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Inside the mind of a writer...

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Tuesday 13 March 2012

Day 2 Katie Wood talks about why she writes

When did you start writing and why?
I have always been a writer! My parents kept one of those baby books, where you write about a child’s first steps, first words and such. One of the questions was ‘what do you think your child will be when he/she grows up?’ and my Mum had written, ‘A writer, because she never stops making up stories!’
I think I was six or seven when I wrote my first book, about Princess the unicorn! I even drew my own pictures! I think I lost it somewhere along the line though, but I don’t think that’s a huge hardship! I’m sure it was hugely plagiarised!

What makes you want to write today?
Life makes me write. I see things, hear things, experience things, and I just have to get them down onto paper (or my laptop screen). I’m one of those people whose brain never stops running, I have a constant running monologue up there, and some of which is quite poetic or story-like, so even if I’m not working on a specific project, something or other usually gets written down in some form.

Do you have a writing day/days?

I’m really neglecting my writing at the moment. My new year’s I resolution was to make time to write. Perhaps next year’s resolution should be to not make resolutions! Sometimes I have an idea in my head that is so vivid that I just have to write. When I was at university I wrote in my diary an hour every day when I had time to write, and I was quite disciplined in sticking to it. I should probably start doing that again.

Which authors have influenced you the most?

When I was in primary school there was a local poet called Brian Moses who came and did a workshop with us. He was the one who made me first realise that ‘being a writer’ was something I could do. When I first started to write it was authors like Jacqueline Wilson who influenced me the most, and then I was hugely influenced by L J Smith, who I still love. Nowadays I think I’m most influenced by writers such as Margaret Atwood and Sylvia Plath. Not that I’m a feminist! My favourite author will always be Jane Austen, though.

What are your current writing projects?

I write book reviews on my blog at Lose Yourself Book Reviews regularly, and I have got a novel that I pull out and work on every now and then. I’m very interested in how adverse situations affect our emotions and relationships at the moment, so we’ll see how that develops…

What are you currently reading?
At the moment I’m reading The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins; I find them captivating and moreish. You’ll find my review of the first in the trilogy on my blog. Don’t worry, all my reviews are spoiler-free!


You can find out more about Katie's novel Girls for God at the end of the week. And tomorrow you can read one of her short stories here.  In the meantime, if you need to read more of Katie's work, please visit her blogsite at Lose Yourself Book Reviews

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