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Jun 21, 2021 12:00PM
This discussion thread is open to interview questions but will be officially looked at by the author on June 25th. ALL QUESTIONS WELCOMED.
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Hi Tabi! I just first off want to say congrats on publishing. That’s an awesome accomplishment, and I wish you all the success. Now, onto a question: What is your biggest advice for young authors? Do you suggest we look toward publishing or just work on our skill until we get a bit older?
Thank you, and I hope you find the time to answer :)
Hi Tabi,I wanted to start off by saying Spinner is one of the best retellings I've ever read. It was so well written. I especially loved the romance. I'm really impressed and I can't wait to read more of your work in the future.
My first question is what inspired you to write a Rumpelstiltskin retelling? What stood out to you and interested you the most about the Rumpelstiltskin story?
My other question is if Spinner were to be made into a movie or tv show, who would you cast as the main characters in the movie/show?
I look forward to hearing from you :)
Hello Tabi! Congratulations for publishing The Spinner! I really enjoyed reading your work. It was short, crisp and a pleasant read.
So my question to you is, while deciding a plot and everything, what do you do to make the storyline? As in, what do you do to make out what will happen in each chapter or so?
Thank you!
Hello, hello, everyone!! Today's the day and feel free to throw all kinds of writerly, book, and writing process questions at me! I'm super excited for this & still reeling from the fact that I was picked all for this interview and BotM feature.
Emary wrote: "What is your biggest advice for young authors? Do you suggest we look toward publishing or just work on our skill until we get a bit older?"Hey there, Emary! Thanks for the support and I wish you equal success in your own ventures!! As far as advice to young authors . . . I think it's up to the individual to decide what they're ready for.
When I was about 16-17, I wrote this story about a trio of characters in a post-apocalyptic city (a werewolf, wraith, and human girl with a secret power) and thought it was THE BEST THING EVER and promptly decided that this was going to be my publishing debut masterpiece. And so I queried agents, sent the manuscript to publishers, and was so sure I'd make it with my story . . . but I didn't. At the time, I thought I was on fire as a writer—young and talented. And I was?? But, for me personally, I now look back and realized I had to grow so, so much before I should consider myself publication ready.
But that's not to say teenagers or young writers shouldn't even try to get published! I wasn't of the caliber back when I was that age, but I've also read many, many online works of writers younger than me that is of a quality one might expect from a much older writer! So it really all depends . . . however, I might suggest waiting to publish until you're at least 18 for legal purposes as most publishers might be a little leery signing a minor into a contract??
Anyways, I'm not the most knowledgeable on this subject. But I will never say to WAIT if something is your passion and career dream. You will always be growing in your skill, whether you're 16 or 65, so there's never a "perfect time" or proper age to move forward on publication goals.
I hope this long, rambling answer gives you some advice!! And feel free to expand upon the original question as well :))
Shawna wrote: "What inspired you to write a Rumpelstiltskin retelling? What stood out to you and interested you most about the Rumpelstiltskin story? If Spinner were to be made into a movie or TV show, who would you cast as the main characters in the movie/show?"Hello there, Shawna!! I'm really happy you loved the retelling and I can't wait to share the revised edition sometime next year!
As far as what inspired me, it was a late night of reading fairy tales and realizing I hadn't seen a Rumpelstiltskin retelling at all in my retelling reads from the library or online . . . and so an idea sparked in my head, I opened my laptop, and wrote half of the original draft in one night.
What stands out to me the most in Rumpelstiltskin (and what I changed in my retelling) was the passivity of the girl in the original tale, while she's being tossed about from man to man, so to speak . . . and how on EARTH could she fall or accept a man like the king who treated her like that for spun gold, only to turn around and marry her?? I had so many questions swirling about in my head that led me to the laptop and just writing away haha
Again, there's still some questions I've realized that have gone unanswered in this first edition I published, as well as other questions I need to answer more clearly and in a better way. But it's mostly the rarity of Rumpelstiltskin in mainstream fairytales and their retellings that led me to write my own retelling of it.
And as far as a film cast?? I'd honestly never thought about it. I think I wouldn't like to cast currently-known actors but rather search from a pool of upcoming and rising stars, so my answer would be to see what faces and personalities and backgrounds would be found from an open casting call and then go from there!
But if any of you had a casting list in your heads, I'm very interested to see who'd you picked ;)
Thank you so much, Tabi! What great advice!I do have another question, though: What should you do if you’re writing in a dead genre? Or if you’re not already, should you even consider it?
