Wacky Spotlight: Interview with Mansidak, Founder of FROST

It was too early on a Saturday morning in January to deal with strangers in my Instagram inbox. Yawning, I opened up the forums instead and checked my notifications. Something had happened overnight. Who was this Manisdak person replying to me on that thread about Frost? His profile said he was an engineering student and…FOUNDER of Frost??

Wait a minute…Mansidak…? Why does that ring a bell…

I jumped back to my Instagram inbox and clicked the unread message. From Mansidak:

Hey Maria! Hope everything’s going well and you’re having a great start to 2021. I saw your comment on a post that someone shared on the forum wackywriters on Frost. Just wanted to thank you for using Frost and I’m so glad that you liked it. I’d love to hear more on what you have to say about it. Thanks again, and happy holidays! 

Naturally, I squealed. The founder of Frost, on WackyWriters?? How did this happen?? (I’m sure those of you more tech-inclined than myself have already guessed that the traffic our topic generated had Mansidak wondering where it came from.) On a (relatively) small forum like ours, such a development is really exciting! Especially because you all loved this resource so much, and now Mansidak had joined our ranks!

We quickly realized that this would be a great opportunity to collaborate, so we officially introduced Frost to the Wacky community a few weeks later and began plotting an interview. Well, here it is now!

Hope you enjoy reading and if you like using Frost, consider filling out this survey to provide your feedback and give the official Frost App a follow on Instagram to stay up to date with the latest news.

Would you mind if I started asking you random questions about Frost & stuff so we can also do an interview for the blog?? I think it’d be more engaging if it reads like an actual conversation!

For sure! That sounds interesting actually!

I’mma be the next big thing in lockdown journalism, just you watch!  Kidding, but here goes – something I’ve been wondering about for a while: why is it called Frost? What does a meteorological occurrence have to do with writing, or music?

So, Frost was named after the legendary poet Robert Frost. It is often confused with the weather term ‘Frost’, but it actually honors the contributions of Robert Frost in the literature.

My other thought had been Jack Frost, but I have to admit I don’t know Robert Frost  Google, here I come! In the meantime, here’s the second question – just HOW in the world do you find the music?? Shazam is powerless in most cases 

As a student, I did not have enough funds to get licensing from big record companies, so I had to research a lot on finding the best-fitting music providing service. After a few weeks of constant search, I finally found some music providers. You can learn more about them in the attribution section of the website.

Also, the latest addition to Frost called Frost Radio was launched near Christmas where we provide free playlists on Apple Music and Spotify on various moods that help you not just in writing, but being productive at your desk in general.

Ohhh, I see, thank you! I’ll look into that. Speaking of funds – at Wacky, we know first-hand how challenging it can be to keep a site afloat (lookin’ at you, Google ads ), so how do you keep Frost free?? Do you think you will ever monetize it?

As far as commercialization is concerned, I’ll try to keep it available for free for as long as possible. I personally think that one shouldn’t pay to unleash their creativity and just to keep things simple I’ve kept Frost free. Even in the future I’ll try to keep at least the basic features of Frost free.

And ads will never be there on Frost btw!

That’s great news!  So, possibly one of the most obvious questions, but which I’m only asking now – how did you come up with the idea for Frost? What was the spark of inspiration that led you to this project?

I’ve always wanted to have an environment where writers can write freely without any distractions.

Mainstream word processors like MS Word and macOS Pages don’t provide that ideal environment because of their UI. And it’s not a secret that most writers listen to music while writing, so I just wanted a minimalistic platform with everything in place, and available for free.

You are a writer yourself, then?  A writer and an engineering student, that’s not a combination you expect to see very often! But one that I think is brilliant.

Haha thanks! I certainly believe that the experience from both the fields helps in the creative process. I think creativity is the same, whether in a lab or in a studio.

That’s certainly true. The only difference is how you apply that creativity. And really, a true writer possesses a wealth of knowledge on a variety of subjects – because you never know what might set off your next greatest idea! What sort of stuff do you write?

I practice writing poetry whenever I get the time to. I used to write every now and then in high school, but since college started I haven’t been able to write much due to classes and side projects like Frost. But I enjoy reading various kinds of poems on the internet whenever I get the chance to.

Oh, that’s lovely! And I know exactly what you mean, life often gets in the way of writing  Also, I’ve looked up Robert Frost, he definitely seems like one of the greatest American poets. Would you say he’s been an influence on your own poetry, since you’ve decided to name your website after him? And how did you start writing poetry, by the way? 

I do enjoy reading Frost. He’s one of those poets whose syntax is kind of predictable, but it does require a little bit of effort to understand what he’s trying to convey. As far as writing is concerned, I started writing back in 8th grade. Now that I look back at it, the stuff I wrote back then certainly seems very cringe-worthy now haha. But my style developed over time as I enjoyed reading more poems and studied the history of the art.

I’m sure that’s a problem every writer has! Are you one of those writers inspired by music? What kind of music do you listen to?

I’m definitely inspired by music. I think music is one of the greatest methods to induce mood and get you in the mindset of doing something creative. As far as writing music is concerned, I usually listen to soothing zen tracks that can help me align my thoughts on paper.

I’ve just seen in your Instagram story that there’s Frost merch now! Awesome  Is that widely available to buy?

It’s not publicly available yet. I’ve been sending these out as a token of appreciation to the friends and connections who helped me to grow Frost in one way or the other. But I’ll keep the users updated if/when they go public. 

Awww  Yes, do let us know!

For sure!!

And to wrap up – is there anything else you’d like to share with fellow writers and Frost enthusiasts? 

I’d just like to express my gratitude to them for using Frost and giving it a space in their writing routine. To me, as a maker, it means a lot.

Write on Frost: Home — FROST
Listen to Frost Radio: Radio — FROST
Follow Frost on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/frost.app/

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