𝐵𝑒ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑠 (Featuring Many Great Authors)

Author [@Vampirediaries1996]

Welcome, everyone. Today we have the lovely    Vampirediaries1996

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...

Also, I follow British English, hence the way I spell favourite. No, I am not British. I am South African and I'm also Indian, but years ago... you know what, just google the apartheid era.

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1. What inspired you to start writing?
 I was insecure about my writing so for a long time I avoided it because I was told from a teacher at a young age I wasn't good at writing. I was told to come early to school to get help and it made me more insecure about my writing abilities. It wasn't until I had one teacher tell me that my writing was good did I realize my writing skills had improved and I could write compelling and interesting stories. I starting writing where I could share my stories after reading my first fanfiction. I was hooked on the creativity other writers had on movies, books and shows I loved and the twists and turns they came up with. I loved reading them so much I wanted to try writing one for myself and once I started I couldn't stop. 

2. Did you have any writers' block along the way? how did you get past them?
Yes, I have writer's block all the time. I mostly get them after I hit a point in my books where I feel there's too much dialogue from the scripts and I am having a hard time fitting my character into the story. How I get past the writer's block is by watching a few episodes before and after the last part I have written. I then think of various different scenarios of my character's story and how it would play out. I analyze and think of which one makes the most interesting and clear story for myself and readers to enjoy. 

3. Do you see yourself in any characters and why?
 I see a little of myself in all of my characters. All of my characters respond to the situations they face in a way that I would if I were in their situation. I definitely put a lot of myself in Ella. She was my first Fanfiction where I started and finished a whole series. I made myself as my characters ins some way or another because I spent so much time imagining who I wanted to be and how I would act if I was placed in my favourite, show or movie. 

4. How old are you?
 I am 23 years old

5. How old were you when you started writing?

 I started writing when I was around fourteen. 

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

 I felt complete joy when I first started writing intermixed with worry and self-doubt. I hated sharing my writing with others fearing the criticism I could face. Now I love hearing any negative or positive feedback because it allows me to grow as a writer and helps give me a different perspective on how my writing comes across to others. 

7. What's your outside life like?
My outside life is different from most. I work and go to school and I am a full-time caregiver to my mother who lives with an autoimmune disease. I am in charge of taking her to doctors' appointments and surgeries and anything else she needs. I pay the bills and manage the budget for my family all since I was fourteen years old. There are some hard times with being a full-time caregiver to your parent at a young age but it's made me appreciate the small things in life. 

8. Where do you get your ideas from?
 I got my ideas from watching my favourite shows like The Flash, Batman, Comics, movies, and books that had these amazing characters. I loved the fanfiction with the main character having siblings that weren't there on the show and how they made them fit so seamlessly in the story. My main reason for starting to write as I wanted to see how my story could come together fully. I hadn't read a lot of fully completed Chuck Bass sister books and I just wanted to see if I could write one that not only others could enjoy but I would enjoy reading. 

9. What do you like to do when you're not writing?
 I love cooking and baking. I watch cooking shows all the time and recreating the recipes. I enjoy painting by watching tutorials on how to mix colours and get different textures with one stroke on a canvas. Watching crime shows is a guilty pleasure as well. 

10. What does your family think about your writing?
 They have always been supportive of my writing even when I wasn't confident in my abilities. 

11. What do you think makes a good story?
 I think what makes a great story is one that has passion involved in it. You can tell by reading a story if someone is passionate about what they are writing it shows through what words they use and how they develop their characters. Having a character or characters they grab other's attention making people want to know what will happen to them if they make this decision over another. Always keeping people guessing on how the next chapter will turn out I have found makes it more compelling to read a story. You don't want to make it easy for people to decide how your book will end you always want to keep them on their toes. 

12. What's your favourite genre?
My favourite genre has to be fanfiction

13. Do you write on wattpad or do you use software (like Microsoft word)?

 I use Microsoft since it's what I have on my computer and I don't always have wifi so it makes it easier to save my stories. 

14. What's the hardest part for you to write, and why?
My hardest thing for me to write is something I know goes against what my readers may want to happen. I read my comments and the predictions my writers have for my books and sometimes I've thought about changing the direction of my story to please my readers but I haven't changed my story. I keep my original plans because I want to be true to myself and I have a direction I want to go with and I feel confident I can write a compelling ending that may not please everyone but gives an interesting ending to my stories. I also have the hardest time writing death. It's something I typically have dealt personally and it's hard for me to put it to paper in another person's perspective. Writing more emotion into my stories is hard when I'm so reserved in my life in displaying my emotions.

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

 I have an idea typically in my head on how I want a story to go but I just start writing and see what comes naturally. 

16. Do you have anything specific you want to say to readers?
 Thank you for all your support. When I published my first chapter of Secrets and Lies I had no idea where it would take me. I thought I would be lucky to have at least one reader that wasn't myself. You have made me believe in myself more than ever. I love reading all of your comments and how you interact with each other as a response to my writing. You are all amazing and I am lucky to have you part of my journey.

17. And lastly, Do you have any advice for new writers.
My advice for any new writer is to write what you love. Don't try and imitate others if it doesn't feel authentic to you. You're going to feel unsure of your work right before publishing it for the public to critic but that's okay. Take the positive and the negative and use it to grow as a writer. Don't let negative comments bring you down. As long as you feel confident in your story that's all that matters. 

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There you have it, don't forget to vote, comment and share. Also if you want a specific author to be interviewed then please let me know.