This interview is with a bona fide Wattpad celebrity. xoStardust is the writer of The Last Dance, which is soon going to break the 5 million(!) read mark. This was another one of the stories I read before I signed up for Wattpad and it was a big inspiration for me to write Born Immortal. The Last Dance is her first story and it is an amazing read.
She's also recently started writing Alone on Cloud 9 which is taking her writing into more modern realms. It's worth the read. Trust me.
So without futher ado, I give you xoStardust
Enjoy!
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1. You used to study Drama but you switched to Biology. That's a pretty drastic change. What made you do it and how do you feel about the way this changes your life?
I took a few drama classes, but it was mostly something I did as an extracurricular and as much as I love it I never expected to pursue it as a career. I would still say it changed my life though, in High school the advanced acting group was my family and I spent all my free time there. Now in university there are no acting clubs and I miss it quite a lot, but in a way it's also the reason I got into writing. Without drama I had no way to express myself and I also lost the peer support group when we went off to different colleges, which was around the time I stumbled upon Wattpad and found a new family.
2. Did you grow up in an environment that was rich with literature?
I think in a way I made that kind of environment for myself. Even in elementary I preferred reading to running around at recess and it's always been an escape for me.
3. Who influenced you the most in your life and how?
One of my teachers in high school. She'd been teaching there since its initial change from a trade school into a public school and started up the Student's Union which I loved being a part of. I always admired her charisma and confidence and the way she never backed down against the odds. Our school mascot is the Warrior, and our Principal didn't like it at all, but against his wishes she fixed up the costume and started printing out the mascot picture on school memorabilia. Throughout my years the mascot always elicited more school spirit than I thought teenagers were capable of and I guess I always hoped one day I could inspire that kind of excitement for something I believed in.
4. What do you do when you're not writing or studying?
Reading! I also love snowboarding and going for coffee with the friends I don't see at university.
5. What is your favourite song?
Hey Juliet by LMNT, I never really got over the boy band phase, I still have several N'Sync and Backstreet boys songs on my iPod.
6. You've said before that most of your writing is done by writing small scenes and putting them together to fit into your story. Do you have any plans to try writing short stories?
Not really, the scenes I write are always just pieces of a puzzle, a moment that is completely sweet and romantic, or climatic, always something that's just meant to be part of something bigger.
7. Your female leads are always complex and realistic. How much of yourself do you write into them and where do you get inspiration for the rest of your characters from?
For those of you who've started reading Alone on Cloud 9, Arya's character is largely based on my experiences, and with any lead character I feel it becomes so much more natural when you're writing from what you know. I actually got the idea for The Incident, (although you don't know what it is yet), from something that I went through in High School. With Celia she was the tough girl I wish I could have been, and when writing I always think 'is this something that could really happen?' The easiest way to lose an audience is writing an idealized character or a completely unfortunate one who suddenly turns into a goddess of perfection. Real life is average and I like my characters to be average so I can distinguish them in other ways. As for my other characters, their inspiration mostly comes from people I knew in school and drama, or friends that have been both good or bad.
8. What do you feel are your strengths and weaknesses as a writer?
I think I've improved as I writer since I started on Wattpad and I love painting a picture with words so that everything comes to mind and you can put yourself in the story with all the details in place. I also think I do a good job of getting into the characters mind so you know exactly what they are thinking or going through.
As for weaknesses I think my writing is a little predictable, though I'm trying to change that with my new story, and even when things seem obvious I think you can't go wrong with dramatic irony. Personally I think you get even more involved with a story when you know something and you're just waiting for the character to finally figure it out.
9. Was there a particular author who inspired you to write The Last Dance?
As many of my readers probably know, my inspiration comes from Tamora Pierce. I love everything about her books and I've been told my writing is reminiscent of hers which absolutely makes my day. I'd always wished she had a bit more romance in her books, but when I couldn't find any similar styles of writing I decided to try myself.
10. How much do you read every day?
Depends how much time I have and how much I like the book. A really good one will easily keep me up all night and I think over winter break I read at least a dozen books to make up for not having enough time to read over the school year.
11. You're packing for your holidays and you only have room left for just one book. Which book is it?
Well of course the obvious answer would be to throw out some clothes and shove more books in, but I'll play along. It would be The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen.
12. If you had veto power over every story that got uploaded on Wattpad, what is the one thing that you would insist on for all of them?
No slang! You're writing a story, not texting someone and there is no excuse for not using proper English, it drives me crazy and breaks up the whole flow of the story. I've quit reading a lot of books for that very reason.
13. What is one book that you think every girl should read and why?
Pride and Prejudice, but not for the obvious reasons you would think. A lot of girls these days just have no respect for themselves and I think that's so unfortunate. Elizabeth didn't put up with Darcy's BS when he was acting like a jerk and she still got him, and people can say chivalry is dead all they want but I refuse to believe it.
14. How has your life changed since you started on Wattpad?
My confidence as a writer has soared. I had no idea I was any good and for the longest time no one even looked at my story until randomly one day the response was explosive and it continues to amaze me every day. I STILL get tons of comments on The Last Dance and it's still pretty high up there on the What's Hot list even though it's been finished for months. I've also found some astounding writers and met some amazing people and I love that feeling of connecting to thousands of people of all ages all over the world. It's just so humbling you know?
15. If you had a little sister who wanted to start writing, what advice would you give her before she starts?
Start at the end and work your way forward. I've noticed that so many writers start this amazing story but then the end just flops or they decide not to finish because they can't figure out how or worse, they have no idea at all how to end it and start a sequel for no apparent reason. Twists and turns in a story are great but unless you know where you eventually want to end up you're just going in circles.
