Intuitive Writer Interviews

INTERVIEW: Rachael Reveals

Hi my name is Rachael (she/her). I post as @hrb264 on Wattpad. I have written a few things with the latest being Sangre De Toro which is completed and available on Wattpad to read, although it is being edited. Thanks for giving me this opportunity.

🐇 We're so glad you're here. Let me ask you...

Do you consider yourself an intuitive writer?

🤗 I am not sure what this means. I usually struggle to finish anything. As for using intuition, I guess that means having a gut feeling about the plot and the characters and where I want it to go? I try...

🐇 What kind of books do you write and when did you start?

I started writing when I was very young. I think my first book was when I was about 8, it was about some children who got kidnapped by an evil woman who wanted to turn dogs into sausages. That probably sounds a lot darker than it is. I started writing a trilogy when I was in my teens about rebels against a fascist regime, I rewrote the first book several times and had it on Wattpad for a long time where it did very well, plus the sequel. I got halfway through the third book but real life events meant my plot had to be changed and I haven't quite worked out where I want it to go.

I like sci fi because you can make up anything as long as it is scientifically plausible, so the story can go anywhere. I also like writing crime fiction, I like thrillers where the stakes are high.

🐇 What does intuitive writing mean in your process?

Usually it means I will just get rid of something like a scene or a character if I have a gut feeling it is not working. I guess you could call that intuition. It is important because then I know what's working with the story.

🐇 Is writing more comfortable for you now than when you started? Are you quicker? Do you have a system? What's made it yours?

I've only finished 3 books before and the first and second were in the trilogy I previously mentioned which I was writing already for such a long time. I found writing this last book really fast to write, and was actually really shocked that I finished and it turned out so well. However, if I wrote another book I don't know if that would happen again. Maybe not.

The reason I finished my latest book so fast is because it is about a topic I am passionately against. Prior to writing it I had already done a lot of research because I wrote an article exposing a UK politician who is into bullfighting, and I heavily relied on the research in order to do the book. Some of the quotes from evil characters are real things that supporters of bullfighting have said in their own literature. I don't know if another book would be so fast, hopefully yes but I would have to have a plot I really enjoyed.

Finishing the book has given me a lot of confidence that I can do other standalone stuff that isn't related to anything I wrote before.

I think now I'm a lot more comfortable just doing my own thing rather than just listening to 'advice'. I don't really think I have a system. I tend to write from start to finish but I prefer to have the ending and dramatic scenes near the end written because it means I'm more likely to finish the book.

Wattpad is useful because I tend to have the upcoming chapter being already done and edited then the next two in various stages of writing and editing.

I have also found that sometimes I get distracted if I show my ongoing work to too many people (ie before it is published).

🐇 That's a really good point.

So, how do you work?