Passions of Writing: Featuring Jacquelyn Eubanks

When evaluating my life and the things I enjoy doing one of the first things that came to mind was writing. The thought of creating a safe space on a piece of paper always got me excited. Especially when it came back to rereading what I had made and making it better. Recently, I have started to take this hobby a bit more seriously. I mean, I have a blog! I better take it seriously haha. In all honesty, writing has become something I aim to grow and expand on this platform. another journey that I plan on mastering.

Reclaiming my love for writing and reading led me to the desire to become an author one day. Being that I love being a busy body, I have slowly started writing stories as a start and reading some of my favorite classics and books to grasp ideas of writing that I like. I have a feeling that once I start writing however, it will be nothing like how I imagined it to be.

Wanting to be more into the writing community and also just read more works, I stumbled upon a very inspiring author: Jacquelyn Eubanks!

Eubanks is an award winning best-selling author that began writing at a very young age. By freshman year of high school she had published her book and before graduating it became a best-seller! Amazing right!Now, being a pro at writing, she shares her tools of tips and tricks to help others be successful as well on her website!

Wanting to perfect my process and also just see how she did it all, I had to get her to come visit us! Asking some very popular and interesting questions us aspiring authors would like to know, it is easy to see she loves what she does!!

Along with her website, she often shares her journey being a writer through her social platforms such as Instagram and twitter where you can find her as @jacquelyneubanks. When following her journey, it is easy to see the hard work she has put in and dedication she has to her passion. Wanting to know more, I felt it would be an awesome idea to interview her for the start of my writing career! Her story leaves me nothing but more motivation and inspiration to grab my laptop and a pen and paper! Hope you enjoy!

1. What made you get the idea to publish your work at such a young age?

I’ve known I wanted to be a published author pretty much since I was a toddler. I wanted to get my start sooner rather than later, especially since Nancy Yi Fan, a 5th grader turned New York Times best-selling author, had already beaten me to my goal. It felt like a race against time since we grow up so fast, and I wanted to get a book out into the world before I was too old for it to be remarkable anymore.

2. When picking a path to publishing, which path did you take, traditional or self publishing and why?

I took self-publishing mostly because I liked the idea of being in control of the cover, the interior design, the price, and making a bigger cut of the sale. I was also only 12 at the time, so I probably would not have been able to traditionally publish, anyway 🙂

3. What was your inspiration behind your writing?

My love of the 1950s, the book Penny from Heaven by Jennifer L. Holme, the movie The Sandlot, my love/obsession of baseball, and my own personal fantasy of what it would be like if I was in the movie The Sandlot…in the 1950s. LOL.

4. I notice you blog as well, what advice would you give to those considering the career of being a writer and blogger full-time?

Blogging and writing full-time is a huge commitment! You don’t realize how much time writing takes up until you’ve looked at the clock, realized 3 hours have gone by and you’ve only written about two pages. So if you’re going to be a writer, I’ve honestly found the best thing for me to do is either take some time off to focus completely on writing, or quit my day job so that my day is free to be spent in front of my laptop. You can always do a weekend writing retreat, or attempt to write your novel at night after work (which, honestly, I found I was WAY too tired after work to write. Sad but true.)

5. Being a writer can have it’s hard times, what’s the most difficult thing about being a writer? How do you manage it?

The most difficult thing about being a writer is actually writing the story. Simple (and complicated) as that. Whether you don’t have the time, or you’re wrestling with what should happen next, or you’ve gotten bored with the bland-but-necessary scene you’re writing, or you don’t know how a problem should be resolved within the story, or you’re editing your diction and cleaning up those filler words, WRITING is the hardest part about writing.

6. For those writing a novel for the first time, how would recommend they start?

I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH: OUTLINE. YOUR. PLOT. I have a whole blog post on why and how you should do it – my special fool-proof method. You can read about it on my website!

Only afterwards can you begin to actually write your story.

7. Aside from writing, what are your other passions you focus on to have a balance?

I am a verrrry passionate person – meaning I have many passions, and I’m very passionate about them! LOL. I currently love fitness and nutrition; you can catch me at the gym, running, drinking smoothies and cooking super fresh, super healthy meals. I also love traveling and outdoor adventure. I dream of backpacking, rock climbing, white-water rafting, kayaking, and scuba diving all over the world! So far I’ve really only seen the US, but I’ve been to 43 states, so that’s pretty cool. I love music, concerts, playing guitar, and singing. I love British things – tea parties, BBC, Jane Austen, Tom Holland, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Tom Hiddleston. Lastly, I have a heart for mission work. I’ve been on four mission trips in my life, one that 9 months long, and I hope to go to Calcutta sometime soon!

8. Where would you like to be in the next 5 years?

In the next 5 years, I’d like to have a publishing contract with one of the Big 5 publishing houses, hopefully publish a New York Times best-seller, and finally graduate college!

9. For those on the edge of becoming a writer, what advice would you give them?

Dive in. Don’t let anything stop you from pursuing writing. Not fear, not doubt, not lack of skill or practice. Please, oh, please, JUST WRITE THAT NOVEL ALREADY. (And let me know when you do. I’d love to read it 🙂 The world needs your book; someone out there needs your book; you need your book. So stop waiting around and JUST DO IT!

Again, huge thank you to Jacquelyn for coming to visit us! Wishing you nothing but blessings and good vibes when writing!

I hope you all enjoyed this post! I look forward to meeting more amazing writers and sharing my journey with you all. Time to go get my notebook and get to writing!!!