Today we’re joined by Holmesienne. Holmesienne is a wonderful writer who is currently focused on writing a novel but also writes fanfiction and for Role Playing. She is incredibly passionate about writing and loves talking about the subject. Holmesienne is clearly a dedicated and talented artist, as you’ll soon read. My thanks to her for taking the time to participate in this interview.
WORK
Please, tell us about your art.
Well, I like to do all sorts of art (even though I’m not so good at all of them) but the one I feel very connected to is writing. I have always been interested in this art, even though I didn’t considered it as such back then. It was just something I enjoyed doing and nothing more. Since I was a kid I kind of wrote every time I could, littles pieces of stories coming straight out of my mind. It was not exactly the same topics, themes, characters or writing style I used at the time, but this is how it works after all. It has helped me growing up, and improving my writing abilities as well.
Now, I write different kind of stuff. I’m focused on a novel for the time being, and I write a fanfiction on the side too. Plus, I’m part of the Role Play community, so I’m always torn between the three of them. Despite my inability to choose what I want to write on most days, I’m always attached to the same thing: the style. Well, I mean, I try to use the same style to write my RPs and fanfictions the same way I do when I’m typing for the novel. Even though one seems less “important” for some matter, I just can’t write something I haven’t put myself into it with my bare soul. I guess I put a part of me in everything I write and that’s why I’m so slow, cause I have some kind of self-sacrifice to make (I mean, my energy, not some other thing super gore-like).
Anyway, to describe my style it’s really difficult for me to explain cause I don’t think I could find the right words which fit my writing abilities. It’s not pretentious or some shit like that, I really can’t find THE word to summarize it all, but I could try to give a shot at some kind of explanation. I guess the best words I could use to describe the style is: detailed and kind of explicit descriptions of landscapes/situations/feelings, so that an impression can emerge and readers permeate themselves with the combination of the said impression and the atmosphere depicted, to guess the implicit meaning of the sentences and the story in general. Sorry if it doesn’t make sense in English, but it’s the best I can do to grasp the very substance of it all.
I also try to approach some difficult subjects to give some kind of depth to the story. What I mean by that is that I’m not familiar with light subject and little connection. I like it when I can find a deep bond between situations, a strong explanation as to how it connects and how it will affect the future of the story, and so on. The difficult subjects I talk about are somehow linked to the troubles we all experience at some point in life. It’s not always the case, sometimes I don’t address it at all. But I always try to show that nothing’s always black or white, that everything’s kind of grey, no matter the nuances.
I think I can cut it now. It will do.
What inspires you?
Honestly, everything. The situations I see/read about everyday kind of inspire me at some point, some structures too I guess, like buildings or shops and even landscapes. Songs or videos I watch on TV or on the Internet. But the thing that inspires me the most is the weather. The grey or night kind of weather. The rainy and stormy kind too. Every time I go outside, I look at the grey sky, the thick clouds, the bright stars, the pale moon, the ragging storm, the sparkling lightning, the rain pouring down. That’s what inspires me. Because I just stay there, inhale and permeate myself with the atmosphere emanating from this kind of weather. I imagine my characters or some situations linked to this aura, and it just strikes me. Every time I feel like I don’t know how to start a sentence, I just get out and it’s there, hanging in the air. Just for my imagination to reach out for.
What got you interested in your field? Have you always wanted to be an artist?
I can’t remember, really. I guess everything I had to do in my life had put me in this place right now. Had made me fond of the art of the literature, even though I hated these classes back then when I was still at school. I was not super interested in this field at first, I was just happy to wrote things when I had an idea at the time. With nothing to bother me and no strings attached.
Now, I still don’t consider myself like an author or a writer, but I would find it amazing if I could become a professional artist in my field. I’m just an amateur for the time being, but I guess I’ll see what’s next to come for me. Whatever will happen in the future, I would just be glad if I could still write on my spare time. No matter what.
Do you have any kind of special or unique signature, symbol, or feature you include in your work that you’d be willing to reveal?
I think I do yeah. When I write, I like to include some words corresponding to a certain domain. A unique category of words, linked to a specific setting. It’s a cluster of themes I’m more aspiring to write about. The category is: the dark. I always write words linked to the dark, to describe different things, like a situation, a landscape, a feeling. I mostly use those words: obscure, shadow, dusk, opaque, oblivion, naught, and so on. And I also use terms that are contrasting to them, to impose some kind of duality (cluster words about light for example).
It’s my signature and certainly the strongest feature of the things I write.
Sometimes, I like to add some symbols here and there, to cut the story at one point and show that the following sentences belong to another section of work. This is how I write the most, because I always write one situation at a time, and to just mix it up or rush the story is really not my cup of tea.
(It’s probably how you will recognize me if you ever read my stuff.)
