𝐵𝑒ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑠 (Featuring Many Great Authors)

Author [@Orchid]

Welcome, everyone. Today we have the lovely Orchid_27

A big thank you to her for taking the time to answer these questions.

If you haven't read her books then please do, she has written the amazing [PROFESSIONAL LOVER SERIES]. They're amazing...

Without further ado...

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What inspired you to start writing?
Oooh... I always wanted to be able to create and complete a story of my own. I started having a recurring dream and decided to start with that. When I found out my anxiety drastically lowered when I worked on it, writing became a form of meditation for me.

Did you have any writers' block along the way? how did you get past them?

Of course! Typically, I take a break to do something else. I'll read a book or watch a movie/show with a similar emotion or tone. If I'm really stuck on a scene, I'll work through it in a dream while I'm sleeping. 

Do you see yourself in any characters and why?

All of my main characters are based on a facet of myself or my experiences. Growing up, I was constantly judged for things I could not control. My characters develop from my desire to encourage people to have compassion for the humans hidden beneath society's labels.

How old were you when you started writing?
I didn't start writing anything sizeable until after college. School was too demanding.

Can you remember what you felt when you first started writing? what did you feel?

Relief. Catharsis. Joy

How long does it take you to write a book on average?

A finished draft is probably one to three months of dedicated attention. Editing is where the hard work comes in. It takes me six months to a year to get it to something I'm comfortable sharing.

where do you get your ideas from?

They usually start as dreams, then I elaborate in order to make a point.

What do you like to do when you're not writing?

I'm a full-time architect and wife. Those two things come with plenty of responsibilities to keep me busy. :) Writing is what I do in my downtime.

What does your family think about your writing?

My family is just my mom and my husband. My mom doesn't know I write at all. My husband supports me because he sees how much it helps me get out of my own head, but he hasn't read how detailed I get with the subject matter, haha! It's kind of my dirty secret.

What do you think makes a good story?

Visceral connection. An experience that leaves you wanting to be a better person because of what you've been shown.

What's your favourite genre?

Suspense/thriller. Anyone who knows me knows I live for a twist.

What's the hardest thing to write for you and why?

Besides coherent sentences? I struggle with transitions the most; getting a character from one place to another, connecting the beginning to the middle and the middle to the end. Emotional scenes come out easy in a draft, but during an edit, putting myself back in a place of pain in order to display the emotions authentically can trigger me. That's a different kind of hard, I guess.

Do you work on an outline or just go with the flow?

Absolutely an outline. I don't start a story if I don't know where it ends up.

Do you have anything specific you want to say to readers?

A friendly reminder that just because you can say something doesn't mean you should. Always, always try to be kind. You never know what someone is going through. ❤️

And lastly, Do you have any advice for new writers.

In the words of the late, great Toni Morrison, "If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it." Always write for yourself. F*ck what anyone else thinks about it.

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That's it, thank you for reading.
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