Philitric

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Hey guys !

Today we have Philitric with us on board. Let's check out her interview !

 Let's check out her interview !

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1.) What is your name and age? (if you are comfortable telling us)

• My name is Soumya and I am 22 years old.

2.) How did you first land on wattpad?

• It was way back in middle school. I have been a bookworm all my life and when one of my friends told me about an app with thousands of stories I could access for free, it seemed too good to be true. I have read so many cliche teen fictions and fan fiction that I have lost count.

3.) What made you want to start writing? What was your inspiration?

• I have been writing to express myself all my life. Drawings, paintings, and visual art has never been my medium. Words are.It was in secret diaries at first, to release all those pent up scenarios in my head and then I wrote short form fanfiction about One Direction (I was a hardcore Directioner back then lol). I never finished those. Then last year I made this account on a whim and started writing. It was to escape reality now that I think about it. I was feeling sort of lost in life and creating these characters gave me some semblance of control.My inspiration has been all of my favourite authors I grew up reading. It is my wish that someday I will be able to write half as well as they do and that is what propels me forward.

4.) From where do you get the ideas of your books?

• Honestly constructing imaginary scenarios is my coping mechanism, I think. So that part comes easily. One scene, one idea that acts as a seed and flowers into a whole story. For instance, with TGICR I knew the character of Meera before I started writing and I always knew that her beginning with Angad would not be linear. I had the drunken scene after the fresher's party in mind and that was the precursor to their whole story.

5.) Which genre book are you currently writing? And what are the other genre that you wish to explore in future?

• I am currently writing Teen Fiction and Soft Romances. That is my comfort zone and dare I say even my forte? I would love to explore horror, fantasy and magical realism if I make any progress with my writing. I am still learning, still growing. It is a never ending process.

6.) What will you advice to the aspiring, new writers?

• I see a lot of people say 'Just start!' and 'Don't be afraid. Believe in yourself.'s floating about. That might be encouraging but let's be real, they are generic abstract statements.My advice (If you want to heed it and if I am even qualified to give advice), first and foremost, is to read. The more you read, the better you get at writing. Doesn't matter what you read, books, newspapers, magazines. Even podcasts count.
Secondly, before you dive into the actual process of writing, map out the plot. You need not include the details at first. Just a basic skeletal structure so you know what your end goal is. Write towards that goal. You can obviously change the specifics of the story as and when you want but this structured plan works.Thirdly, know your characters. You should have a good idea what your character will won't do. Makes them believable and not one dimensional.
Lastly, edit. I know. Editing is the worst. I don't even follow this advice myself half the time. But trust me, coming back to the story with a fresh set of eyes is very helpful. Get someone's help. Ask them to read and get their feedback. Then you can choose to listen to them or ignore them.If you're really serious, start from a blank canvas again. Rewrite the story and the end result is always better.

7.) Which 5 books of Wattpad authors, do you love the most?

• I haven't read books on Wattpad in years. Back when I was a reader there weren't very many Indian fics so I don't know those.
I have read a lot of Wattpad classics before they blew up though. I read After before Anna Todd had even finished the series. (That was emotionally devastating I would not recommend it.)
Who hasn't read The Bad Boy, Cupid and Me? Epitome of the Bad Boy/Good Girl trope. It recently completed ten years. Makes me feel old, ah.
Then there were these hilarious fanfics called 1D bit me and The Accidental Skype Call.
Troublemaker, Matchmaker and Heartbreaker by Faye (Unfortunately she took them off Wattpad though)
Though, my favourites (That I think would stand the test of time) are -The Season by MissKatey (The whole series is amazing)
Mischievous Mrs Maxfield by ninyatippet
F.A.I.T.H. by JoPRBooksListen
Lucky by artemismischiefSimply Irresistible by Bookworm1993
There are so many more I can't think of but I've already listed too many.

8.) Do you pre-plan the things that you write or it comes to you as you write the story?

• As I mentioned in the earlier question I do plan ahead and it is very helpful. Again, which is not to say that you can't change aspects of your story if you want. Certain things come to you as you write, the others are part of your structure.

9.) What motivated you to start writing?

• I think books are the shit (excuse my language). The ability to touch another person's heart with your words is beautiful to me. It is amazing to both be able to experience writing and to write yourself.
I want to create stories that offer you comfort. Stories that feel like a warm cup of chai on a rainy day, stories that feel like the knife twisting in your gut, stories that leave you yearning, stories that leave your heart aching for just a little but more, stories that give you something to smile about when you're lost in thought.
That is what motivates me to write. To be able to do all that with my writing. Hopefully I will succeed someday.

10.) What are the challenges that you face while writing?

• The most common ones are Time and Writer's Blocks. There are other personal ones like impostor syndrome and self loathing that make me hate everything I write but that conversation is for another time.

11.) How do you feel and what do you do when readers criticize you or your work?

• I haven't had many instances of criticism on my work but I welcome it. If I feel it is a valid remark I will take it into consideration and alter my work, otherwise I will thank the person graciously. Wattpad is the big social experiment and I am here to improve my writing. That is kind of the goal here.

12.) Do you write secretly? Or does your family knows? If yes, then how do they feel about it?

• Some people know. The very close ones do and have read my work. They have appreciated and given me criticism in equal parts, mostly because I asked for it. My mother surprisingly is my biggest cheerleader. Did not expect her to react positively, to be very honest. She has read TGICR much to my embarrassment.
My brother was the first person who knew about my Wattpad account and has been there since day 1. He still helps me edit sometimes and acts as my sounding board so shoutout to him.

13.) Wanna ask or say anything to your readers?

• Firstly I want to do the big thing of gratitude.
Thank you for reading, voting on, and commenting on my story. You guys are the ONLY reason I finished TGICR and moved on to TGIWR. There's no way I would have continued without your constant support and feedback.
To those who read every week, nudge me and wait for my updates, you have no idea how much that means to me.
I love, love reading your comments. Seriously you guys crack me up so much. I always read out your comments to my brother.
I just want to say that I want to hear more of your thoughts. There is nothing I love more than a comment spam. Like yes readers make me privy to every single one of your thoughts while reading my story.
Also, feel free to slide into my PMs I love chatting about stuff.
Shoutout to _ru__pal_ for nominating me and thank you Stormy_Sirens for your insightful questions.

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Thank you so much for giving us your time and interview. Really means a lot to us !

Interview taken by shreejal_1

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