#NoSeriously

Interview: @DenmarkHarris

The 5 Standard Questions:

Question One:

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

I was inspired by an article about Helena Farrell. She killed herself after having been bullied by her classmates who would make fun of her red hair. Her story inspired me to give my main character red hair and to write about a girl who is teased because of her hair color. Numerous other articles about other girls who have been bullied and committed suicide because of it inspired me to make my redheaded MC a fat girl. I wanted to write about a girl who is tormented for being fat because it's something that I know many young girls are experiencing on a daily basis. So in other words, I'm inspired by the real life situations bullied kids face at school every day.

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 bullying has strengthened my resolve to paint as vivid a picture as possible of situations any bullied kid can relate to so that when they read my story they'll be able to empathize with my main character. Writing can be used to inspire and that's what I try to accomplish with my stories.

Question Three:

How do you hope to help people with your writing?

I hope that my stories will inspire readers to never give up and to love themselves.

Question Four:

What does your writing process look like?

My writing process is very simple. Characters come first. Sort of a motto I have. I focus on creating a single main character who readers will be able to strongly identify with. That comes first. Once I've created a three-dimensional character, I focus on the storyline. Step 1 might look like, 'Megan Parker. Insecure fat girl who loves art.' There are tons of young readers who can relate to feeling insecure about their bodies and so my focus is to create a character that will appeal to those readers. Step 2 is to devise a storyline which readers will be able to look at and say, 'that's the story of my life.' My aim is to write down a situation which will mirror the situations my readers have found themselves in. For example, 'Megan is bullied for being fat and having red hair.' A lot of young readers will be able to more easily identify with Megan because her situation is so similar to theirs in that they are also bullied on a daily basis. simple. The LAST step involves referring to a Pixar's 22 Storytelling Tips:) I go to Microsoft Word, pull up the tips, and shape my story around those tips.

Question Five:

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

My long-term goal is to become a traditionally published author. So I hope to one day see one of my novels on bookstore shelves. My long-term goal outside of writing is to create my own animated cartoon. I'm currently majoring in graphic design in college. I hope to create a cartoon which will revolve around a plus-sized African American girl who will struggles with typical teenage issues as she tries to make it through middle/high school. Some of my inspirations for such a show would be the Nick programs As Told By Ginger and Doug.

The Five Unique Questions:

Question One:

Can you tell our readers what The Girl Who Wished to Be Skinny is about, and what inspired it?

"Bullied by her classmates, 12-year-old Megan Anne Parker blames her "fatness' for her troubles and dreams of being skinnier. When Megan unwittingly casts a transformation spell, she is astonished when her dream comes true! Unfortunately, casting the spell also comes with unforeseen consequences."

:)

The tragic and true stories of Helena Farrell and Haylee Fentress and Paige Moravetz inspired me to write this story. Also, girls in general inspired me to write this story. It's just a fact that a lot of girls are bullied because of how they look and so I wanted to capture their experiences in this story.

Question Two:

You are a passionate supporter of the anti-bullying movement. How have your readers responded to this?

They've responded very well, actually:) I wasn't too surprised by the reader response on The Girl Who Wished To Be Skinny because I received such a great response on the short story version which I wrote and published on Wattpad in 2011. So I kind of expected that a novel version might do very well, too:) Many of my readers have personally written to me saying that the story affected them emotionally and so I'm happy that my story has been able to accomplish that. I try to make my readers feel for my main character and it's a wonderful feeling knowing that I've been able to do that.

Question Three:

As a girl who has long struggled with self-esteem, I appreciate your compassion for the societal pressure teenage girls face. How do you think this pressure, and this growing problem, will impact the next generation of writers?

Because of sites like Wattpad and the authors who inspire them, more and more teenagers will feel inspired to WRITE. This is a wonderful thing because it's always great to have a way of expressing yourself, especially if you're a teenager who is still figuring out who you are and your place in the world or more simply, your place amongst your peers. Many of these teenagers will even feel inspired to become published authors someday. The pressures of society and the challenges they face on a daily basis will no doubt shape their writing. For LGBT youth, they might write about a gay teen who is struggling to reveal his/her sexual orientation in a society where homosexuality is condemned. For a bullied teen, they might write about a gay teen who must face the ridicule of his/her peers on a daily basis and struggles to persevere through it all. You also have teens who have been abused physically, verbally, and even sexually who will channel their own experiences into their stories. So the challenges our youth face TODAY will impact their writing in that youth will inspire youth THROUGH their writing. We'll see a lot more Laurie Halse Anderson's or John Green's, a lot of teens who write for impact, who write to inspire.

Question Four:

Favorite music to write to?

I don't write to music usually. Sometimes I'll listen to a song which fits the scene I'm about to write, but I'll only listen to it right before I write that scene. Once it's time to write the scene, I cut all the music off.

Question Five:

How has Wattpad grown or changed you as a writer, and as a reader?

When I first started out on Wattpad in 2011, I hadn't figured out who I was a writer. I kind of knew who I was because I had written my first story that I published on this site called, As Told By Gracie,' and so I knew that I wanted to write stories that girls would love, but I hadn't yet fully embraced that part of me yet. Not until I wrote The Girl Who Wished To Be Skinny, (the short story version) and witnessed the great reception that it received did I realize that hey, I seem to be pretty good at writing to inspire so I'll focus on that. Slowly, I began to embrace the writer in me that wanted to write for inspire, and not solely to entertain. Of course, I want to do both:)

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