Wattpad Author Interviews

8. _HakunaMatata_

We are super excited to publish our latest interview with Delilah, aka _HakunaMatata_, who has an incredible 135k followers, and whose 3 works have clocked up a collective total of 72 million reads! She's a Harry girl, but she's written one of the most famous real-life Niall fics on Wattpad. Ever wondered how a writer comes up with a plot that captivates the millions? Read on to find out more...

Whereabouts are you from and what do you do for a living?

I'm from North Eastern America. I was born here, but I actually haven't spent my whole life here. For a few years I lived in Central and South America, but now I live back in the States (which is much more boring than living in Central America, FYI.)

Where else do you draw inspiration from, aside from One Direction?

Obviously, since my books are all fanfiction, my main source of inspiration comes from One Direction, but I actually get a lot of inspiration from other things. A lot of times I'll see a show or experience something that gets me thinking of how I could work something similar into a plot and that's normally what gets the ball rolling. Other times I'll just randomly get an idea in my head while I'm going about my usual routine and then I'll try to build off of it.

Your book Motel 6 is a Niall fic and has over 57 million reads! How did you come up with the plot?

It feels like I've written Motel 6 so long ago! But I can remember back to when I would see fanfictions all about teen moms and they sort of glamorized it and made it out to be this easy thing where there are no struggles whatsoever. My basic idea was to take that situation of being a teen mom and make it more realistic. In all of my books I try to incorporate a sense of realness and struggle so that the reader can (hopefully) make personal connections with the characters and also feel like they know the characters on a deep level because they see the struggles that they go through.

Your leading lady, Avery, has a young daughter called Aimee. Is Aimee's character based on anyone in your own life? What did you like best about writing her scenes?

Yes, Aimee was actually based off of a little girl that I know (who is growing up so fast now!), but I really took that character and made her into something of my own. There are scenes in particular, such as the scene where Aimee pees her pants in the middle of the night or when she steals Harry's phone to take selfies or just any of the little one-liners that she spews out throughout the book that just make me smile (I'm feeling so nostalgic). Something that I really enjoyed writing about her scenes was that I got to explore that element of "Okay, so this is how a toddler would react to this situation" and trying that out was actually pretty fun. It was also really fun to make her do things that would get a reaction out of Niall or Avery. It made things interesting when you put Niall in a situation where he has to parent this little girl and he's never raised a kid on his own before.

You've recently taken down Super 8, which was the sequel to Motel 6, to rework it. What prompted this decision, and how different will the new sequel be (without giving away spoilers!)?

For me, the idea of rewriting the sequel of Motel 6 really came from me not liking the direction that it was going in. Plus, the title "Super 8" really wasn't going to fit the plot like I thought it would. It's been a few years since I've written Motel 6 and I kinda wanted to start from scratch (plus, I miss writing about Aimee.)

Your fics are all about real-life 1D - how easy or difficult do you find it to write real-life rather than AU? What challenges does it present, and what (if any) research did you do to keep the characters authentic?

Writing about 1D in real life can be a challenge. For example, in Motel 6, Louis is dating Eleanor and Zayn is still in the band (cri) and he's dating Perrie. Since it's now starting to become set in the now "fetus" days, catching myself up to the current situations and managing to keep up with them will be tricky, but sometimes challenge is good. I always follow 1D update accounts to make sure I get the latest info on what's going on (example: what crazy printed shirt did Harry wear out to lunch in Cali today? things like that.)

As a reader, what do you look for in a fanfic? What draws you in? Do you prefer real-life or AU, and why?

For me, I always enjoy the "girl is in trouble and has to be saved by her hero" type of plot. I also really like books with completely unique plotlines. The other day I read a book about a girl who had three kids and was dating Harry, who was still in high school. Plots like these that make you do a double take and say "Wait, what?" are my thing. I don't really think I have a preference over AU or non AU (but I'd love to give AU a shot someday.)

Who are your fav Wattpad writers, and why? What about authors outside of Wattpad?

Some authors on Wattpad that I enjoy are WalkStar, styles_orama, 1Dlover121, and scooby-snacks. They are all really good writers who have really good stories (seriously, check them all out.) As for real life authors, I can't say that I do a lot of physical book reading, so I'm going to be completely cliche and say John Green because I've actually read some of his stuff.

You allow translations of your works - how do you decide who translates your books, and how do you ensure the story maintains the style and nuances of the English text?

I think I can speak for every writer on Wattpad when I say translations are a mess. My inbox is literally clogged with messages of people asking to translate my story, even though it clearly says it in my biography on my page.

Since there's so many languages that people want to translate things, I basically say "Okay, go for it, as long as I get the credit." And then they usually dedicate the first chapter or something to me so I can check up on it if I want to. It's kind of funny to put it into Google Translate and see how it translates. It's also super cool that people have the heart to want to share my book with people of their native language and give people an opportunity to read my works.

You've recently moved over to Radish Fiction - tell us a little bit more about that. How does it differ from Wattpad for writers? And how about for readers?

So, I was given the opportunity to write for Radish. In the beginning I was like "Okay, this is totally cool! Money for my writing!" But recently I've discovered that it really isn't for me. Although monetizing my writing would be amazing, I'm just not totally on board with Radish and what they do. This doesn't mean I'm speaking negatively about them, it just means that I don't feel as if it is the right fit for me. I like using Wattpad because I can give and receive feedback, but I can't so much on Radish. Also, I understand that not everyone can afford to read my books and I don't think that money problems should hold someone back from reading.

If you had the chance to ask your fav member of 1D one question and get a completely truthful answer, what would you ask, why, and to whom?

What a good question! I would probably ask Harry a question since he's my fave (yes, I wrote Motel 6 and I'm a Harry girl... oops?). I think I would probably ask him where he would see himself in twenty years. It seems kind of weird to picture him middle aged and I always wonder what the heck the boys will be doing at that point in their lives.

Thank you to Delilah for giving us an insight into her writing, and for sharing her thoughts on 1D fanfiction! More writers are to be featured soon, so keep this book in your library to avoid missing an update!