WELCOME TO THE WRITING TRAIN

 

 

 

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Story of the Writer 

featuring H.M. Wilson 

 

 

 

 

Welcome Hannah!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please Welcome  H.M. (Hannah) an avid reader, aspiring author, blogger, adjective lover, Big Sister, Sweater-wearer, Fangirl, Coffee drinker, Christ follower, and TEENAGER.  She has a very beautiful and impressive blog  over at Plottingertwist. Very impressive for a young person!  Here is a link to a recent post My Thoughts on J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Series.

 

Hannah and I first bumped elbows on Twitter and since have become blog-buddies. She’s a very impressive teenage writer, blogger and reader! I can see the talent literally pouring out of her hears, and as an INFJ, she’s also one of the rarest personality types on the planet.

 

 

So here’s a high five for being an awesome person

 

 

 

 

 

 (I’m the blue guy by the way)

 

 

 

 

 

So where are you from?

~ I am from a tiny town in Texas. (Buffalo, TX if you need a specific one.)

I’ve been to Texas several times but I’ve never heard of Buffalo, TX.  A lot of Buffaloes must roam there eh?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How did you come to love books so much?

~ I grew up in a book-loving family! My great grandmother collected books & she passed the tradition down.

That’s so sweet. I grew up in a TV-loving family,  I defected later. Books are much better. I find that family is always so instrumental in our early reading habits. I love how your grandmother collected books, what a good pattern. My grandmother helped us out a lot when we were wet behind the ears. And when our ears dried she was still tireless. Kind of like an older version of the Energizer Bunny. I miss her dearly. 

 

 

 

“Between the earth and the sky above, nothing can match a grandmother’s love.”

-Unknown

 

 

 

A grandmother is simply the practicality

of love at its best; 

burning forever true,

and never knows when to rest. 

 

~Benjamin Thomas

 

 

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Even though my grandmother passed some time ago, her love never entered the grave. It fervently lives before us; bright as coming day, tugging on our souls forevermore. 

 

 

 

 

What childhood experiences had a major impact on your writing?

~ I was homeschooled, so one of my favorite bookish memories is my mother teaching me to read. Along with that, my father used to read to me before bed every night. Together we went on many adventures with Doctor Doolittle, Mr. Popper’s penguins, & Ramona with her sister Beezus. 

It’s astounding that parents can give the gift of reading to a hungry child. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Favorite childhood books?

~ A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle & Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit were two of my favorites as a child. And even as an adult, I still continue to go back & reread my old favorites. There is something special to me about both stories!

YES we always come back to the classics! 

 

 

Who are your favorite authors today?

~ I enjoy reading the works of Charles Dickens, Roald Dahl, J.K. Rowling, and Jane Austen. 

Nice. Uh, mine were probably Dr. Seuss and the incredible Hulk. I suppose they’d make a nice team. Lol!

 

 

What writing project are you currently working on?

~ I am currently working on several projects, but my primary one is called Polaroids + Postcards. It is a story about a serious guitar-player & a free-spirited travel blogger who cross paths and are forced to go on a road trip across America together. (It’s been an especially fun project thus far because I am uploading each chapter on Wattpad, so my blogging friends can read it & give me advice as I write.)

That sounds like a pretty interesting story premise. Haven’t used Wattpad before but I’ve heard of it several times. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You’re a writer; so what’s your story or what inspired you?

 

~ It all started with books. There was something almost magical about the moments when my mother would sit with me curled in her lap, reading my favorite picture-book for the thousandth time. And this feeling only grew when she took me to the library for the first time. And when she taught me to finally read on my own. I felt like I wielded some kind of super-power when all the words melded together into sentences, and that’s when the burning first began. I knew that I wanted to write a story of my own! And I finally did. And it was terrible. The cringe-worthy picture book was entitled Princess Butterfly. Oh, and let’s not forget to mention that I illustrated it myself! (Need I say more?)

Yet as bad as that little story of mine was, seeing my parents smile at my poor attempt at a masterpiece added fuel to the fire. I didn’t stop there, and my stories grew in depth & complexity. Now, at the age of 18, I’ve lost count of the number of stories I have penned, the notes I have scribbled, and the characters I have crafted. None can quite compare with my debut work, Princess Butterfly, but it’s safe to say that I am glad of that!

