Who you interviewed including their roles and responsibilities
I interviewed R. S. Twells. She is a self-published author of the Agent Bennet Saga. As a self-publisher, her roles and responsibilities are all up to her. It is up to her to do as much as she wants, although the more she does the more people hear of her stories. She also runs her drafts through her editor repeatedly, until the story has everything it needs. It is her responsibility to stay active on social media, since that is her main source of marketing. Some ways that she showcases her books are to find podcasts to interview her and finding bookstores to sell her stories. A role that she has for others is giving writing advice on her TikTok channel, which is how I originally heard of her. She also goes to high schools and talks about her books and creative writing. So as an author, her job also includes being a marketer, public speaker and teacher.
Why you chose to interview that individual
I chose R. S. Twells to interview because I have been following her on TikTok for a while, to get writing advice from her consistent videos. Because of her, I have been motivated to write more than I have in quite some time, and I believed I had the best chance of receiving a reply from her, due to her activity on social media as her main source of marketing.
What you learned from the interview and how that connects to your passions/interests
The main thing I took from the interview was that becoming an author requires you to consistently work. You could have the best ideas, but if you don’t sit down and work on those thoughts, you won’t ever publish a book. It takes a lot of dedication to write a book, and it is not an easy process. Another thing I took away from her answers, is that I must explore other genres besides fantasy. By reading different genres, I can take away more from other authors and expand on my vocabulary, see new writing styles and new ways to structure stories. R. S. Twells mentioned in her answers that writing is like an exercise. You don’t need to write a story every day, just write about anything. I have taken this to heart, since I have always been hard on myself for not finishing my ideas right away. Since then, I have been working on just writing little, short stories that I do not have to commit myself to and try different angles and genres. This has helped me deal with the dread that sometimes shows up between writing, not because I do not wish to write but because I feel like I am not writing well, not good enough or often.
Media to demonstrate the aspects of the interview with which you connected and feel are important to showcase
R. S. Twells