Hello, Visionaries! Today I get to help my friend Tasha launch her blog Joyfully Natasha! I had the honor of interviewing Tasha and hope you guys enjoy the interview!
Definitely check out Tasha's blog! She's such a dear! <3
Hello Tasha! I am just so very excited about this interview, and I am happy you were able to join me on Writers’ Vision today!
Hey Kaytlin! Thanks for having me! It’s an honour!
First, tell us a little about you!
I’m a bookworm, coffee addict, photographer, introverted writer, and most importantly a Christian. I’m the second oldest of eight kids and spend a lot of my time procrastinating school, writing, photography, and everything else I love XP. You can usually find me taking walks or rereading my favourite books which include anything written by Sara Ella and Nadine Brandes as well as The Hunger Games, Vivid by Ashley Bustamante. and The Reflections by EK Seaver.
What inspired you to start writing?
It was so long ago that it’s hard to remember, but I believe a big part of it was my grandpa’s love of writing as well as my love of reading.
What genres do you write?
I write mainly fantasy and fairytale retellings (Is that a genre?) but I also enjoy writing Dystopian.
What is the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever been given, one that has stuck with you?
Don’t be afraid of rejections but instead use them to grow as a writer. It’s so true! Once I stopped wanting to curl up and cry every time someone said something negative about my writing, I found I improved my writing skills so much!
You just relaunched your blog can you tell us a bit about that?
Sure! So I’m restarting my blog because I’ve come to realise that a good platform is an important thing to have as a writer. However, my blog isn’t going to be exclusively writing. I’ll post stuff about writing, my photography, faith, and anything else I want to post:)
I hope that my blog can be an encouragement to other creatives and Christians and give them a blog they know they can read without worrying about inappropriate content.
And do you have any advice for new authors, or authors just looking for good advice?
Create good writing habits. This is something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately as I’ve been reflecting on how far I’ve come in a short amount of time, and a lot of that progress was made because I started writing more frequently. It may not seem like a big deal, but I can promise you that it is.
What can we expect from you in the future?
Honestly, I’m not sure. As of right now, I’m hoping to do YWAM next fall and then go to film school the year after but that could change at any time. It really depends on what I feel God calling me to do!
And lastly, can you tell us a bit about your writing process?
The first part of a WIP is usually a title…my last two WIPs were born from a title that popped into my head. I don’t outline…at least not much. I did do about an hour of outlining for my current WIP just to get a broad idea and that really helped but I can’t do a big outline cuz it just stifles my creative thought process. So I hop right into the WIP with nothing but a title. Since I’ve never actually finished anything *hides* I don’t really have a writing process but I do break the “don’t edit until you finish your first draft” rule because I’m a part of a critique group and they help me figure out what to write next when I’m stuck.
Other then that, I don’t really know what my writing process is yet. (And somehow that still got really long *fp*)
Thank you so much for joining me today, Tasha! It’s been such a pleasure to interview you!
Thank you so much for having me! This was a lot of fun!
About the Author
Natasha Joy is a 17-year-old fantasy and dystopian writer with a passion for creating stories that are inspired by and bring glory to Yahweh. In her spare time, you can find Tasha reading, going for walks, experimenting with photography, and memorizing scripture for Bible quizzing. She loves the beauty of nature…from ladybugs to towering pine trees. Keep in touch with her and learn more about her writing at her blog joyfullynatasha.com or her Instagram @natashajoywriter!