Client: Hirokatsu800

Interviewer: Oizys604

Hey! I am Zia, one of the interviewers from The Gemme Community. Today I'll be taking your interview for your work "Dear Diary: Faded home". I hope you have a great time! I read a few chapters of it! For starters I and our readers are curious about you, how would you describe yourself?

I guess the term "Dreamer" defines me the best, even though at the moment I am trying to step away from dreams and accept reality as it is. I've been the type of person that creates other "realities" through the stories I come up with in order to escape my own. Even the nickname "Hirokatsu" represents the "reality" in which I wish to live. But other than that, I don't think there is more to say about me. I believe I am rather boring as a person overall.

You aren't boring at all! People who live in dreams are usually very creative. Just after reading the first chapter, I have realised that your book has an amazing plot and creative characters, being a psychological thriller. Is there something that influenced and inspired you?

Mostly the stories I come up with are created from dreams I had and later are developed in what they are shown to the supposed readers. "Dear Diary" was no different. Originally, it was just a simple dream about a man lost in a world that made no sense, which is also described in the story as well. Later, the psychological and philosophical aspects that are now its theme, were created to give more depth to the simple concept it came from. What I do when creating stories is to overthink every single question I come up with which later gives them the amount of details they have. That's how the concept of "a world that makes no sense" came to have a completely different meaning at the end of the story from what it was initially described at the beginning. There is also an easter egg I added during the writing of the chapters, to make it even more unique and give more depth to one of the chapters. My rule in making stories is to make them as unique as possible, even from simple concepts. This easter egg could be seen in the names of the chapters, but I will let the readers find it out on their own from here.

That's a really good concept! I wonder if anyone has noticed the easter eggs. The book is very thrilling. I am curious about its name now. How'd you come up with it?

Considering that the whole story is written in the format of a diary, the title "Dear Diary" simply fits in. But the other half of "Faded Home" is what made the whole title of the story resonate with me. While one tells directly what the story truly is and what format the reader will get to read, the other one tells indirectly the whole journey of the main character through just two words. I do not wish to spoil anything to anybody, but I bet the words "faded home" make more sense once the reader gets to the end and understands fully what has happened. At least, that was my intention. Now, I won't ban anyone from simply coming up with their own interpretation. I would actually be happy to hear it.

I agree, 'dear diary' gives us a slight idea and 'faded home' takes it to the next level! The main character sounds very intriguing, which has left me wondering, who is that one character of your book, you resonate most with?

Since the story is still in the form of a diary, the only character I believe anyone can resonate the most with, including myself, is the main character. All the events happen around him, and his thoughts and entire existence during the journey are written by his own hand in the story. And while I have given and revealed his own name in the last chapter, I still believe everyone can see themselves in him if they had experienced similar mental events. He is the type of character that is a "nobody", someone that we barely know anything about. Yet at the same time, he is also the character that is "everyone", that can describe so many people with just the words he writes in the diary. Or how I like to describe it as "a faceless person that everyone knows the face of".

That's a creative take, 'a faceless person everyone knows the face of'. The story is well written and amazing which I doubt could be accomplished easily. Rome wasn't built in a day afterall. Hence, while writing and publishing this book, I am sure a lot went on behind the scenes. Can you tell us about some of the difficulties that you faced during that time?

I believe it's more of a funny story than an actual difficulty when it comes to "Dear Diary" 's behind the scenes. The story's whole concept was developed throughout a single month, right before Christmas. I usually develop the ideas for a lot more, from around six months all the way to three or more years. But it was easy to handle since I always thought of it to be a simple and short story, so not many details were able to get in unlike the other projects. Then, when the idea was pretty much done, I decided to directly post it on this site when I noticed how close to Christmas we were. In my mind, I thought it would fit both this day and The New Year, so I decided to post it daily until it reaches The New Year, when the story was supposed to end in both its publishing schedule and the main character's journey.

The problem was that I didn't have the chapters written. Each chapter was written daily before being posted, and what is more funny is the fact that I never wrote anything with an idea of how the chapters should look like or what they should have to describe. Everything was put randomly, the writing was out of nowhere and I believe it can actually be felt by the reader when they go through the chapters. But I also believe this is the same thing that gave the story a more accurate form of a diary. When people write in them, they don't know what will appear on the page tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. And I also think that most of them don't go through what they wrote yesterday, just because they want to remember it again, unless it was a special day. Everything is random with the intention of simply putting your thoughts and existence in a simple book that can be seen as your own world.

