Not fic... but writing.
I promise, I'll post fic this weekend but right now I feel more in the mood of writing about... yeah, writing (and not in that exhausting meta way... I think after every meta post I need several months of recovery...). Have another question of the "30 days of..." meme :)
The first two were:
1. Tell us about your favorite writing project/universe that you’ve worked with and why.
2. How many characters do you have? Do you prefer males or females?
The next one is:
3. How do you come up with names, for characters (and for places if you’re writing about fictional places)?
Honestly? Typos *coughs
But okay, not only typos. For the Star Wars fics I actually used a Star Wars name generator (although for the life of me I can't remember which one it was... shows how long it's been since I wrote anything Star Wars related...) and yeah, it did help. Because, to be honest, I'm not very original when it's about names. Finding "normal" names is already difficult enough (it took me at least an hour or so of scouring name finding sites to find appropriate middle names for Laura and Evan in Protect and Survive - if anyone is interested they're Beatrice and Alexander ;)) but foreign (as in alien as in not from Earth) names is... erm... a particular challenge for me.
With "normal" names, baby name sites actually help for first and middle names (and I'd really like to thank my awesome beta mackenziesmomma for linking so many of them to me) but last names... ngh. I'm especially unimaginative when it comes to them... maybe I should just try looking through the respective countries' online phone books or something. Oh wait... that actually sounds like an idea I should have had about ages ago.
Foreign names, though... yeah, some of them are the results of typos. Some others are the result of the society I placed them in. If it's something resembling a culture from Earth - historic or contemporary - I try to go with names vaguely sounding like they're from the real world culture my fictional culture is supposed to resemble (because, apparently, with names I'm better at research than imagination). Sometimes I also go with variations of other names from fiction I know, juggling around letters like it sounds like something that could work.
As for places... in Stargate that's easy, seeing as I usually write from the Lantean/Earth POV and that means planets get a denomination based on a system of letters and numbers and that's it. In Star Wars... not so much but there's something called Wookieepedia and since there are hundreds of planets that appeared at some point somewhere in Star Wars screen canon or Expanded Universe canon, there are a lot to choose from. Same goes for places on planets and ships (although I rather enjoy naming ships, for some reason), of course.
In Harry Potter fandom... I'm lucky to have rareb as a co-author because she's actually pretty good with naming things, people and places, most of all those that make in-story sense (i.e. fit the tone and mood of the 'verse). She really has a knack for finding names that sound like JKR herself invented them so... just another reason why I'm feeling to be very blessed with her a s co-author :D
~*~
4. Tell us about one of your first stories/characters!
5. By age, who is your youngest character? Oldest? How about “youngest” and “oldest” in terms of when you created them?
6. Where are you most comfortable writing? At what time of day? Computer or good ol’ pen and paper?
7. Do you listen to music while you write? What kind? Are there any songs you like to relate/apply to your characters?
8. What’s your favorite genre to write? To read?
9. How do you get ideas for your characters? Describe the process of creating them.
10. What are some really weird situations your characters have been in? Everything from serious canon scenes to meme questions counts!
11. Who is your favorite character to write? Least favorite?
12. In what story did you feel you did the best job of worldbuilding? Any side-notes on it you’d like to share?
13. What’s your favorite culture to write, fictional or not?
14. How do you map out locations, if needed? Do you have any to show us?
15. Midway question! Tell us about a writer you admire, whether professional or not!
16. Do you write romantic relationships? How do you do with those, and how “far” are you willing to go in your writing?
17. Favorite protagonist and why!
18. Favorite antagonist and why!
19. Favorite minor that decided to shove himself into the spotlight and why!
20. What are your favorite character interactions to write?
21. Do any of your characters have children? How well do you write them?
22. Tell us about one scene between your characters that you’ve never written or told anyone about before! Serious or not.
23. How long does it usually take you to complete an entire story-from planning to writing to posting (if you post your work)?
24. How willing are you to kill your characters if the plot so demands it? What’s the most interesting way you’ve killed someone?
25. Do any of your characters have pets? Tell us about them.
26. Let’s talk art! Do you draw your characters? Do others draw them? Pick one of your OCs and post your favorite picture of him!
27. Along similar lines, do appearances play a big role in your stories? Tell us about them, or if not, how you go about designing your characters.
28. Have you ever written a character with physical or mental disabilities? Describe them, and if there’s nothing major to speak of, tell us a few smaller ones.
