Interview with Rose Lawson

Today I’m going to be interviewing Rose Lawson, aspiring author and creator of Writing a World.[image error] You may also know her on YWP NaNoWriMo as Diz the Dizzy.

Glad to have you here, Rose! Now, for the first question:

What is your current writing project?

Currently I’m working on my Camp NaNoWriMo novel Selene of Doomsday which I’m not loving as much as I thought I would, but I have some other novel ideas but the plots are still very fuzzy for those ideas.

Can you tell us a little about Selene?

Selene starts out as an angry, tough teenager who lives on the street. She’s not very likeable in the beginning of Selene of Doomsday. She lives in an alley and has amnesia, so she has no idea where she came from, and she’s insecure about that, which adds to some of that harshness. But by the end of the novel, she softens up and is more caring and compassionate. Yet again, she’s still sort of tough by the end of the novel.

Will there be a sequel?

I have some vague ideas, but it depends on how this first one ends.

Would you consider yourself more of a plotter or a pantser?

Definitely a pantser.

Do you just grab a plot bunny and write away, or are there things you want to know before you start writing?

I grab the plot bunny, then sit down for about ten minutes and make a brief outline that I end up ignoring when I actually write. I usually need to know what drives the characters to make the decisions they make that effect the plot, but that’s normally the only thing. I’m trying to become more of a plotter, though.

What are your goals as a writer?

Well, first off to become published and well-known, which I think might be every writer’s goals. Second off, too create original and enjoyable stories that break stereotypes and clichés but aren’t that weird.

Do you have any goals as a blogger?

To write enjoyable posts and attract a wide range of followers.

What was the first book you ever wrote?

[I wrote a] short, 11,000 word novel called Mermaids when I was [around nine years old that was] about mermaids on the coast of South Carolina. It remains unpublished.

Do you think a version of Mermaids ever will be published?

Actually, for November’s NaNoWriMo, I’m taking some of the characters from Mermaids and rewrite it, while changing parts of the plot and whatnot. Its title is Where Sophie Swam, and I’m thinking about publishing, but will look more into it after NaNoWriMo.

If you ever try to publish, do you think you’ll try to do it traditionally? Or will you just start by self-publishing?

I think I might send a draft into a small publishing company that’s local to my state (and I can’t remember off the tip of my tongue) or self publish.

What’s your biggest challenge as a writer?

Probably making my sentences flow smoothly, and finding synonyms for the words “said” and “asked.” Oh, yeah, and writer’s block.