Because I feel like it... "30 Days of Writing" again!
No idea why I just decided to write another "30 Days" entry but... why the hell ever not? It's certainly better than wondering however German politics could turn into what they're today, for example. That is to say, the Conservatives suddenly trying to defend the decision against military action and the social democrats suddenly arguing they should have agreed... and me agreeing with the social democrats. I usually don't agree with social democrats. I agree a lot less with the Greens (almost never, actually... stupid disgusting two-faced coalition whores, the whole lot of them. What? They are!) but I don't agree very often with the social democrats, either. But this time I do. More than I agree with my own party, the socialists. Very confusing, all of this.
So let's move to something a lot less confusing. Talking about writing! Yeah, I can do that!
First of all the questions I already answered:
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?
3. How do you come up with names, for characters (and for places if you’re writing about fictional places)?
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?
Next one:
7. Do you listen to music while you write? What kind? Are there any songs you like to relate/apply to your characters?
Yes, I listen to music while I write. Lots of kinds. Tons of.
But let's start at the beginning.
Yes, I listen to music while I write. Or let's say currently, I rather listen while I commute (which is about three hours a day all in all, no I'm not kidding) and then try to remember which song I listened to a million times before but suddenly sparked something new. Two out of three times it doesn't work (ask ancient_leah how many times I forgot some song that reminded me a lot of something Team Kemp related... but I did remember to tell her how much Heart of Gold by James Blunt reminded me of Jenna Wells :D That song is Jenna, Leah!) but sometimes it does and then I try to sit down and write it as soon as I can.
Doesn't always work with the writing (James Blunt's These are the Words keeps haunting me for another Defining Moments story and it's all
mackenziesmomma's fault and I should give them their own fic index by the way and I just can't bring myself to sit down and write it, even though I know what it needs to be about and how I could go about it... TLM!Lorne always makes me teary) but eventually, all those songs in the backlog will get written. I did get Amy MacDonald Challenge Month done, after all.
Speaking of which, music was one of the major factors in getting Fanfic100 done (apart from mac's incessant nagging and too crazy good to be true plot bunnies, that is). Lots of stuff was written because the song for it was either in the backlog (Like The Rembrandts' I'll be There for You that turned into Days Like These, sequel to Tangerine Dreams and Marmelade Skies) or suddenly appeared on the radio (like Linkin' Park's Leave Out All the Rest for Reasons to be Missed) or kicked me in the gut and demanded to be written, even though I'd known it for years and nothing ever happened (went like this with The J. Geils Band's Centerfold that turned into the similarly named story) or were sicced upon me suggested to me by mac (like Chuck Wicks' Stealing Cinderella for Can't Blame the Fella). She's still a great supplier for songs and lyrics and even though I don't use all of them, they always inspire me.
So music actually is a big factor in all my writing. My biggest series, Protect and Survive is, as I said before, named after a Runrig song and The Faith That Cleans Your Wound only happened because I'd been cleaning the dishes and listening to a wonderful live version of Runrig's Hearts of Olden Glory (not the one I linked to here but also a live version... both very gripping) and started to tear up over it because I'd also been watching The Last Man not long before that and it suddenly clicked and I had to write that story. Listened to the song in infinite loop for the entire duration of time that it took me to write it. Actually, it was a bit like that with all the Defining Moments stories, most of all Like a Song Without a Melody that was written to Kim Frank's Zwei Sommer (I hate you, UMG and WMG and Sony and all those other idiots THAT WON'T LET US WATCH SOME DAMN VIDEOS) and You And I Will Meet Again that was written to Annie Lennox's Into the West. As far as songs go, Defining Moments is definitely the most emotional series.
Which brings me to the kind of music I listen to. Stupid as that sounds... it depends. On my mood, on the thing I want to write (or the music makes me write, which is the thing that happens most often), on the characters I'm writing... that sort of thing. As a general rule, emotional and sad songs are more likely to push my buttons and make me want to write something than funny stuff, although I found myself being pushed into writing smut by songs as well a couple of times (such as Come on Closer by Jem for the first chapter of Tomorrow, one of my rare BSG stories and James Blunt's I'll Be Your Man and Stay the Night for yet unpublished/unwritten PAS/Minor Characters smut, also Falling Slowly by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova that was used for Eyes That Know Me and Ben E. King's Stand by Me for its companion When The Night Has Come).
