I first met Liz on our first day of high school, I remember randomly sitting next to her in the school hall and awkwardly introducing myself.
During high school, we shared classes where we soon discovered that we both loved 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'The Hobbit.' Since finishing school we have remained friends and still obsess over Tolkien's work.
In this conversation, Liz discusses her love for writing and the challenges of writing a fantasy novel during lockdown.
How have you been?
I have been good thank you!
What have you been doing to keep yourself busy during lockdown?
I’ve been doing lots actually! A lot of what I am doing is come and go, I don’t always do them every day. Except for my Duolingo! Duolingo Italian happens every day, we can’t forget that because I’m on a 96-day streak! I am also doing a small online course that my university is offering me, it’s kind of easy which is cool because it means I can do other stuff. And obviously, the whole writing and novel stuff has meant that I have had to think about world-building and a lot of that is all in my head.
When did you start writing?
I officially started writing the novel a couple of weeks ago, it started off in an A4 book because it's quite daunting when you’re sat at a computer and it’s just like ‘urgh I have to write this out now’. The idea for the novel started when I was 14, it would have been around the time when I first got into The Lord of the Rings around 2014 when we were in year 9. That was when the idea came about. Obviously, it’s been many years since then and there’s still no novel, but it was going to take a long time.
What got you inspired to start writing this fantasy novel?
Well you know me, I love….LOVE Lord of the Rings.
You love Legolas…
Haha, I do! That was one of the key things that got me interested in it. When I was watching the movies, I was like ‘oooh nice…’
‘oooh nice’ as in the story or Legolas?
I mean both….both…
I think I first watched The Lord of the Rings around Christmas 2013. I remember watching it and pausing the video at the part where Gandalf and the fellowship are stuck in Moria. I was like ‘this is so good! And nobody has ever told me about this!!!WHHYY??? This is amazing!!’
The following year I read all the books, from 'The Hobbit' all the way through to 'The Lord of the Rings' and I was like this is top-tier amazing!
Was Tolkien one of the authors who got you inspired to start writing?
Yeah! Tolkien is one of the founders of fantasy as we know it now, I found the genre that I wanted to write.
What is it about the fantasy genre that you are really drawn to?
Well, Tolkien talked about how fantasy is like escapism from our world. That is what I really like about fantasy, it’s about being able to escape. I think it’s fair to say that the world isn’t great right now, so it is quite nice to go ‘okay we’re going to escape and jump into this world’.
One of the things I have been doing during lockdown is revisiting some of these fantasy worlds. That is the best thing, feeling so immersed in a world or someone creating a world that is so detailed that you can feel like you are a part of it.
Is that what you are planning to do with your novel?
Yeah, kind of. There is a loose connection between our world and the universe I'm creating. And I do plan to write some things about Earth in this novel, but from a different perspective to the one that we're used to. I do prefer fantasy to be very much distant from the world we are in, but I do not mind if there is a loose connection.
Have you faced any challenges during the writing process?
The biggest challenge for anyone doing anything creative will know it is finding the motivation. You wake up and you’re like 'I’ve got the ideas', but the problem is getting them down on paper. Sometimes I can’t be bothered to write which probably explains why its always been a slow process. Lockdown has kick-started it a bit but even then, you would think that with all this free time I would have written a novel by now! I would say the biggest challenge is finding the motivation and to actually do something.
Do you have a writing process?
I mean I probably should plan more, especially when it comes down to individual chapters or segments but I prefer to dive in and see what my mind can come up with. What I am writing now isn’t necessarily good by any means...I’m just sort of getting something down because that is a start. And I feel like that is a good way to do it because then you can get more original ideas down. I like to try and imagine myself in a fantasy world and I do that by listening to music and it just works.
"That is the best thing, feeling so immersed in a world or someone creating a world that is so detailed that you can feel like you are a part of it."
How do you form the ideas for your novel?
I mean everything comes from lots of different places because I have got this picture of the world I’m building and the worlds within this small universe. The truth is that some of the ideas come from when I was six. The main idea for the story didn’t come about until I was 14. I take a lot of Celtic elements that have inspired me to write but also elements from places like Japan. I love the culture there and particularly the older and more traditional culture. I quite like the buildings and shrines and the general natural landscape of Japan. I use certain elements of that and it creates a setting for the writing.
Would you like to visit Japan one day?
Yes. Take me with you, Sarah! If you go, take me with you!
Haha, I really want to go to all the Ghibli themed shops and buy lots of merchandise!
I mean I am totally down for that!
How has the pandemic affected your creative process?
I think initially I was more creative; I did do a lot of writing and I got into it and then I think it sloped off. It was almost like lockdown fatigue and then I had other things to deal with because I was still doing a degree but then I finished my exams and was like ‘oh now what?’. That was when I started officially writing, it was just after my exams. But it does tail off a lot because I think when everything is so uncertain you’re just like ‘what am I doing?’ and that kind of sucks the motivation out of you and that’s the biggest struggle with lockdown.
Is writing something you would like to pursue as a career or is it more of a side project?
For now, it is a side project. The career I am going into and my degree is creative but not in the same way as writing a fantasy book. There is this dream in the back of my head where I’m like ‘wouldn’t it be nice if you got to be a writer one day’ and I do like that idea but it may be a long time. I mean I could be dead before that dream comes true…
Let’s be positive!
Well, I could get my work published after I died, it could become a hit and then I would think well… I got there eventually!
Do you write for yourself or do you keep the audience’s expectation in mind?
I think at heart I write for myself; I write because I want to write, and I want to create something that I quite like myself. But lately, I have been looking at my writing and questioning if it is any good and whether other people would like this because I do like to have good feedback from other people. I care about other people’s opinions and I think that weighs in on it. If I want to write for other people, it's because I care about their opinions and I want to write something good.
What can you tell us about the story?
The basic story is about two main things. The first thing is friendship because I feel like that is an important thing especially since fantasy can get complex. My two main characters are best friends and they go on adventures. The other thing is that it's about good and evil, I do like an old fashioned good/evil story. They are living in this world where there are suspicious murders and people are thinking it's deliberate. The other friend sees ghosts and begins questioning why they are there in their world because they shouldn’t be there. Are the ghosts connected to these murders?
That sounds like my kind of story! Ghosts, murder, and friendship…
It is like every other creative writing story you used to write in school! Well… actually… no…you mostly focused on the murder part!
Yeah…my GCSE creative writing was pretty gloomy..... (*facepalm*). Not to mention chaotic endings with crazy plot twists…
What advice would you give to someone who wants to start writing as a hobby?
Don’t procrastinate even if you think your ideas are rubbish just get them down on a piece of paper. I have a big folder where I keep all my ideas and notes, I still have the original ideas for this story from when I was 14. Even just writing a small amount will help, so just do it. Also, let your mind wander because you never know what you are going to come up with. Sometimes you will be surprised with yourself!
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
The most recent advice that has helped is probably from my mum. This year, one of the things I have struggled with in my degree is writing my scientific essays. I could not get the right format to get the grade I wanted. And I was having all sorts of issues around this because I kept not getting the grade I wanted repeatedly, and it was frustrating. And my mum was like ‘quit moaning about this 24/7 and getting upset every time you make a mistake. Even if you've made that mistake many times you just need to keep going and try different avenues. Don’t give up on it and don’t say you can’t achieve something because you can. Sometimes it will take more time compared to other people.’
It makes sense and I have improved a bit with my essays.
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