Hannah Witton is known for her straight-talking YouTube videos about sex, relationships and real life scenarios. Seriously, sometimes we don’t want things sugarcoated. Now, our online guru has written down her thoughts, feelings and life experiences into one must-have book, ‘Doing It!’ It’s filled with everything you’ve ever wanted to know about sex, but felt too awkward to ask.
We managed to snag a chat with Hannah amongst her hectic schedule to talk all things, ‘Doing It!’
Why did you choose to focus on sex as the topic for the book?
I’ve been making videos about sex and relationships for 5 years and sex education is a passion of mine so it made sense that the book would be about that.
Would you ever think about branching out into fiction writing?
Maybe… I haven’t written fiction since creative writing for English GCSE! But I can imagine if I ever did fiction it would be one of two things – issue based YA or erotica.
How did you find switching from speaking in front of a camera to writing your thoughts on paper?
Pretty easy to be honest. I script some of my videos and I have a blog so writing out my thoughts wasn’t anything new to me. It was just the length that was the massive switch!
What inspired you to write a book?
I wanted to write a book since leaving university but in my head, it was always this really far off goal that I would do in 10-20 years time. But then I was approached by publishers who had seen my YouTube channel and asked if I ever wanted to write a book!
Who are your favourite YouTubers and do they inspire your channels or your writing in any way?
My favourite YouTubers whose videos I have to watch as soon as they upload are Leena Norms, Akilah Hughes, Evelyn From the Internets, Anna Akana and Shan Boodram. All of them inspire me in different ways – in my ideas, my writing, my comedic timing, my curiosity.
Your blog covers a broad spectrum of topics. Will any of these be used for future book ideas?
Most likely! I’ve got a few ideas for book ideas up my sleeve but nothing concrete yet and they’re all inspired by things I already love talking about.
What can readers expect to find in your book?
They can expect to find an open, honest, chatty friend offering advice, information, support and some laughs. Also some personal anecdotes from my life!
We see you wrote blog posts about all the books you read, on the topics of sex. What did you take from reading these and which, would you say, inspired your writing the most?
Ah, such a hard question. I love reading books about sex! I have so many on my shelves and so many un-read ones that I need to get round to reading. There’s always something no matter how small that I take away from every book and all of these things added up help to inform and educate me. Juno Dawson is a big inspiration in terms of how she talks about taboo topics openly in a way that’s accessible to teens and Cherry Healey’s ‘Letters To My Fanny’ was great to see how someone can talk about tricky subjects and still be funny!
How do you juggle YouTube, writing, and your other responsibilities?
Organisation! I love organisation and systems. I also just love working hard. My friends often say I’m the most organised person they know. When you’re your own boss and you have loads of different responsibilities it’s only on you to manage your time effectively. Takes a lot of practice but I feel like I’m in a good place right now in terms of my time management, work/life balance and getting shit done.
Can we see you branching away from YouTube and into other mediums in the future?
YouTube is my first love but yes of course; I’ve written my first book, I have a radio show on FubarRadio.com every Wednesday evening, I am a podcaster with the Banging Book Club. I love dipping my toes into different mediums and I’m hoping to do more TV stuff in the future!
What’s one piece of advice you wish you could tell a younger version of yourself?
I wish I could tell her that female masturbation isn’t gross or weird and your genitals are normal and you should totally try touching yourself!