*rolls around*
incidentally, the recent times article about people getting their knickers in a twist about public domain rorschach test original slides on wikipedia made me go look at the slides. Clearly number 9 (with the orange) is a couple of dragons a la chinese restaurants. And the last one is an coral-reef rendition of the eiffel tower.
Today, since i finally got to come home 'on time' i was very social! I talked to mycroftnext for the first time in ages on chat. I also talked to nihongofrancais on the actual phone (gasp!), and then pixisticks and fluttering and ky_rin on chat (and in one case, skype!). Social social~
Since dad brought me that potting soil my basil plant has been growing like crazy. i think it helps a little that i've been watering regularly, but really it's all the new dirt. If it keeps up like this, it'll be a basil tree!
ganked from ky_rin,
1. When did you start writing?
about the 1st or 2nd grade, though my spelling was so atrocious often i don't even know what i was trying to say. Though in terms of 'writing creatively for fun' as opposed to 'being able to write', i guess about 16 or 17? I have some ancient GW fic from those years. :D I was totally awesome then too, though i think i'm better now.
2. First drafts. Handwritten, typed, or combination?
typed if i can help it. It's a lot easier for me to work with something when it's typed, but I will handwrite when necessary, i.e., when I don't have access to a word processor. If I had to use a type writer, it'd probably be a toss up. typewriters do make amazingly fun noises.
3. Do you keep any kind of notebook or writer's journal, and if so, what kinds of things go into it?
I have a couple of notebooks I've devoted to writing in, first during school (so i'd take it with me to class and pull it out when the lecture wasn't worth it), and now to work (the front half is for work-related notes; the back half is for when something strikes my fancy). As a result, all kinds of random things go into them. strings of words that i liked, descriptions of people, places, things, events, or just whatever fic/drabble i happen to have on my mind at the moment.
similarly, on my computer in my fic folder, I keep a document that's small pieces of scenes, or paragraphs of prose that pop into my head and I want to work into something or expand into something later. I also keep a separate document of fic prompts, for those times someone asks for one unexpectedly.
4. Do you set any quotas for your work (number of words per day, number of hours per day, etc.)? Why or why not?
I don't as a general rule, and I don't really now, but i also kind of do right now because of getyourwordsout. I want to make my goal for the year, and they gave me a nifty spreadsheet that gives you a number of words you'd need to write each day to reach the goal (that adjusts itself as you either write more or less than recommended), so I, being mildly competitive, always want to write more than that daily goal. On the other hand, I don't tend to care too much if I don't reach it either.
5. Are you most comfortable writing short stories, novels, or something else?
drabbles! i like the freedom of being able to go anywhere with something and particularly to just stop whenever i feel like it. i do like to finish things as well (in which case, short shortshortshort story length), but lately i've felt even less conviction than usual to force myself.
6. What's your favorite kind of story to write?
I write character-driven stories. Things happen in them, but it's really about the charas for me. OR! I write a lot of PWP, which i like because they're pretty easy to do.
7. Talk about a story of yours that was easy to write and one that was difficult to write, and why.
Bruises, my 2007 jehols for procreational, was easy to write. I'd gotten an idea a couple days before that i'd jotted down so as not to forget it, and then i got my assignment, and that idea was just perfect for the pairing, and so...basically i just spent that evening writing me jehols and sent it off to my beta. She wheedled another 500 words out of me, but basically, I was done that night, and I still really like the work.
As for hard to write, I would say probably either Traces Left Behind or Infinity's End. Traces started well, and I knew mostly what I wanted to do with it, but partway through it wasn't doing what I wanted it to do, and some parts were very awkward and needed pixisticks to help me straighten it out. Infinity's End just didn't want to be and it fought me a lot of the way. I think a lot of the problem was how angsty it needed to be, and I didn't want to deliver angst for the 2008 jehols, except i did it anyway.
8. Which of your characters is closest to your sense of self? In other words, who do you most identify with in your own work to date?
I write my Ryo and my Shige an awful lot like how I'd like to be, I think. I identify with the snark a lot, particularly when they're unleashing it on each other.
9. What work are you most proud of right now?
Oh um. It might be Silent Like the Wings of Dawn. For one thing, it's my longest posted fic to date, by a good 2-3 thousand words. Second, I was working with a character I don't usually write, and it was set a good while in the future, which I also tend to stay out of. I'm just, I like it a lot, and it wasn't incredibly easy to do like Bruises (which i'm also v proud of), which wanted to be written and written right then. It didn't kill me to write it (though i missed the deadline by a day), but keeping at it for as long as i did (which ok, is admittedly not long) in terms of word count and frustration as it kept going up, makes me feel really good about it.
