Writing Quiz
Wednesday, 16 January 2008 20:31![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
druidspellFound this on my flist, and thought the results would be interesting. I like talking about writing, and how I write.
What's the last thing you wrote?
The last thing I wrote as a piece of fiction was my last reply at Midnight Rising. The last thing I wrote, period? The warning emails to tell various MR members that their profiles are slated for deletion if they don't become more active, or at least write to give me a damned good reason for why![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
duchesspariah and I haven't seen them around in more than a year.
Was it any good?
The tag satisfied my writing partner; the emails were as polite as I could make them and still get my point across.
What's the first thing you ever wrote that you still have?
Oh, gods… a chapter of "Mortal Kombat" video game fanfic. I found that over the summer when I was excavating my closet at my parents' house.
Was it any good?
Subjectively, considering that I wrote it as a first-grader, yeah, I think it was awesome. Objectively, it's a piece of crap.
Write poetry?
Yes, actually. I used to write a poem every week and a half or so, along with thrice-weekly journal entries at one point. I'm trying to get back into the swing of things, organizing some of my thoughts and feelings into meter again.
Angsty poetry?
My most productive poetry writing years were when I was suffering in the middle of a prolonged period of suicidal depression; it took me two years of writing almost every day before I churned out a happy poem. The "angsty, emo crap" I churned out was all that was keeping my life together at that point.
Favorite genre of writing?
Hmm… urban fantasy, YA fiction, poetry, speculative fiction with fantasy or sci-fi bends to them.
Most fun character you ever wrote?
Oh, wow. I'm gonna go with either Zel Andrews or Penelope Sirtis—those two are possibly my favorite denizens of MR.
Most annoying character you ever wrote?
Hmm… Ned, father of B'ran, over at Valihi Weyr. He was created to be an asshole, and killed so that Tessa could write out CPR procedure to help her study for her certification test the next day.
Best plot you ever wrote?
Oh wow. I don't know if I'd really call it the best plot I ever wrote or took part in, but one of my favorite plots I ever participated in was withphoenixsansfyr over at Dark Forest Weyr, where her character attempted to control a queen dragon. (I was at one point in my adolescence VERY active in Dragonriders of Pern roleplaying; I'm getting back into it now, actually, at Caufar Weyr, years after I left the game in high school.)
Also, I'm very fond of "The Road to Orion," which is my personal project for 2008—a collection of short stories about my characters in the world of Midnight Rising, which is the universe and role-playing website created by myself andduchesspariah. We built the universe from the ground up, and TRO is a collection of the stories behind the stories of my characters; all but one of the stories (the last one in the collection) take place before gameplay began at the site; some of them take place as far back as the mid-14th century.
Coolest plot twist you ever wrote?
In "Captive Pride," one of the characters that I'd led readers to believe would be very important to the story almost from the first word died within the first thirty pages.
How often do you get writer's block?
It depends entirely on what I'm working on. Short stories, I might write ten or twelve pages in a fit of inspiration, and then go dry for a week or more. Depending on who I'm RPing with, writer's block can last for weeks.
How do you fix it?
Normally I've got more than one project going at one time, so if one set of characters is being stubborn (I'm a method writer; the character dictates the story) I can switch to a different venture and work from there. And for the most part, I know all of my characters well enough that I can do something that they would enjoy and it helps break down the block. I also draw maps and fiddle with Photoshop to get idealized character pictures, or to figure out the layout of someone's surroundings—for instance, the Sirach kitchens, and a pencil sketch of Penelope's house.
Write fan fiction?
Not as much as I used to, but I still write some, and I read a LOT. My del.icio.us account is FILLED with fanfic.
Do you type or write by hand?
I do both, but primarily I type. If I'm writing by hand, you can assume one or more things about the situation:
1) I've got writer's block. If nothing else I've tried helps, I'll resort to writing things out by hand, see if something shakes loose in hard copy.
2) I'm working on the fly because my muse has smacked me upside the head and said "I'm here! Use me or lose me!", and I'm writing on whatever comes to hand. In desperate situations, I've used the inside of my left forearm to jot something down before I lose inspiration.
3) I'm taking notes. I try to take all notes in hard copy, actually; the act of writing it helps to cement it in my brain.
Do you save everything you write?
I try very hard to do so; sometimes this means that I've got stacks of napkins and receipt paper clipped together, sometimes it means that I've got seventeen notebooks missing half of their pages because I used them for something. It used to mean that I had a folder on my laptop filled with RPs and short stories and notes and the beginnings of a novel—my hard drive took physical damage, though, and I still haven't had a chance to fix it to see if I can recover anything.
Do you ever go back to an old idea long after you abandoned it?
Yes. "Captive Pride" sat unused on my hard drive for almost two years before I came back to it with fresh inspiration and motivation.
What's your favourite thing that you've written?
