Hi, Amanda, and thank you again for giving us all the opportunity to learn a little bit about you.
First, would you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Well, I'll be starting college in the fall, and hopefully within another year or so I can transfer to a school out in California, where I will pursue degrees in English and Theater. People say I don't act my age, but in a good way. I enjoy being outside and visiting new places, and of course, I love to write, but I also love to act. Right now I'm just focusing more on writing.
Is writing something you always wanted to do?
I wish I could say it was, but I only thought of being a writer in the seventh grade, and it wasn't until I entered high school that I became passionate about it. No other career ideas would stick with me.
Do you write in one specific genre or do you like to branch out?
I think I'd go crazy with boredom if I stayed put in one genre! What I write involves a mash-up of genres, sometimes strange ones that you wouldn't think would work. The only one I would consider writing in by itself would be literary, but I don't know if I could do it.
Who's your favorite author? How have they influenced your writing?
This is such a difficult question, as with everybody, but I would have to say that my favorites (sorry, I can't make it singular) are JK Rowling, Tom Perrotta, Zoe Heller, Jennifer Weiner, Shannon McKenna, Natsuo Kirino, and Ryu Murakami. All of their books have influenced my writing in some way, whether it's getting me interested in literary fiction or helping me understand the third person POV (which is what I use) and Japanese culture. The author that has had the most influence on me, however, is JK Rowling, because it was reading Harry Potter into the wee hours of the night that ultimately made me decide to become an author. Though she writes fantasy, her characters are still very much human with very real, very human, problems. And that's a powerful thing.
What is your writing style? Are you an outliner? A pantser?
You know, I had never even heard of the word "pantser" until I started blogging! It sounds so weird... Anyway, I was entirely a pantser as a newbie author. Now that I'm on my second book, I do both: I write very general outlines without much detail and leave the rest up to chance, which gives the story an edge in feeling both spontaneous and natural. Besides, it's fun not always knowing what's next!
When you write, what is your greatest struggle and how do you overcome it?
That would probably be getting myself to write even when I don't feel like it. I can write seven days a week, and there may only be three days where I feel I'm producing good work. But the reality of this business is that you won't always have that sense of glorious inspiration every single day, so you have to work through it. Sometimes the inspiration will come, other times it won't. What I do is read a great book or even watch a movie beforehand and let all the words and images sink in, which generates ideas and reawakens my passion for creating. Once I'm ready to force myself to get to work, I put on music. That always helps me keep the passion alive.
What is the best advice you ever received in writing?
Close contest! But I'd have to go with this: character building comes in time, with your own personal experiences, and even someone else's, whether real or fictional. You can't create an elaborately human character right off the bat; it will take time to learn about their quirks and fears and abilities and issues, and how they fit in with the story. But if you believe in your characters, in time you will come to know and love them, as will your readers.
Great advice. I'll have to write that down. :)
What projects are currently in the works? Anything out on submission?
Scarily enough, yes, I do have my first novel out on submission. It's called The Age of Tomorrow, and it's a literary thriller with a dash of spiritual fantasy that takes place primarily in Japan. So far, after almost four months of querying, I have gotten a partial request, and I'm still waiting on a reply.
Congratulations! Querying is scary business, but it's great that you're making some headway.
Any advice for your fellow writers?
Keep at it. If writing is truly what you love to do, and you cannot see yourself doing anything else, penning that great novel will surely happen, even if it takes your entire life. More than that, though, if you feel there's a higher purpose for what you do, your chances for publication will, I believe, increase exponentially. It's not enough to love the craft. Just keep at it, every day. The world would be such a better place if we all learned to just persevere and cultivate patience. It took me four years to figure out where I wanted to go with my book, and then write it, and then have confidence in it. But I would have been willing to spend decades going after my dream; I'm just lucky it didn't take that long (to write the book, I mean). Now I have finding an agent to worry about...
Thank you so much for having me, Brandi! It's been a pleasure.
Thank you, Amanda! For those of you who would like to learn more about Amanda Sablan, check out her entertaining and informative blog That Unpublished Writer .
