Hello reader, my name is A.Vlad and I am the creator and manager of @Storylaland. Recently I went through a rough patch, I was feeling lost, with no idea of what to do next. The reason for that, I failed a test.

And I know, it sounds silly, but I had a lot riding on that test, my entire future, all the plans I had, all the things I wanted to accomplish by a certain age, gone. But it taught me an important lesson, something you have to fall to get back up.

I am twenty-three years old and not once had I failed at something. I am a perfectionist at heart, a control freak. I like to plan and everything has to come out exactly as I envisioned it, so, when it didn't I choose to give up, I no longer wanted to do the thing I set myself out to do. I thought of changing careers, I convinced myself it's what I wanted, all because I didn't want to be known for that one failure.

But I allowed myself to question everything, I took an acting seminar, that's what I wanted to do, turn to act, and I still do, I don't want to die without experiencing what being on a tv or movie set feels like, and who knows maybe one day I will become an actor, but, that seminar made me realize that I do love my profession, I am a wild spirit, a person with many talents and many skills, choosing one thing to do for the rest of your life when you have so many things that interest you is hard. But you know what, my advice to you, the person who is reading this, give yourself the time and space to try it all.

I plan on taking another acting class, just not a theater one, that is not for me. The same way that I plan to re-take that exam and continue with my life plans.

Now, I think that makes for a good introduction, so why don't we get started on what this is all about, talking about the art of writing!

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1. How did I discover my passion for writing?

Well, like for many, 2020 was a year of self-discovery. If you have been following me since the beginning, you know that I wrote a story called Abroad Liberty (it being rebooted at the moment) and I started it alongside Full Circle, this other story was about one of my closest friends and what I envisioned her life becoming while teasing her about the potential love interest, in particular, this one guy who had been in love with her for years. These stories sparked in me a passion to write, to create new worlds.

Like I mentioned before, I want to be part of tv shows and movies, I think that's something that has always interested me, so, when I started writing I figured that something I loved was building worlds, with compelling stories and complicated characters. A character that like us is flawed, some are broken more than others, but the end goal? Learn how to overcome our problems and move on. So, my passion for writing comes from wanting to put out stories that feel realistic, and make us/me question ourselves/ myself. Whether is through science fiction or horror, romance or general fiction, or even historical, I want my stories to have a moral or ethical dilemma at their core.

2. What do I think writing should be about?

For me, it's all about enjoying it. When you enjoy the things you do it's so much easier to get by. This shouldn't be about perfection, or punctuation, yes, grammar is important, but a great story is not defined by the misspelling of a word or the lack of a coma. A great story makes you feel something, it gets you excited, a great story is the type of story that has you sharing emotions with its characters, wanting to know more, a great story is the one that is written with heart. And that for me is what writing should be about, telling stories that you feel passionate about.

3. Have I ever questioned whether or not I should stop writing?

Yes, since the moment I opened my account and started writing. This is my second Wattpad account, but when I first started I used the one I had since 2014, I thought I must be banned or something, my stories weren't getting reads, so I opened a new one. After four, five months, I still think my profile must be banned or something. To myself, I have written amazing stories. Truth is, I wasn't, yes, they were good, but they lack something, depth. I had people constantly questioning my writing, telling me it had too many errors, I had to brush them off, I loved my story, I enjoyed writing the way that it was, but then I submitted it for an award, one gave a great review, another one, they told me they couldn't enjoy it because of the errors, I immediately took it down.

4. Why did I take down the story if I enjoyed it?

It's simple actually, I didn't want a story out there that people weren't enjoying. And the known fact that they couldn't enjoy it brought me to a place where I chose to leave. What were the point of writing a fun, general fiction story if people were going to pick it apart and question every single line that was written

5. Why I am back?

I love podcasts, and I was listening to one where they had the writer of the After books (now movies) and she talked about how she got started. From her phone, just like me, with a lot of grammar errors, JUST LIKE ME, but she kept going, she grew, she learned and she went far. My first language is Spanish, I am brilliant in Spanish and even so, I make mistakes, there are words I don't know because I am not perfect.

