Memery Part Deux!
6. Where are you most comfortable writing? At what time of day? Computer or good ol' pen and paper?
I like to be on my laptop in a place with lots of varied surfaces. I need to alternate between sitting on the couch, perching on a counter, lying on my stomach on the floor, pacing with my laptop in one hand, et cetera. The kitchen/living room area of my house is perfect. I don't like writing with pen and paper because my hand cramps, and I type really fast, and it's harder to get comforable when your arm has to be in the perfect position to write. But I'll do it, say, in math class. I write best...any time after noon, really. I get less effective as I approach midnight...and then, around 3 AM, I hit a weird uber-productive stage, as long as nobody else is around to distract me.
One other thing - I also like writing in a coffee shop type setting, except usually that turns into me drinking too much iced tea and watching all the interesting people. So I guess I like to *pretend* to write in coffee shops. That probably doesn't count.
7. Do you listen to music while you write? What kind? Are there any songs you like to relate/apply to your characters?
I don't listen to music when I write, unless I don't really want to write. I'm in the habit of paying too close attention to lyrics, so concentrating on anything else is impossible. And if I'm able to ignore the music, I might as well not have it playing at all, for all the good it's doing. However, I do have the habit of applying songs to characters a bit too much. And sometimes, the lyrics of a song will inspire a story - my best example is freshman year, when I wrote a post-apocalyptic tale based on five different songs from Nightwish's Dark Passion Play album. For some reason, though, I most often apply songs to fandom before they trickle to original fiction. I suppose that makes sense, addicted little fangirl that I am.
8. What's your favorite genre to write? To read?
Fantasy and scifi are my true loves. Lately, it's been steampunk especially. I love speculative fiction - the universes are always so much more interesting, and perfect backdrops for a really good story. I write them and read them, almost constantly. ...I suppose that at this point, I should admit that I also have a pathetic sort of fondness for a good love story, especially one that doesn't follow the traditional fairy tale archetypes. What can I say? I'm a hopeless sort of romantic.
9. How do you get ideas for your characters? Describe the process of creating them.
Man, how to answer this one? I guess I start with the bare bones of what I want. For example, I'll decide one day that I want to write about a guy who is completely fabulous and batshit insane. So I'll start writing a scene in which he displays these character traits strongly. Then, I'll keep going, introduce new elements, and just...see what he does. I like to make sure my characters are their own people. When I try to get a character to fill a role, it always ends in disaster and really bad writing. I can't start with a blank slate - there has to be something there - but all the little details need to come in their own time.
10. What are some really weird situations your characters have been in? Everything from serious canon scenes to meme questions counts!
Well, as for the crazy meme question, I once dropped my Breaking Space characters onto a planet where Suddenly, There Were Dinosaurs. I think Krys ended up with a pet dromeciomimus...and this was *before* I read Runaways. So I must be psychic.
But for canon stuff, the end of my '08 NaNo was pretty weird. Was she crazy? Did she really go to that island? Was she really wallowing in an asylum bed, or did she magically escape? Does this author actually posess the imagination necessary to end her stories?
(Okay, everybody look at the song below and TELL me it's not Saffron's theme song. I really want to make a video, but I don't know where to find clips.)
I like to be on my laptop in a place with lots of varied surfaces. I need to alternate between sitting on the couch, perching on a counter, lying on my stomach on the floor, pacing with my laptop in one hand, et cetera. The kitchen/living room area of my house is perfect. I don't like writing with pen and paper because my hand cramps, and I type really fast, and it's harder to get comforable when your arm has to be in the perfect position to write. But I'll do it, say, in math class. I write best...any time after noon, really. I get less effective as I approach midnight...and then, around 3 AM, I hit a weird uber-productive stage, as long as nobody else is around to distract me.
One other thing - I also like writing in a coffee shop type setting, except usually that turns into me drinking too much iced tea and watching all the interesting people. So I guess I like to *pretend* to write in coffee shops. That probably doesn't count.
7. Do you listen to music while you write? What kind? Are there any songs you like to relate/apply to your characters?
I don't listen to music when I write, unless I don't really want to write. I'm in the habit of paying too close attention to lyrics, so concentrating on anything else is impossible. And if I'm able to ignore the music, I might as well not have it playing at all, for all the good it's doing. However, I do have the habit of applying songs to characters a bit too much. And sometimes, the lyrics of a song will inspire a story - my best example is freshman year, when I wrote a post-apocalyptic tale based on five different songs from Nightwish's Dark Passion Play album. For some reason, though, I most often apply songs to fandom before they trickle to original fiction. I suppose that makes sense, addicted little fangirl that I am.
8. What's your favorite genre to write? To read?
Fantasy and scifi are my true loves. Lately, it's been steampunk especially. I love speculative fiction - the universes are always so much more interesting, and perfect backdrops for a really good story. I write them and read them, almost constantly. ...I suppose that at this point, I should admit that I also have a pathetic sort of fondness for a good love story, especially one that doesn't follow the traditional fairy tale archetypes. What can I say? I'm a hopeless sort of romantic.
9. How do you get ideas for your characters? Describe the process of creating them.
Man, how to answer this one? I guess I start with the bare bones of what I want. For example, I'll decide one day that I want to write about a guy who is completely fabulous and batshit insane. So I'll start writing a scene in which he displays these character traits strongly. Then, I'll keep going, introduce new elements, and just...see what he does. I like to make sure my characters are their own people. When I try to get a character to fill a role, it always ends in disaster and really bad writing. I can't start with a blank slate - there has to be something there - but all the little details need to come in their own time.
10. What are some really weird situations your characters have been in? Everything from serious canon scenes to meme questions counts!
Well, as for the crazy meme question, I once dropped my Breaking Space characters onto a planet where Suddenly, There Were Dinosaurs. I think Krys ended up with a pet dromeciomimus...and this was *before* I read Runaways. So I must be psychic.
But for canon stuff, the end of my '08 NaNo was pretty weird. Was she crazy? Did she really go to that island? Was she really wallowing in an asylum bed, or did she magically escape? Does this author actually posess the imagination necessary to end her stories?
(Okay, everybody look at the song below and TELL me it's not Saffron's theme song. I really want to make a video, but I don't know where to find clips.)