As for singers and bands, certainly Runrig and James Blunt are great favorites, both for simply listening and writing but there's also Heather Nova that often manages to put me in a great writing mood. Milow always is great whenever I want to write something depressing (but one day I will write smut for his version of Ayo Technology) and movie soundtracks are great if I need some music running in the background that isn't too distracting (although Hans Zimmer's Leave No Man Behind from the Black Hawk Down soundtrack always gives me a kick and makes me want to writewritewrite). TV show soundtracks are always great fro discovering new music. I got to know Ingrid Michaelson and Brandi Carlile through them, after all.
About music and characters... yes, I do have a couple of songs I associate with certain characters. Like I said, Heart of Gold seems to be Jenna Wells' song for me, even though Jenna is not mine (at least this Jenna isn't) but Leah's. I also somehow can't help thinking of Evan Lorne (and Lorne/Cadman) when I listen to Klaus Lage's Faust auf Faust and Laura Cadman is embodied in Meredith Brooks' Bitch. Thomas Moore's song seems to be eternally Bowie's Space Oddity (yes, because Moore is Major Tom but also because... no, that would be telling) and Tom and Maureen's song alternates between the Müncher Freiheit's Verlieben, verlieren and Double's The Captain of Her Heart. Maureen's song is totally Tom Jones' She's a Lady, at least that of the early thirties Maureen in PAS. Younger Maureen's song of the first couple of stories for Minor Characters is rather Steh Auf by Die Toten Hosen.
A certain Lieutenant McSmartypants Simmons and his IT girl Miss Wilson certainly qualified very well for Lady Antebellum's Love This Pain. And there are als two songs for Simons "Dee" DeLisle, both in connection with a women, both by Christian Kane. #1 is Making Circles and that's for Dee and a certain Sergeant Catalina Noruega (seriously, it was almost creepy how well the song fit my idea of them and their relationship) and #2 is LA Song for Dee and Captain Laura Greenspan (it always makes me a little sad because I already know how their story will turn out and that song is exactly how Dee sees Laura G.). Last but not least, there's always MUSE's Undisclosed Desires for Eliot and Parker of Leverage. Fits them perfectly, IMHO. BTW, are there any songs you associate with any of my characters, be they canon or OCs? I'd really love to know :)
To wrap it up... I actually did a couple of fanmixes a while ago. Here's a list of them:
~*~
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!
So let's move to something a lot less confusing. Talking about writing! Yeah, I can do that!
First of all the questions I already answered:
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?
3. How do you come up with names, for characters (and for places if you’re writing about fictional places)?
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?
Next one:
7. Do you listen to music while you write? What kind? Are there any songs you like to relate/apply to your characters?
Yes, I listen to music while I write. Lots of kinds. Tons of.
But let's start at the beginning.
Yes, I listen to music while I write. Or let's say currently, I rather listen while I commute (which is about three hours a day all in all, no I'm not kidding) and then try to remember which song I listened to a million times before but suddenly sparked something new. Two out of three times it doesn't work (ask ancient_leah how many times I forgot some song that reminded me a lot of something Team Kemp related... but I did remember to tell her how much Heart of Gold by James Blunt reminded me of Jenna Wells :D That song is Jenna, Leah!) but sometimes it does and then I try to sit down and write it as soon as I can.
Doesn't always work with the writing (James Blunt's These are the Words keeps haunting me for another Defining Moments story and it's all
mackenziesmomma's fault and I should give them their own fic index by the way and I just can't bring myself to sit down and write it, even though I know what it needs to be about and how I could go about it... TLM!Lorne always makes me teary) but eventually, all those songs in the backlog will get written. I did get Amy MacDonald Challenge Month done, after all.
Speaking of which, music was one of the major factors in getting Fanfic100 done (apart from mac's incessant nagging and too crazy good to be true plot bunnies, that is). Lots of stuff was written because the song for it was either in the backlog (Like The Rembrandts' I'll be There for You that turned into Days Like These, sequel to Tangerine Dreams and Marmelade Skies) or suddenly appeared on the radio (like Linkin' Park's Leave Out All the Rest for Reasons to be Missed) or kicked me in the gut and demanded to be written, even though I'd known it for years and nothing ever happened (went like this with The J. Geils Band's Centerfold that turned into the similarly named story) or were sicced upon me suggested to me by mac (like Chuck Wicks' Stealing Cinderella for Can't Blame the Fella). She's still a great supplier for songs and lyrics and even though I don't use all of them, they always inspire me.
