FAQs
WHO ARE YOU? Are you Meg Eden or Meg Eden Kuyatt? It’s really confusing.
I know. In my head, it was meant to be simple, but doesn’t always come out that way! I write for older audiences under Meg Eden (mostly my poetry), and for kids under Meg Eden Kuyatt. Kind of like how Usagi is Sailor Moon, but it’s not really that effective of a “secret identity” because of her distinct hairstyle. But I digress.
How do you pronounce Kuyatt?
KOO-Yacht.
How do you pronounce Selah?
SAY-la. As in, Selah likes to say lots through her poetry.
Are you autistic like Selah?
Yes! I was diagnosed with autism and an anxiety disorder as an adult. I like to write characters that are neurodivergent like me. I’ve tried to write neurotypical protagonists, but it’s never worked out very well. The best writing comes from writing what we know!
Really? You don’t look autistic/you seem to be “normal enough.”
Appearances aren’t everything, and autism doesn’t have a specific look.
When did you start writing?
I started writing poems in middle school when all my friends started posting their poems on this online site. I became serious about writing fiction in eighth grade, and finished my first YA novel in tenth grade. I signed with my first agent in eleventh grade. But my first book wasn’t published until I was 26 years old. At first I was frustrated that it took so long, but now I’m grateful as I feel like it’s given time for my work to get even stronger. If you write, whether your journey is long or short, it’s OK!
Why did you decide to be serious about writing?
Because my eighth-grade history teacher told me I was a good writer. Then as I wrote, my mom took my writing seriously and has never been afraid to say what works well, as well as what could be improved. As I shared my writing, people resonated with it and told me to keep going. Writing felt weird at first, but as I got comfortable with it, I realized I could process my thoughts and feelings on the page, and that is the best feeling in the world!
I’m a writer! How do I get involved in the writing community?
That’s awesome that you are writing! Keep persisting! Are you in the DMV or what is your local community? The Mid-Atlantic region of the USA has a great writing community. Actually, I wrote about that, and have a list of some places I recommend checking out if you haven’t already. If you live somewhere else, research what writing organizations, literary journals and conferences are in your local area and go!
Also if you are interested, feel free to check out some of my online and in-person classes. Some are free, and others have a fee. Some are for all ages, and others are focused toward adult writers. I’d also check out the organizations I speak/teach with, as many of those are great places to find writing community!
What inspires you? What is your writing process?
I’m not sure how to answer what inspires me, to be honest. I try to take in everything around me and hold onto what I find interesting, that I’m asking questions about, that I want to know more about. Writing’s my way of trying to understand things I don’t understand yet, that I want to know more about, or that I want to process. Anything can be a story; it’s figuring out what excites you and interests you. What you want and need to say. As a writer, I’m always trying to follow the fun! But it’s a very spiritual process. I often don’t know what I want or need to write about. I have to just keep faithfully coming to the page, and trust God to direct me.
As for my process, it’s changing! I used to just fly by the seat of my pants, but am trying to use a beat sheet (I use Save the Cat writes a Novel) to figure out the big picture ideas of my novel. I do this now because my agent wants me to be able to pitch a book before I write it—but this is totally new to me, so I’m still getting used to it!
Can you give me any suggestions to help me be a better writer?
The best advice I can give is to read, write, submit, and persist! Always keep your eyes and ears open. Take time to reflect on what you think or feel about things, and why. I have done thousands of submissions to get my relatively few acceptances, but submissions have taught me persistence and helped motivate me to keep writing. Some rejection letters have even been kind enough to include feedback Put yourself out there, go to conferences, volunteer at local literary magazines or events, and don’t be afraid to ask questions or ask for help. Send your work out, and send persistently--even to places that reject you five, ten times. I wouldn’t be where I am now if amazing people didn’t encourage and mentor me along the way. Don’t be afraid of mistakes, and don’t be afraid to declare what you have done.
What is your favorite word?
Defenestration. It is such an unnecessarily specific word! Close runners up: fluorescent and ubiquitous.
What are some books that have inspired you to write?
Short answer: everything I read.
