The interview with BloodShotInk

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Hey everybody :wave:


The interview is back, this time with the incredible PoetryOD :rose:



In the Community





How to Improve Your WritingHow to improve your writing
In 2013 I wrote an article called How to get more views on your Literature. I wanted to give actual practical advice from people who know, writers established in the DA lit community.The article was (and still is) very popular and seems to have helped a lot of folks so I decided to tackle a different (but way more important question)... how can we make our writing the best it can be?
Because it's great to show work to your friends but self improvement, or working towards a goal (for a lot of us that's a writing career, a novel, publication, competitions etc) is a whole different thing. So I asked some of DA's finest to spill the beans and answer those commonly asked questions 'How did you get so good?' 'Will I ever be able to write like this?' and 'Hi, is this Dominos?' (wrong number).
In How to get more views... I prom
How to get more views on your LiteratureHow to get more views on your Literature
    This article is an exploration of a common question on DeviantART in the Literature community; "How do I get more views?" If you read all of this you win a pony.
    Lately there has been a lot of discussion around the site about ways to expand the literature community and the visibility of literature on the site. It has been noted that a lot of people believe that site changes by the DeviantART team will help them get more attention for their work. It has also been noted in the past that when new features are instigated (such as more html, better thumbnails and stash) that people often interpret whether or not they have a direct positive effect on their own views as a way of telling if the new feature is worthwhile or not.
    It has been suggested that the community and individuals therein should themselves take more responsibility for creating opportunities and maximising poten
The Geek's Guide to Lit GroupsThe Geek's Guide to Lit Groups Links:
:bulletblue: Groups with names beginning with A - H
:bulletblue: Groups with names beginning with I - S
:bulletblue: Groups with names beginning with S - Z
:bulletblue: The Geek's Guide to Inactive Groups

OMG it's DONE
What's done?! IT'S DONE. I have spent days and days and days collecting a list of all the lit groups I could find (1901 groups to be exact!), then I went through each one and moved all the groups that had no discernible activity in the past 12 months to the Inactive Groups list (see links above). Then


The work she does for the Literature Community is outstanding, she puts together the most helpful articles for writers.


Her gallery






StitchesHer name is Stitches and I love her.
She doesn't believe that - she says it is an improbability.
She doesn't say impossibility and that gives me hope.
No one but me knows why she's called Stitches.
I've run my hands over her soft white skin,
Flushed with the fevers of midnight.
I've touched it.
I've let my fingertips explore the hitches in her skin,
Where her body couldn't quite heal itself.
Old memories of gaping holes and vicious lies.
From her shoulder to her wrist,
From her knee to her ankle,
Any where she can negotiate a knife - she is Stitches.
It makes her cry sometimes.
She says she doesn't like being a rag doll any more.
They're old scars, robbing her flesh of its innocence,
Betraying her old soul - etching it out - a tally on her skin.
IIIII   IIIII   IIIII   IIIII   IIIII   IIIII   IIIII   IIIII   IIIII  
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Her poetry is splendid, unique imagery and breathtaking metaphors, and reading her prose is definitely an enlightening experience.


Her Daily Deviations






Mature Content

Grace by PoetryOD







The Interview







When did you start writing and what made you fall in love with it?

I started writing when I was about 8 years old. I was transfered to a Catholic Primary School and each week the class would write prayers on the subject of the week (like hunger or war kind of things) and then at the end of the week, on the Friday, the best one from each year group would be read out for the whole school. Mine got picked a lot and so obviously I really enjoyed it. I was encouraged to write more and more by my primary school teacher and it grew out of control since then. I've always loved words, I have a very cerebral family so I think I loved words before I even have memories.


What does writing mean to you?

I have been alone. Profoundly alone. I spent almost 8 years not leaving my house, unable to answer the phone... I know what isolation feels like.. I truly believe its the worst thing a human can endure, and I say that without exaggeration. When I write, I try to be truthful, in order that someone else might see it and know they aren't the only one thinking or feeling that way. If I can take a fraction of a percentage of someones loneliness away, I will always write. Not that I have a choice, I can't stop writing!


