Interview: Lia Payne
Lia Payne, known as The Lia Cookie on movellas, is 13 and writes at Movellas.com. She started on the 13th of Febuary 2012 and currently holds over 250 movellas, and is the most published story writer on the site. A poetry writer has recently exceeded her but as Lia doesn’t just write poems, she writes everything, she still reckons she has the most work if put on top of each other. She has a lot of fans for a writer who doesn’t write One Direction, at over 260! She is currently focusing on two main projects one being a story called ‘Let it snow’ for Christmas! She is also focusing on an interviewing project with 3 co-authors called ‘The Interviews’. She is in year 9 in England, and is aspiring to be an author!
What do you use for inspiration?
My mind! ANYTHING can become inspiration. Take that vase over there, make it smash, set free the spirits. A story in a sentence there, that can be the beginning of something wonderful. I find Albert Einstein quotes very helpful when writing, and my favorite quote is by him. ‘Imagination is more important than knowledge.’ I agree with it, and I believe without imagination you can’t have knowledge. Because in order to know stuff you need to think of it and basically, if you have no imagination; how can you think of it? You can’t! I listen to lots of music, such as Nightwish, Evanescence, Linkin Park… Great inspiration. Remember: anything can be inspiration. Even your own mum.
Is there an author who has influenced you in your work?
Not particularly, though I could say stories have. Like, The Lovely bones, The Fear Index, and even some works off Movellas.Com! I don’t copy at all! I simply look at their work and think this is good! But where they lack description/grammar/paragraphs, I tell them, I give honest feedback. I get lots of ideas from viewing work. And as I said before, not copying. Once I read a fantasy story, that gave me inspiration to write a realism story. The other day I read the most poorly written book ever published (besides 50 Shades Of Grey). It was a question and answer session that was unavoidable. So I asked him, ‘how did you get published?’ when really I meant ‘how on earth did you get published?!’. A lot of works don’t inspire me, but simply make me critique them harshly.
What genre do you prefer to write/read in?
I prefer to read Adult Horrors, because I love a good thriller! I’m a very quick reader, once read a 400 page book in under ten minutes! Not scanning! I write everything though, so mostly I put my stories in the ‘other’ category because I don’t know what to put them in! I write songs sometimes, poems sometimes, prose sometimes, script sometimes, non-fiction sometimes, fiction sometimes… I write it all. You name it, I write it. I once wrote a ‘how to’ guide. My first book was about an everlasting family… Don’t ask!
What’s your favourite book you’ve ever read and why?
Well that’s a mixture between 3 amazing books. Cloud Atlas is amazing, and I can’t wait for the movie to come out! Basically, it’s about reincarnation and about the same lives meeting again and again in different lives. In one stage a cannibal is one of their reincarnations… Oh dear… AMAZING! I also love The Lovely Bones, which is already a movie too. It is creepy, gripping and sad. I LOVE IT! I also love The Fear Index for its different way of thinking. It has got lots to do about money which I don’t understand, neither does the author as he said in an interview! But, I still like how it’s written and although the story-line isn’t something I’d usually read I seem to like it lots!
Do you get writers block and if so how do you deal with it?
Is that a real question? If you never get writer’s block, you aren’t a writer! It happens to 100% of us, in my book. How I deal with it is by… STROKING DIEGO! (My kitten). And also by watching television and getting good ideas off that, but not copying. That splat of blood on the floor on that TV program, I’ll use that for a story! I listen to my inspiration, Nightwish, look at more Einstein quotes and then get a story shot at me. I write too much, though. I get too much ideas cramming themselves into my brain and one time so soon I’ll write one story after another after another. A bad habit, I am currently aiming to focus on stories instead of writing and writing and writing DIFFERENT stuff at once. But when I get an idea, I have to write it down. My habit.
How often do you write?
Oh, every day for hours. I once wrote for 24 hours nonstop, literally. Mostly on weekends I write for about 10 hours, on weekdays for about 7. I literally wont stop writing! I write so much it’s unthinkable! Idea -> written -> new story -> never finished. That’s how my flow chart goes! If you’re on movellas head down to The Lia Cookie and check out my work! If not I reccomend that site. If you don’t write then why are you viewing this!?
What advice would you give perhaps a young, and inexperienced writer?
What does ‘young’ and ‘inexperienced’ really mean? Because I’m young and inexperienced myself. I’m merely a student at school. But, to people who are new to the writing world, I have been writing since I was 3 and a half. First a story called The Cranes about an everlasting family, which sucked. It was a little picture book my mum stapled together for me! Well my advice for you is keep on going, even if the obstacles seem like they’re gonna sweep you away, even if you get bullied somewhere or lost your best friend, keep persevering. The more you run through the obstacles, the further away you’ll get from your problems leading to you becoming a successful author and not giving a toss any more. Writing takes effort, determination and time. If you have those three things you can accomplish anything. Just remember, have good grammar and spelling too! And give amazing critiques too! This way you’ll get on the good books, both ways! And relate stuff in your stories to your personal problems, it really helps get rid of the litten fuse too! Thanks Ollie!
Thank you Lia!
