"What is a heart if not the ultimate clockwork?" --February Grace, Godspeed.
I recently interviewed real-life and Wattpad author, February Grace. You might know her for her steampunk masterpiece, "Godspeed," which is published by Booktrope Publishing. When she's not writing, she's painting or listening to music--this writer is determined to be both creative and productive! Read her heart-warming story that eventually inspired "Godspeed." Here's... February Grace!
1. When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
FG: I was telling stories before I was old enough to write them down-- mostly stories about adventures with my favorite stuffed teddy bear, Paddington. The first story I remember clearly writing down was an assignment in fourth grade, to rewrite the end of fairy tales. I fell in love with writing then, and I have been writing in one form or another pretty much ever since.
2. What was your first novel that you wrote? Can you describe the experience of writing a full length book for the first time?
FG: The first original novel I wrote was back in 2008-- and it was called FIREWORKS FLOWERS. It has since been reworked into a novella (which you can read exclusively here on Wattpad!) and the experience was amazing.
That was the first year that I found out about NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and I found out about it seventeen days into November! Still I was determined to try to write 50k words in the time I had left. I ended up writing the first draft of FIREWORKS, 50k words and change, in ten days. It was a freeing and exhilarating experience to lock up my inner editor so to speak and create characters that hadn't been around before in that span of time and give them life. I was hooked.
I have participated in NaNoWriMo every year since-- in fact, both of my novels that are going to be published started life as NaNo novels. So don't let your inner editor stop you from trying new things, experimenting with your writing. You never know where a single sentence could end up taking you...sometimes it's taken me to a while book!
3. What do you love most about writing?FG: I love the freedom writing gives you. I have a lot of physical limitations in real life, but in writing I can create the strongest person in the world if I want to. Or I can use my experiences to try to help others view the disabled in a new light. I love that idea of creating a world that didn't exist before you sat down at a keyboard or picked up a pen and thought it up. There's nothing quite like that feeling of reading a finished story later and thinking, "I can't believe I wrote that!"
4. What do you do when you're not writing?FG: When I'm not writing I am usually resting my eyes (I have limited used of my vision, which is impaired) and listening to music. I also enjoy singing and painting when I feel up to it. I wish I could read more than I can these days-- I have to ration my time staring at words and sometimes I have to put my own writing first and that means I don't get to read as many books-- or Wattpad stories-- as I'd like. But I am lucky to be able to see at all, so I count my blessings a lot, too.
5. Above all, what do you think makes a good story?FG: I think the critical component to any story is a cast of characters that the reader will care about. It's my view that if you don't care about the characters, then who cares what happens to them? You could have the best plot idea in the world but if you can't get your readers emotionally involved with the characters, it will fall flat. They have to seem like real, believable people; flaws and all. Make them too perfect and you'll have a hard time keeping people in the story. That's my view, anyway :~)
6. Where do you get the motivation to write a novel?FG: It's difficult at times. One of the health issues that I live with is Bipolar disorder, and it makes writing a challenge most of the time. I find shorter forms easier than novels, but there are times when I have gone months without being able to write much of anything, and those times really try me and make me sad. So far I've been lucky in that eventually it seems to cycle back around to where I can write longer pieces (again I have found NaNoWriMo to be a great motivator for novel writing every year-- even if I have to spend a second NaNo as a 'rebel' and work on the book from the year before-- that's how I finished GODSPEED.)
And I have learned to really love shorter forms of writing like flash fiction and short stories. A story doesn't have to be long to move people, in fact, sometimes the more carefully you choose your words and deliver them in a shorter span of time the more impact they can have.
7. When there is a lack of motivation, how do you deal with writer's block?FG: Oh, the dreaded block. I am one of those writers who definitely believes it is a real thing. When it gets really bad I try to distance myself from whatever I've been working on-- try other artistic outlets like painting, and look for inspiration that might lead me back to writing in places like magazines, and in new music.
Both new songs and pictures have inspired me to go back to writing. One stretch of writers block I had while I was writing GODSPEED was actually broken by a picture of a hat I saw in a catalog. I started describing the woman who would wear that hat-- and that was it, I was off and running again. I think you have to get your brain on something else for a little while then give it a chance to find its way back to the words. That's what has worked for me, anyway.
