𝐵𝑒ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑠 (Featuring Many Great Authors)

Author [@reannekennedy17]

Welcome, everyone. Today we have the lovely reannekennedy17

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...

...

1. What inspired you to start writing?

 Ever since I can remember, I've been an avid reader. Whenever I could get my hands on a book, I'd read it. As I got older, though, I started to wonder: "Where is the Canadian content?" All the novels I had been reading were located in the USA or Europe, and I wanted to hear more about my country. This was one of the first steps I took towards writing. As I started to play around with ideas, I also started to get frustrated with myself.

 I've read so many fantastic novels by amazing authors I just never thought I'd ever been able to add up to them. I still continued to write down my ideas, but I stopped trying to write the stories themselves. When I was about fourteen years old, I was diagnosed with a brain tumour that had been causing epilepsy. I also found out I needed surgery to have the tumour removed. I don't want to go into too much depth about this, but it was difficult and really threw me for a loop.

 Friends left me, family members couldn't fully understand what I was going through — my life felt out of control. The loneliness, the pain, the feeling of invisibility in this great world are part of the reason I took up writing once again. I wanted to feel like I had a place like I had purpose and control. Writing gave me that. I could manipulate decisions, words, describe scenes from points of view, choose the settings. 

It felt magical and it hooked me. I felt in control. Thankfully, the surgery was a success the second time around and I have been seizure-free for just over three years now. Writing, in a sense, was a way for me to channel my pain and suffering and avoid succumbing to any regrettable decisions I could have possibly made. Now that I'm seizure-free, I mainly write to make other people happy. I want my stories to bring happiness and make people laugh. I want them so display hopes for people that are going through a difficult time. 

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

 I have had many, many cases of writer's block throughout my writing career. They're extremely difficult to get past, but I have come to the conclusion that hiking is the best way to clear your mind and get a better understanding of where you want your story to go. 

There's just something about being in the middle of nowhere, completely unplugged and with a notebook and pen in your hand, breathing in the fresh air, that makes for a good solution to writer's block. I would also suggest listening to different songs to try and find one that suits the next scene you want to create. If the lyrics speak to you or relate to your character, it's easier to write. 

3. Do you see yourself in any characters and why?

 I know professional writers say to never base any of your main characters on yourself, but let me tell you, that is a load of BS. Adding in a pinch of yourself to each character makes them easier to understand — especially if they are complex characters. The better you understand your character, if you can sympathize with them, the smoother their role in the plot will appear to you when you're writing. 

So, yes, I do see myself in my characters in some aspects. Be it the colour of my hair or my eyes, one of my strange habits or my favourite hockey team, my hopes or beliefs, there will always be something similar between me and my characters.