.

Question Three:

You seem to be a fairly active user on Wattpad. How do you juggle reading and connecting with other writers with work, life, etc.?

Well it's become harder over the last year as I started university, so I'm not as active as I used to be but I do manage to remain fairly active. Although my degree is important it is also important to have some down time from it so I use Wattpad to get away from the stresses of coursework etc. I like to be organised so I plan what I'm going to do each day, factoring in what studying I need to do and how much time I'll have to myself for writing and Wattpad.

Question Four:

On your profile, you mention that you love photography. Has being a more "visual" person impacted that way that you tell a story, and that way that your ideas translate into novels?

I think through photography you get to see a different angle of the world. You're looking through a lens but you see things that perhaps you wouldn't have normally noticed. You get a different perspective on everything. When I'm writing I also see what's happening in my head, like I film, and write/describe what I'm visualising. I don't know if other people experience this or if it is just me! The only problem is the images in my head don't always translate onto paper as vividly as I imagine them, which is something I think a lot of people have. In a more literal sense when I did my A-Level Photography one of my projects involved combining photography and poetry which was really interesting and worked really well and which I would like to explore with a longer piece i.e. a novel.

Question Five:

Best book you've read this year?

As I'm studying English Literature I don't get time to read much for my own pleasure so I haven't read as much this year as I usually do. It also means I've read mostly classics! So I think I'll have to say Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.