These are the voices of our mentors and mentees from past and present. They've provided their insight about the program, their processes, the Wattys, and have shared their favorite Wattpad stories. Grab a cuppa and sit down with us as we get to know...
The Bootcamp Mentors are proud to present a spotlight interview with HeideHunt author of Daracka. Check out this writer's work and give them a shout out in the comments.
BCM: How did you discover the Bootcamp Mentors, and what have you found most valuable about this Wattpad community program?
HeideHunt: A Wattpad friend told me about it three days before submission for mentees closed. I checked it out and thought to submit my only ongoing story on Wattpad at the time, but that one was only 20K words. The next day, I realized I have a story I wrote a few years ago, one I'd hidden away. It is more than the minimum word count requirement, so I rushed to submit it. It was my first time writing a logline and a summary.
The most valuable thing I've received from the Bootcamp so far is the encouragement to keep working on my writing and improving, which helped me immensely. The other thing is the validation that my story is readable.
BCM: What prompted you to start writing on Wattpad and what do you like most about the platform as a writer?
HeideHunt: I created my Wattpad account in 2019 but wasn't active. Late February this year, I decided I needed to do something to build better writing habits and to complete any of the stories I had started. I thought if I made a public commitment, I might be able to write more every day. Wattpad was that public platform. It worked so far because the community is very supportive.
BCM: What motivated you to write the story you're submitting to the 2023 Wattys?
HeideHunt: I wanted to write something massive like one of Brandon Sanderson's chunky novels. I started with the idea of writing a Peter Pan retelling, but the flying boy was the only thing I got from that. The initial draft of Daracka was a medieval-inspired setting, but it changed because, at a certain point, I realized that I wanted to create something that is influenced by my Filipino culture.
BCM:. If you had to describe your story in three words, what would they be?
HeideHunt: Epic, unique, and inspired.
BCM: Tell us one thing about your writing process that has helped you the most.
HeideHunt: Creating a skeletal outline (chapter by chapter). Being able to see the whole story from beginning to end helps me to know what I need to write next and prevent writer's block.