 

AMAZING STORY. I love it. You’ve definitely got the fire. I can almost see the smoke and embers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What’s your GOAL in becoming a writer?

~ My “surface goal” is to become a best-selling fiction author. But this is just scratching the top layer of my aspirations. In my journey to become an author, I dream of sharing my deepest thoughts & feelings through the written word. I hope to inspire others the way my favorite authors have inspired me. I want to not only entertain my readers, but also help them grow by writing stories that ask hard questions & make them think for themselves. And I desire to write something that will touch people & make them look at the world with a new perspective.

 

Impressive! You just elicited the WOW factor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What 3 things have hindered you from completing your projects? (CONFLICT)

~ Time-management has ALWAYS been a challenge for me. Sometimes pulling away from one project to work on another is hard for me, because I like to give my everything to one specific thing at a time. But along with that, I also tend to be distracted quite easily. So you can imagine how quickly that can get out of hand… Lol! (Darn you, Twitter & Pinterest!)

I completely understand this one. The quicker you get a handle on this the better off you’ll be. You’re headed straight to the bestseller’s list one day kid…Tell em’ I sent ya. 

 

 

What keeps you motivated in achieving your dream? (DESIRE)

~ First of all, writing isn’t just a hobby for me—it is a calling. I truly feel like it is something God has planted in me, so I honestly think it would be impossible to completely stop writing. But at the same time, the idea of becoming someone’s favorite author & them being inspired by my work makes me want to work even harder at it!

I already know you’re a hard worker. It practically jumps out of your pores. But, HAVE FUN IN THE PROCESS. Don’t let pressure, stress, or even the work, take away the joy in writing.

 

 

 

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~The conscious mind is the editor, and the subconscious mind is the writer. And the joy of writing, when you’re writing from your subconscious, is beautiful – it’s thrilling. When you’re editing, which is your conscious mind, it’s like torture.~

Steve Martin

 

 

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Author Anne Janzer in her book, The Writer’s Process Getting Your Brain in Gear, speaks of balancing and utilizing both parts of your brain in the writing process. She points out knowing when to implement or inhibit, the editor and the muse in different phases of the process. I highly recommend it to any student of the craft. 

 

 

 

What’s your ANTAGONIST? What’s in the way?

~ Honestly, I think most of the time we are our own worst enemy. We allow ourselves to be discouraged, get bored, be lazy, be distracted, and it makes for a tough battle to win. So I would have to say that goes for myself as well. It’s an uphill climb! You live, you struggle, and you learn from your mistakes.

Are you sure you’re only 18? License and registration please. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why do writers give up, quit or never complete their projects?

~ I know that for me, personally, this often happens due to my strange attention-span. I will have inspiration for stories at the oddest of times & feel the need to start working on it immediately, temporarily abandoning the unfinished project I was currently working on. (But I rarely work on ONLY one WIP at a time. I usually have several that I add to, which helps me to never let my brain completely shut down if I reach a dry spot on one story.)

But another reason I think writers do this is because of boredom. Sometimes we get discouraged after reading the same piece of writing over & over, and it just seems increasingly uninteresting, so we scrap the idea altogether. The key here is not allowing yourself to become discouraged. Remember, even the greatest authors of all time had first-drafts of their novels!

 

Yes. This brings to mind many thoughts. Many of us have the same experience trust me. *raises hand*  Having ideas is one thing, but being able to grasp and develop it into a compelling story, is craft. This is what I’m learning right now.  Here’s a profitable remedy for distracting story ideas:

New Story Ideas Distracting You From Your Book? Find Out What You Should Do

 

 

 

THANKS AGAIN HANNAH

COME BACK SOON

 

 

 

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~The Art of happiness is finding your joy in the PROCESS rather than the end RESULT.

–Jessica de la Davies

 

 

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Writing is all about the journey and how you got there, not so much about the destination. 

~Benjamin Thomas

 

 

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Greetings to all my siblings in the craft! (That’s you)

 

 

 

 

 

Benjamin Thomas

@thewritingtrain

http://www.thewritingtrain.com