Project Athena | Author Spotlight

High_Priestess_Elena

Embark on an enthralling odyssey as you immerse yourself in the imaginative realm meticulously crafted by High_Priestess_Elena, the ingenious visionary behind the mesmerizing saga, Five Cursed Witches. Prepare to be spellbound as you venture behind the curtain, exploring the enchanting fantasies, heart-stirring romances, and otherworldly tales. 

What inspired you to become a writer? When did you first start writing?

I've always written, or at least always told stories. It's been such a big part of me since always that I don't think I can stop. When I was a kid, I used to have major issues with falling asleep. To help me, I would either listen to audiobooks or I would tell myself stories in my head. By now I don't have those same issues with falling asleep, but I still often end up thinking about stories to write as I lie down in bed.

Then I also am a bit stubborn and the type of person who if told I can't do something ends up wanting to prove that wrong. That fact and that I have dyslexia have likely played a major role also. I didn't get the diagnosis until I was in my early twenties, even though I suspected it since I was about ten years old and learned about dyslexia for the first time. Growing up I heard my fair share of "you can't learn how to read/write because you're stupid". And, being the way I am, that only pushed me to want to prove that I'm not stupid and that I can read and write better than anyone else. It in turn has resulted in where I am now and that people tend to not believe me when I tell them I have dyslexia. Although, there are words that I can't spell even if my life depended on it and I've written "hear" when it should be "here" (or the other way around) an embarrassing number of times. But my stubbornness and my passion for telling stories have made it so that I haven't and never will stop writing.

How do you balance your personal life and responsibilities with your writing? What strategies do you use to find time to write?

At the moment I'm lucky in this due to an annoying situation. It takes me 1,5-2 hours to get to work. Of that time I spend almost 1 hour on a train, so about 2 hours in total per day. Though I hate the commute and am looking for a job closer to where I live, that time on the train is perfect for writing. There isn't much else to do, so minimal distractions, and it's also the perfect way to start the day on a good note, or relax and fill my head with other things than work on my way home. I don't always spend that time writing though, but most days I do. Other than that, I just make sure to find moments during my day when I can write. I never do put any pressure on myself to write though and I think that helps also. 

The book I currently have published on Wattpad, I finished the whole of it before I started to publish. There are a lot of reasons for that, but what that means is that I don't have the pressure of needing to finish a chapter so I can upload it on time. That means that every time I sit down to write, I do it because I think it's fun which also means that it's something that I always look forward to and do my best to find time for. I know that if I would have the added pressure of needing to finish a chapter so I can upload it, then a lot of the fun would disappear and I would have a harder time finding those moments when I can write.

Can you discuss the role that feedback and reviews play in your writing process? How do you handle negative feedback or criticism?

Feedback definitely has played a major role in my development as a writer, as it should. We can't get better without feedback. I have been in writing circles (basically what book clubs on Wattpad are) in real life for many years. The feedback I have received there has helped me with identifying my weaker points in writing (*cough* environment descriptions *cough*) and helped me find ways to improve. When it comes to feedback I've gotten on Wattpad specifically, there's been some that's made me edit to clarify things in the story. But feedback on grammar is what has played the biggest role so far. This is my first time writing a book in English and reviews especially have been very helpful in making me realize certain grammatical things that I've never considered beforehand (like passive verbs).