Growing up, who was your favorite writer  

Oh man I feel bad because its such an ordinary answer... but I have to say Shakespeare. I still haven't studied all his works by any means but his skill in every aspect of writing inspires me everytime I dip into it. I like other things, but... I feel a really deep connection to Shakespeare. Whenever I see a play, or go to The Globe or Stratford, it feels like he's an old friend who is trying to push me to become a better writer. It's a very similar feeling I get to loved ones who have passed away. Which is crazy I know, but its how I feel. I feel inspired and challenged by his work a lot. I might read other things for pleasure but I think he'll always be my favourite just because every time I realize a new layer or meaning in something I get so excited by his cleverness.


what was the first book you read?

I think Letterland? The book with the letters? Like 'K the kicking king!' xD I honestly don't remember. When I was a kid I read a LOT. My Dad told me "I don't mind that you stayed up all night reading and were exhausted for school the next day. The books taught you more anyway". When I was about 11 I had a little light over my bed and my parents were constantly catching me trying to quietly turn it off as they came up the stairs at like 4am. I just couldn't leave my imaginary worlds so abruptly. I had to finish the book.

That said, as a child and as a writer, the piece of literature that impacted me the most was Stevie Smith's "Not Waving But Drowning". It'll give you some idea of the house I grew up in that my mum made me read this at like 10 years old. :giggle:


Which would you say is closer to your heart, writing poetry or prose?

I love the challenges of both, but it's poetry all day every day for me. People have such misconceptions about what 'poetry' means, but in actual fact poetry is prose without the rules. So it can be anything. It can look like prose or a couple of words, it can rhyme, it can not, it can be read aloud or to music... it has no boundaries. Whilst I like working within parameters, like I enjoy prose or haiku etc, I love the freedom of being half way through a haiku and thinking 'fuck it, I'll have the last like be 29 syllables long to reflect the length of time this character waited for their lover to return and they never did'. I like being able to just do what I want and see if it works. xD


How does the inspiration hit you, and how is your writing process like?

Oh god I don't know. It just happens! It can not happen for weeks and then I'll get three in a night. It's so random. I will get a thought or a turn of phrase or an idea and then I write it down, but if it doesn't feel 'ready' then I just leave it in my notes. I have about 50 little scraps of things that will one day become poems that aren't quite ready to bloom into a full piece yet. For the sake of this interview I opened my notes file and the last one I added is this; "ticks of the clock drip down the walls as time slugs on". Where did that come from? I don't even remember and it was last week. xD

As for my process, I write all in one go, its very fluid, the piece will evolve as I'm writing and I might go back and tinker with a line so that it links up to one later on, I might adjust the language or the line lengths or something to make it make sense as a whole, but it happens as I'm writing, not afterwards. I've never understood traditional 'editing' (thats why I went to do a degree in Creative Writing because I was terrified I would never be anything if I couldn't get the hang of editing, but then I realised I do most of it as I write). It takes me about 3 minutes to write a piece. That sounds so bad... like, the sheer volume of love and warmth the community gives me for my pieces but they are just instinctive. They just flow out of me and then they are almost done... Eek.

I then check for obvious things. Spelling, grammar. Then I submit it to DeviantART (unless its for my degree). Thats the first thing I do when I write something new, I load DA. Once its posted and I see it on the DA page, I tend to notice small mistakes and I hit 'edit' about four times before I leave a piece alone. But within the first hour of it being up on DA I am perfectly happy with it and as far as I'm concerned its finished.

If people give me critique I tend to leave it. I know I will need to edit all my works one day soon but I am not ready yet, so I thank them for their critique and come back to the piece when I am less close to it and try to see it from someone elses point of view before I edit it. But I don't do much editing. I am more likely to leave a piece how it is and if I don't feel it did justice to the idea or thing I was trying to describe I'll write something else using elements from the original poem. Thats why you get repeated themes in my works.

Does writing define you as a person, if so, how?

No. (GASP). It doesn't. I am a writer. Thats how I would describe myself, but it doesn't dictate how I behave or things I do. I do those things because I am me, and being me makes me a writer, not the other way round. What defines me as a person is my compulsive need to help others (to the point of a mental health condition) and the way I will try and make everything I do (including writer) about other people.


From your gallery which piece is the closest to your heart and why?

Oh god... brutal question.... A Hostage to Her,which I am so honoured that LiliWrites recently awarded a DD, is closest to my heart right now because facing up to my eating disorder the past year and a half has been really difficult... and I had the idea for this piece and I just got out of bed and wrote it in a couple of minutes and when I finished it (as I was tinkering with it for another couple of minutes) I thought... 'this is horrific...... this is how it feels'.. and I really believed that it would shock people into relating to my disorder. It's REALLY hard to write about disorders, to try and explain you feel to someone when your brain works in an atypical way, because their brain doesn't work that way and never has, thats why its a disorder. So when you write something and think, this is it. This conveys it. They'll get this. They'll understand this. I felt so proud and emotional to be able to share that. You never know who that might help one day.


