Interview with the Perfect and Charming Starlightt

I wasn't half-asleep writing this one up, so @starlightt didn't get trolled as hard as the last sucker (sorry Mee). But she's one of my author crushes and for someone who's my age she writes frighteningly well. Keep an eye on this one guys, she's brilliant. 

What is your name or what do you go by on Wattpad? 

My name is Daven, but I go by starlightt on Wattpad. Wait, that's just my username, people still call me Daven. Well, some people call me by nicknames. But yeah I'm Daven.

When did you start writing and why? 

I tried writing when I was younger (about eight), because my best friend at the time came up with this plan for us to grow up to be famous writers and I was just like "hey sure why not." It didn't work out, though. Like, at all. I still have the one, ten page story I wrote in the third grade, but I gave up after that. I didn't start writing again until I was 14 and decided on a whim to try another story.

How did you feel when you found out you won a Watty Award? 

I'm pretty sure I screamed. Well, not actually screamed, but like that whisper scream thing that you do when there are other people in the house but you really want to scream anyway? But it was a happy scream. I was very very happy.

How did you find out in the first place? 

I think someone told me! Or maybe I checked the page...I'm not sure anymore, but I think it was the former.

Which story that you've written is your favorite and why? 

December is definitely my favorite, because even though it's in a genre that's out of my comfort zone, I had more fun writing it than I have any other story. Maybe it's because I could really identify with the characters, but even writing a chapter everyday, I didn't get sick of it.

Are you a Superior? Cause you seem a little too perfect to be human. 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA you're funny.

What is your favorite book both on wattpad and off? 

On Wattpad: probably Islands by ohdeir. She's sooooo amazing it's crazy.

Off Wattpad: omg I have no idea that's too hard.

Do you draw inspiration from other writers? 

Definitely! I get a lot of inspiration from published books I read, but also from the books I read on Wattpad; just little things like the way sentences are phrased and the way they handle certain topics.

How did you get the ideas for your books? 

Um, really random ways, like looking through my biology textbook (Superior), listening to my friend's sleep paralysis stories (Beautiful Dreamer), and going to culinary school restaurants (Just Desserts). Story idea pop up all the time for me, and in the weirdest places.

When did you decide that Logan Lerman was your soulmate? 

The first time I saw his face in a preview for the Lightning Thief. Ugh I love him so much omg.

Do you suffer from writer's block? If so, how do you fight it? 

I'm lucky, I don't get writer's block very often. When I do, though, I try to take a break from what I'm writing and either read, watch TV, go for a walk, or write a quick snippet of something new.

Are you embarrassed of any of your stories? Why? 

YES, oh my god the Assassin stories are so gross and old and they are literally the first full-length stories I ever wrote and the plot development is character and the characters are 2D and both stories are just...shudderable. (Is that a word? I don't care it's a word now).

Who is your favorite Doctor? 

ELEVEN. I love him and his chin and his bow-ties and also Amy and Rory and I ship him with Clara so hard it hurts.

Favorite companion? 

Amy and Rory omg thinking about them makes me die inside.

How do you balance writing with real life? 

Well, all I really do in real life in go to school, dance, and hang out with my friends every now and then, so when I have any free time, I try to sit down and write. It doesn't always work, but I try to set aside a little bit of time everyday to write, even if it's only a few sentences.

Does your family and/or friends know about Wattpad? 

My parents both know, and so do two of my friends (they found it by accident lol). And my little cousin also saw last week when I was on here on my iPad while sitting next to her, but she's an internet whore as well and she's also read like half of Superior so I really don't care.

Who is your favorite singer? Band? 

Singer, probably John Mayer or Adele. Or Mike Rosenburg (Passenger). Or Norah Jones. Or like 59475848594 other people.

But my favorite band is The Shins.

You've written everything from science fiction to teen fiction to paranormal, is there a genre you wouldn't touch? Or one that you want to try? 

I don't think I'd ever write werewolf or vampire. The only books I've read out of that genre are the Twilight series, and they didn't interest me enough (nor do I think they were a good enough example) to make me want to write the genres. I do want to try fantasy one day, though. Like, fairies kind of fantasy. I love reading that, and it'd be cool to try and write it.

Flats or heels? 

FLATS lol I cannot walk in heels.

Harry Potter or The Hunger Games? 

Oh my godddddd, why would you do this to me. Um. Okay. Okay. I'm gonna go with Harry Potter, because I loved those books more consistently than THG, and also I mean come on who wouldn't want to go to Hogwarts.

Aside from Logan Lerman, what other celebrities do you find attractive? 

Okay, let's see. Joe Brooks, Max Irons, Matt Prokop, Tom Felton, Andrew Garfield, Josh Hutcherson, BooBoo Stewart, Asher Book, Carter Jenkins, Shane Coffey... mm, probably more too, but when I think "attractive celebrity," Logan Lerman is the first one to come to mind and everything else pops up a little slower.

Would you cowrite with someone? If so, is there a certain writer (on or off Wattpad) that you'd love to cowrite with? 

I might, but to be quite honest I don't work very well with others. Especially in writing, which I've learned from attempting group creative writing assignments at school. It's just stressful for me. But if it were something like what Rachel Cohn and David Levithan do, where they switch off chapter to chapter, than sure. I think it'd be really cool to write with Veronica Roth (author of Divergent), because she's pretty young but she's also brilliant and it'd just be amazing to know her thought process in writing. 