I can see you are spontaneous! Your work is outstanding! Do you sometimes read reviews on your book by readers? If yes, is there any time one of them stood out to you, their review perhaps felt heart warming?

I always read the reviews. I actually wish to get more to know what is right and what is wrong with the stories I come up with. But I cannot obligate everyone to review it if they don't want to. And I appreciate any feedback given, really. Be it a small comment that sparks a short smile or a long review that explains in details the impression one reader had on my story. I don't think any review stood out so far. I mostly saw them equally satisfying to me and making my days better each time I got one. I get reviews pretty rarely, so I can't really compare them at the moment. Maybe in some more years, if the story actually gets to more people. But until then, I see all comments and reviews on an equal side.

That's amazing, Hirokatsu. Putting the reviews aside, has anyone ever interpreted something you wrote differently? How did you feel about it?

I believe I did get a review some time ago, specifically on "Dear Diary", that made me question which part they were referring to exactly. Someone told me the story has Sci-Fi elements, even though it is based on pure psychology. I had questioned myself the entire day what part was exactly Sci-Fi until I made myself an idea of which could be it. But it's nothing serious, really. Given that I have taken a serious topic and made a story in a more artistic way, it should be expected that some people might not get exactly what I meant. And it's okay. Differences in views are what makes us humans.

I agree, it's the differences between us that makes us human, every being is unique! Now; if you ever get the chance for your book to be turned into a movie, which celebrities would you cast?

Unfortunately, I don't even believe it would be possible for this story specifically to be turned into a movie at all. Though I did think of a possibility of making a short video game after it and make the player experience exactly what the main character was going through, while also telling the story in it again. Even though that would have to wait a bit longer, if it would ever happen. But even if it happened to get the chance to become a movie, I am not able to cast anyone specifically as the actor. I have always thought of the main character to be faceless, which is what would make the one witnessing the story resonate more with him.

That's the first time I have gotten such a different answer, yet having read some of your work, I wholeheartedly agree. If you were to enter the world of your book, which character would you like to be?

Truth to be told, we are already in the world of my story. The events are based on a reality, not a fiction. It is the same Earth in which we live, it is the same place in which we try to find our purpose. And while I did not make it based on a specific event I have lived or have seen at someone else, the reality is that anyone can experience it and anyone can be a witness to it. But I guess if I were to say exactly which of the few characters from the story I think I would be anyway, I would probably still say the main character.

Excellent response as always, Hirokatsu! We are all definitely living inside the books while reading. Talking about reading, as a reader, what's your favorite genre and book?

I'm not much of a reader, actually. I read pretty rarely and mostly what I am recommended. On Wattpad specifically, I read either some of my friends' stories or from R4Rs, but that's pretty much it. I guess I can say I am a procrastinator, really. But if I were to pick, I would mostly prefer Sci-Fi and Fantasy. Even so, I would read any type of genre if I knew the story was worth it. So it doesn't really matter.

This has led me to wonder a lot about you! As a writer, is there any advice you wish someone told you about during your early years of writing? Some advice you'd like to give to aspiring young writers?

I don't think I am the best person to give advice to aspiring writers. I never considered myself a writer and never will. That is why I never called my works as "books". What I mostly do is to create a story which I want to share with everyone. It is the same reason my works' form of writing might look... questionable... to actual writers and readers. To be completely honest, I saw myself as the black sheep here on Wattpad. Never felt like I belong here. And my journey on writing was pretty short compared to others that might read my sayings now.

Is there any reason you might think like this? Why do you believe you are the black sheep on Wattpad?

While most people started writing here in hopes of becoming authors or other people simply remaining readers to those with this dream, I am none of these two possibilities from this site. I am not that much of a reader. I procrastinate a lot and I didn't particularly like the idea of reading that much my whole life. Some reasons might be personal, but one that I found out lately when overanalysing my character is the fact that reading with a messy mind is like trying to enjoy a film while on the background you hear people constantly screaming around, making it impossible to hear what is on the screen, and at the same time the film's subtitles being on a different language. Most of the time, you will probably get the main idea, but you won't understand a lot of the things shown to you and the overall enjoyment will drop significantly.