I speak, read, write and understand English, but I don't use it daily, not unless I'm here. So, it's a bit hard getting everything right. But her story inspired me, hearing her journey got me out of my self-doubt, it got me here, to publish a new story, to take the one I'd written before and redo it, the characters, the world, the readers, and myself deserve better.

6. Do I see myself as a published author?

I have no idea. I am doing this as a hobby, to learn, grow and put myself out there. Whether I make it as an author or not, to me it doesn't matter, this is not what I set out to do, but rather something I found along the way, just like painting. I paint as a hobby, if something comes along in the future, it will be well received if it doesn't, I will go on knowing I can do so much more than just one thing.

7. What do I want my stories to be?

I want my stories to be about everything.

8. How so?

Well, right now, I am working on an LGBTQ+ book, Welcome to Vogue, you can find it on my profile and it follows the journey of a young transgender woman and the struggles she had to endure to become the woman that she was born to be. I think every genre has its own rules, but I want to write stories that no matter the genre I put them under, can challenge the reader just as much as it challenges me. I have to do research, I have to re-think every word and approach with this story, I don't want to put words out there that can end up being more harmful than helpful.

I want my stories to be about that. Challenging the readers as they experience the journey of my character. Every person has to struggle with things, I want to bring stories to life that manage those same struggles and finds a way to come out of it on the other end of things.

9. What do I think makes a good character?

For me, a relatable character. Yes, we want to get out of our world and our own lives, that's why we read, to separate ourselves from our day-to-day. But reading a story in which a character goes through something similar, or does things and reacts to life in ways that I too would react, make me feel seen like I am not alone.

So if I am a member of the LGBTQ+ community, or a Latinx, or Asian, or whatever race or nationality I want to see those stories being told, see them face the day-to-day.

10. What is something someone said to me that motivated me to continue writing?

My friend, she gets the chapter of Welcome to Vogue before I publish them, and I stopped writing for a little while, but I started again and I sent her one of the latest ones, her response "I love it, I have never read a story where the character faces problems with such realism".

To me, that meant the world, my story was doing something, it was making an impact, causing emotions.

11. What do I want from my stories?"

I want my stories to make an everlasting impact on their readers. I don't care about the reads, votes, or comments, I mean, don't get me wrong it feels great to get those notifications, but if one person takes this story home, and learns something from it, that's all I need.

12. What advice I would give people struggling to continue writing?

Put everything else out, focus on your writing, on telling stories that are important to you. When you do things that are important to you, you enjoy them, and when you enjoy things, the recompense is far greater.

I know it can be hard, I too have questioned whether or not I should continue, but the moment I chose to let my stories be about the journey of my characters and not about the numbers they were doing, I found a new, greater love for storytelling.

13. What is my writing method?

I use different styles for my writing. But for my stories, their characters, and plots, I have notes, I set out a chapter goal, write the main plot, and divide it into the number of chapters so that my character can accomplish or become what I want from them.

For example chapter one of Welcome to Vogue, I wrote the title "Marritza from the Bronx", I added points, number one "the story will begin with Marritza hiding behind a dumpster in an ally as she changed into her work cloth" and like so. From that bit of information, I write everything else.

I also do my covers before I start writing, just for the sake of inspiration.

14. Where do I do my covers?

PicsArt. I started using the story template, I go to photos or stickers and start adding and putting it together. I do the first one, and most of the time I go back before I publish the first chapter and change something or all of it, it all depends on how I feel about it after a while.

15. What are my favorite genres?

General fiction, all of my stories have been General fiction except for a horror one that I took down. But I am planning on doing a sci-fi project. I have the idea, I just want to finish a story before getting into the other one.

16. Do I plan on starting any of the stories I left forgotten?

I do, I don't know when but I will. I think that's something every writer experiences, leaving stories behind, and that is fine, not all stories are meant to be told, just like some aren't meant to be finished if that makes any sense.

17. Any last words before we conclude?

Keep going, keep writing, but lost of all, keep enjoying it and having fun while you're at it.

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Well, with that concludes this auto-interview. I hope you can take something out of my experience and journey and add it to your life. If not, I hope you enjoyed it.

I will come back with different interviews weekly. Until we see each other again, be sure to take care of yourself, take time to breathe, and continue doing what you love!!!

This is Let's talk: The Art of Writing with A. Vlad for @storylaland

See you next time!