Interviews With Wattpad Authors

Interview With xFakingaSmilex

This interview is with xFakingaSmilex, who I've been following forever. I don't know why I didn't interview her sooner, haha. But I was going through my feed and decided to give it a go. Her story The Masked Singer has 3 million and counting reads. But, she has tons of stories besides that one, so check her out if you need good, new reading material!

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Who is your favorite author(It can be on Wattpad or in general)?

There are so many stories that I love, but at the moment one of my favourite authors is Gayle Forman. When I picked up her book 'if i stay' I was instantly captured from the first line and I've loved 'where she went' and her other novel 'i was here.' It's been a while since I've started reading something and it's completely blown my mind and compelled me to keep going.

What inspired you to first start writing? Is it a big part of your life?

Looking over my life, I've always loved to make up and tell stories. It wasn't until year ten when I started reading other people's stories online that I thought 'what if I wrote my own story?' And that's how it started. Over the years, writing has consumed my lifestyle. Over the years, writing has begun to take up a big section of my life and it's due to the success and the fact I share what I'm doing with my family, which allows me more time to sit down and write my books. 

What was your reaction when you first hit over 1 million reads?

 I was over the moon! I kept refreshing my page, I was physically shaking and I didn't know what to say! I was so relieved and joyful that the 10/11 months I'd spent writing, promoting and basically living on Wattpad finally paid off. 

What can you say to frustrated writers who work hard but never get many reads?

The start-up for finding an audience is a long and slow winded process and at many times it can be daunting and you want to give up, but if you hang in there and keep going -- your efforts will eventually be rewarded! I was a member on the website for about 3-4 years before I started making a splash in the community. So if you really want it, you can achieve it!

Is there an author who influenced your style of writing? If not, how do you think your style of writing became the way it is?

I've read so many books, they'd all have to be an influence in some way, shape or form. I couldn't pinpoint something specific, but they have been an influence. Anything you see, do, experience etc is an influence.

Can you relate to any of the characters in your stories?

I feel like most of my characters I write about are an extension of myself (maybe that's why they all end up looking alike? haha). I find that on top of using stories to escape from the world, it's a good format for me to mash my previous experiences, my dreams, ideals, and demons into it. So within the text, I can sort of examine the world how I see it and fight my demons or learn to understand them at least.

For example, I started writing The Masked Singer because I was at a point in my life where I just felt really lost and confused. And within writing a story I could self-identify with, I talked about my struggles, how I felt and where I wanted to go with life. A lot of people might find that certain aspects are under developed or things look to drastic, but at the time I was writing it – that's how I felt and saw the world through my eyes.

When I originally started sharing my writing, I would get some negative comments from people I knew, and it hurt. I felt like nobody cared. And it was only when I hit all these amazing numbers that people started being supportive – so when Riley reveals that she's the masked singer her parents have a huge flip in their thoughts towards her – and that's how I saw it. People only cared because I had all these views and followers, and it hurt. So I used these emotions and views in the story and it helped me to analyse and overcome it. 

Where do you get inspiration for your stories?

My inspiration comes from tuning into the world around me. Anything I hear people talking about, see, experience, feel or want to express inspires me to write and develop a story around it.

How did you find about this website [Wattpad]?

I first started reading and writing on Quizilla, and then I noticed people were moving to Wattpad and I followed because I wanted to continue reading their stories. 

Lastly, do you have any advice in general for up and coming wattpad writers?

Do what makes you happy, and if that's writing, then go for it! Don't let anyone tell you, you can't do it because if makes you happen then it shouldn't matter what anyone else thinks.

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Thanks to xFakingaSmilex for doing the interview! Her responses were so well thought out and great!