Wattpad Interviews

@LEPalphreyman

LEPalphreyman is an account home to a variety of amazing books such as 'Cupid's Match' which has 16.6 million reads and 'The Elevator' which has 62.4k reads. It was amazing to interview her and this is what she had to say!

Why did you start writing on Wattpad?

I like that you don't need to be 'perfect' to write on Wattpad- you don't have to have a completely polished story and you don't have to be a professional writer. It's open to anyone, and you kind of learn as you go. I joined Wattpad because I had stories that I didn't really know what to do with, and I just kind of fell in love with it as a platform. There's such a great community feeling, and I like that I can experiment with ideas, meet other writers, talk to readers and generally practise writing without it being a big deal if I get something wrong. 

'Cupid's match' has done amazingly well, did you ever expect it to be so popular?

When I started writing it, I think something felt different to when I'd written things on Wattpad before. People seemed to engage with it more from the very beginning, and I think something had changed inside of me as a writer; for the first time (it was the third full length novel I'd written) I was writing for the reader, rather than for myself. Did I expect it to do quite as well as it has done? No! I am so grateful for all the support I've had off readers here, and I feel just so happy that people are continuing to enjoy 'Cupid's Match'!

Who are your biggest writing inspirations?

I'm inspired by a lot of writers. Cassandra Clare is one of my favourites, I love the way she manages to create such a magical world in her Shadowhunters books. Neil Gaiman is also an inspiration to me- not just because of his writing, but I also think he has a really great attitude. He says at one point 'if you don't know something is impossible, it is easier to do' and I love that quote and try to live by it. I won't let anyone tell me success is impossible!

Do you ever feel pressure to post chapters?

Yes! Particularly towards the end of Cupid's Match- a lot of people would be asking me to update and I definitely started to feel the pressure! I think in that instance I'd made things worse for myself by not setting a proper schedule- I always updated at least once a week but there was never a particular day I would do it. I try to set an update day now which makes me feel a bit less stressed about it!

Where do your ideas for books come from?

I always tend to have a jumble of ideas in my head. They'll come to me at random times- when I'm listening to music, or watching TV, writing something else, exploring an unfamiliar place, or even doing something completely mundane. Sometimes they're really simple, like a cool character name or trait, sometimes I'll find myself wondering about something ("what would happen if [something happened]"), and sometimes I'll just imagine a particular scenario or place or conversation.

Then one of two things tend to happen.

1- One of the ideas will overpower all of the others, and I'll feel like I just have to write that story.

or....

2- I'll sit down to write a story, and I'll kind of pick and choose from all the ideas floating around in my head and then expand the into a proper plot!

I think Cupid's Match was more of the second one. I sat down with the intention that I wanted to write something fun, and I've always liked mythology and forbidden romance type stories so I had a number of ideas around that in my mind already. From there I asked myself 'What would happen if Cupid went to high school?'- a thought which amused me quite a bit! And that formed the foundation of the book.

And finally, what advice would you to a new writer on Wattpad?

Read a lot! Write a lot! Keep going! Don't give up! Always remember the reader- write the story for them, not for your English teachers, not for yourself. Accept that sometimes you will fail (we all do). Accept that it will take time and hard work. Expect that eventually you'll succeed. Be nice to people! Support other writers! Keep writing!

***

That was my lovely interview with the amazing LEPalphreyman !