Less-short answer: I’ll pick two of my most influential books:
Anne of Green Gables was my best friend in 5th grade, a turbulent time where many of my friends moved and I refused to hang out with anyone who was not as into Pokémon as I was. I was confident Anne would be a Pokémon fan if she was a kid in the early 2000s. Her sense of imagination and wonder was always so meaningful and relatable to me. I think she’s the first one who taught me to fall in love with words and stories.
C.S. Lewis has always been a huge influence, both as a writer and as a human being. Screwtape Letters was and always will be one of my favorite books of all time. As a follower of Christ, I believe in the spiritual war of his story, but as a writer, I love the craft here too—so I honestly think you can appreciate what this book does, regardless of what you believe. Screwtape Letters subverts expectations and tells a story from the other side. I loved how it made me think about things from an entirely different angle. Ever since then, I’ve loved playing with point of view in my writing, always thinking about what the most interesting angle for a story would be. I’ve also been inspired to write a few Screwtape Letters-esque projects, finding it a really great outlet to explore and unpack my spiritual beliefs with the limitless playground of fiction.
What do you do when you’re not writing?
Often, I’m teaching creative writing classes and webinars, going to writing conferences, working with people individually on their manuscripts, or reading. But my non-book hobbies include speed-chess (especially Bughouse!), playing or watching play-throughs of video games, taking taiko drumming classes, harmonizing to songs, woodworking, doodling, having existential conversations, and traveling.
You like video games? You really think there’s a connection between writing and video games?
YES! I think there are really interesting connections between video games and good writing craft. Video games tell stories but use different techniques than we tend to traditionally use on the page. It makes me think about writing in a new way. I have a few articles on this on my website, under the Gaming Posts header. I also have written on the MAGES Blog about writing and video games. It’s really interesting the power we have over narrative in games (or sometimes, just feeling like we have power when we actually don’t!). That’s different than in a traditional novel, where we’re being told what the story is. As a gamer, we are actively participating in, and sometimes creating our own narratives!
What are your favorite video games? (And other opinions Meg has about video games)
I have a lot of games I like—I tend to play puzzle and tactical games, so some of my favorite games I’ve played are Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Baba is You, The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles and Legend of Zelda: Link Between Worlds. I also play rhythm games like Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory, Cadence of Hyrule, and Dance Dance Revolution (an oldie but goodie!). Other random games I’ve enjoyed playing: Pokémon Snap (original and Switch), Link’s Awakening, Donkey Kong 64, GoldenEye, Crypt of the Necrodancer, Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, Papers Please, Republia Times, Mario x Rabbids, and Taiko Drum Master. I tried to play Metroid once but that didn’t go well.
But games I like to talk about craft-wise tend to be more about narrative. I love games like Undertale, Deltarune, Night in the Woods, Life is Strange and Twin Mirror for how they tell a story. I talk about Gone Home, Until Dawn, What Remains of Edith Finch and walking simulators a lot in my classes for how they use environmental storytelling. Like MatPat, I’m interested in how games like Five Nights at Freddy’s use lore to keep us thinking even once we’ve “beaten” a game. I have strong, complicated feelings about The Dark Pictures Anthologies’ games like Little Hope.
My special interests include Pokémon and Fire Emblem. If either of them are also special interests of yours, let me know!
My favorite Pokémon is Dragonair (Mawile and Azumarill are runners up), but if I could be a Pokémon, it’d be Charizard, hands down. Pokémon Gold and HeartGold are my favorite games but Kanto is probably my favorite Pokémon generation (I’m old school, I know). That said, Pokemon Crystal was the first time I got to choose to play as a girl, and that meant a lot to young Meg.
As for Fire Emblem, I am a Black Eagle for life. Seteth is my favorite FE3H character, but Myrrh from Sacred Stones is my favorite FE character. I don’t think I realized it at the time, but I resonated with Myrrh’s manakete identity as I feel like it captured how I feel as an autistic person in a neurotypical world. My favorite Fire Emblem game so far is FE3H, but I’ve been playing Fire Emblem since the GBA days, and been enjoying each new game more and more. I am scared to play on perma-death mode, but love to keep playing and replaying a map until I find my optimal solution. Fire Emblem Three Houses is also special to me as it helped me accept my limitations.