10. What do you feel your strengths and weaknesses are as a writer?
strength: lol i wanted to say 'grammar skillz.' idk, i think i'm a good writer, but most of all, i think my strength is that I've got a thick skin. I'm quite open to criticism, which doesn't mean I'll necessarily agree with it in the end, but I'm willing to give it time and weight and thought before I disagree.
weakness: perseverance. I have none, which didn't bother me so much before, but lately, as I have trouble finishing things, it's beginning to annoy.
11. Name a few writers who have influenced you or your work in some way.
robin mckinley. seriously, i blame her for my basic voice. A lot of the authors of things i read growing up, which i think, made a big impact on who i am, though not so obviously on my writing. Lawrence Yep, Tamora Pierce, Patricia Wrede. They tend to have strong female main characters who weren't willing to let people or custom tell them how they should be, and what they should do.
As for fic writers, probably most of you, actually, if you're writers. I admire and enjoy a lot of your styles, and I think anything you read has some influence on you, so you have influence on me.
12. Talk about something you've written that you later found embarrassing for some reason.
I once wrote a pwp for a pairing I don't normally do and am not particularly fond of that was simply atrocious. I was really uncomfortable with the whole thing (in terms of the piece, and finding a good voice for it) and didn't really want to be writing it, but had promised it to a friend, so I was pushing through basically as fast as I could just so i wouldn't have to work on it any longer. I like to think of myself as a good writer, but that piece was not good, and its quality embarrasses me still.
13. Talk about the earliest stories you remember writing. What were they about?
oh, i have no idea. how about the earliest story I didn't write. It was a children's book called Monkey Monkey's Big Day, and involved all kinds of dangerous things Monkey Monkey got into, such as nuclear waste (after which Monkey Monkey grew a second head). I'm still looking for an illustrator!
14. If you knew you would be successful, what would you most like to write?
Things I'd like to read, probably. Science fiction or Fantasy, probably, but maybe a couple of forays into the academic world.
15. What inspires you?
oh, everything. but also nothing in particular. The view from my window. The sky. Trees. Coffee. People. waiting. friends. airplanes. quiet days. busy places. the past. dreams. I have a good number of vivid dreams with storylines that would be interesting if they were books. I try to write them down. or also, when I get prompts from people (and I demand them often), I tend to try to think of unconventional ways to use it, like synonyms, or alternate uses of the word, idk does this even count?
16. How many projects do you tend to work on at once?
85 million. which is getting ridiculously close to literally. I tend to actively work on two or three projects, but have several others in the works. Short things I can finish quickly I'll often push to finish as soon as i can, but longer or more important things I let sit.
17. Who reads your work before it's released to the public? Do you have beta readers, a critique group, etc.?
i have a few people I pester for betaing. mycroftnext and pixisticks first and foremost. mycroftnext is my editor!wife and she gets dibs on anything with a pg-13 or under rating. pixisticks is generally my go-to for anything above. I've also bothered ky_rin and roundaboutit for beta jobs, though roundaboutit does it grudgingly XD.
18. When you're not writing, what do you do for fun?
wait, when am i ever writing? I read for fun, listen to music, talk to friends online or in person. Lately I've had a very busy social life, so there's that. I'm also watching a ridiculously large amount of tv with Tego, which is fun.
19. Advice to other writers?
Don't take yourself too seriously (but also, don't think you can't cut it). You're good, but there's always room to be better, and not everyone who says that to you (particularly in fandom) means it in a cruel way. Write because it's fun, or you like it, or you want to. When it stops being fun, or you stop liking it, or you stop wanting to, I think it's time to re-evaluate. Maybe you'll decide 'but i'm going to do it anyway until it starts being good again' or maybe you'll decide 'maybe later'. Both are good choices.
20. What are you currently working on?
roflroflrofl what am i not working on? I have so many WIPs right now it's sad and pathetic.
today i started my fic for jerainbowbridge. It's totally a secret (unless you talked to me today, in which case i probably spilled everything in a puddle of squee) so you won't get any here, but i love it so far. I just hope I don't get thrown off my grove anytime soon!
21. Share the first three sentences of a work in progress.
i couldn't pick, so i went with four. what. i cheat.
je: Yamapi emerged from the shower to find they'd started without him, a silent scuffle, a wordless fight for dominance taking place on the bed. Yamapi toweled off his hair, enjoying the view too much to really be annoyed. Jin was trying to use his larger frame to keep Ryo pinned to the bed as Jin kissed down his neck.
j2: Jared thinks Jensen looks kind of like a dirty librarian in his glasses. It's one of the things Jared would not admit to if pressed, and lately there seem to be more and more of them, mostly also about Jensen. But Jared can't help it.
merlin: "Merlin. If i could hit you. I would hit you."
