From navigating the pressures of social media to creating relatable characters, Allayne Webster shares her writing process and the thoughts behind her novel, Selfie, in light of the under-16s social media ban in Australia.

What do you love most about writing? Have you always wanted to be an author?

I was a writer/artist/musician from a young age. Whether I intended to be or not, it’s just what came naturally and couldn’t not do it. I didn’t pursue writing with any seriousness until after my son was born—I think largely because I didn’t have the breathing space (she says, very ironically with a newborn baby!) I needed something that was purely for me; an escape from the pressures of parenting. That’s when my writing and my career really took off, and I haven’t looked back since.

Your novel Selfie explores the positive and negative landscape of social media. What inspired or prompted you to write about this?

The creation of Selfie was borne of my own misgivings with social media. As authors, there’s an expectation we have an online presence and that we promote our work as best we can. Not all of us are designed for the stage. Some of us are a bit uncomfortable with that, hence we are writers. Social media is a brilliant means of reaching an audience but it’s a double-edged sword because it can also produce negative emotions like imposter syndrome, unrealistic comparisons, FOMO, etc. Writing Selfie was cathartic because I was able to work through those issues via story.

Were there any aspects of Selfie that you drew from your own life?

Absolutely! I am notorious for thinking if someone leaves me on ‘read’ in a chat space, that I’ve said or done something wrong. My anxiety goes into overdrive because I never want to cause offence by saying something daft or unthinking or unfeeling. Ninety-nine percent of the time, the person is just busy, or ill, or distracted by children, or juggling any number of things that have absolutely nothing to do with me. With the online world comes instant gratification and sometimes we fall into the trap of thinking we’ll receive an instant response from a friend when we message them. In Selfie, Tully does just this: she overthinks it, she internalises it, and she blames herself. But at the same time she doesn’t realise she’s guilty of this very same behaviour when it comes to her friend Kira, whom she pretty much forgets in the face of her desire to please Dene.

What research did you do around social media and its impact on young people in order to write this novel?

In truth, I didn’t need to look too far. It was all right there, staring me in the face. The algorithms pick up on what you’re reading/what you’re viewing, and I recall around the time I was writing Selfie, reading post upon post from influencers, authors, readers, you name it, about their misgivings in relation to social media. Some account holders would write lengthy posts about self-care and switching off, and others use the platform to vent their frustrations. I recall reading about clickbait, about attention-seeking posts to obtain quick likes and followers, and about exploitative parents posting everything and anything about their children, many of whom were too young to provide their consent. All of this went into the ‘soup-mix’ that is Selfie.

In light of the social media ban for under-16s in Australia, do you believe that social media should be accessible to young people?

This question is very complex and I don’t know if there’s necessarily a right or wrong answer. For some, access to social media is a non-issue and they can take it or leave it. For others, it’s life and death. For those who’ve lost loved ones to suicide as a result of online bullying, I can readily see how cut and dry the argument is: ban social media. Simple. For those who crave connectivity, particularly those who feel marginalised and who feel as though they’ve found their tribe in an online world, I imagine cutting those links is equally detrimental—and the statistics associated with doing so are hard to measure. Sometimes we can’t sit on our hands and do nothing; we have to act, and I think that’s what our government is doing—attempting to regulate an unregulated space and be seen to be trying something. How it will work in practice is anyone’s guess. When learning of the move to ban social media, my immediate overarching thought was that if I was a teenager and I was told ‘no you can’t do this,’ that would make it even more attractive, and I likely would’ve found ways around it. I imagine this generation will too. And perhaps sending it ‘underground’ (which will be where it will be forced to go) will have ramifications we never saw coming.

Our most powerful ally is always education and open conversation. My novel Selfie provides a platform to get the conversation started. I always write with the hope that readers will be able to point to my work and say, There! That’s me! I feel like that! Or I’ve experienced that! Sometimes it’s easier to discuss fictional characters and distance ourselves a little. Novels combat embarrassment—a powerful limiting human emotion. Remove the shame, you’ve changed the game.

How did you meet the main characters of this novel, Tully and Dene?

When I first start writing, often what comes to me is a voice—and with Selfie that voice was Tully’s. Tully is a bit of a green, starry-eyed, sunny-side-up kind of character, willing to forgive and see the best in people. As a consequence, sometimes she can be manipulated and/or taken advantage of. Dene is more self-centered, more focused on herself and what others can do for her. But much of it is owing to her mother’s influence and constant monitoring, and as the novel progresses, you come to realise Dene is doing her best in a very difficult situation driven by a demanding parent.

How do you plan your novels and flesh out your characters so that they are relatable to young readers?

I’m a pantser and a planner. It really depends on the novel. Some novels I write flying by the seat of my pants and others I have a clear gameplan from the very start. If I were to meet myself somewhere in the middle, I’d say I have a general overview of where I’m going and I write chapter notes to flesh out to roughly 2k words per chapter. But it’s never a solid plan. It’s highly flexible slash-and-burn stuff. Sometimes it takes me a while to work out what I’m really writing about. As for the creation of three-dimensional characters, this is an artform in itself. How long have you got? Joking! Characters must have backstories, flaws, loves, dislikes, strengths etc like anyone else. It sounds a little bizarre, but sometimes it takes me a while to get to know the characters I’m creating. I have to interrogate each and every motivation, their reasoning for behaving a certain way, and often rewrite those parts until it’s entirely believable. In short: there’s a whole lot of emotional intelligence involved.

What do you most hope for readers to get out of Selfie and your other works as a whole?

I’ve written ten books now, soon to be twelve, and each of them come with an individual message and associated hopes and dreams. That said, holistically speaking, my aim is to build empathy under the guise of entertainment. If the reader isn’t enjoying the story, you’ve lost them, so story has to come first, but ultimately what I’m aiming for is to expand young minds (and an older reader’s viewpoint) and give them pause for thought to consider other angles/experiences/opinions outside of their own.

In previous interviews, you’ve shared your love of meeting young readers. Have there been any notable interactions with your readers that you can share?

Over the years, I’ve lost count of the number of emails, letters, and kind comments made about my stories and my writing. But two standouts from the pack are:

Firstly, I was involved in a minor car accident where the other driver rear-ended me. When we exchanged details, it was easier to hand the young girl my business card. And that’s when she freaked out, there and then on the side of the road, fangirling me because she’d read my books in high school. It was a very funny situation!

The second strong memory is of a young girl who read my novel Sensitive and excitedly shared it with her schoolyard friend. Neither girl knew that they were in fact the daughters of the two medical practitioners responsible for saving my life when I almost died nine years ago—until they read the acknowledgements in the back of the book and saw their parent’s names. Even stranger, they subsequently found out they lived on the exact same street. It felt all very serendipitous, like the universe had a plan all along. The whole thing gave me shivers.

Do you have any other projects in the works?

I most certainly do! My new YA novel, Maisy Hayes is Not for Sale is out with Text Publishing in September 2025, and it’s a coming-of-age novel set within the framework of divorce and economic inequity.

I’m also currently completing a YA comedy novel with the assistance of a South Australian Arts Grant. I hope to have the first draft completed by April 2025. Thereafter, I’ve been tinkering with the idea of writing an adult comedy novel so I can be a lot more naughty! But you never know.

It all depends on what idea grabs me and holds me ransom and makes me tackle it so I can eventually sleep at night!