Interview with Samantha Young

Hey all you readers and writers! Emma Michaels here to introduce our guest author of the day:

Samantha Young!

Hello Samantha and welcome to The Writers Voice!

Do you outline? If so how closely do you follow it?

I do outline. I do plot outlines and then chapter summary outlines. I stick pretty close to the outline but usually I end up changing or adding things along the way. The only outline I stuck pretty true to was my outline for Slumber.

Has being a novelist changed the way you read and appreciate novels?

Definitely. I know now how much hard work goes into the smallest things and how difficult it is to come up with something truly refreshing. It’s also made me really appreciate those writers who have clearly researched and put effort into their work.

How much do you draw from your own life when constructing your main character?

Sometimes I draw from things that have happened in my life or my family or friends to give the character a background I can easily build their character upon. Plus I’ve always been pretty independent and have gone ‘my own way’, even as a teen, as did most of my friends, so these traits can usually be found in my mcs. I think it’s good for teens to have strong heroines to look up to.

How do you get to know your characters? Do you write out a bio, they just come to you or do you have certain facts you always decide on first?

I always write out a background history for my characters before I start writing. That way I can get to know them and see how they would logically have been affected by what has happened to them in the past and in the present. From there I build little character quirks into their personality.

Do you tend to reach the word count you want exactly, overshoot or undershoot? How does it effect your editing?

I don’t go into a novel with a word count in my head. I tend to write novels that are about 80,000 to 100,000 words long so I expect to always hit around that. I wouldn’t edit anything out or in just to hit a word count target. I edit until the story itself feels right

To all our readers out there, thank you for following The Writers Voice and happy reading!