Writer Q&A

I was asked a series of questions on my tumblr, and I decided to crosspost them here for easy reference to any new readers (hi!). 

Why did you start writing?

Honestly, I was always daydreaming as a kid and I was so amped about them that if I didn’t get them out I’d feel this big pressure in my chest, and the more I tried to restrain it, the more wired I’d feel.  If I wasn’t daydreaming, I would be acting out those daydreams! I’d climb trees and build little fairy castles in my backyard and make up languages and speak them, or sing songs without an ounce of shame while at the park. In public. By myself. At like, thirteen. 

…Anyway yes, if I didn’t channel all that into writing it would have come out in other, probably less socially acceptable ways. Writing feels like a usually invigorating, sometimes painful compulsion, tbh. 

Give some fun tidbits on the oc(s) of your choice!

Ooh! Ok! So Raoul of CofM has two younger sisters. I haven’t decided on their names yet, but one of them will be the protagonist of my genderbent Aladdin retelling! Due to circumstances (spoilers!), the story will open with her living as a boy on the streets, where she bumps into a very sheltered prince, and adventure ensues!

What are some of your favourite authors?

Oof, many. Off the top of my head — Patricia A. McKillip, Ursula K Le Guin, Guy Gavriel Kay, Georgette Heyer, Gail Carson Levine, Jeff Smith (of the Bone series), and Catherynne M. Valente! My goodreads is here 😁

If you could, what advice would you give yourself as a young writer?

Save all your writing, even the crappy, cringey stuff, in multiple places, both online and in hard copy. You’ll want to look back on them, see how far you’ve come, what’s changed and what hasn’t, and have a record of it all. 

Also! Lean harder into writing the stuff that makes you happy! Somewhere along the way people’s opinions get into your head and hold you back, and it takes you a long time to get your mojo back. 

Also also! Watch what you read, it influences you in ways that are often negative! Yeah, your parents actually were right about that one, and you’re gonna beat yourself up about it for a while. 

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