This month, we are interviewing _littlemeow7 

ToD: For this month's aspire magazine, our tagline is 'to believe'. What do you believe is the key to success as a writer?

_littlemeow7: 'To believe' is such powerful string of words. I personally believe that to be a (good) writer, one should believe that 'we can do it.' There will be odds and troubles, sighs and defeats but not giving up our passion to write allows us to learn more as well as become more refine.

ToD: What is the first book you've ever read that put you on the path to writing?

_littlemeow7: The book that burned the fuel and encouraged me to write from scratch was 'Seizure' by Erica Wagner, a book I read when I was quite young. The prose and narration was so intricate and mainly had two stories being narrated inside the plot. It was just mind blowing.

ToD: Do you have any current end goals you're working towards with any of your books?

_littlemeow7: I am hoping to finish editing my current novel by the end of this month (the art of letting go) which is also my first original novel and hope to receive some helpful advice to write better.

ToD: How do you balance tropes and originality in your works?

_littlemeow7: Balancing tropes and originality is a very tough task for me, mainly, because I started writing with fanfics as baby steps. I choose different tropes to write but I also read books with same tropes, trying to note down how different the books are, tackle those ignored and cut off points in most books then try to gather insight on how to use them to enhance fresh authentic taste in my books.

ToD: Can you recall a scene in any of your books that gave you the most trouble to write and why?

_littlemeow7: Oh yes! While first writing my book (the art of letting go), there is a scene where the girl and the boy are supposed to meet for the first time, but, making them notice each other without being the clichè fall out type was quite challenging. Maybe it was my perception because most books had love at first sight and I only wanted my characters to see each other as normal stranger, with whom they'll soon spend time and learn from and along the way, fall in love. That was tough.

ToD: Can you recall a scene in any of your books that gave you the most joy to write and why?

_littlemeow7: Certainly in the same book as I mentioned above, there is a scene where my protagonist is usually a grudge holder, unforgiving person. But in that scene, she finally sees the wrong in her perception and develops her arc to look at the world more kindly. This definitely made me so much happy, to see my main character learn.

ToD: What do you believe is the most difficult part of the writing process?

_littlemeow7: Writing itself is fun but also tough. We have burn out, no motivation, procrastination, no time, etc reasons to stray from writing. One main is being stuck on the concept of how we need to interpret a scene. I have it outlined, noted. But while I write my mind tends to think 'what if people don't understand this scenario or its too unreal' and I scrub out my writing, hence, I become unsure and stuck.

ToD: How long on average does it take you to write a book?

_littlemeow7: On average, it didn't take me over a month to finish my book but I took it down for better editing and polish. As for my fanfic, I only write them to release and exercise my process so they are spontaneous haha.

ToD: What keeps you motivated to keep striving?

_littlemeow7: One thing is 'no one can write down the ideas in my head except me' and another is 'write! I atleast want to hold a physical book of my own one day, with refine writing that people will love and learn from.'

ToD: What's some advice you can give to new and older writer's?

_littlemeow7: I am not much of an expert and prefer calling myself as a writer, not author, because my goal nowadays is to gather more experience and knowledge, to write better. I keep all ears open to criticism and feedback since they help me stay on my toes. Likewise I would tell my fellow writers to keep writing, keep reading and finish that book since they are the only ones who can do it. Keep encouraging oneself and being happy with our own writing is really important.

Loutka

Team Of Dreams