Coffee Talks

With sophieanna

Hello again. And our second interviewer for the August 2016 was sophieanna. Her compilation of short stories was quite interesting as they were written for each day of the month.

The anthology can be found here.

So, let us bring a big welcome to Sophie!

[Sophieanna]: Thank you, Coffee Community for this opportunity!

[C.C]: How did you become a writer? And what are your ambitions toward your writing career?

[Sophieanna]: I've been telling stories for as long as I can remember. When I was younger, if I experienced something particularly noteworthy, I'd feel this compulsion to write it down. Eventually, my writing changed from sporadic to daily, and I've been journaling ever since. Long story short, one day I decided that as interesting as my personal life was, I wanted to write about someone else's life. So I took the plunge into fiction, and I haven't turned back yet.

At this point in my life, I know that I need to keep writing. It's a healthy practice, it helps me stay engaged, and I just can't stop at this point. But as for a writing career, I don't know. I'd like to publish some day, but I know that I'm young, and I know that it's always a possibility down the road. Right now, I want to get an MFA in creative writing, and maybe join the editorial team for a magazine. Again, though, I'm young, so I have time to figure it all out. All I know is that whatever I do in life, I'll be writing.

[C.C] I noticed that in your book, you wrote each short story based on a writing prompt/ or as you called it 'the imperfection dare.' Are these the types of challenges you prefer to start a story?

[Sophieanna]: Usually I don't start stories with prompts. Prompts can be helpful, but most of the time, I just find that they hold me back from writing what I really want to write. For 31 Days of August, I challenged myself to use the prompts, while still trying to retain my own individual voice and ideas in the stories.

[C.C]How did you come up with such interesting plots? One that I typically love is 'Day 11' where you wrote about a musician on a subway. That story was very unique.

[Sophieanna]: I wrote 31 Days of August so long ago...I don't remember how I came up with all of the plots, and I think that if I did the challenge again, it would be so different. To come up with plots for the prompts now, I'd probably just start writing and see where that leads, which is what I'm going to assume I did when I wrote those stories. As for "Day 11," which I just reread, I am almost positive that I must have been watching Gossip Girl when I wrote that because there's no other way that city prep schools and subways would be on my mind. Sometimes I get inspiration from the shows I binge watch.

[C.C]What draws you to write short stories? Have you written any other genres?

[Sophieanna]: I love writing short stories. They're not as heavy as novels or novellas, and you can just pack in a tighter punch. Also, you're not with the characters for as long, so you don't have to space out details that add to the plot or anything. With short stories, I feel like I can get my message across quicker and clearer, which I love. I've written longer stories, too, almost all of which are YA.

[C.C] What is the hardest thing about writing?

[Sophieanna]: The hardest thing about writing is that I never have enough time to do it. I have all these ideas, so I usually have the inspiration to write, and most of the time I can conjure the motivation, it's just the actual time that I don't have. I can't write as much as I want or as often as I want, which right now, for me, is definitely the hardest part about writing.

[C.C] Lastly, what do you like about writing here in the Wattpad Community?

[Sophieanna]: I like writing on Wattpad because it's a safe, overall positive platform for me to share my fiction writing. On another platform, I write serious blog posts pertaining to self-reflection and other boring things like that, which is okay, but I like Wattpad more because I like fiction more. I get to share my stories, and I get feedback, which is such a cool thing. I've been on Wattpad for almost five years now, and my writing has drastically changed, which is partially due to what I've learned through reading other stories on Wattpad and through the community's feedback. It's a pretty cool place, and I'm glad that I'm able to be a part of it.

And thank you for being a part of our interview section. We enjoyed reading your book and hope our readers will too! Let's give her a round of applause!

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Cheerio dear readers!

August 2016 Interview