What advice would you give young aspiring artists?
The more important thing you have to remember when you do your art is that it’s for you FIRST. You do what you want for you. You make things you like for you. When you get to become or consider yourself as an artist, please, remember this. Do what’s best for you. Do what you enjoy. Do what you like.
If there’s something you want so badly to see in art and no one has ever done it before, just do it! Do not hold back for anything in your life, especially for art because it’s directly linked to you. To your very being and your soul, to your beautiful spirit.
And please, another thing you absolutely have to remember and to know: do not wait for others to criticize (or worst, evaluate) your stuff without them knowing what you intend to do. Do not lay your work in other hands (unless it’s collective art) because it will not feel like it’s your work anymore.
Last thing you have to understand it that it’s okay when you have no motivation or don’t have time at all. Don’t feel bad and don’t put yourself down over your work because of this. You will get through it and you will get back to your stuff.
Little trick for you all, if you don’t feel confident enough : I always tell everyone that, if you do something you like, it’s because you know you’re good at it. Otherwise you would have ended it sooner than later or stopped it a long time ago.
Believe in you ♥
ASEXUALITY
Where on the spectrum do you identify?
I identify as demisexual. But mostly I tell people I’m just asexual so that I don’t have to explain all the time the specificity of my real identity. It’s sometimes exhausting to describe what it means to those who don’t know or understand what it is. But, every chance I get and when I have time, I correct myself and tell them who I am and how I identify. It’s important for everyone to grasp the signification and for us to expand the representation.
Have you encountered any kind of ace prejudice or ignorance in your field? If so, how do you handle it?
Personally, I haven’t met ace prejudice in my field, but I do have encountered some ignorance in real life. Some people are not informed or show some misconceptions about what it means to be asexual.
When it happens IRL, I always stand my ground and explain to them the aspects of being ace, what it means, what it really is. Because it’s my identity and I will not let anyone disregard myself for it just because they know shit about this and won’t take the effort to inform themselves over it.
On the other hand, when I see some posts on the internet about our community, I reblog them, I retweet them. I’m not fluent enough in English to explain out of the blue everything about asexuality to people on the internet. However, when it’s in my native language, I can tell almost everything there is to know about the community and the spectrum.
What’s the most common misconception about asexuality that you’ve encountered?
I have two misconceptions in mind but they are somehow linked.
The first is that people that are ignorant on the matter think that asexuality means we don’t like or practice sex at all. It’s infuriating because there are asexual that love sex. It’s not about the act itself (in general I mean, but I understand if the repulsion of the act is a part of why someone identify as ace) but more about sexual desire and sexual attraction. They are “lacking” or “low” most of the time for asexual but it doesn’t mean that it’s unnatural. How can someone believe it’s unnatural? It’s just normal.
The second is the fact that everyone always have to give the “It’s because you haven’t met the right person, yet!” card. And for that, I’m kind of biased since I’m demi, because I get why it’s the matter sometimes. Even though it’s more about the connection between one ace person and their partner (romantic or not) that is important for this aspect. You trust some people with this, and there are people you just don’t. But it’s not the matter altogether. The reason this pretense is also false is that you can met whoever you like, it will not change anything about your asexuality. You are and always will be a part of the community, no matter what.
There are so many more misconceptions I could talk about but I never encountered anything else, so I will stop here.
What advice would you give to any asexual individuals out there who might be struggling with their orientation?
It’s probably not what you would want to read but making your own researches help a lot at first. That way you can focus on what’s important for you, and get to know how to better identify yourself. (However I understand that if you are completely lost on the beginning it will not be the better point to get across, especially if you don’t know the word asexuality).
You can also talk with ace people on the internet after logging on some forums or read through ace positivity blogs. Asks those who are willing to help you, they will be happy to do it. Search for associations or clubs or documents or even interviews, and so on. On the internet or in real life too.
The most important thing is that once you get to identify yourself, everything else will not be so hard anymore. You are scared to do your ace coming-out? Don’t. You want to do it? Do it. Just remember to not push yourself to fit into society while you’re here with something so special that it makes you unique. But, so long as you are happy and in terms with yourself, it’s all that will matter.
Finally, where can people find out more about your work?
You can find my fanfic(s) on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Holmesienne/works
Also I have short “poems” on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Kt_Chup
I would absolutely adore to share the stories of the characters I write about (not for the novel, but for the RP on forums) and I think I will post them soon on Tumblr (in my native language): http://coloraldreamx.tumblr.com/
Hopefully I will probably finish the novel one day too and post it on the internet, who knows. There’s also a chance I will post facts about the story’s characters on Tumblr, and maybe some one shots if I ever made other ones too.
Thank you, Holmesienne, for participating in this interview and this project. It’s very much appreciated.
Asexual Artists 