29. How often do you think about writing? Ever come across something IRL that reminds you of your story/characters?
30. Final question! Tag someone! And tell us what you like about that person as a writer and/or about one of his/her characters!
The first two were:
1. Tell us about your favorite writing project/universe that you’ve worked with and why.
2. How many characters do you have? Do you prefer males or females?
The next one is:
3. How do you come up with names, for characters (and for places if you’re writing about fictional places)?
Honestly? Typos *coughs
But okay, not only typos. For the Star Wars fics I actually used a Star Wars name generator (although for the life of me I can't remember which one it was... shows how long it's been since I wrote anything Star Wars related...) and yeah, it did help. Because, to be honest, I'm not very original when it's about names. Finding "normal" names is already difficult enough (it took me at least an hour or so of scouring name finding sites to find appropriate middle names for Laura and Evan in Protect and Survive - if anyone is interested they're Beatrice and Alexander ;)) but foreign (as in alien as in not from Earth) names is... erm... a particular challenge for me.
With "normal" names, baby name sites actually help for first and middle names (and I'd really like to thank my awesome beta mackenziesmomma for linking so many of them to me) but last names... ngh. I'm especially unimaginative when it comes to them... maybe I should just try looking through the respective countries' online phone books or something. Oh wait... that actually sounds like an idea I should have had about ages ago.
Foreign names, though... yeah, some of them are the results of typos. Some others are the result of the society I placed them in. If it's something resembling a culture from Earth - historic or contemporary - I try to go with names vaguely sounding like they're from the real world culture my fictional culture is supposed to resemble (because, apparently, with names I'm better at research than imagination). Sometimes I also go with variations of other names from fiction I know, juggling around letters like it sounds like something that could work.
As for places... in Stargate that's easy, seeing as I usually write from the Lantean/Earth POV and that means planets get a denomination based on a system of letters and numbers and that's it. In Star Wars... not so much but there's something called Wookieepedia and since there are hundreds of planets that appeared at some point somewhere in Star Wars screen canon or Expanded Universe canon, there are a lot to choose from. Same goes for places on planets and ships (although I rather enjoy naming ships, for some reason), of course.
In Harry Potter fandom... I'm lucky to have rareb as a co-author because she's actually pretty good with naming things, people and places, most of all those that make in-story sense (i.e. fit the tone and mood of the 'verse). She really has a knack for finding names that sound like JKR herself invented them so... just another reason why I'm feeling to be very blessed with her a s co-author :D
~*~
4. Tell us about one of your first stories/characters!
5. By age, who is your youngest character? Oldest? How about “youngest” and “oldest” in terms of when you created them?
6. Where are you most comfortable writing? At what time of day? Computer or good ol’ pen and paper?
7. Do you listen to music while you write? What kind? Are there any songs you like to relate/apply to your characters?
8. What’s your favorite genre to write? To read?
9. How do you get ideas for your characters? Describe the process of creating them.
10. What are some really weird situations your characters have been in? Everything from serious canon scenes to meme questions counts!
11. Who is your favorite character to write? Least favorite?
12. In what story did you feel you did the best job of worldbuilding? Any side-notes on it you’d like to share?
13. What’s your favorite culture to write, fictional or not?
14. How do you map out locations, if needed? Do you have any to show us?
15. Midway question! Tell us about a writer you admire, whether professional or not!
16. Do you write romantic relationships? How do you do with those, and how “far” are you willing to go in your writing?
17. Favorite protagonist and why!
18. Favorite antagonist and why!
19. Favorite minor that decided to shove himself into the spotlight and why!
20. What are your favorite character interactions to write?
21. Do any of your characters have children? How well do you write them?
22. Tell us about one scene between your characters that you’ve never written or told anyone about before! Serious or not.
23. How long does it usually take you to complete an entire story-from planning to writing to posting (if you post your work)?
24. How willing are you to kill your characters if the plot so demands it? What’s the most interesting way you’ve killed someone?
25. Do any of your characters have pets? Tell us about them.
26. Let’s talk art! Do you draw your characters? Do others draw them? Pick one of your OCs and post your favorite picture of him!
27. Along similar lines, do appearances play a big role in your stories? Tell us about them, or if not, how you go about designing your characters.
28. Have you ever written a character with physical or mental disabilities? Describe them, and if there’s nothing major to speak of, tell us a few smaller ones.
29. How often do you think about writing? Ever come across something IRL that reminds you of your story/characters?
30. Final question! Tag someone! And tell us what you like about that person as a writer and/or about one of his/her characters!