A Writer's Journey: Rebecca Sullivan

Rebecca Sullivan is a twenty-two-year-old student at the National University of Ireland, studying English Literature and Geography. She is obsessed with fluffy socks and anything to do with owls, particularly in the form of candles and other odd trinkets. Even when sleeping there’s no escape from writing for Rebecca as she plans story arcs by inducing a lucid dreaming state. Today she releases her coming of age, lesbian summer camp romance novel called Night Owls and Summer Skies, so we caught up with her to find out more about her journey as a writer.

What was the first book that really inspired you?

Under the Hawthorn Tree by Marita Conlon-McKenna. It was a book that I read when I was ten years old and I reread that books too many times to count by the time I was twelve. The book is based in the time of the great famine of Ireland. It's about three kids who fight for their lives and are determined to find their relatives. It’s tragic and is one of those books that stay with you for life. I’ve been meaning to read that book again for a while now.

When did you first realise you wanted to be a writer?

Every year my primary school did a Christmas play where all the parents came to watch. We used to do a nativity play and other songs and acts. One year our teacher told us to write out a story. I remember mine was fun, and a bit crazy. We ended up performing it for the play that year. When I was asked what I wanted to be when I was older after that, I actually had an answer that I was confident in.

How did you know it could be more than just an ambition?

I never considered writing to be anything more than something to de-stress and write what I had dreamt about. Not before I was contacted for the Paid Stories program on Wattpad. That week I was on cloud nine. A week later I was contacted about the potential of the Wattpad Books opportunity with Night Owls and Summer Skies. It’s been a year of changing my mindset from writing for my own pleasure to something that could be both that and something could be more.

What is the best book you have ever read?

This is a hard question. One book that sticks out to me was actually a fan fiction based on the show Once Upon a Time. I think it’s called ‘Home’. It was about a victim of emotional and domestic abuse, who home after five years of being away and reconnecting with people and finding her place in the world again. It’s one story that I always return back to in the summer. Plus it had the whole friends turned enemies turned friends to lovers thing going on. I’m a sucker for that. But it was the emotional journey rather than the romance that pulls me in every-time.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I don’t know if this is a quirk but I’m not a planner. Most of the time I don’t know what I’ll write until I’m sat there and writing the words. I’ll have a vague idea. Then that vague idea is flung out the window and the characters take charge and I end up telling a story that wasn’t planned at all. It’s both frustrating and exhilarating.

When did you write your first book and how old were you? What happened with the book?

That book is in my drafts and growing cobwebs. I think I wrote it when I was sixteen. I wrote two versions of it, between them amounting to 100k words but neither versions are finished. It’s nice to look back at the writing and laugh or cringe. It’s nice to compare the beginning to where I am now. I’m sure I’ll have the same reaction five years down the road to what I wrote today. But I have always wanted to return to that book and write it from scratch. It had an interesting concept of a school year in Ireland called Transition Year. It’s a pretty epic year to go through in terms of life experiences. There’s musicals, concerts, work experience, a holiday trip, CV building, time for your sports and hobbies. I’m getting re-inspired now talking about it.

What do you like to do when you're not writing?

Daydream about writing. I’m kidding. Sort of. Tons of reading. I could read like two 100k word books in under eight hours. Right now I’m binging a bunch of TV shows like Dead to Me and returning back to old comforts like The Office. Besides that, I’ve gotten into a bit of gardening lately. It’s surprisingly relaxing.

Have you ever learnt anything about yourself through your writing?

Learning is hard. But unlearning is harder. This is how I learned it. I had a 15-minute conversation with a wonderful writer and classmate at a creative writing seminar. She gave me great and specific feedback on how to improve after reading some of my work. It was something I’d pinpointed myself so to have someone reinforce that, it really left me wanting to grab my laptop to apply what she’d said. When I tried applying her suggestions, I blanked. My mind resisted. It didn’t just resist, it rebelled. I kept getting distracted and frustrated that I couldn’t focus enough to start putting suggestion to practice. You get into habits, specific habits, and it’s hard to break those habits or even begin to sometimes. Even when you do eventually start, sometimes you fall back to your old ways. But it’s growth and worth it.

Are you ever conscious of subconsciously including someone you know in your characters?

I was asked this by my friends before and I was even asked to write one into a story. My immediate response was no. I think that’s a little dangerous path to go down, consciously that it. Because your perspective of someone would be drastically different to how they perceive themselves. But I have taken quirks like interests, or occupations. But personalities? Fully including someone? No. Not that I’ve noticed anyway! Hopefully not. Besides, the fun for writing, for me anyway, is imagining, creating and getting to know the character you’re writing about.

What is the greatest feedback you have received to date?

Read your work out-loud. That’s got to be the best advice. What sounds okay in your head can be super awkward to read out-loud.

And the worst?

That is simultaneously the worst because I hate reading my own words out loud. I’ve always hated reading out loud anyway, even if it wasn’t my own work. But it works!

As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
I remember my friends saying they wanted to be teachers and vets or singers and I always used to say being an author. Years later and that answer never changed but what I said to people did. It sounded silly. What were the chances of that happening? I guess I found out.

What for you defines a good read?

If years later, the book you’ve read before springs to mind and manages to make you feel the same emotions that you felt when reading it, then that’s a good read. It doesn’t matter if you already know the plot and the twists and turns, if the characters make you feel an itch to read their journey again, then it’s a good read. Sometimes there’s a comfort in rereading books that you already know what happens. Reconnecting with those characters? There’s no better feeling. Personally, I prefer the experience of rereading than reading a book for the first time.



Buy Night Owls and Summer Skies