Emma has been writing since her schooldays and for the last few years, since she joined Vibe (SWCT), she has written one novel length story and has been working on a second.
Emma found that each time she was writing it felt like a fresh start, she didn’t have to worry about what anyone thought, and her stories felt real to her, she could imagine being in the situations and worlds that she was creating. In those stories and worlds she had lots of friends and was full of confidence; in her writing she could do things that were not possible in real life.
Emma feels like there are so many different things that influence her. Books, video games, but one of the biggest things is animated shows as there are just so many different ones out there. She watched a lot when she was a child so when she got the chance, she looked at some from other countries and was amazed by how different they could be. One of her favourites is a show called Love Live School Idol project: which was about a group of schoolgirls, who tried to save their school from closure by attracting new students. They did this by becoming idols of their school which had become popular. She loved this show as it would always inspire her to keep fighting for what she wanted to do and to live in the moment as she wouldn't get to see that time again. She loved how it made her feel good inside and laugh at some of their antics as the group searched for a way to show others what they loved. Of course, there were bad times for them later, which they had to go though in order to grow as characters. It made Emma want to create characters who made people happy by just being themselves.
Of course, Emma knows that things are not always rosy, especially when she watched one of her other favourites, which was an animated movie called A Silent Voice. It's about a boy who bullied a deaf girl called Shoko Nishimya in elementary school and years later, after paying his mother back money she had to give away to pay for Shoko's damaged hearing aids, tries to right the wrongs and make amends. She learned through this about how cruel people could be when it came to people with disabilities and how children may act towards others when they don't understand their situation. It touched on very difficult topics throughout the movie, but Emma learned how to show those sides and other struggles effectively through her writing.
Another show that Emma liked was Huntik a mystery show, that she used to watch back in 2009 which followed a boy called Lok Lambert and his friends as he tries to discover what happened to his father. It was one of the first Emma watched that got her more inspired to come up with her own tales and it showed her how to slowly let details out to keep readers interested in what was going on.
In between working on these longer pieces, she has been writing short stories and is currently developing two versions of the same story each focusing on one of the lead characters.
A short extract from “The Roots to Home”:
It was like something out of a story. Alelia had been at her lowest point when Eurydice appeared to save her. She wasn’t sure why, but Alelia chose to believe that it was more than luck that had caused it. Unfortunately, Eurydice disappeared just as mysteriously and, as hard as she tried, Alelia just hadn’t been able to find her.
It was night-time now and Alelia sat up in a tree, throwing an apple into the air. She watched it turn end over end until she caught it in her opposite hand and tossed it upwards once more.
“Will you quit playing with your food, Alelia? You wouldn't want it to fear you, would you?”
Caught of guard, Alelia missed the apple as it fell. She panicked, throwing herself from the branch, wrapping her tail around it as she reached out and grabbed the apple once more. She looked back at where she'd previously sat, ready with her own style of retort.
“You scared me! Besides I'd never...”
She trailed off as she realized no one was there. Of course there wasn't, there hadn't been for some time. But Alelia wasn't going to let it stay that way. It was too long already. She looked back at the fruit in her hands, gently stroking it as she did.
“Sorry about that, I just thought I heard a friend of mine. I didn't mean to let you fall like that.” She said, leaving a brief pause as she moved her ear to the fruit, as if it were talking with her. Then she continued.
“What's she like? She's funny and worries about the silliest things. Like stealing so much food that there's no room for you in the house. I mean, I was only saving it. If she'd heard their cries for help, she'd understand. It should be banned to hold food hostage. Food have rights too, you know?”
She smiled nodding to the shiny apple and listened. It sure was a talkative apple. Other food she'd saved were so thankful, they let her eat them. Still, she was happy for the company. But the apple seemed to be talking so fast that she sometimes had trouble following it. Then she came up with an idea, that she was sure Eurydice would be proud of and held the apple up so she and it were at face level.
“Hey, wanna know how me and my friend met?”
Over the last few years, Emma's writing has changed as she gained a better vocabulary and how to write so that people can imagine what's happening. She also was able to write for each character so that it showed off the characters traits better while still being able to keep the story going.
Before coming to Vibe, Emma constantly wanted to write stories. She had done it in her schooldays but due to the workload had to stop while she did schoolwork. When she started again it was a bit of a struggle, despite knowing what she wanted to write about, she couldn't seem to get it down in written word. It never stopped her trying though. When she first went to vibe it was a bit nerve wrecking, so she decided to use a few sessions to try to write something again, afterwards she started talking with a poet about her writing. It seemed to flow more clearly thanks to that. Since then it got a lot easier to write the stories down. Thanks to going to Vibe she began to polish her writing style and get to know her characters more.
