Interview Questions by Rohan Dhulipalla
Interview Answers by Soumia Shah
Soumia Shah is the 14-year-old founder of Teen Rising and a published author of four books. Driven by a passion for writing, she created Teen Rising to inspire and empower fellow teens to share their stories with the world, aiming to reach millions of young writers.
Rohan Dhulipalla (RD):Teen Rising encourages teens to "just write one page about WHATEVER they want". What inspired you to create this restriction, and how do you think it helps impact young writers?
Soumia Shah (SS): I put Teen Rising as a one page restriction because that makes them care more about making every sentence – every word – more captivating. Since there is only one page, they are more focused on making the little things as good as possible, which creates a more cohesive story. Also, with teens' busy schedules, it’s easier to do! I also wanted them to write about whatever they want to showcase their individual personalities and interests, accentuating the diversity of these teens!
RD: I saw that you've written and published four books thus far along with the recent publication of the Teen Rising anthology, how do you think these experiences have shaped both you as a person, your founding of Teen Rising, and how you approach the uplifting of youth and teen writers?
SS: Writing books has shaped me so much as a person! Being an author is part of my identity, and my creative outlet where anything is possible. This helped with my founding of Teen Rising because my experience helped me create the smoothest possible experience and change certain things to make it easier for the teens based on what I would want in a collection like this. In a similar way, it helped how I approach uplifting teen writers! Based on the daily struggles and experiences I have as a teen author, I create content and experiences that are exactly what teens need to be inspired and encouraged to write!
RD: What do you think is the biggest challenges young writers face today when both writing and publishing their work? How have these challenges impacted how you designed Teen Rising?
SS: I think the single biggest challenge is getting the word out. Sadly, the world doesn’t believe teens can write as well as adults – even though many can actually write better since teens have an increased spark in creativity – and with high school time constraints, it’s hard for teens to spend the effort it takes to get their writing out there. This is why teen rising is designed with a one page competition and easily able to publish teens.
RD: From your publication of your works to your founding of Teen Writers you've had so much literary experience at such a young age. Do you have any advice to emerging young writers who either wish to publish works of their own or start a literary initiative like you?
SS: Yup! Just keep writing! And the main thing you have to remember is that you can’t chase perfection – writing is a process of growth with lots of ups and downs!
RD: What's next for Teen Rising and the rest of your creative career? Any upcoming projects or goals you're excited about?
SS: Well, Teen Rising just got published, which is really exciting! In the future, I am going to write my next mystery/romance novel and create a social media app for teens readers and writers!
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