Interview with Wicked Young Writers' Award Finalist, Hannah Ost

Along with other young writers in the UK, I attended the Wicked Young Writers' Awards in June. It was a fantastic afternoon which inspired me to kickstart this blog -- albeit it took me a while! Luckily, some of these talented writers agreed to let me interview them to get an insight into their motivation and aspirations. Finalist entries can be found here: http://www.wickedyoungwriters.com/downloads/Wicked_YWA_2015_18-25.pdf . And Sugar Scape finalists can be found here: http://www.wickedyoungwriters.com/downloads/Wicked_Sugarscape_Award2015.pdf

Interview with Hannah Ost

Hannah Ost

When did you start? Why? How many pieces have you written so far? Have any of these been published? Where are you hoping your writing will take you?
So, I started writing stories as soon as I could write! I think my earliest "piece" was a poem called "Bear in the Wood", which was a poem about a very irresponsible grizzly bear with a cut on his knee! I wrote it in purple pencil and it was a fully-illustrated mini book! But, aside from that, I have written more - I love to write everything; fiction pieces, fanfiction, poetry. I edited and reported for my school magazine and have written opinionated blog articles on multiple websites. I've been published with Young Writers a number of times and went on a workshop with Matt Whyman! As for why I started writing, I'm not entirely sure. I've always had the instinct to just write down my feelings, my dreams, everything - and from that stems a story! I hope someday to see my works on the shelf, or write for the stage.

 

Where did your inspiration come from for your WYWA piece? What’s your favourite thing about the piece? What did you struggle with?

My WYWA piece was a fanfiction, based on the life and times of a young Mary Poppins. The inspiration came from watching the Disney adaptation of Mary Poppins. I was daydreaming (as per usual) and I suddenly had the idea of a young Mary at boarding school. I gleefully spent the next six hours imagining all the mischief she'd get up to at the Royal Academy for Practically Perfect Young Ladies! I fell in love with the story, the characters, the lessons and it's a real joy to immerse myself in Mary's world. Honestly, when submitting an extract, the hardest part was cutting it down. I like to use a lot of descriptive language and most of that had to be sacrificed for structure. But the whole experience was a boost to my self-confidence and having to cut down my work so much taught me a lot of key skills, which will be very useful in the future.

What do you think are the main problems you face when writing? How do you combat this?

I always get writers block and it's so annoying to sit down to write and not be able to. To combat this, I like to go somewhere that I feel possesses a certain vibe. A nature reserve, my garden, a park... anywhere I can see life as it happens. Watching television gives me ideas too... I get ideas visually usually. Through dreams and places - that's how I get rid of writers block.

What are you working on at the moment? 

Currently, I'm working on expanding my Mary Poppins fanfiction into a 7-book series! You can track my progress on Wattpad (writersblog is my account name!) I also have a blog which I have just begun called The Life and Times of Hannah Ost at alittlebitbroadway.blogspot.com

 Is writing solely a hobby, or would you like it to lead onto something else in the future?

I would love to write fiction books, write for the stage, write for the screen. I want this to be a part of my future and am excited for what that future will be!