Here's my quick translation of the Dengeki interview, I don't vouch for its faithfulness or accuracy, but it should give you the idea.
#2 Nakaya Nio
(Nakatani Nio)
Profile
She was awarded the 21st annual Dengeki Manga Grand Prix (Gold) Award for her submission “Sayonara, Horuta". She is scheduled to begin a new series in Dengeki Daioh starting from the June 2015 issue.
Q&A
Q: When did you first start drawing manga?
A: I started to draw pictures manga-style in a split-frame when I was a sixth-grader in elementary school, but the first time I submitted anything for publication was after starting college.
Q: Please tell me your submission and publication history before winning the award.
A: From around my third year attending a university, I had submitted work 5-6 times either there or for women's magazines. Several times they won awards, but nothing was picked up for publication.
Q: Please tell me what sparked your interest in applying for the Dengeki Manga Grand Prix.
A: Because I had been recommended to the editors.
Q What inspired the idea for your winning entry?
A: I liked the idea of a weak character from the start. I liked identical twins who strongly identify with being twins as characters, then I wrote about two distinct people who combined their identity as twins.
Q: Please tell us what the biggest difficulty you struggled with was, when you were bringing your winning idea to life as an actual work.
A: Because the number of pages that can be drawn within the time limit is limited, successfully misdirecting the reader's attention so as to maximize the surprise. Besides that, limiting the scenes to just the ones that advanced the plot.
Q: What do you think the decisive factor in winning was ?
A: Well, you can ask, but ultimately it's the members of the jury who decide what they most enjoy, and why.
Q: Currently, you are committed to developing a new series. Is there some theme in particular you wish to explore?
A: In order to put a twist on the idea of the heroine, and in hopes of learning properly about a subject as I draw it, I decided that she would get to fall in love with women.
Q: Have you gotten helpful advice from the editors?
A: I got various technical suggestions such as guiding the path of the reader's eye to that of the story, etc., but one I'm going to really keep in mind from among them is "A character with a strong ego is attractive."
Q: Finally, a word of advice to those who want to apply for the Dengeki Manga Grand Prix!
A: Just because my manga which got the award ended up being completely what was drawn to their liking, and just because you aim for the award, I think that there is nonetheless no need to draw in a "formulaic" way. People with talent and something to express in their drawing shouldn't aim overly to please. Good luck.
last edited at Feb 15, 2016 12:20PM