So music actually is a big factor in all my writing. My biggest series, Protect and Survive is, as I said before, named after a Runrig song and The Faith That Cleans Your Wound only happened because I'd been cleaning the dishes and listening to a wonderful live version of Runrig's Hearts of Olden Glory (not the one I linked to here but also a live version... both very gripping) and started to tear up over it because I'd also been watching The Last Man not long before that and it suddenly clicked and I had to write that story. Listened to the song in infinite loop for the entire duration of time that it took me to write it. Actually, it was a bit like that with all the Defining Moments stories, most of all Like a Song Without a Melody that was written to Kim Frank's Zwei Sommer (I hate you, UMG and WMG and Sony and all those other idiots THAT WON'T LET US WATCH SOME DAMN VIDEOS) and You And I Will Meet Again that was written to Annie Lennox's Into the West. As far as songs go, Defining Moments is definitely the most emotional series.
Which brings me to the kind of music I listen to. Stupid as that sounds... it depends. On my mood, on the thing I want to write (or the music makes me write, which is the thing that happens most often), on the characters I'm writing... that sort of thing. As a general rule, emotional and sad songs are more likely to push my buttons and make me want to write something than funny stuff, although I found myself being pushed into writing smut by songs as well a couple of times (such as Come on Closer by Jem for the first chapter of Tomorrow, one of my rare BSG stories and James Blunt's I'll Be Your Man and Stay the Night for yet unpublished/unwritten PAS/Minor Characters smut, also Falling Slowly by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova that was used for Eyes That Know Me and Ben E. King's Stand by Me for its companion When The Night Has Come).
As for singers and bands, certainly Runrig and James Blunt are great favorites, both for simply listening and writing but there's also Heather Nova that often manages to put me in a great writing mood. Milow always is great whenever I want to write something depressing (but one day I will write smut for his version of Ayo Technology) and movie soundtracks are great if I need some music running in the background that isn't too distracting (although Hans Zimmer's Leave No Man Behind from the Black Hawk Down soundtrack always gives me a kick and makes me want to writewritewrite). TV show soundtracks are always great fro discovering new music. I got to know Ingrid Michaelson and Brandi Carlile through them, after all.
About music and characters... yes, I do have a couple of songs I associate with certain characters. Like I said, Heart of Gold seems to be Jenna Wells' song for me, even though Jenna is not mine (at least this Jenna isn't) but Leah's. I also somehow can't help thinking of Evan Lorne (and Lorne/Cadman) when I listen to Klaus Lage's Faust auf Faust and Laura Cadman is embodied in Meredith Brooks' Bitch. Thomas Moore's song seems to be eternally Bowie's Space Oddity (yes, because Moore is Major Tom but also because... no, that would be telling) and Tom and Maureen's song alternates between the Müncher Freiheit's Verlieben, verlieren and Double's The Captain of Her Heart. Maureen's song is totally Tom Jones' She's a Lady, at least that of the early thirties Maureen in PAS. Younger Maureen's song of the first couple of stories for Minor Characters is rather Steh Auf by Die Toten Hosen.
A certain Lieutenant McSmartypants Simmons and his IT girl Miss Wilson certainly qualified very well for Lady Antebellum's Love This Pain. And there are als two songs for Simons "Dee" DeLisle, both in connection with a women, both by Christian Kane. #1 is Making Circles and that's for Dee and a certain Sergeant Catalina Noruega (seriously, it was almost creepy how well the song fit my idea of them and their relationship) and #2 is LA Song for Dee and Captain Laura Greenspan (it always makes me a little sad because I already know how their story will turn out and that song is exactly how Dee sees Laura G.). Last but not least, there's always MUSE's Undisclosed Desires for Eliot and Parker of Leverage. Fits them perfectly, IMHO. BTW, are there any songs you associate with any of my characters, be they canon or OCs? I'd really love to know :)
To wrap it up... I actually did a couple of fanmixes a while ago. Here's a list of them:
- Protect and Survive Vol. 1 (it doesn't say Vol. 1 there yet, but I have a feeling I'll have to do a one shot edition soon...)
- A Hundred Ways: Best of One Shots
- A Hundred Ways: What Made All the Difference
~*~
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!