Gourica wrote: "While deciding a plot and everything, what do you do to make the storyline? What do you do to make out what will happen in each chapter or so?"Hi, Gourica! It always makes me smile when I see people enjoying my stories as that's the main reason I started writing in the first place, to tell stories to as many people as I could!
As far as plot outlining . . . I've only recently started doing vague layouts for my WIP fanfictions and some original works I'm slowly working on. For the most part and definitely how I functioned in the past, I am a by-the-seat-of-my-pants type of writer, just exploring a story in the first draft and seeing what happens. So, while I have a vague idea of what I think happens in an upcoming chapter, I'm still learning how to make outlines and plans to help my writing.
Emary wrote: "Thank you so much, Tabi! What great advice!I do have another question, though: What should you do if you’re writing in a dead genre? Or if you’re not already, should you even consider it?"
Hey there!! I think "dead" genres is a bit of a marketing thing as publishers don't want to saturate the market and therefore not gain as many sales/awareness of the book they published and, in their eyes, want to gain as much profit from.
But if a story is unique?? If it stands out from overused tropes and either does something new or different with known genre cliches? It doesn't really matter, in my opinion. If it's a good story with decent writing quality, captivating characters, and a fun plot . . . in my opinion and reading preferences, I'll still love it.
Hello!! Well, I'm just a random teenager but I love to write!!I've written many poems till date. (Some of them are posted in the "A.J.'s Poetic Nook" thread)
I usually recite my poems in class aswell and my english has told me that I should actually compile my poems and publish them..
I don't really no anything about all these things and also I feel like.. according to my age (I'm 13) I guess I write some dark songs which are actually pretty the-
Going Over Your Head sort of poems xD
I just wanted some advice to build up a good and a bit happy writing style and also about publishing your work, etc ^^
Hello, AJ!!I was also a random teenager who loved to write . . . who is now a random halfway adult who still loves to write haha
I haven't done much poems, more like what I called "scribbles" but they're a fun medium to write in! And hey, why not compile and publish??
Hmm, I think darkness is a bit of an individualized definition?? I'd say to try and write outside your comfort zone, as that's definitely a learning area for writing skills . . . but also write what you know and feel? Even if that's "dark", then maybe try to write the dark and then try to find the positive and light in the midst of the dark?
Regarding publishing, I'm a bit behind by now since I originally self-published about 5 years ago. So when I publish again, I'm going to have to relearn it all! But if self-publishing resources are just a Google search away and I'm also very happy with my experience using the Amazon self-publishing tools :)
Hope that helps!
Hi Tabi! I enjoy thinking up stories, and writing them, but when I do get to writing them, I can't get out half the stuff I thought. Any tips on writing plots and character development and just keeping the story interesting?
Syesha wrote: "Hi Tabi! I enjoy thinking up stories, and writing them, but when I do get to writing them, I can't get out half the stuff I thought. Any tips on writing plots and character development and just kee..."Hello, Syesha!!
Yeah, the writer's block is a real struggle for me and the reason I have so many random bits and unfinished works lying about in my Google Docs! What works for me is just following where my brain flows . . . if I try to force myself on something, I end up hating it and taking even longer to move forward on it.
So the tips I'd suggest? Maybe try reading something similar to at least gain some inspiration? Or listen to music (if you've got a book playlist) and think through the plot in your head. Or if you've got a certain scene you want to write?? Start there and move forward, filling in the blank spots before and after once the parts you KNOW are on the page.
Writing is odd in that it doesn't start out perfect, you gotta work to get it to a proper stage. So just write it out . . . you can always go back and revise something once it's there; it's harder to fix something that doesn't even exist yet xD
Thank you! Those are great tips, they'll definitely help. Thanks again!!!
Syesha wrote: "Thank you! Those are great tips, they'll definitely help. Thanks again!!!"No problem!!
Also, if anyone cares to share their writing with me, I'm more than happy to do read-overs and like a quick beta type feedback?? I'm trying to stretch back into my editing skills so if you're looking for someone to offer suggestions on writing and whatnot (to the best of my abilities) do let me know :)
Thank you so much!! That helped.. and yeah I am trying to write happy and positive poems but the only thing is in the middle of it.. they all turn out to be sad/dark xDD
♠ TABI⁷₈⁷ ♠ wrote: "Also, if anyone cares to share their writing with me, I'm more than happy to do read-overs and like a quick beta type feedback?? I'm trying to stretch back into my editing skills so if you're looki..."Yeah sure!! Here's the link to my little poetic corner ^^
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
A.J. wrote: "♠ TABI⁷₈⁷ ♠ wrote: "Also, if anyone cares to share their writing with me, I'm more than happy to do read-overs and like a quick beta type feedback?? I'm trying to stretch back into my editing skill..."oop I was already exploring a bit & just finished reading through that!
