Mousetails Summer 2020 Awards [FINISHED]

Interview with neurotick

Interview with neurotick

Author of What He Never Said, first place General Fiction

What inspired you to write What He Never Said, and how did you shape the world and create its characters?

What He Never Said is a spin-off of another story I wrote, What She Left Behind. Bowie was a side character in that novel, but I got so attached to him that I wanted to give him his own story in his point of view. My goal was to create a world and a group of characters—brain children, as I call them—that felt realistic. I didn't want them to be two-dimensional people on a screen; I wanted them to be real and relatable, which is why everyone is flawed. Bowie is guilt-ridden, Zayna is a recovering addict, Gemma is insensitive, and so on.

What was the hardest part of the story to write and why? How did you overcome it?

The hardest part to write for me was the prologue. Writing trauma is difficult anyway, but writing it from the point of view of a child is especially painful. I cried while writing that scene, which was cathartic in a way. What helped me get through it was that I already knew the ending, and it was a happy one.

Do you have any advice you'd like to share for writers in the general fiction genre?

My advice is to take advantage of the "general" aspect. You're not confined to one genre. Options are endless. You can mix romance, action, humor, tragedy, and whatever else you want and make something that might appeal to even the pickiest of readers—as long as you don't lose sight of the storyline. Going off of that, I also advise to plan ahead! You don't have to outline your story chapter to chapter, but knowing the important details and how you want it to end is important.