Freshman Hannah Ku has been independently writing novels since she was in seventh grade. She has published her novels online and says that she gains much of her inspiration for writing from fantasy books that she reads. Currently, she is working on a third book which was inspired by a dream she had.

When did your passion for writing begin?

“[My passion for writing] started when I was in seventh grade, mainly because I just started writing more complete stories rather than just starting and never finishing [a story]. My teacher gave me the opportunity [to write through the program called] Genius Hour, which is basically [a program] where you get to work for an hour [every week] on a project you want to pursue. I decided to do [the project] and try and publish a book. In the end, I did [finish the book], and I self published it on a website called CreateSpace.”

Do you gain inspiration for your stories from the books you read?

“I love reading fantasy [books], so I think that [the books] definitely do help [with my writing]. I just draw some of [my own ideas] from [what I read], the characters and the stories and different authors’ writing styles.”

What is the process you have when you begin writing a story?

“Once I have an idea and I like it, I write down the beginning [of the story], but then I’ll also think about the end and how I want it to end. Really anything else in the middle is kind of just whatever comes to my mind. I have the beginning and I have the end, so whatever is in the middle is inspiration.”

What is your first book about?

“The book is called Seeds of Confusion. […] The book is basically about these two people, a guy and a girl, that are [living] in the same universe but kind of two different worlds. One of [the characters] finds a secret hiding place, decides to take her sister there, and then they meet the guy, and it turns out that they are both twins but they did not know it yet.”

What was your favorite part about writing?

“I really liked the feedback that I received [on my book] from other people. I have this friend who is a really harsh critiquer, and she [really helped me a lot]. It was fun to just hear from people [along the way of writing] about what they thought [of my book], what they liked and what they did not like.”

Do you think that writing is an art form, and how does it compare to other forms of art?

“I think [writing is an art form] because it’s not so much looking at something, but it’s about reading, and figurative language in the words themselves. I think that all [forms of art] connect to each other in one way or another. You can have a picture, but then you can write something about the picture that can still convey the same idea. Instead, [with writing], you are kind of saying it in your head instead of seeing it.”