Interview with Hannah Schott

What is your favorite hobby?
My favorite hobby is writing stories by myself or with my friends.

When did you first begin to have interest in this hobby?
I made up stories before I could read or write. As soon as I learned
letters, I began writing my stories down on paper.

How long have you actively participated in this hobby?
Ever since I learned to write. If I don't have a story swimming around in
my mind, I'm not happy. Even now, when I'm taking three college classes, I
find time to create a story via email with my friend Sylvia.

What is your favorite thing about this hobby?
I can control the lives of my characters. I can make up nuns, CIA agents,
cooks, aliens or whoever and create their life stories. I can make them
brilliant or stupid, I can make them die or I can have them be born. The most
important thing about my hobby is that I can teach people through my words.
My favorite author, Jude Watson, has taught me so many life lessons although
I've never met her. She teaches through her stories.

Have you met any new people or made new friends from this hobby?
I don't know if Sylvia would be my friend today if we hadn't wrote a story
together called "To Catch a Bee" about eight years ago. Writing that story
together started our friendship.

How did you come to learn this hobby?
I don't think I learned how to create stories. Stories live inside me. I
had to learn how to read and write, though. I can remember not being able to
read. It was frustrating.

Does this hobby require special training or expenses?
Creating stories does not require special training, but the English I've
learned in school is needed when I write my stories down. Good stories cannot
be read if they do not have good grammar.

How much time on average do you spend on this hobby weekly?
That depends on how busy I am. The time I spend on my stories also depends
on my mood or on what part of the story I am writing. If I am writing the
story's climax, I type as fast as I can and usually spend two to three hours
writing. If I'm stuck in a dull spot, I review the story in my mind for a
week, trying to come up with a better plot or figuring out what needs to be
edited.

Would you project this as a lifelong hobby or something as just a
seasonal part of your life?
I'll be writing stories until my fingers can't type and my mind goes hazy.
When I've tried to stop writing for a few months, my brain goes numb and I
almost get depressed. Writing isn't a profession to me, it's a way to feel my
life and share it with others.

What is your favorite story to tell about this hobby?
About three years ago I submitted a story of mine to my county 4-H
Communications Contest. The judge collected all the entries and took them
home with her for a week to read. When I met with the judge a week later, the
woman told me that her daughter had read my story and loved it. After the
judge said that, I didn't care what ribbon she gave me. I had shared a story
with someone I didn't know, and that someone had taken it to heart and valued
it.
What kind of stories do you write?
I've written six or seven fantasy stories, one historical fiction, and one
story that is a confusing mix of history and fantasy.

Do you ever base your stories on real life events or are they all
fictional?
The characters in my four NASCAR fantasy stories are based on real NASCAR
drivers and some of the events and feuds they've had in their careers.

What types of ways are you hoping to be able to use your stories and
writing
skills later down the road?
I want to publish stories someday, hopefully soon. I hope my four crazy
NASCAR stories are never published, they're too weird, but I have written
some other stories that I have high hopes for.

How long are your stories?
My stories are too long sometimes! I usually write 11 to 12 chapters per
story. My chapters can range from two pages to four pages. My last story had
13,923 words in it.

What is the name of your favorite story you have written?
My favorite story that I've written is called "Stop Team Tylenol." The
story kind of named itself because it is based on a NASCAR commercial that
showed five NASCAR drivers discussing how to stop "Team Tylenol Racing."

What is a short summary of this story?
Please don't laugh at this. In "Stop Team Tylenol", one NASCAR driver takes
over NASCAR and forces the five drivers still loyal to NASCAR to move
underground. Unfortunately, the resistance movement's hideout under Lowe's
Motor Speedway is home to a feared legend, the Beast of the Southeast. To
regain control of NASCAR, the Underground Alliance must fight not only Team
Tylenol. An unknown spy is among them, and an unknown danger lurks in the
deep chasms of their hideout...
Writing this story gave me so much enjoyment. Sharing this story with my
NASCAR-crazy friend Tasha was even more fun. She and I are the only people
who have ever read it. The Beast of the Southeast is a real legend, by the
way.