Summer Workshop 2017 (In Session)

Session 5 | Conversation with @UnsinkableShips

Hi everyone!

We had the wonderful chance to talk to UnsinkableShips!

She is a remarkable writer on Wattpad and was excited to share her experience with us including some great tips that can help everyone! It is a Q & A session, so we hope you do enjoy this. We also have an activity at the bottom for you, more like a questionnaire, and would love to see what everyone can come up with!

1) describe your writing process.

My writing process really just depends on the day. Some days I wake up, totally inspired, and can just sit down and write for hours. Other times I really have to force myself or wait for a better time. I'm also that person who doesn't usually write with a concrete plan, I just come up with an idea and start writing to see where it goes. Then, when I'm maybe halfway through the story, I'll generally plan out the rest chapter by chapter to ensure that it's going to tie up nicely at the end.

2) what has been your biggest challenge in writing?

In terms of actual writing, my biggest challenge has probably been pushing past my lack of inspiration and motivation. Writing can be a very mentally taxing hobbie, and when you're studying full-time at university and already putting so much of yourself into assignments etc., it's really hard to have anything left for writing. Without fail, I always get my mojo back though and cherish my breaks from school.

3) what do you recommend for writer's block?

Just the other day I had writer's block and was really stuck with the direction one of my stories was going in. It happens to all of us at one point, but you can get past it by taking some space from the story (or from writing), reading past chapters to jog new ideas, reading other books to inspire you and listen to music (this always helps me to write). I find doing other creative things always works for me. Talk to your friends on Wattpad too! If I'm ever really experiencing writer's block or am unsure with something, a lot of the times I'll chat with my close friends on this platform and they always offer great advice or suggestions.

4) how do you make your covers?

I get this question all the time! My best friend has made some of my covers, and I've also made some. They look the same though because we both use the same program GIMP and she's shown me how to do it so I can make my own now. She has a link in her bio to a really in-depth cover tutorial where she walks through the entire process. Download GIMP, download a font for your title, find an image you like, open them up in the program, add font over the image and then add a gradient to the text. Viola! (Please go watch her video though, seeing something visually is way less confusing and easier to follow). 5) who are your inspirations when you write?

5) who are your inspirations?

My inspirations when I write come from lots of different places. Sometimes it's me lying awake at night and an idea comes to me, completely random and not planned (this happened for Holding Onto You) and other times I have to seek out inspiration from other books I've read, TV shows/movies I've watched, songs I've heard that have made me feel a certain way or picture a certain scene in my head, it really depends and oftentimes can be all of the above. Writers on Wattpad really inspire me, too, reading their amazing stories always motivate and inspire me to persist with mine ♡

6) where do you like to write? what mood do you set for yourself?

I can't write unless I'm at home. Well, to be completely honest, I've never really been the kind of writer who goes to a café or a park, so maybe I could if I tried, but I always prefer to stay home. I like privacy when I write and prefer to be alone – there's nothing worse than being on a roll with your writing and being interrupted – but I don't live alone, so it's usually me locked away in my room being anti-social some days. My mood has to be a positive one in the sense that I want to write and feel semi-inspired. I usually won't write if I feel like it's not going to be very productive for me. I guess that's just common sense though :-)

7) what recommendations do you have for writers who are just starting out & and want to expand their writer's base?

Read. Read. Read. And then read some more. I know that's not related to the expanding your readership but if you're a good writer (which you will become the more you read and the more you write), people will stick around, I promise you. In terms of starting out on Wattpad, nothing good happens overnight. It took a year before my stories started to gain reads quickly. I'd also suggest entering into any promo's and contests that writer's hold, join a book club on here, read other people's stories and leave nice feedback (what goes around comes around), have patience, believe in your writing and don't give up! :-)

8) if you could be any writer, who would you be and why?

Probably Jane Austen. She's iconic and I'd love to write in a different period and develop my writing there. It'd be incredible to experience living in a time before technology and there would have been plenty of gentlemen who inspired Mr. Darcy. 9) anything else you'd like to say?
Thanks so much for interviewing me! Good luck to everyone who's doing the Summer Workshop this year! :-)

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IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ:

hi everyone! as you know, we haven't been online for a long time. this is due to us being on a very busy schedule! we want to apologize for that.

however, this will be the last session of the Summer Workshop 2017. it is very unfortunate, but summer has come to an end, and things are starting to get busy for the both of us. we had major plans for this year, but were not able to fulfill them due to a lot of unplanned things!

of course, we hope to hold something that can make up for this - something that we will announce as soon as we are free!

meanwhile, we want to thank you for your participation in this workshop - everyone has been so cooperative throughout this process. if you have any questions, feel free to DM us or on our personal accounts cleverwren and tulsingly.

thank you so much and take care folks!

lillia & tulsi x