writing meme swunked from ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rfachir and kennahijja
I tag: sartorias, superversive,johncwright, camillofan and kikei, simply because it is of interest to everyone to know how talented authors write.
1. Do you outline?
Only when I have hit some serious roadblock. It is a way to re-grasp the plot in my mind.
2. Do you write straight through, or do you sometimes tackle the scenes out of order?
I NEVER write scenes out of order. If I do, it is a safe sign that the writing has gone awry and that I might as well give that particular story up.
3. Do you prefer writing with a pen or using a computer?
Computer. Helps that I have been able to touch type for twenty years, so it comes as natural to me as speaking.
4. Do you prefer writing in first person or third?
Third. But I think I am not bad at first-person narrative, either. What I hate is second-person - to me, it is a near-certain sign of pretentiousness. Who the &^%$£ are YOU to tell your character how s/he thinks, feels or reacts? It is they who should be telling you!
5. Do you listen to music while you write?
Always. Music is brain food.
6. How do you come up with the perfect names for your characters?
Instinct. It was years before I found the name Silver Angel, even when I knew the character and her looks. And then I realized that, without meaning to do it, I had added another character to the great Superman family - initials LL (cf. Lois Lane, Lana Lang, Lyra Lerrol), great cape and superpowers, big "S" on her chest. None of which was intended. By the same token, I once created a Harry Potter character before there ever was a Harry Potter! (http://fpb.livejournal.com/107275.html)
7. When you're writing, do you ever imagine your story as a television show or movie?
No, not even as a comic. Although I do get very strong visual images of how things are supposed to look. But if I wanted to produce a visual narrative, I would design a comic strip. Prose is prose.
8. Have you ever had a character insist on doing something you really didn't want him/her to do?
Yes. Which is why my current multi-parter is stuck. I am dreading having to write the climax, because it is going to hurt like Hell - and poorasakiyume, who has been the fic's most loyal fan, is probably going to feel like I kicked her in the stomach.
9. Do you know how a book is going to end when you start it?
Yes. The closing scene is the point towards which everything works. It is usually the middle that I have problems with.
10. Where do you write?
At my computer.
11. What do you do when you get writer's block?
File away the bloody thing. Same as when I am writing away merrily, really.
12. What size increments do you write in (either in terms of wordcount, or as a percentage of the fic as a whole)?
I like to finish a whole piece of work in one day. If I cannot, then much the best is simply write till I drop. If I cannot go on from morning to night, there is something wrong with the idea or realization.
13. How many different drafts did you write for your last project?
I do not count, because I do not usually get to the end and then start redrafting the whole. I redraft as I go, or I may remove or add pieces after I finished something.
14. Have you ever changed a character's name midway through a draft?
Once.
15. Do you let anyone read your story while you're working on it, or do you wait until you've completed a draft before letting someone else see it?
I hardly have people willing to read the damn things after they are written!
16. What do you do to celebrate when you finish a draft?
Lie back, take a deep breath, then get up and go get some coffee or something.
17. One project at a time, or multiple projects at once?
I tend to work on only one thing at a time, but I always have from twenty to forty projects at some stage of completion in my files.
18. Do your stories grow or shrink in revision?
Grow. If they shrink, it is because I decide to chop entire episodes, and when I do, that hurts.
19. Do you have any writing or critique partners?
Rarely. I have to say that the best HP fic I ever wrote (It was all on account of the little Russian girl) benefited immeasurably from the criticism of my beta at the time, some German lady or other. 8-)
20. Do you prefer drafting or revising?
Writing.
sartorias, superversive,johncwright, camillofan and kikei, simply because it is of interest to everyone to know how talented authors write.1. Do you outline?
Only when I have hit some serious roadblock. It is a way to re-grasp the plot in my mind.
2. Do you write straight through, or do you sometimes tackle the scenes out of order?
I NEVER write scenes out of order. If I do, it is a safe sign that the writing has gone awry and that I might as well give that particular story up.
3. Do you prefer writing with a pen or using a computer?
Computer. Helps that I have been able to touch type for twenty years, so it comes as natural to me as speaking.
4. Do you prefer writing in first person or third?
Third. But I think I am not bad at first-person narrative, either. What I hate is second-person - to me, it is a near-certain sign of pretentiousness. Who the &^%$£ are YOU to tell your character how s/he thinks, feels or reacts? It is they who should be telling you!