A.J. wrote: "Thank you so much!! That helped.. and yeah I am trying to write happy and positive poems but the only thing is in the middle of it.. they all turn out to be sad/dark xDD"well sometimes if you need to write out the sadness so it doesn't stay in you that's what happens haha
Umm so here:I plunged deeper into the woods, running as fast as I could, even though I could start feeling a stitch on my left side. Finally, when the pain became too much to ignore, I stopped, panting for breath. What am I doing here?, I wondered. Don't I have better stuff to do? And besides, I don't even know if I saw it or it was just a trick of light. Deep down, though, I knew it wasn't a trick of light. Although now that I was out of its presence, I wondered why just some minutes ago, I felt that my life depended on persuing it, whatever it was. That's right, I felt my life depended on a creature, not even knowing what the creature was. Well, that was weird. I better start heading back- My breath caught. There it was again, shining- no, glowing silver. It had a strong energy, once you're around it you loose all ability of thinking. Stop standing and gaping! Run after it!, my brain screamed at me. Why? It isn't important, and I have homework to do., the tiny, and the only working part of my brain retorted. Homework can wait. Follow it!, my brain had made a final decision, and even if it hadn't, I already felt my feet and body moving, going deeper into the woods. After half an hour of running after it with no success, I finally stopped for a breath, and decided to go back home, more than a little creeped out by now-- until, I caught a glimpse of it yet again....
This was what my brain came up with randomly some hours ago, idk why and there's no prequel or sequel. Just this. So you are free to imagine the characteristics of the MC and the creature. It's not that much, just your average I'm-bored-story by a 13y/o xD
Syesha wrote: "Umm so here:I plunged deeper into the woods, running as fast as I could, even though I could start feeling a stitch on my left side. Finally, when the pain became too much to ignore, I stopped, pa..."
Whoa, that's a really intriguing snippet you've got there!! A lot of my stories and stuff started out as something like this; a random piece of story I couldn't stop rattling about in my head until I got it out.
My only suggestion for this right now is, for ease of reading purposes, to try and put paragraph breaks instead of a huge ole chunk like that. But the tension??? amazing. The way it leaves me wondering WHAT the character is chasing after?? superb! If this was how a book started, I'd definitely want to keep turning the pages to see what happens next!
Ahaha yeah paragraphs would be a good idea, I just wanted to get it out before I lost my 'writer mood' xD thanks!!
Syesha wrote: "Ahaha yeah paragraphs would be a good idea, I just wanted to get it out before I lost my 'writer mood' xD thanks!!"understandable!! And that's what editing is for 😉
Hi again! This may sound a little odd or maybe too-hard-to-answer, but I’d just thought I’d ask: How do you know if your book is unique enough? For instance, I thought one of my stories was really unique, but then I read a summary of a super-hyped book and was like “Oh. This is like the same exact concept.” It both uplifted me (because I wrote a story so close to this loved book) and made me really overthink it (because would publishers really publish this story even if it isn’t EXACTLY like the hyped book?) So what are your thoughts? Again, I understand this is probably a hard question to answer.
♠ TABI⁷₈⁷ ♠ wrote: "Syesha wrote: "Ahaha yeah paragraphs would be a good idea, I just wanted to get it out before I lost my 'writer mood' xD thanks!!"understandable!! And that's what editing is for 😉"
Yup! I would have left it like that if it wasn't for you 😅 I'll keep this in mind for future writing pieces too...
Emary wrote: "Hi again! This may sound a little odd or maybe too-hard-to-answer, but I’d just thought I’d ask: How do you know if your book is unique enough? For instance, I thought one of my stories was really ..."Hey, you're more than welcome to keep asking a bunch of questions!! And yeah, that is a bit of a tough to ask . . . mostly because I haven't been traditionally published either, and it's certainly a question I've asked myself many, many times. I've also written a few stories that, after looking back, are very similar to books I've read and loved haha
But again, I think that if your writing is good, the characters are strong and compelling, if the concept is similar but different, who cares?? Write YOUR story and make it yours, and it will be that! If all of that makes sense . . . xD
Syesha wrote: "♠ TABI⁷₈⁷ ♠ wrote: "Syesha wrote: "Ahaha yeah paragraphs would be a good idea, I just wanted to get it out before I lost my 'writer mood' xD thanks!!"understandable!! And that's what editing is f..."
