Julian Schild, a NWA freshman, has a passion for writing. He is currently working on the first draft of a full length novel.
The novel, which is a satire centering on themes of oppression, has continued to grow since he started the project as a school assignment one and a half years ago. Schild hopes to continue working on it for the foreseeable future.
“At [my] old school we [had] a Capstone project at the end of eighth grade, and I decided it would be a good idea to try to write a novel,” says Schild, “[and] I’ve just been working on it since.”
Schild has made significant progress since beginning this project, as finding time to write is important to him. He often tries to write in the evening and late afternoon, but making the time to do this also depends on whether or not he has homework or other obligations.
“I really don’t know where I am,” says Schild. “I’m probably about 35-ish percent of the way through [writing the novel]. [It’s] about forty thousand words so far, [maybe] a little less.”
Schild is interested in social justice, which has influenced the novel’s content. It centers on many themes of societal injustice and cruelty.
“I can tell you it’s satire on racism and the Holocaust and things like that,” says Schild, “There’s some eugenics in there too.”
Schild is also an avid reader, and has been inspired by some of his favorite authors. Many of their work contains similar themes of political and social commentary, which has influenced his own writing.
“The top few [authors I look up to] would be Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, George Orwell [and] Kurt Vonnegut,” he says. “For a long time when I was a young child, I really liked Roald Dahl for some reason.”
While Schild would ultimately like to publish his writing, he is concerned that it will prove difficult to find someone interested in supporting and funding a young writer’s work.
“I don’t know who is going to see a 14 year old and be like ‘hey, I’ll put my money in your project’, but we’ll see,” says Schild.
Schild is still considering possible career choices, and has not yet decided on what he wants to pursue.
“I don’t really think about my future that much,” he says. “[I’ll] probably [be a writer], but I don’t know.”
