These are the voices of our mentors and mentees from past and present. They've provided their insight about the program, their processes, the Wattys, and have shared their favorite Wattpad stories. Grab a cuppa and sit down with us as we get to know...
The Bootcamp Mentors are proud to present a spotlight interview with axgirl13. Check out this writer's work and give them a shout out in the comments.
BCM: What motivated you to become a Bootcamp Mentor and what have you found most valuable about this Wattpad community program?
Kamila: I was participating in the Bootcamp workshops last year, and though I never made it into the actual mentorship, I enjoyed the whole initiative. I got loads of feedback and talked to lots of amazing people. I also remember how scary it is to start your journey on Wattpad, so this program is invaluable, especially for people seeking support in their writing and gearing towards Wattys.
BCM: What prompted you to start writing on Wattpad and what is one thing you find valuable about the platform?
Kamila: I wanted to get some feedback and see if what I write has any value. I used to write my stories for myself and didn't show them to anyone because I thought it was rubbish. But once I posted on Wattpad, I started getting readers, and people left lots of amazing comments that encouraged me to keep going and explore new stories and new genres. Wattpad is a great playground for writers. You can experiment with different forms and see how readers respond to different things. Instant feedback is invaluable.
BCM: Tell us one thing about your writing process that you've incorporated into your mentoring.
Kamila: As a reader and a writer, I always look for an intriguing and exciting plot, but it also needs to be logical and believable. If the story is full of plotholes and things that happen only for the smooth plot progression, I automatically lose motivation to keep reading and feel detached. That's why the first thing I did with my mentee was read the whole story and look for things that didn't feel natural or were missing, preventing me from immersing myself in the story completely.
BCM: What is the username of your 2023 mentee and the title of their story? If you had to describe your mentee's story in three words, what would they be?
Kamila: My mentee is HeideHunt with a fantasy story Daracka.
If I were to use just three words, I would say epic, imaginative and exotic.
BCM: Will you be entering a story into the 2023 Wattys? If so, what motivated you to write the story? If not, can you share what you're working on?
Kamila: This year I plan to enter my main writing project, a steampunk story Masters of the Sky. I always loved steampunk vibes and the concept of flying ships. I was reluctant at first because I'd never written anything in this genre or in sci-fi, so I didn't think I was tech savvy enough to write it. But I've decided it's worth a shot, and I did it my way - focusing mostly on characters and their adventures and having cool steampunk technology more in the background. In the end, I think it worked out pretty well.
BCM: Share two Wattpad story recommendations.
Kamila: A high fantasy story Out of Evenfall by Birdpaw and an ongoing story Black Avatare by SuVida777
Thank you, axgirl13. We wish you all the best in your writing endeavors.
More BCM spotlight interviews are on the way!
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