What are the themes you like writing about most and why?

I am a hopeless romantic with a very dark side. I like to write about love but from the brutality of 'real life' as I see it (which is a horrible place). That seems more real and therefore more romantic to me. I write about mental health and disability a lot because I consider myself an advocate and an activist in those areas, and they are my life. I am disabled with my mental health conditions and they affect everything I do. Plus a lot of people with these conditions can't speak out about them. Like... I can't tell my best friend when I'm suicidal. It's almost impossible for me to reach out to anyone when I need help. So I know the depth of isolation these conditions can create, so if I can talk about them through my writing, I bloody well will!

Have you been published before?

Oh GOD. So embarrassing. I haven't. I self-published two poetry books (Neurotica and Heartless) years ago after some demand here on DA but they are riddled with mistakes and so cringe. I took them off the market a couple of years ago. I still look fondly at my copies but next time I'm published I'd like it to be by a publisher.

Did DeviantArt help you as a writer, if so, how?

Fuck yes. I did / do all my evolving here. I have always said on DA 'I will post everything I write. Even if its terrible' (like my most recent forray into black out poetry which I suck at!) because that way people can see the progression I make. I fucking love deviantART. I love the people. I am addicted to the positivity and the praise. My writing is the only thing in my life that isn't affected by my crippling lack of self-esteem. It seems to live in a bubble apart from it. If people say 'you're a bit stupid' I'll cry for a month. If someone says 'this is literally the worst piece of crap I've ever read' I'll laugh and think 'wow then you really missed something. This is great, fuck you!' lmao. Which is terrible and feels really arrogant. I do take on critique because obviously I need to improve as a writer, but if someones just being negative it doesn't even occur to me to take it seriously... and I need that. I need that positivity in my life because it somewhat balances the excruciating self loathing in all other things.


What does DeviantArt Community mean to you?

I couldn't live without it. People keep talking about the 'downfall of DeviantART'. I don't see it. I am still very much in love with DeviantART. I think if you think somethings wrong, fix it. I missed feeling part of the community so I started TheWritePlace. If you feel like your sense of community has died, go out there and put some effort into it then! The community is made of what we make it out of. I'll always put love into DA, because I've always got love from the incredible people here. I have taken breaks before (up to 2 years) but I don't think I'll ever leave DA. I want school children to have to scour through archives of my comments here one day to try and write essays on how my weirdness affected my writing. :giggle: I'm so cruel.


What would you tell someone who wants to start writing?

Two things, firstly... Poetry is writing without rules. There are no rules. There are suggestions. Things like rhyme, repetition, assonance, semantics etc, those aren't rules. You don't have to do any of them. They are techniques that work to strengthen how you are communicating what you want to communicate to your reader but they are all optional. Don't be afraid to write because it might not be good or 'right'. Be brutally truthful with yourself, and write, and something beautiful will happen.

and Secondly... if you wanna be a writer for a living think about why. If its because 'well I already spend a lot of my time writing so if I got paid to do that then I wouldn't have to do a real job' then your in for a shock. You can write as a hobby but if you write as a career it IS a real job. You have to give it time, effort and energy. You have to work at it for a long time with no guarantee that it'll ever pay off. Being a writer isn't the easy route out of having to work in an office. Lose that daydream right now. With that said, whatever career you have, whatever you do with your days and nights, whether you get published or not, whether you ever share your work with anyone else or not... if you're a writer, then you're a writer.

Any future projects you would like to share with us?

hmm I don't think so. I'm really just focusing on TheWritePlace right now and University. I've been experimenting with Performance Poetry (would you guys like me to share YouTube recordings of my performance poetry on DeviantART?) and next year (2016/17) in my third year of my degree, I'll be writing my novel which was inspired by someone I met here on DeviantART so... I am really excited about that but also extremely nervous to do him justice... but as the final year of my degree gets closer I'm hoping that I will have accumulated enough knowledge and skills to look into publishing and I know there are people here who are looking forward to that almost as much as I am so... I'm nervous but excited for the next couple of years.






Thank you so much Kate :heart::rose:






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SRSmith's avatar
BloodshotInk is all kinds of amazing. Love getting insights into the people I know and love around this place!