More interview meme answers
This time the questions are from astrogirl2:
1) Do you find writing scripts very much like writing fan fiction, or do they seem like two totally different kinds of things?
I do find that writing spec TV script is VERY much like writing fan fiction, especially since I tend to write gen/canon-based fic anyway. I wind up using many of the same skills, such as looking for stories that haven't been told with these characters yet, follow-ups that haven't been played with, bits of backstory that haven't been explored. Being able to nail the voices of the characters is even more important when writing a spec, since dialogue drives a script.
Writing a script in terms of the format, otoh, is not much like writing fan fiction at all. I'm so used to being able to detail facial expressions and physical actions in my prose that having to pull back and use little or none of those distinctions can feel unbelievably limiting. It's really not, but I'm just now starting to get the hang of doing the same "visual" stuff with the stage directions and dialogue.
2) Are your religious beliefs something you grew up with, or something you came to later in life, or a mixture of both? (I'm always curious about how people come to believe the things they believe.)
I grew up in a Christian family. Not just in name, either; following Jesus Christ was and is a deeply intimate part of my parents' lives, and the life of our family as well. I knew plenty of hypocrites, growing up, but not my parents--in them I could see what it looked like to seek God and find Him, and walk with Him in daily life.
My parents also introduced me to books, sci-fi, and fantasy very early (bless them), and spent a lot of time trying to teach me to think for myself. I did a lot of reading in high school, wanting to understand my faith, and figure out whether there was a difference between faith in the Unseen and just plain irrational belief. (I'm a pretty rational person, myself; I like to be able to understand things and think them through logically.)
I never left the faith my parents passed on to me, but I'm always looking at it anew, trying to make sure I don't let my mind or my heart become lazy. My dad says, often, that we're supposed to "be fully convinced of what we believe...and always be ready to learn better." I like that, and hope I do an okay job living it.
3) Read anything good lately?
I re-read Ender's Game. Does that count? :-) It never fails to make me cry (though that's far from the best reason I love it so much). Heartwrenching without being maudlin--it's actually pretty hard to pity Ender, even when you want to take him somewhere safe and mother him.
4) Have you had the chance to watch any more Blake's 7?
Nope. I haven't gotten any more episodes yet (that's okay, mistraltoes, don't stress yourself getting them to me), but when I do and I watch them, I promise I'll make more LJ posts about it.
5) Is the face in your "creator" icon yours?
Not technically. :-) It's an image of an RPG character I played a few years ago, Artsy-Fartsy; she's a superhero with artistic powers. jd3000 drew this image (along with two others in different colors--her hair and eyes change color with her emotions), and it does kind of look like me, despite the fact that he had, at the time, never seen a picture of me.
1) Do you find writing scripts very much like writing fan fiction, or do they seem like two totally different kinds of things?
I do find that writing spec TV script is VERY much like writing fan fiction, especially since I tend to write gen/canon-based fic anyway. I wind up using many of the same skills, such as looking for stories that haven't been told with these characters yet, follow-ups that haven't been played with, bits of backstory that haven't been explored. Being able to nail the voices of the characters is even more important when writing a spec, since dialogue drives a script.
Writing a script in terms of the format, otoh, is not much like writing fan fiction at all. I'm so used to being able to detail facial expressions and physical actions in my prose that having to pull back and use little or none of those distinctions can feel unbelievably limiting. It's really not, but I'm just now starting to get the hang of doing the same "visual" stuff with the stage directions and dialogue.
2) Are your religious beliefs something you grew up with, or something you came to later in life, or a mixture of both? (I'm always curious about how people come to believe the things they believe.)
I grew up in a Christian family. Not just in name, either; following Jesus Christ was and is a deeply intimate part of my parents' lives, and the life of our family as well. I knew plenty of hypocrites, growing up, but not my parents--in them I could see what it looked like to seek God and find Him, and walk with Him in daily life.
My parents also introduced me to books, sci-fi, and fantasy very early (bless them), and spent a lot of time trying to teach me to think for myself. I did a lot of reading in high school, wanting to understand my faith, and figure out whether there was a difference between faith in the Unseen and just plain irrational belief. (I'm a pretty rational person, myself; I like to be able to understand things and think them through logically.)
I never left the faith my parents passed on to me, but I'm always looking at it anew, trying to make sure I don't let my mind or my heart become lazy. My dad says, often, that we're supposed to "be fully convinced of what we believe...and always be ready to learn better." I like that, and hope I do an okay job living it.
3) Read anything good lately?
I re-read Ender's Game. Does that count? :-) It never fails to make me cry (though that's far from the best reason I love it so much). Heartwrenching without being maudlin--it's actually pretty hard to pity Ender, even when you want to take him somewhere safe and mother him.
4) Have you had the chance to watch any more Blake's 7?
Nope. I haven't gotten any more episodes yet (that's okay, mistraltoes, don't stress yourself getting them to me), but when I do and I watch them, I promise I'll make more LJ posts about it.
5) Is the face in your "creator" icon yours?
Not technically. :-) It's an image of an RPG character I played a few years ago, Artsy-Fartsy; she's a superhero with artistic powers. jd3000 drew this image (along with two others in different colors--her hair and eyes change color with her emotions), and it does kind of look like me, despite the fact that he had, at the time, never seen a picture of me.