Weirdly enough, my very favorite thing that I've written is my half of the character laws for Midnight Rising. The only rule that I don't like the wording of is #6; I wasn't sure if I could put "fuck with them and leave them alive" in the rules for a site that any aged person could join, so I felt like I had to word it really awkwardly. But Jay and I wrote the rules back and forth in an MSN convo a couple days after my high school graduation, and it was the beginning of everything really coming together for MR.
What's everyone else's favourite thing that you've written?
I… don't actually know. My creative writing professor from ENG 207 was a huge fan of my short stories; I think his favorite may have been "Reclaiming Summerland" (which is one of my personal favorites, too); my mom loves the first of my two senior year research papers; my GER 103 teachers adored my midterm essay.
Do you even show people your work?
Yes. I may not show a LOT of people my work (I wouldn't bring in one of my short stories and present it to my BOSS to read or anything), but I do a lot of cooperative writing, and it guarantees that at least one person will see what I've written.
Who's your favourite constructive critic?
impextoo is probably my favorite critic, because she's got her own projects and style, and can look at something I've written and tell me when I'm relying on the anonymous reader having more knowledge about what I'm writing than they have in reality. She's great at pointing out plot holes, and figuring out when I've gotten distracted from the story I'm trying to tell (and getting me back on track and out of the rabbit hole).
Do you have a web site for your writings?
My writing is archived all over the web;daphne_neville has a little bit of "The Road to Orion," Midnight Rising has almost everything I've written for Orion; Caufar Weyr has a LITTLE bit of my writing, currently in the form of character sheets; the Midnight Rising Resource Center has archives of my background work to make Orion into a functional universe, in the form of breed profiles, organization overviews, and character laws.
Did you ever write a novel?
I've never completed a novel, but I do have one in progress.
Have you ever written fantasy, sci-fi, or horror?
Almost everything I've ever written could be termed fantasy, sci-fi, or horror. I'm primarily a fantasy writer, but I can appreciate the literary contributions and contributors to other genres that fall under the "speculative fiction" label.
Ever written romance or teen angsty drama?
Some, yes.
What's your favourite setting for your characters?
Orion, and the world of Midnight Rising.
What's one genre you have never written, and probably never will?
I was going to say action/adventure, and then I remembered that Mortal Kombat fanfic. I don't think I'll ever close the door on any genre as far as writing goes, or at least I hope not.
How many writing projects are you working on right now?
Seven.
Do you want to write for a living?
That's pretty much my dream job. Other things I'll consider would be editing other people's writing for a living.
Have you ever written something for a magazine or newspaper?
During my senior year of high school, I was a teen reporter for my hometown newspaper, and I've been published in various school publications.
Have you ever won an award for your writing?
Yes.
Ever written something in script or play format?
No. And I take back my earlier answer about what I wouldn't write: I cannot STAND to write things in script format. And it drives me crazy to have to read a play by myself.
What are your five favourite words?
Primarily, Therefore, Equidistant, Conversely, Why.
Do you ever parody?
I've never parodied before, but that doesn't mean I never will.
What's your favourite thing to parody?
Do you actually like that thing, or are you spitefully making fun of it?
Do you ever write based on yourself?
Yes.
What character that you've written most resembles yourself?
(This is totally cheating, but) Jen, from "Describing Loyalty." Because she WAS me, just with the name changed to protect the not-so-innocent.
Where do you get ideas for your other characters?
Anywhere. Everywhere.
Do you ever write based on your dreams?
Yes, but I don't usually finish. Mostly because I don't usually remember my dreams, and I don't want to write based on my nightmares.
Do you favour happy endings, sad endings, or cliff-hangers?
I favor realistic endings; I hate cliffhangers, but I'm okay with just about everything else. Unless I'm reading a romance novel—the reason I read romance novels is because everything turns out right in the end, and they're my escape from reality.
Have you ever written based on an artwork you've seen?
Yes, although I try to guide characters away from the artwork, generally, because I just don't know enough/feel confident enough to interpret the art into words.
Are you concerned with spelling and grammar as you write?
YES. The backspace key is my very favorite key of all, followed closely by the combination of Shift+F7.
Ever write something entirely in chatspeak? (How r u?)
No.
Entirely in L337?
NO.
Was that question completely appalling and un-writer like?
Maybe not un-writer like, but yes, it was appalling.
Does music help you write?
Unpopular writing opinion here: I think that people who DON'T use music to help them write are wrong in the head. I have music for specific characters, music for specific moods and scenarios, and music for when I just need to keep the words coming. If I don't have music playing, I have a hard time writing. (It does have to play quietly, however.)
Do you have a weblog or livejournal?
Yes. This one,daphne_neville, the as-yet-empty songstar05, my Songbook, and more that I don't remember now.
Are people surprised and confused when they find out you write well?
