Tell me about your writing project.

It’s a serialised novel called Princess Saltwater, and it’s being posted in instalments on Instagram. I thought it would be nice to embrace the digital age of writing through Instagram because it’s so immediate and people can leave comments. It’s in small chapters, so it’s really easy for the comments to influence the next chapter. I’m hoping that people will have opinions about what my characters should actually do, and that can then go into the new chapters. It’s an experimental project – it’s quite non-traditional, and very visual.

What’s the story about?

It’s a fictional young adult novel, but it’s written so everyone can read it. It’s about a princess from an unspecified land who runs away – it’s a story of her trying to find independence. She escapes to Greece and roams around with her butler and friends. Now that I’ve come back to Cambridge the setting will be changing, though. It’s kind of a silly story. Lighthearted. And fun, hopefully.

How do you feel about integrating emojis into your writing?

 I like them in this context – as a serious author I wouldn’t use them. But since this is really playful I think they brighten it up, and fit Instagram as a very visual platform.  I don’t think of emojis as replacements for words because that ruins the flow. I’m very careful about where I put them, and they always have something to do with a word that has come around them: they work as visual highlights.

To what extent is it personal?

Every writer is influenced by their personal life, but I try to keep it as impersonal as possible because I feature myself visually in photographs. It already feels a little bit invasive, and I don’t want it to actually be a representation of my life. It’s very fictional, a very fictional character, but I guess she’s got parts of me because it is a voice that I’m writing.

What are your influences?

I’m trying to build it up as a homage to young adult fiction. There are some things which I’m sure people will compare it to, especially modern fairytales, by Meg Cabot or Gail Carson Levine. In terms of voice, I’ve been influenced by L.M. Montgomery – I think Anne of Green Gables is very elegant, ladylike prose. I love Truman Capote, and I really like James Joyce because of the actual physical tangibility of his words. That’s something I’d like to pursue as an author, being able to have words that feel like they exist in space.

How do you feel about Instagram as a publishing platform?

I’m trying to embrace self-publishing because I think it can be very empowering, as you have the opportunity to build your own brand as an author. It’s also kind of stressful, because as a writer you always put yourself out there when you publish, but I actually get to see the comments right away – there’s no distance between me and the reader because I’m trying to pull them in. The comments come up as notifications on my phone, so if there’s anything bad it’ll be very immediate, but I’ve had only positive feedback so far. 

You can follow Sophia’s Instagram account @princess.saltwater , and find out more on her website www.sophiaxgatzionis.com.