"....this is totally not my fault."
other: Sara was my best friend for ten years. Since we were both fifteen and up to no good. Then again, I'm not sure that really ever changed for either of us.
Today, since i finally got to come home 'on time' i was very social! I talked to mycroftnext for the first time in ages on chat. I also talked to nihongofrancais on the actual phone (gasp!), and then pixisticks and fluttering and ky_rin on chat (and in one case, skype!). Social social~
Since dad brought me that potting soil my basil plant has been growing like crazy. i think it helps a little that i've been watering regularly, but really it's all the new dirt. If it keeps up like this, it'll be a basil tree!
ganked from ky_rin,
1. When did you start writing?
about the 1st or 2nd grade, though my spelling was so atrocious often i don't even know what i was trying to say. Though in terms of 'writing creatively for fun' as opposed to 'being able to write', i guess about 16 or 17? I have some ancient GW fic from those years. :D I was totally awesome then too, though i think i'm better now.
2. First drafts. Handwritten, typed, or combination?
typed if i can help it. It's a lot easier for me to work with something when it's typed, but I will handwrite when necessary, i.e., when I don't have access to a word processor. If I had to use a type writer, it'd probably be a toss up. typewriters do make amazingly fun noises.
3. Do you keep any kind of notebook or writer's journal, and if so, what kinds of things go into it?
I have a couple of notebooks I've devoted to writing in, first during school (so i'd take it with me to class and pull it out when the lecture wasn't worth it), and now to work (the front half is for work-related notes; the back half is for when something strikes my fancy). As a result, all kinds of random things go into them. strings of words that i liked, descriptions of people, places, things, events, or just whatever fic/drabble i happen to have on my mind at the moment.
similarly, on my computer in my fic folder, I keep a document that's small pieces of scenes, or paragraphs of prose that pop into my head and I want to work into something or expand into something later. I also keep a separate document of fic prompts, for those times someone asks for one unexpectedly.
4. Do you set any quotas for your work (number of words per day, number of hours per day, etc.)? Why or why not?
I don't as a general rule, and I don't really now, but i also kind of do right now because of getyourwordsout. I want to make my goal for the year, and they gave me a nifty spreadsheet that gives you a number of words you'd need to write each day to reach the goal (that adjusts itself as you either write more or less than recommended), so I, being mildly competitive, always want to write more than that daily goal. On the other hand, I don't tend to care too much if I don't reach it either.
5. Are you most comfortable writing short stories, novels, or something else?
drabbles! i like the freedom of being able to go anywhere with something and particularly to just stop whenever i feel like it. i do like to finish things as well (in which case, short shortshortshort story length), but lately i've felt even less conviction than usual to force myself.
6. What's your favorite kind of story to write?
I write character-driven stories. Things happen in them, but it's really about the charas for me. OR! I write a lot of PWP, which i like because they're pretty easy to do.
7. Talk about a story of yours that was easy to write and one that was difficult to write, and why.
Bruises, my 2007 jehols for procreational, was easy to write. I'd gotten an idea a couple days before that i'd jotted down so as not to forget it, and then i got my assignment, and that idea was just perfect for the pairing, and so...basically i just spent that evening writing me jehols and sent it off to my beta. She wheedled another 500 words out of me, but basically, I was done that night, and I still really like the work.
As for hard to write, I would say probably either Traces Left Behind or Infinity's End. Traces started well, and I knew mostly what I wanted to do with it, but partway through it wasn't doing what I wanted it to do, and some parts were very awkward and needed pixisticks to help me straighten it out. Infinity's End just didn't want to be and it fought me a lot of the way. I think a lot of the problem was how angsty it needed to be, and I didn't want to deliver angst for the 2008 jehols, except i did it anyway.
8. Which of your characters is closest to your sense of self? In other words, who do you most identify with in your own work to date?
I write my Ryo and my Shige an awful lot like how I'd like to be, I think. I identify with the snark a lot, particularly when they're unleashing it on each other.
9. What work are you most proud of right now?
Oh um. It might be Silent Like the Wings of Dawn. For one thing, it's my longest posted fic to date, by a good 2-3 thousand words. Second, I was working with a character I don't usually write, and it was set a good while in the future, which I also tend to stay out of. I'm just, I like it a lot, and it wasn't incredibly easy to do like Bruises (which i'm also v proud of), which wanted to be written and written right then. It didn't kill me to write it (though i missed the deadline by a day), but keeping at it for as long as i did (which ok, is admittedly not long) in terms of word count and frustration as it kept going up, makes me feel really good about it.