No problem! As I was learning more and more about writing, I found that the better formatted my drafts were, the easier I could understand the story flow and whatnot :))
Thank you Tabi! You’re giving such awesome feedback and being inspirational yet honest. So thank you SO much for putting your time in to answer these questions. I know I have a lot, and I’m sure I’ll put down more! (Brace yourself ;))
awww I'm glad I am helping!! And also, question like these help me further hone my own thoughts and focus so it's a win-win situation heheheGo ahead and dump them on me!
So glad to have you here Tabi! Although I am pretty late..Buttt its still the 25th. The clock hasnt struck midnight and i am not yet a pumpkin....anywho my question to you:The king in the story, does he get a happy ending? I actualyy first read your book last year, and all I thought was, What will happen to the king? How does he reverse the curse? Do we get a sequel? I know that part of this book is a rumplestilskin/midas reteling so if you ever do a sequel would it be a midas/beauty and beast retelling?
Or something along those lines?
I have another question! What are some of your DO NOT PUT IN YOUR BOOK tips? For example, is there a trope you highly recommend NOT using in your book? Anything along those lines, really. (This is basically just a checklist of me.)
♠ TABI⁷₈⁷ ♠ wrote: "A.J. wrote: "Thank you so much!! That helped.. and yeah I am trying to write happy and positive poems but the only thing is in the middle of it.. they all turn out to be sad/dark xDD"well sometim..."
Yeah well.. that's what typically happens xD the only thing is that it comes out in a form of a short story which only I know.. for others its just.. another poem xD
Thank you so much Tabi! These answers really helped! All the best! <3
I didn't get to the final questions yet so, before this thread closes, I'll just quickly catch up because there's some good ones here I missed over the weekend!!
Rafia (Semi-Hiatus) wrote: The king in the story, does he get a happy ending? What will happen to the king? How does he reverse the curse? Will we get a sequel? Would it be a Midas/Beauty and the Beast retelling?Hallo, Rafia!! I'm really so, so happy you asked these questions because I was kinda waiting for someone to ask about it instead of just blurting it out in excitement, because I am EXCITED about the answers!!
So, first all, yes there will be an in-direct sequel focused on the king's story after the finale of Spinner . I'm not going to answer ALL of your questions because that would be spoilers . . . but also because I'm still figuring it out (and will focus more on him after Spinner has been revised and re-published) and need to adjust his character to better fit the image of him that Spinner really needed as well as for the sequel idea to make sense.
And wow, I'm really surprised how you guessed the retelling I would be doing!! It will be a Midas/Beauty and the Beast retelling mash-up along with some *whispers* Medusa and Greek mythology tossed in for fun. So definitely something along the lines of what you'd guessed hehehe
Emary wrote: "I have another question! What are some of your DO NOT PUT IN YOUR BOOK tips? For example, is there a trope you highly recommend NOT using in your book? Anything along those lines, really. (This is ..."Again, I think that if you take a trope and give it a fresh type of spin or unique take on it, it doesn't matter?? Although one thing I think anyone should avoid is the "released a breath I didn't know I was holding" because that's overused and kind of silly?? xD
Oh, yeah, I get that. I CANNOT STAND reading that cliche haha!
I have ONE last question if you’ll be able to answer it before the thread closes. (I don’t actually know when the thread will close.) How many drafts do you take to have a “complete” manuscript? How long does this usually take you? (Okay, maybe two in one.)
Emary wrote: "I have ONE last question if you’ll be able to answer it before the thread closes. (I don’t actually know when the thread will close.) How many drafts do you take to have a “complete” manuscript? ..."
yeah, I don't know either! I'm willing to go as long as we're allowed to haha
hmm well I think it all depends . . . I used to wholly rewrite things between two different windows and I've only gotten like 2 different drafts after the original on a few things. But the work I'm currently focused on, this novella called Gavriel, is on it's 5th edition and each one has been more different than the previous . . . so on average I'd say about 3-4??
And as far as the time frame, I've really never focused completely on one work to get it finished so it's been years in between revisions for most of them haha but the more I get involved in my writing career and focused on having it take off, I'd like to try and churn out ready-for-publication manuscripts in a 1-2 year span?? But it really all depends on the individual, the work itself, and how easily (or not) it flows out of you.
Good reads being shoddy and doesnt let me close the thread so...THREAD IS CLOSED ALL COMMENTS WILL BE DELETED AFTER THIS ONE. THANK YOU ALL FOR PARTICIPATING AND THANK YOU TABI FOR JOINING US FOR THIS. XOXOX
