My Life as a writer
When did you first realise you wanted to write for a living?
November 2020, I was doing a night class through a university and we had to select a prompt for a short story. That short story has now evolved into a trilogy set in a world of its own with a lore and history that’s consistently evolving. From there I’ve written short stories, plotted and just fallen in love with writing again. So overall it’s snowballed into something that I feel couldn’t just be a hobby anymore
Which writer, past or present, do you most admire?
Haruki Murakami, his style of writing is almost dreamlike while being simultaneously surreal and enrapturing. Also he’s a keen runner.
What was your first published (or performed) credit as a writer?
Nothing as of yet, though I have submitted pieces of work to competitions.
Which piece of writing work are you most proud of?
For now I’d say The Well, which is currently unpublished. It’s a short but impactful story that looks at having to pull yourself out of a hard place, and the call back into the depths that always haunts you.
Who or what inspires you to write?
It’s a twofold answer: It’s mainly from a belief that I have stories that I want to get out into the world, but also (as a member of the LGBT community), I feel like there’s only a very slim slice of the community being represented in stories (we either get coming-of-age stories or the successful person ruminating over a lifetime of sex, drugs, drink and disco) and I want to broaden that to bring out the diversity in our community.
How do you switch off when you’re not writing?
I dance around the house to some music (Mainly Kate Bush or Blondie but this changes on a weekly basis), go to the gym, or for a run/hike for an hour or so. Also videogames are a great destress.
Which one piece of advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Find that fire inside you that makes you want to write, and always keep it in sight. There’s been days where I’ve questioned why I write, and I’m always able to respond with either “If you don’t put your words onto the page, they’re never going to be seen”, or “You want to see a change and more diverse stories, sometimes you need to be the one to make the change and take the leap.”
Why are you a member of WGGB?
Because I wanted to become more involved in the writing community.
I’m currently in the progress of building up a portfolio of short stories and working on my first novel. I started writing for my university newspaper in 2010, before also becoming the features editor until 2013. I then started writing fanfiction to build my confidence from 2018, before starting to write my own works in 2020. So far my unpublished short stories are A love in chords, Shikoku Sunset and Li & Popo.