8. Everyone has a writing process. Some wing it. Others plan out their novel to the layout of their main character's bedroom before they actually begin to write. What is your process?FG: I am horrible with outlines. The tag line on my blog says "The characters are in control, I just take dictation." and that is really how writing feels to me. When it's going well it's like the words fall out of heaven and into my brain and then onto the screen. The characters surprise me-- shock me, even, often; whether that makes me laugh or cry. I view them as people to get to know who already have fully formed personalities; and that is how the story is told to me, through the characters.
Every story I have ever tried to plot out point by point has fallen dreadfully flat. I might know how something is going to end near the beginning of writing it, but I can't just go from scene A to B to C. I write as the story comes to me, jumping around if need be, then I go back and polish it all up in later drafts.
9. Have you ever gotten any criticism for your stories? How do you handle it?FG: Oh yes, I think every writer who submits a story for publication has to face criticism and/or rejection. I will admit that at first, my response to it was to withdraw completely. I used to half-joke that I was always going to subscribe to the Emily Dickinson method: put everything I wrote into a trunk until after I was dead, then let my family decide if it was worth anything after I was gone.
I'm 42 now, and I wasn't a published writer until two months before my 41st birthday. One of those first published pieces (in a literary magazine) had been rejected when I'd entered it in a contest previously. So if publication is something you really want, you have to be prepared for rejection and criticism.
Writing-- and loving writing-- is so subjective, that not everyone is going to like what you write no matter what you write. I think the important skill to learn over time is to take to heart the criticism that can improve your work (because everyone can always keep improving their work) but don't let it defeat you. And if someone just doesn't get your voice at all and wants you to change everything, then sometimes you have to know when your work is just not a good fit for say a certain publication or publisher/agent and then look for a place where it can find a happy home.
10. What is one of your pet peeves when it comes to writing?FG: Personally, that I can't do it for long, long stretches like I used to be able to before I lost my eyesight. It took six surgeries to give me back the use of the sight I have left now, and I was blind for a while. I hate that I can't write every day, that I can't just say to myself "Okay I am going to sit down and write Monday through Friday between eight and five," like it was a normal job because I'm just not healthy enough. So I guess my pet peeve with writing is that I can't do it as much as I wish to.
11. Where did you get the idea for Godspeed from? FG: I was extremely ill in 2010-- I just wrote a blog post about this in fact-- and it was during that time, when I woke up in the middle of the night in ghastly pain and trying to keep myself focused on something in the room so that I could stay awake long enough to get more medicine-- that I heard the ticking on the wall of my favorite clock. It's a clock with three faces, meant to show multiple time zones.
My heart was racing, and the beats were faster than the ticks on the clock, and those two sounds were all I could hear. From nowhere the line came into my head "What is a heart if not the ultimate clockwork?" I had an idea then that was much darker than GODSPEED turned out to be, I remember grabbing the pen and paper we'd been using to keep track of my medication doses and jotting down a few lines that made little sense later.
But that one line was there, and the idea stuck with me. Add to that the fact that my eye surgeons proclaimed that my body 'set them back 150 years' as far as what they could do to help me because I have a rare genetic condition, and that made me wonder about the idea of doctors from times past. What if one had inventions that could help patients but he wasn't allowed to use them, what would he do?
I had wanted to try something with steampunk elements for awhile, and this seemed the way to do it and make it my own. The idea of Quinn formed in my head and his story is what drove me to finish that book through all my health struggles, because I just couldn't leave his story unfinished.
12. Your novel, Godspeed, is being published in a few days time. Describe how you felt when you first found out of your luck.
FG: The first time my publisher offered to publish GODSPEED came as a total shock from out of the blue-- I got an email from them because someone who thought very highly of the book recommended it to them. The publisher loved it- and asked if I was interested in veering from the indie path (I had published the book myself in May of 2012 with the help of a small team of editors and artists) and joining them.
Unfortunately at the time I was doing very poorly physically and was going through the start of a huge family crisis, so I felt I had to say no to the very generous offer. It bothered me-- from the moment I said no, it bothered me.
