Last week you got the first little peek at Vira and my interview with our dear writer friend Fiona. (If not, go check it out now!) This week we get into the deeper stuff.
Our last question for Fiona last week was "what do you hate about writing?" And she elaborated on it a little more.
Fiona: I guess what I hate about writing is when it doesn't feel like it's supposed to. I love inspiring emotions. That's the only reason I even share my writing with you two, is because I want to see that I have inspired emotion in you guys somehow. Whether it's a "NO! You can't do that to that character" to a "I love this so much!!!". You know, I want to inspire revolution, I want to break your hearts, or-
Thane: You do that often.
Fiona: Oh. Okay. Good.
At this point we got a little off track. Which I must say we did very good considering it was somewhere between 1am and 4am at this time. Perfect interviewing time, right?
To summarize, we talked about sharing our writing with each other more. Discussing how, when you send a scene, you know what response you want, and so do the others because they have sent writing before also, and so you send what you know they want to hear. Vira mentioned how she sandwiches, good, bad, good. Which honestly is the easy, good way to do it oftentimes. But also if they ask for critique afterwards you have to kinda flip a switch in your head, I mentioned, because at first you read it as the reader, but then you have to read it as a writer.
Fiona ended our side track on a good note: So yes. I write to inspire emotion. And, when I can't, i hate that. I don't do in between or filler scenes very well. It has to mean something.
Vira: *whispering* No one does filler scenes well. Except for Avatar the Last Airbender.
Thane: Yeah. Filler scenes are hard. Because me, I like scenes with dialogue. I am not good with action scenes (hahaha. Fun for you the books you decided to write are fantasy with WAR and ACTION alll the time.) I want there to be dialogue, and I want it to be powerful dialogue. But you can't have every scene be them confessing a huge secret or baring their soul to the other person because real people don't do that that often. But that's what I wanna Write!!!! I want to write these stories where people are brutally honest. And they might be messed up, but they're trying- they're saying what's true to them even though it's not true to who they want to be. Or like- it's- It's real and it's brutal. That's what I wanna write and you can't do that, and that's what's frustrating about writing. There's more to it than what you want to do.
Fiona: One thing I'm envious about [Thane and Vira's] relationship is that you write the same series together, and you guys can dialogue things together, back and forth. And I don't have someone to dialogue with.
Thane: Okay. What is one piece of advice you have for other writers?
Fiona: Write the stupid thing. You're gonna hate it. Write it anyway.
Thane: I like that.
Vira: Yup.
Thane: What writer friends do you have and how have they helped you become a better writer?
Fiona: Well in a lot of ways I have learned from you guys. You go back and forth and argue over so much and get- I spend a good portion of that being really confused because I think "Oh wait this is Zalo, I know who Zalo it. Oh apparently I don't. Never mind." And as that builds and gets more confusing because your story is very different now than it was when you were playing it when we were 11. So, Ah yeah. You guys. I didn't have any other writer friends. And even then, you guys weren't very big on sharing your writing with me until recently. So I kinda just figured it out myself unless you consider authors from a hundred and 20 years ago your friends? I swear I had a crush on Arthur Conan Doyle for a few days. No. Actually a couple months.
*Vira and Fiona fangirl about him and Sherlock for a few minutes*
Thane: This is the last question I have written, but I'm going to turn it over to you next [Vira] so be prepared. Not everyone has an answer to this, but it's fun to ask. What was an early experience you had where you learned that language had power? That words had power.
Fiona: I was a very ironic kid. I would say the weirdest things. At the weirdest times. And apparently they had impact. I was also very oblivious. That has not changed. So, one of the things we have on tape is 30 minutes after my sister was born, they were bathing her and she was not impressed. So, she had a temper as a baby, so she was screaming because she didn't like it. So I in all my two and a half year old maturity stomped up to the nurse, crossed my little arms across my little chest and said "What is wrong with my [sisters name]?" And I can't live this down because it is on camera. And I decided right in that moment I would claim her, and I did. And have for the rest of her life, she's kinda mine.
And I guess from how people would react when I'd say things, because I was also very quiet and serious for most of it. Except when I was with friends, with friends I was funny because I wanted to be liked and I liked funny. So I was very quiet and introspective and when I did say something, usually it would be something I had been thinking about. And It caused reactions from people around me. I'd say something, and it would make perfect sense to me, and the adults around me would go "Whoa..." or "Wait a second." or even sometimes just burst out laughing. And I loved getting reactions to things.
You know, as the oldest child there wasn't a lot of attention directed my way and some parts of my life that was really really tough and some parts it was, I don't know, I got used to it, it doesn't bother me anymore because it's my sister, it should go to her because she's my sister, and that's her job. And this is my job. So when I figured out words do have power, I was able to use that to my advantage. I've learned what to say, to whom, and how to inspire that reaction in people.
Thane: So interesting. this question ended up- we got the answer of what- *stumbles through three more sentences she's unable to finish* Like it also explained your answer to the question of "Your least favorite part of writing"
Fiona: I write for emotion.
Thane: Yeah! And you just explained why that's so important to you as a writer in the answer to this. And that was just kinda... Mind blowing. That that's... Why you write the way you do, and why it's important to you
Fiona: Somewhere along the way I got it in my head from one of my parents reactions to probably a movie or something that extreme emotion wasn't a good thing. You know that teenage girls getting dramatic over a boy was foolish and silly and not worth the time to think about or to consider or to, oh your latest boyfriend, third one of the week, broke up with you, the horror! Let me comfort you. It was just stupid. So I just didn't. I decided if emotion wasn't that big of a deal I just won't bother. So when I could get a reaction out of someone, intentionally, that I could inspire emotion in someone else- I guess I didn't put that right.
I guess I didn't bother with emotion because it never got me the reaction I wanted. Just being emotional didn't get me attention. It didn't work like that. So when I figured out how to inspire emotion in other people I figured out how my words could attract the attention that I was seeking. And I figured out that at like four years old, that what I wanted was attention,and I figured out why I was wanting it, and how much I was getting in reference to my sister, and when, and why. I picked up on that really early. And when I figured out that words could get me what I was wanting then I figured out how to use them to get that. And I guess that I've been chasing that most of my entire life. That being able to cause a reaction in someone. I don't know, it's kinda intoxicating honestly. It's something I have always enjoyed. Having a certain amount of power over them, but less about the power over them and more the ability to make them feel something.
I mean, that's why we watch television isn't it? The shows, that's why we read the books. It's because we're looking for those emotional connections and emotional highs that we don't get, especially in this technological age- how you stay connected, but so far apart. That, you know, when you have the reaction with a conversation sitting face to face there isn't even a phone present in the room. That never happens. Ever. But we still seek the emotional connection that we would get from that because we are human beings and we need it. So, once I figured out how to inspire emotion, I figured out how to provide emotional connection for others and show them exactly what it was that they were missing..... That got really deep really fast.
Getting to interview Fiona was so much fun. She had some pretty awesome things to say, and VIra and me had a blast. If you guys want us to do another interview, send us some questions for them! They could be for Fiona, or Vira, or even me if you want.
Much love,
Thane