Not generally; I’m intelligent and fairly well-spoken; they tend to expect me to be a good writer, in fact. Which can be a blessing and a burden, because there are a lot of things that I’m not good at with words—structured poetry, business writing, resumes.
Quote something you've written. The first thing to pop into your mind.
Ailsa looked at her, finally, with broken shadows rising up in her dark eyes. "I knew when I walked into the building," she confessed in a hoarse whisper, for Kath's ears alone--Jacob couldn't hear anything now, trapped in the first rush of grief. "I could feel your death clouding the air of our apartment, knew when I walked in the door your body would be dead."
What's the last thing you wrote?
The last thing I wrote as a piece of fiction was my last reply at Midnight Rising. The last thing I wrote, period? The warning emails to tell various MR members that their profiles are slated for deletion if they don't become more active, or at least write to give me a damned good reason for why
duchesspariah and I haven't seen them around in more than a year.Was it any good?
The tag satisfied my writing partner; the emails were as polite as I could make them and still get my point across.
What's the first thing you ever wrote that you still have?
Oh, gods… a chapter of "Mortal Kombat" video game fanfic. I found that over the summer when I was excavating my closet at my parents' house.
Was it any good?
Subjectively, considering that I wrote it as a first-grader, yeah, I think it was awesome. Objectively, it's a piece of crap.
Write poetry?
Yes, actually. I used to write a poem every week and a half or so, along with thrice-weekly journal entries at one point. I'm trying to get back into the swing of things, organizing some of my thoughts and feelings into meter again.
Angsty poetry?
My most productive poetry writing years were when I was suffering in the middle of a prolonged period of suicidal depression; it took me two years of writing almost every day before I churned out a happy poem. The "angsty, emo crap" I churned out was all that was keeping my life together at that point.
Favorite genre of writing?
Hmm… urban fantasy, YA fiction, poetry, speculative fiction with fantasy or sci-fi bends to them.
Most fun character you ever wrote?
Oh, wow. I'm gonna go with either Zel Andrews or Penelope Sirtis—those two are possibly my favorite denizens of MR.
Most annoying character you ever wrote?
Hmm… Ned, father of B'ran, over at Valihi Weyr. He was created to be an asshole, and killed so that Tessa could write out CPR procedure to help her study for her certification test the next day.
Best plot you ever wrote?
Oh wow. I don't know if I'd really call it the best plot I ever wrote or took part in, but one of my favorite plots I ever participated in was with
phoenixsansfyr over at Dark Forest Weyr, where her character attempted to control a queen dragon. (I was at one point in my adolescence VERY active in Dragonriders of Pern roleplaying; I'm getting back into it now, actually, at Caufar Weyr, years after I left the game in high school.)Also, I'm very fond of "The Road to Orion," which is my personal project for 2008—a collection of short stories about my characters in the world of Midnight Rising, which is the universe and role-playing website created by myself and
duchesspariah. We built the universe from the ground up, and TRO is a collection of the stories behind the stories of my characters; all but one of the stories (the last one in the collection) take place before gameplay began at the site; some of them take place as far back as the mid-14th century.Coolest plot twist you ever wrote?
In "Captive Pride," one of the characters that I'd led readers to believe would be very important to the story almost from the first word died within the first thirty pages.
How often do you get writer's block?
It depends entirely on what I'm working on. Short stories, I might write ten or twelve pages in a fit of inspiration, and then go dry for a week or more. Depending on who I'm RPing with, writer's block can last for weeks.
How do you fix it?
Normally I've got more than one project going at one time, so if one set of characters is being stubborn (I'm a method writer; the character dictates the story) I can switch to a different venture and work from there. And for the most part, I know all of my characters well enough that I can do something that they would enjoy and it helps break down the block. I also draw maps and fiddle with Photoshop to get idealized character pictures, or to figure out the layout of someone's surroundings—for instance, the Sirach kitchens, and a pencil sketch of Penelope's house.
Write fan fiction?
Not as much as I used to, but I still write some, and I read a LOT. My del.icio.us account is FILLED with fanfic.
Do you type or write by hand?
I do both, but primarily I type. If I'm writing by hand, you can assume one or more things about the situation:
1) I've got writer's block. If nothing else I've tried helps, I'll resort to writing things out by hand, see if something shakes loose in hard copy.
2) I'm working on the fly because my muse has smacked me upside the head and said "I'm here! Use me or lose me!", and I'm writing on whatever comes to hand. In desperate situations, I've used the inside of my left forearm to jot something down before I lose inspiration.
3) I'm taking notes. I try to take all notes in hard copy, actually; the act of writing it helps to cement it in my brain.
Do you save everything you write?
I try very hard to do so; sometimes this means that I've got stacks of napkins and receipt paper clipped together, sometimes it means that I've got seventeen notebooks missing half of their pages because I used them for something. It used to mean that I had a folder on my laptop filled with RPs and short stories and notes and the beginnings of a novel—my hard drive took physical damage, though, and I still haven't had a chance to fix it to see if I can recover anything.