5. Do you listen to music while you write?
Always. Music is brain food.
6. How do you come up with the perfect names for your characters?
Instinct. It was years before I found the name Silver Angel, even when I knew the character and her looks. And then I realized that, without meaning to do it, I had added another character to the great Superman family - initials LL (cf. Lois Lane, Lana Lang, Lyra Lerrol), great cape and superpowers, big "S" on her chest. None of which was intended. By the same token, I once created a Harry Potter character before there ever was a Harry Potter! (http://fpb.livejournal.com/107275.html)
7. When you're writing, do you ever imagine your story as a television show or movie?
No, not even as a comic. Although I do get very strong visual images of how things are supposed to look. But if I wanted to produce a visual narrative, I would design a comic strip. Prose is prose.
8. Have you ever had a character insist on doing something you really didn't want him/her to do?
Yes. Which is why my current multi-parter is stuck. I am dreading having to write the climax, because it is going to hurt like Hell - and poor
asakiyume, who has been the fic's most loyal fan, is probably going to feel like I kicked her in the stomach.9. Do you know how a book is going to end when you start it?
Yes. The closing scene is the point towards which everything works. It is usually the middle that I have problems with.
10. Where do you write?
At my computer.
11. What do you do when you get writer's block?
File away the bloody thing. Same as when I am writing away merrily, really.
12. What size increments do you write in (either in terms of wordcount, or as a percentage of the fic as a whole)?
I like to finish a whole piece of work in one day. If I cannot, then much the best is simply write till I drop. If I cannot go on from morning to night, there is something wrong with the idea or realization.
13. How many different drafts did you write for your last project?
I do not count, because I do not usually get to the end and then start redrafting the whole. I redraft as I go, or I may remove or add pieces after I finished something.
14. Have you ever changed a character's name midway through a draft?
Once.
15. Do you let anyone read your story while you're working on it, or do you wait until you've completed a draft before letting someone else see it?
I hardly have people willing to read the damn things after they are written!
16. What do you do to celebrate when you finish a draft?
Lie back, take a deep breath, then get up and go get some coffee or something.
17. One project at a time, or multiple projects at once?
I tend to work on only one thing at a time, but I always have from twenty to forty projects at some stage of completion in my files.
18. Do your stories grow or shrink in revision?
Grow. If they shrink, it is because I decide to chop entire episodes, and when I do, that hurts.
19. Do you have any writing or critique partners?
Rarely. I have to say that the best HP fic I ever wrote (It was all on account of the little Russian girl) benefited immeasurably from the criticism of my beta at the time, some German lady or other. 8-)
20. Do you prefer drafting or revising?
Writing.
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What I hate is second-person - to me, it is a near-certain sign of pretentiousness. Who the &^%$£ are YOU to tell your character how s/he thinks, feels or reacts? It is they who should be telling you!
Wow, harsh, man. While I agree that in most author's hands 2nd-person comes across as extremely pretentious, I have also read fic where a skillful use of that POV pulled me amazingly deeply in the story. (My favorite example of this is one of
What size increments do you write in (either in terms of wordcount, or as a percentage of the fic as a whole)?
I like to finish a whole piece of work in one day.
I think I hate you a little. I never have time to do this. Grrrr. I have to snag a hour here and there, maybe get a whole evening (4 hours or so) if I really try.
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**I mean, the second person who I've come across in reading my friends list. Maybe bunches of people have been mentioning her, elsewhere :-)
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Go here for a complete list of her fic on the web! (http://rja.mirrordance.net/fanfic.html) "What You Never Knew You Wanted" is the 2nd-person piece I mentioned.
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Actually, this is a problem, and it means that I am a lot less productive than I could be. I am no good with small increments, especially starting half-way or more through the day; it is hard to get started. What I am saying is that I really can only write well when I can set aside large amounts of time. IN your condition, I would never write at all, of course, but even so, if you look at my LJ, you will find that there are long stretches of time when I only write short mood notes or copy out other guys' articles, and that evey five or six days.
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re: no. 8. Please, please, go ahead and write whatever horrible climax you must. You are a master of characterization, and if one of your characters is demanding to do something, even if it is crushing, even if it is bleak, it must be because it has to be that way. Anyway, I will handle it. Please!
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The only thing I don't like about writing is getting started. Ugh.
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Anyway, I'm going back and trying to sleep now. I woke up in the middle of the night and headed for the computer - as you do...
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Have a good night!
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