As for being a writer, I can easily say that I was never meant to be one. Not because I don't like it, but there is a difference between trying to simply show people what is in your mind and actually writing a book. I never was a fan of writing something when I was given to do it. It could be because it was out of obligation and not about something I enjoy, sure. But I can bet on everything that, at some point in the past, younger me made a promise to themselves on never becoming a writer or at least never having to write something and that to be my job. If it were for that child to see themselves in the future, I don't know how many beatings I would've gotten by now, to be completely honest. But given these two facts about me, that I am neither a reader nor a writer, I don't know how exactly I should not see myself as the black sheep on a site that is all about reading and writing.

That is very well thought out, I understand why you must feel that way now. Why do you prefer calling your work a story rather than a book?

Simply because I never thought of my work ever becoming a book, nor do I think it is even worth this title to begin with. The only idea that came to my mind and was somehow close to a plan like this was to make a book after one of the stories and be written not by me, but by one of the characters present in it. Still, even an idea like that would have to wait a long time before put into practice since I had to finish the story first. I was always the type of person with stories in mind, even if a lot of them never got to appear here or were so bad I had to abandon them in their early stages. I was always called "creative" by people around me, so it shouldn't really be a surprise. But that alone shouldn't categorise my stories as books right away, even if I get to write them. All I do is play the writer, not to actually be one. My only intention is to show a story, be it in the form of a book or in any other form. And believe me, if I were good at it, I would've tried to make them either animated series or short animations from the very beginning just like I thought them to be. But I'm not good enough to do that, so I went with whatever I found easier first before actually putting my initial idea in practice. After all, a story still needs a script if you are to animate it.

That's an interesting take. Have you ever undergone writer's block? How did you deal with it? What is your source of motivation?

The latest writer's block I had was also my last one, since I mostly stopped completely on working on my projects as I said before. But earlier blocks were pretty short, from five days to one month. Again, I am a person who writes with no actual plan in mind, so this might actually be one of the problems where such blocks can happen. But I usually listened to some music or got some more needed inspiration from my visits around the world. And as for motivation or main inspiration, it was always coming from dreams.

That's the way I have seen a lot of authors do! I am even more sure now that it works. As we are reaching the end of our interview, I would like to ask, what message you wanted to give through your book? Have you fulfilled it?

I don't know if it is really considered an actual message. It was more of an awareness to an existing mental illness that affected and continues to affect many people around the world, including myself. I believed, at that moment when I wrote it, that it should help more people understand something while also giving it an artistic view. I guess the message could be for everyone to look up after one another, to take care of those close to them and always check on how they are doing. I guess the message could be for everyone to support each other in whatever events happen in life, be them happy or traumatising. Or I guess the message could be also interpreted by the reader, the one to whom the whole story is addressed to and put to give a conclusion on it themselves.

That's a message which is very much needed nowadays. Sometimes we get super busy leading our own life that we forget to look after our loved ones. For the last question, Is there any message you would like to give to our readers? A question you'd been waiting to answer but no one asked?

I think this message could be given to anyone, not only to the readers. Throughout my journey here, I had many questions in mind about my own work, but one stood out the most. "Was it really worth it? Was it worth the time I have put myself in it instead of actually focusing on the reality I had to live? Was it worth the days I have spent on my own, writing something that I never knew whether it will be read or will be simply passed by? Completely ignored by the rest of the world?" The truth is, I cannot answer to it on my own. It is the same reason why I still ask myself such question after such a long time. I am fully dependent on the words people say to me, so no matter my thoughts, they will never truly help me answer any question. Maybe I will get the answer in the future from someone else. Maybe I won't. But I want to ask those that read my sayings the same question. "Was it really worth it?" Any dream you work on, any project you have now, ask yourself this question and only you can answer to it. Don't make my mistake and grow fully dependent on others' sayings and mood. Believe in your own words, because no one will ever know what you have given to try and make that dream come true. And once you come to the final answer to that question, I hope it is completely in your favour.

That's a beautiful message to our readers, Hirokatsu. While taking your interview,w I have learnt a lot of new things and how to see from various perspectives. I hope I'll get the chance to listen to your thoughts again. From an unwilling heart, with this, I put our lovely conversation to an end.

Have a nice day ahead!