Have you ever straightened your hair? 

I have, quite a few times actually. I was a cheerleader in freshman year, so all our competitions required straightened hair, and I've straightened my hair a few random times just to mess with people at school. (And ended up being told I looked like a Hawaiian princess calendar model which was an interesting compliment?)

You have a very developed plot line along with very well developed characters, how do you go about making sure everything lines up and is true to the characters? 

I spend a LOT of time getting to know my characters before I start writing them. I do questionnaires and profiles and make sure I know everything about them and the way they're going to affect the plot before I even think about writing.

Do you have a fictional boy crush? (Ex: Jace from the TMI series).

Four/Tobias from Divergent, Augustus Waters from The Fault in Our Stars, Peeta from The Hunger Games.

Favorite color? 

Green all the way.

What do you want to be when you grow up? 

A writer. I really don't think there's anything else I could do with my life except write. Professional dance would be my second choice, and I'm also really interested in quantum mechanics but I don't know how that exactly translates into a job. Oh, graphic design would be fun too. But not actual artsy stuff more like layouts and such.

Do you write/read to music? If so, what kind? 

I do sometimes, but not always, and I usually fit the music to whatever I'm writing. Like, if I listened to music while writing Just Desserts, I'd listen to upbeat pop music like Bridgit Mendler or something (I'm secretly obsessed with her music oops). But for something like Beautiful Dreamer, I listened to the Silence of the Lambs Pandora channel (except for one time when I tried to listen to Disney music, but that did not turn out well because it's actually quite hard to write about demons while belting out the lyrics to Under the Sea).

How does it feel to have so many fans and votes? Did you expect this kind of reaction when you first posted? 

It's cray cray omg, but I'm so so thankful for it all. When I first posted I barely had any idea what Wattpad was, and I didn't think I'd really get anywhere. But now I have, and it's really amazing to think about.

What do you dis/like about writing? 

I like the fact that it's a way that I can express myself and that it involves words and that I don't have get off my butt nor see other people in order to do it. I dislike that it takes so much time and effort and that my characters like to torture me with plot twists and that I still write anyway despite the fact that I hate it 50% of the time. Writing and I have a complicated relationship, but I couldn't live without it.

Does your real life influence anything that you write? 

Occasionally conversations I have/hear, or little tidbits of setting work their way into my stories. I've also taken some names from people I know/have met (Aeryn, Trai [different spelling though], Ellery's ballet teacher Grayson), and some physical traits for description.

If you could go anywhere in the world (fictional places included), where would you go? 

Apart from obvious places like Narnia and Hogwarts and Tahiti... I really want to go to whatever world it is that Doctor Suess' books take place in, because let's be real they look amazing.

What is your favorite bagel flavor? (if you don't like bagels you have no soul) 

I'm a plain bagel kinda gal. (And I love bagels. Who doesn't love bagels? Not loving bagels is a crime against humanity).

How do you manage keeping all your characters' voices unique and distinct? Especially when tackling alternating first person? 

I try to figure out beforehand what my narrator(s)'s reigning personality trait is going to be, and how their thoughts sound, so I can try to make them as original as possible. Like Parker from Beautiful Dreamer, I thought of her as sarcastic and brave and very smart, so I tried to use more bluntness, and also wordier, more complex sentences. And then there's Sam from December, who's very shy and quiet and has low self-confidence, so he had shorter, simpler sentences, but more real emotion.

Which Disney character was da baddest bitch? 

Mulan, she's mah home gurl.

How fetch is this interview? 

Stop trying to make fetch happen it is never going to happen.

Favorite TV show/movie? 

TV shows (I added an S because I'm a rebel), Doctor Who and Pretty Little Liars. AKA the only TV shows I'm watching. Or at least, I'm watching PLL. I have like two episode of Doctor Who left before I'm caught up but I'm scared for "The Name of the Doctor" and I want to save them.

My favorite movie is Silence of the Lambs.

If I spam your stories and message boards will you read all my stories and lyk vomment? (Whoever thought of that word should be ashamed of themselves). 

Um no, most likely I will politely tell you that I don't take reading requests so please leave. (Although in my head it would be much more screamy and insulting). Also I can't look at the word vomment without thinking about vomit.

You're a dancer, what sorts of dances do you like to do? 

I do tap, hip-hop, ballet, contemporary/lyrical, and jazz. My favorite is tap, though. 

Do you have anything exciting that you'd like to share?

UM I'm going to New York and also Montreal at the end of summer and I'm really really excited for that because I've never been to either and also my parents said we can look at the NYU campus and the campuses of other colleges there that I'm looking into which is just really exciting and also shopping in NYC like that's my dream okay. Oh, and in Montreal I can practice my French.

Brownies or cupcakes? 

Cupcakes. I mean, I love brownies too, but...I mean, cupcakes.

Anything else to add or a question that you would have liked to have been asked? You can literally say whatever.

Um, well...this interview was pretty fetch, actually. I enjoyed this. So thank you for the questions and um I don't really know what else to say so I'm just going to crawl back into my awkward hole and continue with my awkward existence bye.