Thank you so much to @westywrites for tagging me!
1. How did you start writing and why?
I honestly can’t remember when I started telling stories, because I think I always have, but I never really wrote them down until about 5th grade. I took a writing class with two amazing teachers and they convinced me that I should write down my stories instead of just keeping them in my head.
2. What is your favourite line from your own work?
I don’t have a line that’s really stuck out to me as my very favorite, but I do have several I’m proud of. Here’s one that I’m really proud of from a poem.
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Like dissolves like, but that only applies to chemistry, do not make it a metaphor for life.
I know you have a poet’s heart and metaphor is your strong suit,
But sometimes chemistry is just chemistry and you are not a hurricane or a shipwreck.
3. Who is your writing idol and how have they influenced you?
A lot of authors have influenced my journey, but I think the author that I would say is my writing idol is Leigh Bardugo. I never really knew that I was allowed to write a fantasy that didn’t have dragons or wasn’t set in medieval Europe until the Grishaverse. I also never realized that I was allowed to write a character who looked like me until read Six Of Crows, because Nina Zenik was the first fat protagonist I’d seen who wasn’t a punchline. Her writing showed me that there are a lot of things that I can write that I didn’t think I was allowed to, and that’s worth so much.
4. Which OC has the best family life, found or otherwise?
I think that Dema probably has the best family life. Her family is from the poorest part of the city, but they love each other and support each other and that’s something that a lot of my other characters don’t have.
5. Which OC has the most satisfying ending to their story?
In my opinion, Siora. Her story arc is a very full circle kind of thing, but in a way where she ends up in a better place than she was in before.
6. If you’ve gotten feedback on your writing, who is your readers’ favourite character? If not, who do you think readers will fall in love with?
Only my best friend has read any substantial part of my WIP, and I think she said that Kyrus was her favorite, but I think that there’s a character for everyone to love.
7. Which tropes do you always find yourself wanting to write?
I write a lot of broken characters helping each other heal. Not a true love solves all problems thing, but the kind of love, romantic or platonic, that makes you want to get better. I love characters who find a family and a home with other people that help them to heal instead of tearing them down, and I think that shows up a lot in my writing.
8. What goes through your head as your writing a scene?
It depends, half the time I’m just in the zone and don’t really think about ti, and the other half of the time I have to force the words onto the page an in that case I’m usually really focused on my outline/where the plot is going.
9. How specific is your idea of your characters’ appearance, usually? Have you drawn any of them before?
Usually I have a pretty detailed view of the character, but sometimes it’s more of a vague list of physical traits. I’m in no way a visual artist, so I haven’t ever tried to draw my characters before. I have messed around with an avatar creator, though. I should post those some time.
10. What are you proudest of as a writer?
I’m really proud of myself for continuing on this path and working as hard as I am for it. I wrote my first manuscript when I was 12 for NaNoWriMo 2014, and I stressed about editing until an author I talked to told me I didn’t have to edit right away. So then I wrote another one for the next NaNoWriMo. And another the next year. And now I’m here, four years after I started, with a manuscript I’m in the middle of editing, a list of agents for when I’m ready to query, and I haven’t given up yet.
I tag @lumist, @violet-clouds-and-skies, and @wordwalkers