Look what I found! An ancient draft that I somehow forgot about. Around 2016, I interviewed Bella Zamri for the Malaysian daily, The Star.

Wattpad, the app with the great UX that allows anyone to share their works of fiction (and non-fiction) via a convenient mobile app, was all the rage then. Bella, who started publishing her works on the platform when she was 16, amassed many followers, and her novel really soared on the platform.

You can read the article that I wrote, Wattpad.com is where writers and readers meet, where I highlighted how Bella used the platform to share her novels with the world.

I couldn’t include the entire interview in the article, however. So here is the transcript of the interview for your reading pleasure. (Note that the interview took place around 2016, so it’s about six years old. Bella’s probably in the workforce now, and hopefully, still writing her heart out.)

How did you find out about Wattpad?
I was searching on the web for Harry Potter fan fiction before I found Wattpad. Read a lot of good novels and fell in love with this orange-themed website almost instantly.

Have you always written?
Not exactly. I know I’ve always loved writing, though since I’d get very excited every time my teacher asked me to write essays back at school. I would even write longer than it should’ve been hahaha. I’ve been reading forever, though. Especially teen fiction.

What do you love about writing on Wattpad?
I love the communities the most. Most of them are very supportive and to see all their comments about my books has always made my day even if it’s just online. My followers are one of the reasons I keep writing even if there are negative views. Some people think that writing online is a waste of time – you can’t go anywhere and you don’t even get paid – but the practice and experience you get from there actually means something. Wattpad is an excellent platform for starters. You literally have nothing to lose because you can always go anonymous on there!

Through Wattpad, I made a couple of friends from around the globe. Distance is not a problem as we keep in contact through social media. One of my good friends is from the Philippines and we’ve known each other for about three years now. Not only do we get to write our own novels, but we get to make friends on Wattpad too.

How often would you update your novel? On what days do you update?
I used to update once a week before I started my degree. It took me about 6 months to complete The Boy Who Lost His Sight (TBWLHS). But, now that I’m a university student, my schedule is pretty tight to write as much as I used to. I’m still writing, though, but offline. I’m always looking forward for semester break to write more novels.
 
How was the reception to your novel – did you get many views straight away? Did you get featured?
My first novel is actually a Harry Potter fan fiction and of course, I didn’t get many views straight away. I have deleted it, even because I thought the whole plot-line was ridiculous and my eyes couldn’t stand it hahaha. My second novel and the first novel I’ve completed is The Startled Princess and I think it’s my breakout novel. My fan base started to build up from there and when I first posted TBWLHS, they read it as well. I did massive promotion for TBWLHS – posting on Wattpad’s clubs and did review for review with other authors. It took some time, but it was worth it. By the time I was in the middle of completing the novel, I already had one million views. It was a mind-blowing moment for me. I never thought it would get that popular.  

No, I didn’t get featured. But TBWLHS was chosen by Wattpad for a few times to promote new movies and one that I can remember is it got featured for The Fault in Our Stars promotional page.
  
What tips can you offer those who hope to follow in your footsteps?
Don’t ever feel demotivated if you don’t get as many views straight away. It’s a normal process. Keep writing for yourself and the readers will come by. Try to read as many novels over there and see what’s popular if it’s necessary for you. There are a lot of genres and you can always choose one to kick off your writing process. Wattpad also allows writers to write in different languages so, it doesn’t have to be in English. Write in the language that you feel comfortable with the most. Enjoy writing — that’s the most important part of the whole process.

Do tell me about the story and your inspiration behind it and what prompted you to write it.
The Boy Who Lost His Sight is about an orphan girl named Ellie, who moves to Florida in the hope to start a new life. She’s a bright person – full of hope and kindness. There, she meets Riley, a blind boy who intrigues her with his sarcasm and his negative view of life – the exact opposite of her. They become friends and things start to go up and down for Ellie as she tries to change Riley’s perception of life.

Some of the inspiration comes from my very own experience. I know how hard it is for some people to get through high school. Teenagers think too much about everything and can get sad over something so small – especially teenage girls. So, Ellie defines every girl who wants to start over – who wants to make things right for herself. I was also inspired to write in the teen fiction genre after reading books from my favourite authors such as Sarah Dessen, John Green and Nadia Khan.

I was prompted to write because I want to let my readers – young girls, especially – know and believe that things will get better. I want them to realize that those times will pass. They won’t be sad and depressed for the rest of their lives as they think they do now. Everything is going to be okay. They just need to keep their hopes up and do everything that makes them happy.

Bella’s novels, The Boy Who Lost His Sight and The Startled Princess was published by a Malaysian publisher. You can still find her works on her Wattpad account.

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