Marooners' Rock (Interviews)

09 | Interview with @Lightning_Stryker

One of our April's Featured Spotlight is Lightning_Stryker - she's the author of "Peter", which plot revolves around a magical setting of Peter Pan!

About her: Jay is a recent college graduate who loves video gaming, kpop, online shopping, and overpriced coffee. She is a creative soul with a soft spot for her tiny puppy. Besides writing, you can often catch her making Tiktok videos, listening to music, sharing memes on Twitter, or browsing videos on YouTube.

About "Peter": Laney Riverdale is an average schoolgirl who often blends into the background. Most times, there is never anything exciting going on in her life. That is until the new guy in class, Peter, gets seated next to her. Along with his boyish smile and Pop Tart obsession, Laney could tell that there were certain kinds of peculiarities about him. As time goes by, Laney only becomes more skeptical about some of his mannerisms that sometimes seem almost ... magical.

Her Favorite Quote: "Lightyears and lightyears away. It's one of the smaller stars and sometimes it could be looked over, but it definitely shines the brightest."

1. When did you start writing and what made you do it?

Answer:

Well, I can remember writing stories ever since I was a little girl. I remember being in middle school and getting up super early before class just to type out chapters of a story I was writing. Throughout school, I'd always carry little notebooks where I wrote consistently. I think the first time I really got serious about writing was when I was about 14 or 15 years old. At that time, I was really into video games and super inspired by the Kingdom Hearts series. The creator of the Kingdom Hearts franchise, Tetsuya Normura, had a very amazing way of storytelling. As an adolescent, I was quite enamored at the way he was able to take a simple concept and twist it in all sorts of directions. Though I had always enjoyed writing and the arts since I was little, I think the way Nomura expressed emotion through his art really helped give me the push I needed to share my work with the world. With newfound inspiration, I started writing my first book, Broken, on a site named Miss Literati. Though the website was quite small, I uploaded chapters as I wrote them and it turned out to get a lot of attention. The book even won Story of the Summer one year! Since then, I realized that many people actually enjoyed the stories I created. About a year or two later, I ventured to Wattpad and was able to explore all sorts of different genres. It's truly been an exciting journey!

2. Can you give other authors and users on Wattpad tips on how best to write a book and then put it into practice?

Answer:

Some of the best tips I could give are the ones I actually put into practice when I write: be authentic, pour emotions into your work, and treat yourself kindly. Authenticity isn't necessarily straying away from the typical norms- it's more of embracing a voice which feels genuine to you and your characters. People love to connect with characters who are unapologetically themselves- flaws and all. I think as an author, it is important to carry a distinct voice but it is also very important to ensure that your characters each have a voice of their own as well. This can be difficult when creating characters that differ from yourself. However, if you pair that authenticity with emotion, you truly could create something beautiful. When you pour emotions into characters and help bring them to life, this just allows you to create more authenticity and individuality in your work. A technique I often use is assigning each character one of my traits and building their lives around it. For instance, if you're a person who loves too hard, you can create a character who pours their entire heart out for someone but gets crushed when they see that someone holding hands with another person. This in turn could lead you off in many directions to further your story and character growth. What happens next? Does the character internalize this and isolate themselves from people, or do they take their sadness out at the gym and get so fit that they end up being an Olympic star? The most minor emotion could help to create a domino effect that may end up making the best story to ever exist. And finally, the last bit of advice I can give is take it easy on yourself. Everyone's writing process is not the same. Be patient and kind to yourself. Comparison kills. Do not compare yourself to someone else's progress because you're most likely running on a completely different track than they are. And last but not least, embrace your own voice and pacing. Good things come to those who wait.

3. The setting of your book "Peter" revolves the fairytale around Peter Pan. What inspired you to write a story based on this theme and why did you choose it?

Answer:

To put it quite simply, I literally love Disney and their telling of Peter Pan. But I always wondered what it would be like if he grew up. I kinda just played with that idea a bit. I had no idea where this story would lead, let alone that it would be a series so I just kinda wrote and went with it. Like if Peter Pan had the chance to grow up in a modern world, what would he do and why? What is it that he's looking for, longing for? And so I took those questions and I created my own version of Peter and along with that, my own version of what you would call Wendy. And so I figured if I could not get the answer I'm looking for, why not create the answer myself?

4. What is the best writing advice you can give to someone who writes stories about Neverland?

Answer:

The best advice I can give is to really think outside of the box. The concept of Neverland has never been constant or had an exact way of being and I think that's what can make the tale of Neverland and Peter Pan so interesting. Everyone is able to add their own individuality to the tale and bring it to life in the way that they see their own Neverland. In one person's story, Peter Pan may be an undiscovered fashion designer in his 30s who never really talks about his past. In another person's story, he may be a 10 year old boy who is starting 4th or 5th grade for the 62nd time at a new school. I think overall, there is no specific way of writing a story about Neverland. Just like the concept of Peter Pan, I think Neverland is different in everyone's mind. When writing a story about Neverland, the most important factor is to take ownership over the vision you see in your head. Once you know that the idea is authentically yours, your story will be so much easier and fun to write.

5. If you could ever spend a day as your favorite character from the Peter Pan fairy tale, who would you choose and why?

Answer:

I've always had a fascination with the Disney adaptation of Peter Pan, so he would be the person I would love to spend a day as. I guess the main reason for this would be because I've always wanted to know how he thinks. While it was obvious that he has a child-like, fun loving side about him, I want to know what his unspoken wishes are. I'd like to know if he had any dreams he had to give up while being Peter Pan. I'd want to know if he'd give it all away should he ever be given the chance. I feel like being him for one day would give me a better understanding of not just who he appears as but all of the happiness and sadness that makes him who he is.

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If you'd like to read Peter or know more about the author, you can find her at Lightning_Stryker !

Thank you for reading!