Fast forward a year, and I had just finished my next novel, something entirely different from GODSPEED but that I adore for what it is, and I thought I would try submitting it to the publisher to see if they were interested in it. It turned out they were, and when we were talking about publication of that book, the subject of GODSPEED came up again.
When they told me they would still like to publish it, I was absolutely floored. They remembered it a whole year later, and still wanted it. Of course, I knew that I was incredibly lucky and I had to say yes. I have been floating a few feet above ground ever since :~)
13. What made you decide to try to publish Godspeed?FG: I felt that the story had a reason for being-- that it might be able to help people who read it in one way or another. Whether it be a teen who felt they had no place to fit in and longed to, or someone struggling with their health, or someone who had been left disabled or challenged by a trauma, I felt that there was something they could get out of it. The story, and the characters, mattered to me so much that I was able to push past my fear of what people might think of it in order to try to get the story out there. An important step in my journey with the book turned out to be putting it up here on Wattpad.
I am so glad that I did! With Wattpad's support I have reached readers that I never imagined would read the book, and they've been touched by it. The comments and reactions from readers have been overwhelming in the most wonderful way.
Though my publishing contract was not a result of putting the story on Wattpad (the first offer did after all predate my posting it here by six months) seeing the reaction of the readers here spurred me on to want to help GODSPEED reach the largest possible audience. So when the chance came around, that miraculous second opportunity to work with my wonderful publisher Booktrope Publications-- I jumped at it. I am blessed to work with an incredible team there, all such wonderful people. So lucky.
14. What is your favorite story that you read? What is your favorite story that you yourself wrote?
FG: I have a couple favorite books, but I have to say the one that influenced me, and therefore GODSPEED, the most, was Jane Eyre. I am also influenced by Douglas Adams (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) and the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Those are my favorites. I also love reading books on temperament theory, and have found the study of it absolutely invaluable when giving depth to characters. I often 'type' my characters and it helps me know in advance how they'd react in a situation. So yeah, I'd say "Please Understand Me, II" by Dr. Keirsey on the subject of temperament theory has been a huge help to me, though not a fictional story of course.
My favorite story I wrote was actually done a long time ago as part of an online serial I wrote with friends for many years; it contains the character that I am proudest of, to this day. However I must say, Doctor Godspeed has given that character a run for his money when it comes to the dearest place in my heart. I am usually not satisfied with my writing no matter what I do with it, but GODSPEED, I am proud of.
15. You're a poet, according to your profile. Would you be kind enough to share a poem with us today?
FG: It is very kind of you to ask, I'd be happy to! Here is a poem that I wrote that was originally published in the Rusty Nail Literary Magazine in March of this year. It's a rare piece for me because I usually write rhyming poetry-- and since this was taken from a play I started writing but did not finish-- it is written from a male point of view. It's called Speechless.
Speak? I cannot speak, yet
would if in so doing
past the hitch within my throat
I could force sound.
Wrest by violence the voice
from cords which tie it;
speak of hair so dark and
eye so deep no light escapes, yet
is absorbed
just to reflect upon my face.
16. Do you have any advice for amateur writers out there? If so, what is it?
FG: My best advice is write, write, and write some more. Experiment with different forms-- short stories, poetry, flash fiction, even scriptwriting...don't limit yourself to just working on one novel. Especially when you want to try to start submitting your work out there, start with literary magazines and websites and such and start with shorter pieces. Work your way up to the big stuff. It takes time, a long time, to hone your craft, and by trying new forms of writing and not limiting yourself when you imagine what kind of writer you are (novelist, poet, playwright, etc.) you might very well surprise yourself with what you can create in the end.
17. What would you like to improve on Wattpad?FG: I am a huge fan of Wattpad. Being that they are continually working to improve it, I can't think of anything at the moment that jumps out at me that I would suggest!
18. And the all-important question: Coffee or Tea?
FG: Coffee-- with either double cream, or as a mocha latte. Though I do adore cinnamon tea, coffee is what fuels me most of the time.
Thank you so much for interviewing me!
This interview was initially posted on Wattpad. Feel free to comment below.
