𝐵𝑒ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑠 (Featuring Many Great Authors)

Author [@Meldelen]

Welcome, everyone. Today we have the lovely Meldelen

Thank you to her for taking the time to answer these questions.

Also dedicated to ErikaLuvsUT for requesting this interview.

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

Without further ado...

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1. What inspired you to start writing?

I've been writing since I was a child. Writing was my way to express my feelings since I'm not a very open person when it comes to social relationships. I've always kept a personal diary until my teens, and always I've been writing stories, and I will always be writing. I can say I can't live without that. Mostly, my starting point was the books I love to read, particularly in the genre of fantasy. But I've also written for other genres since I read everything, several genres, without problems. Still, the high fantasy or epic fantasy remains my absolute favourite and source of inspiration.

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

Of course, writer's block is something perfectly natural, it happens to all of us. As I tell myself, the Muse can't be forced. When facing a block, the best thing is to relax and wait for the proper moment in which inspiration will come back to you. Getting stressed and anxious over it is only going to make you more blocked.What I do, in the meantime, is anytime a certain idea comes to mind, doesn't matter if it's a sentence, a dialogue or a whole sequence, I write it down manually in one of the many several notebooks I've for this purpose. Then it will be easier when inspiration comes back to you, to use these and not waste your investment. 

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

I don't, and I try carefully not to insert myself in any of my characters. I say "I try" because I must be realistic, our characters are our children and it's more likely than not that they resemble us in some aspect, or they have traits and ideas coming from us. It's inevitable. It happened with the only book I've published so far, people asked me if the main character was based in myself, which is not true.I prefer my characters to have their own agency and traits and not resemble me in any way. That's how I enjoy them the most, and I'm sure my readers as well. 

4. How old are you?

Just turned 34.

5. How old were you when you started writing?

I can't tell exactly since, as I said, I've been writing since I was a child. Let's say, from Primary School. 

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

I can remember it perfectly since I feel it every time I write: the sensation of giving birth to something new, unique, personal; no matter if good or bad according to general standards because it's something mine. I think this happens to every writer. This is a very warm, comforting feeling, and it's what makes me feel good the most in this world. That's why, no matter if I succeed as a writer or not, I will be writing nevertheless as long as I can. 

7. What's your outside life like?

I am a History teacher at a high school level. I've taught several ages, though, and it's been an enriching experience as a person. There was a time I worked also in a public library. Most of the time I focus my life on this experience and reading as well.

8. Where do you get your ideas from?

Mostly from the books I read and from my expertise – History – as well, as mentioned earlier.

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

Reading books! Also listening to music and playing some videogames and board games. I also love to travel. 

10. What does your family think about your writing?

They acknowledge I've some skill concerning it, but sadly they've not been much supportive about it, not even when I published my book, which of course not all of them have bothered to read. It's sad but there's no purpose in denying the reality. I think most of them think it's an oddity of mine, rather than something unique that should be encouraged. Certainly, I have practically no one to thank for encouragement, but my readers and myself.

11. What do you think makes a good story?

A good characterization, character development, proper world-building and clever dialogues. It can be said fast, but it's not easy to achieve. As for now, I've better results in dialogues and characterization than in world-building, but I'm working on it.

12. What's your favourite genre?

High fantasy, epic fantasy, fantasy in general. That's also the main genre I write for.

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

It's not sensible to write on Wattpad, you can lose your text easily. I write mostly by hand, and then I type in Microsoft Word the final version. You might think I'm outdated but after some experiences in losing corrupted files and with them parts of my stories, I've realized the handwritten notebooks can't be corrupted. They are my main work tool, indeed.

14. What's the hardest part for you to write, and why?

Environment description, locations, maps. I hate it, but it's needed to give some context to the story. In general, I just make the necessary description of something (landscapes, physical appearances, clothing) and leave the rest to my reader's imagination. Which has worked so beautifully with many talented artists that have drawn for some of my stories.

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

Both. I've got a general outline of what I want to achieve, the general story, how the characters are, where I want them to go, and then I let the flow go. Any change I accept it when flowing if it serves me, so the outline must not be rigid and take hold of everything. I am more of a flow person, really, but the outline is needed as a guide and mainly, a starter point.

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

Thank you so much for being there, without readers, writing would be mostly pointless. Also, I've dedicated each one of my stories to certain readers and I will be doing so as to proof of my gratitude. You're special because you make us special.

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

Never give up. Write whatever pleases you, keep coming back at it, never give up, and overall, share! There's always someone out there that will love what you wrote. Never let yourself be discouraged by failure or lack of exposure. All of us have started like you, all of us are still in the process of ascending. Never give up, keep going, love what you do, and share it! 

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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.