𝐵𝑒ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑠 (Featuring Many Great Authors)

Author [@EXOtic_Devil]

Welcome, everyone. Today we have the lovely EXOtic_Devil

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

If you haven't read her books then please do. They're amazing...

Without further ado...

What inspired you to start writing?
I feel like people always recognised I was a writer way before I recognised it myself. The first time someone noticed my writing was when I was in primary school, somewhere in grade three I think? There was this cool competition going around for art and poetry. The first hobby I discovered was art. I am obsessed with it. I enrolled myself in the art competition (it was about soldiers and heroes at the time), but my year coordinator approached me and told me to enrol in the poetry section because she believed I had a way with words. It wasn't until I was in grade 8 that I actually decided to pursue writing (I was probably 12). 

I had to create a story for grade 2 students and mine ended up in the top 5. After that, my English teachers started encouraging me to enrol in all sorts of events and competitions for writing. This is actually a difficult question to answer because ever since I created my first piece of writing when I was in grade 8, I became addicted. There's something magical about writing. You get lost in your head with all these different voices going around and when you look at your computer screen or paper, you see a whole universe coming to life. I really love reading, but I love writing even more.

 I feel like I can escape and live a life I never would be able to experience. Writing has become an addiction for me. I've got over 60 ideas I want to write, and my goal in life is to own a physical copy of every one of them. That's what keeps me going. As to what inspires me—literally anything!

Did you have any writers' block along the way? how did you get past them?
I feel like a writer's block is a part of being a writer. I don't believe there can ever be a writer who wouldn't experience writer's block. Anything can make it happen. For me, it was school. I started writing on Wattpad when I was 14 or 15. Sometimes I could write every day. Sometimes I'd take a month's break because I couldn't form one word. It's normal. When that happens, I close my laptop and read or watch movies/dramas. 

Sometimes you need to give yourself a break and find other inspiration. I find movies tend to inspire me more because they force me to "write" what I see rather than see what I read if that makes sense. It really depends on what gives you ideas and makes you think "Yes! This gives me an idea!"

Do you see yourself in any characters and why?

The only character I kind of see myself in is Lily Rega from my "The Fall" series. This is because that story is based on my life in high school. I had a lot of good memories from high school and, honestly, my life can totally be turned into a book or a movie. So I decided to do just that. However, Lily (like all my characters) is obviously more made-up than she is real because, you know, anonymity.  

How old are you?
My age is for me to know and for my readers to find out. I like to be as mysterious as possible. (☞⌐▀͡ ͜ʖ͡▀ )☞ [You heard her guys start guessing down in the comments ;) good luck]

How old were you when you started writing?
14 or 15. 

Can you remember what you felt when you first started writing? what did you feel?
I was definitely excited. But I remember feeling like I was doing something stupid and pointless. One of my teachers told me about Wattpad and encouraged me to start writing there to share my stories and develop a presence. She really believed in me (I miss her so fricking much) and encouraged me just as my mum did. I remember feeling "this is so stupid. No one is going to read anything written by an immature 14-year-old". I don't know how I got my audience. It's all a blur, to be honest. I just remember feeling excited but apprehensive.