10. What do you feel your strengths and weaknesses are as a writer?
strength: lol i wanted to say 'grammar skillz.' idk, i think i'm a good writer, but most of all, i think my strength is that I've got a thick skin. I'm quite open to criticism, which doesn't mean I'll necessarily agree with it in the end, but I'm willing to give it time and weight and thought before I disagree.
weakness: perseverance. I have none, which didn't bother me so much before, but lately, as I have trouble finishing things, it's beginning to annoy.
11. Name a few writers who have influenced you or your work in some way.
robin mckinley. seriously, i blame her for my basic voice. A lot of the authors of things i read growing up, which i think, made a big impact on who i am, though not so obviously on my writing. Lawrence Yep, Tamora Pierce, Patricia Wrede. They tend to have strong female main characters who weren't willing to let people or custom tell them how they should be, and what they should do.
As for fic writers, probably most of you, actually, if you're writers. I admire and enjoy a lot of your styles, and I think anything you read has some influence on you, so you have influence on me.
12. Talk about something you've written that you later found embarrassing for some reason.
I once wrote a pwp for a pairing I don't normally do and am not particularly fond of that was simply atrocious. I was really uncomfortable with the whole thing (in terms of the piece, and finding a good voice for it) and didn't really want to be writing it, but had promised it to a friend, so I was pushing through basically as fast as I could just so i wouldn't have to work on it any longer. I like to think of myself as a good writer, but that piece was not good, and its quality embarrasses me still.
13. Talk about the earliest stories you remember writing. What were they about?
oh, i have no idea. how about the earliest story I didn't write. It was a children's book called Monkey Monkey's Big Day, and involved all kinds of dangerous things Monkey Monkey got into, such as nuclear waste (after which Monkey Monkey grew a second head). I'm still looking for an illustrator!
14. If you knew you would be successful, what would you most like to write?
Things I'd like to read, probably. Science fiction or Fantasy, probably, but maybe a couple of forays into the academic world.
15. What inspires you?
oh, everything. but also nothing in particular. The view from my window. The sky. Trees. Coffee. People. waiting. friends. airplanes. quiet days. busy places. the past. dreams. I have a good number of vivid dreams with storylines that would be interesting if they were books. I try to write them down. or also, when I get prompts from people (and I demand them often), I tend to try to think of unconventional ways to use it, like synonyms, or alternate uses of the word, idk does this even count?
16. How many projects do you tend to work on at once?
85 million. which is getting ridiculously close to literally. I tend to actively work on two or three projects, but have several others in the works. Short things I can finish quickly I'll often push to finish as soon as i can, but longer or more important things I let sit.
17. Who reads your work before it's released to the public? Do you have beta readers, a critique group, etc.?
i have a few people I pester for betaing. mycroftnext and pixisticks first and foremost. mycroftnext is my editor!wife and she gets dibs on anything with a pg-13 or under rating. pixisticks is generally my go-to for anything above. I've also bothered ky_rin and roundaboutit for beta jobs, though roundaboutit does it grudgingly XD.
18. When you're not writing, what do you do for fun?
wait, when am i ever writing? I read for fun, listen to music, talk to friends online or in person. Lately I've had a very busy social life, so there's that. I'm also watching a ridiculously large amount of tv with Tego, which is fun.
19. Advice to other writers?
Don't take yourself too seriously (but also, don't think you can't cut it). You're good, but there's always room to be better, and not everyone who says that to you (particularly in fandom) means it in a cruel way. Write because it's fun, or you like it, or you want to. When it stops being fun, or you stop liking it, or you stop wanting to, I think it's time to re-evaluate. Maybe you'll decide 'but i'm going to do it anyway until it starts being good again' or maybe you'll decide 'maybe later'. Both are good choices.
20. What are you currently working on?
roflroflrofl what am i not working on? I have so many WIPs right now it's sad and pathetic.
today i started my fic for jerainbowbridge. It's totally a secret (unless you talked to me today, in which case i probably spilled everything in a puddle of squee) so you won't get any here, but i love it so far. I just hope I don't get thrown off my grove anytime soon!
21. Share the first three sentences of a work in progress.
i couldn't pick, so i went with four. what. i cheat.
je: Yamapi emerged from the shower to find they'd started without him, a silent scuffle, a wordless fight for dominance taking place on the bed. Yamapi toweled off his hair, enjoying the view too much to really be annoyed. Jin was trying to use his larger frame to keep Ryo pinned to the bed as Jin kissed down his neck.
j2: Jared thinks Jensen looks kind of like a dirty librarian in his glasses. It's one of the things Jared would not admit to if pressed, and lately there seem to be more and more of them, mostly also about Jensen. But Jared can't help it.
merlin: "Merlin. If i could hit you. I would hit you."
"....this is totally not my fault."
other: Sara was my best friend for ten years. Since we were both fifteen and up to no good. Then again, I'm not sure that really ever changed for either of us.