Because I haven't posted anything in over two weeks... 'nother "30 Days"!
Okay... I just realized I haven't posted anything in over two weeks and that was weird, to say the least (it also means that I'm lazy as hell because that's 14 chapters of various stories that I could have posted... I did post chapters like crazy but not here) so... I thought I should change that. And because I'd like to get ahead of mackenziesmomma just for once and post a "30 Days" entry before she starts nagging me... have one! (also, for everyone who's reading Protect and Survive exclusively on LiveJournal and hasn't read the parts on ff.net or ff.de yet and doesn't want to be spoiled, probably not read this because there will be lots of spoilery stuff in there)
The first seven questions:
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?
7. Do you listen to music while you write? What kind? Are there any songs you like to relate/apply to your characters?
Next one:
8. What’s your favorite genre to write? To read?
Well.
Um.
Uh.
I'm... not sure? I'd say romance but that doesn't really cover it because the field is wilder than just two people getting together and loving each other and riding into the sunset together. Because if it were, Protect and Survive would have ended with #2 Raising the Stakes and I'm currently writing and publishing #14 (plus various one-shots that like to ambush me in dark back alleys when I'm not looking because I'm trying to write #14). What I - surprisingly - still enjoy about PAS is to write about more than just "Boy meets girl, girl blows up stuff, boy and girl and the thing with the horses and the sunset."
It's about relationships evolving and that's not just romantic relationships but also friendships, family and maybe even animosities. New characters appear, relationships are formed, relationships change, characters change... families are planned and built (and some are built not quite as they were planned ;))... basically, I think, I like to write sagas. Maybe it sounds a little like hubris but I really don't like to stop writing a story as long as it isn't finished, and a story with as many characters as PAS will take quite some time to be finished (but yes, maybe I'll rather stick with one-shots from some point on since mackenziesmomma is right with saying that she's not really sure if PAS 25 is a good idea ;)). I just love to see them all settle down, evolve... well, basically telling their story.
And I seem to love writing about families very much, in all possible forms (i.e. that also includes teams of various kinds). Families are a very interesting thing to write about because there's no other constellation in the world that is so important to our well-being (again, I'm not only talking about blood family) than family. We hate them and we love them and sometimes we say that we don't care about them but quite honestly: I really think every person in the world has at least one kind of family they care about, be it blood family, friends, co-workers, flatmates...
We're a part of them for our entire life and what I really enjoy to read are families being formed and evolving so, naturally since apparently, I write what I would like to read myself, I also write about families. The stories in themselves usually involve romance and/or friendship (another thing I really love to write about) in one form or other, sometimes action (not my most favorite genre to write because you need a phenomenal memory, a very visual imagination and very, very good timing... action is very complicated to write) and very often drama and/or angst (yes, I like torturing my characters and writing about the aftermath, why do you ask? Oh, you want me to talk about that? Well, maybe I'll find room for it in one of the other questions).
All of that is embedded in a larger frame of a family saga so you could say I really like romance, friendship, drama and angst as subgenres and always seem to be writing family stories as the big theme in the end (because the Star Wars stories and Haven't Thought of You Lately are, in the end, stories about families as well), at least for the big arcs.
As for the small ones and the stand alones... most of them are introspective and I try to make them slice of life style, both picking up turning points or crisis in the character's life and just picking out a funny moment or a contemplative one. Usually, I try to end it on a positive note, even those that aren't exactly happy fics. As it turned out, I'm just not meant to write fluff for fluff's sake but I seem to have learned to keep the bitter or sad notes in my fluff stories to a minimum, at least (yes, it is possible to write fluff with a bitter note, see I Won't Be on My Own). I really seem to be one for angst and drama, with a splash of humor (thank God all my characters seem to know that some gallows humor can make the worst situations at least somehow bearable...) and a dislike for action (but that never kept me from writing it until now...), when it's about stand alones. Any genres you'd like to write that I seem to haven't tried until now?
~*~
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 seven questions:
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?
7. Do you listen to music while you write? What kind? Are there any songs you like to relate/apply to your characters?
Next one:
8. What’s your favorite genre to write? To read?
Well.
Um.
Uh.
I'm... not sure? I'd say romance but that doesn't really cover it because the field is wilder than just two people getting together and loving each other and riding into the sunset together. Because if it were, Protect and Survive would have ended with #2 Raising the Stakes and I'm currently writing and publishing #14 (plus various one-shots that like to ambush me in dark back alleys when I'm not looking because I'm trying to write #14). What I - surprisingly - still enjoy about PAS is to write about more than just "Boy meets girl, girl blows up stuff, boy and girl and the thing with the horses and the sunset."
It's about relationships evolving and that's not just romantic relationships but also friendships, family and maybe even animosities. New characters appear, relationships are formed, relationships change, characters change... families are planned and built (and some are built not quite as they were planned ;))... basically, I think, I like to write sagas. Maybe it sounds a little like hubris but I really don't like to stop writing a story as long as it isn't finished, and a story with as many characters as PAS will take quite some time to be finished (but yes, maybe I'll rather stick with one-shots from some point on since mackenziesmomma is right with saying that she's not really sure if PAS 25 is a good idea ;)). I just love to see them all settle down, evolve... well, basically telling their story.
And I seem to love writing about families very much, in all possible forms (i.e. that also includes teams of various kinds). Families are a very interesting thing to write about because there's no other constellation in the world that is so important to our well-being (again, I'm not only talking about blood family) than family. We hate them and we love them and sometimes we say that we don't care about them but quite honestly: I really think every person in the world has at least one kind of family they care about, be it blood family, friends, co-workers, flatmates...
We're a part of them for our entire life and what I really enjoy to read are families being formed and evolving so, naturally since apparently, I write what I would like to read myself, I also write about families. The stories in themselves usually involve romance and/or friendship (another thing I really love to write about) in one form or other, sometimes action (not my most favorite genre to write because you need a phenomenal memory, a very visual imagination and very, very good timing... action is very complicated to write) and very often drama and/or angst (yes, I like torturing my characters and writing about the aftermath, why do you ask? Oh, you want me to talk about that? Well, maybe I'll find room for it in one of the other questions).
All of that is embedded in a larger frame of a family saga so you could say I really like romance, friendship, drama and angst as subgenres and always seem to be writing family stories as the big theme in the end (because the Star Wars stories and Haven't Thought of You Lately are, in the end, stories about families as well), at least for the big arcs.
As for the small ones and the stand alones... most of them are introspective and I try to make them slice of life style, both picking up turning points or crisis in the character's life and just picking out a funny moment or a contemplative one. Usually, I try to end it on a positive note, even those that aren't exactly happy fics. As it turned out, I'm just not meant to write fluff for fluff's sake but I seem to have learned to keep the bitter or sad notes in my fluff stories to a minimum, at least (yes, it is possible to write fluff with a bitter note, see I Won't Be on My Own). I really seem to be one for angst and drama, with a splash of humor (thank God all my characters seem to know that some gallows humor can make the worst situations at least somehow bearable...) and a dislike for action (but that never kept me from writing it until now...), when it's about stand alones. Any genres you'd like to write that I seem to haven't tried until now?
~*~
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!