JABBERWOCKY: What made you into a writer?

AINSLEY WILSON: Writing has always been an outlet for me to express my emotions, even since I was young. However, I wouldn’t have considered myself a writer back then. When I took Creative Writing with Ms. Lattari my junior year, I think I realized for the first time that the stories I write could be more than something I keep hidden away. After that, I started writing with more purpose, and I guess all of a sudden I became a writer. It’s still weird to think of myself as one, though.

JW: Our editors often felt a sense of dark wonder when reading your pieces. What motivates this style of writing for you?

AW: It's funny, that's not how I would self-describe my writing...I would like to say that I can write happy pieces just as easily as I write my darker pieces, but “dark wonder” does come a bit easier for me. I’m not sure I know exactly where this stems from, however, I do believe that a lot of life’s truths come out in hidden glimpses of hardship. Also, I’m a sucker for a bit of mystery.

JW: What’s more important to you in a piece: characters or setting, and why?

AW: I would say both are equally important in different ways. I think a story is only as good as its characters; however, I also think that the setting can make or break a piece. I will say that paying extra attention to setting can really bring a magical atmosphere to a piece that allows characters to be born. In this way, maybe setting drives the characters in my writing. But it totally depends on the piece.

JW: What does the word “metamorphosis” mean to you?

AW: I don’t think metamorphosis has to be the complete transformation of a character, although it can be. Sometimes, metamorphosis is an inner revelation of something that the character’s felt for a long time, and sometimes it’s just a shift in the character’s thought. To me, metamorphosis just means change, and change can manifest in so many different ways. That’s the beauty of writing!

Read Ainsley's poetry & short stories below!