Do you ever go back to an old idea long after you abandoned it?
Yes. "Captive Pride" sat unused on my hard drive for almost two years before I came back to it with fresh inspiration and motivation.
What's your favourite thing that you've written?
Weirdly enough, my very favorite thing that I've written is my half of the character laws for Midnight Rising. The only rule that I don't like the wording of is #6; I wasn't sure if I could put "fuck with them and leave them alive" in the rules for a site that any aged person could join, so I felt like I had to word it really awkwardly. But Jay and I wrote the rules back and forth in an MSN convo a couple days after my high school graduation, and it was the beginning of everything really coming together for MR.
What's everyone else's favourite thing that you've written?
I… don't actually know. My creative writing professor from ENG 207 was a huge fan of my short stories; I think his favorite may have been "Reclaiming Summerland" (which is one of my personal favorites, too); my mom loves the first of my two senior year research papers; my GER 103 teachers adored my midterm essay.
Do you even show people your work?
Yes. I may not show a LOT of people my work (I wouldn't bring in one of my short stories and present it to my BOSS to read or anything), but I do a lot of cooperative writing, and it guarantees that at least one person will see what I've written.
Who's your favourite constructive critic?
impextoo is probably my favorite critic, because she's got her own projects and style, and can look at something I've written and tell me when I'm relying on the anonymous reader having more knowledge about what I'm writing than they have in reality. She's great at pointing out plot holes, and figuring out when I've gotten distracted from the story I'm trying to tell (and getting me back on track and out of the rabbit hole). Do you have a web site for your writings?
My writing is archived all over the web;
daphne_neville has a little bit of "The Road to Orion," Midnight Rising has almost everything I've written for Orion; Caufar Weyr has a LITTLE bit of my writing, currently in the form of character sheets; the Midnight Rising Resource Center has archives of my background work to make Orion into a functional universe, in the form of breed profiles, organization overviews, and character laws.Did you ever write a novel?
I've never completed a novel, but I do have one in progress.
Have you ever written fantasy, sci-fi, or horror?
Almost everything I've ever written could be termed fantasy, sci-fi, or horror. I'm primarily a fantasy writer, but I can appreciate the literary contributions and contributors to other genres that fall under the "speculative fiction" label.
Ever written romance or teen angsty drama?
Some, yes.
What's your favourite setting for your characters?
Orion, and the world of Midnight Rising.
What's one genre you have never written, and probably never will?
I was going to say action/adventure, and then I remembered that Mortal Kombat fanfic. I don't think I'll ever close the door on any genre as far as writing goes, or at least I hope not.
How many writing projects are you working on right now?
Seven.
Do you want to write for a living?
That's pretty much my dream job. Other things I'll consider would be editing other people's writing for a living.
Have you ever written something for a magazine or newspaper?
During my senior year of high school, I was a teen reporter for my hometown newspaper, and I've been published in various school publications.
Have you ever won an award for your writing?
Yes.
Ever written something in script or play format?
No. And I take back my earlier answer about what I wouldn't write: I cannot STAND to write things in script format. And it drives me crazy to have to read a play by myself.
What are your five favourite words?
Primarily, Therefore, Equidistant, Conversely, Why.
Do you ever parody?
I've never parodied before, but that doesn't mean I never will.
Do you ever write based on yourself?
Yes.
What character that you've written most resembles yourself?
(This is totally cheating, but) Jen, from "Describing Loyalty." Because she WAS me, just with the name changed to protect the not-so-innocent.
Where do you get ideas for your other characters?
Anywhere. Everywhere.
Do you ever write based on your dreams?
Yes, but I don't usually finish. Mostly because I don't usually remember my dreams, and I don't want to write based on my nightmares.
Do you favour happy endings, sad endings, or cliff-hangers?
I favor realistic endings; I hate cliffhangers, but I'm okay with just about everything else. Unless I'm reading a romance novel—the reason I read romance novels is because everything turns out right in the end, and they're my escape from reality.
Have you ever written based on an artwork you've seen?
Yes, although I try to guide characters away from the artwork, generally, because I just don't know enough/feel confident enough to interpret the art into words.
Are you concerned with spelling and grammar as you write?
YES. The backspace key is my very favorite key of all, followed closely by the combination of Shift+F7.
Ever write something entirely in chatspeak? (How r u?)
No.
Entirely in L337?
NO.
Was that question completely appalling and un-writer like?
Maybe not un-writer like, but yes, it was appalling.
Does music help you write?
Unpopular writing opinion here: I think that people who DON'T use music to help them write are wrong in the head. I have music for specific characters, music for specific moods and scenarios, and music for when I just need to keep the words coming. If I don't have music playing, I have a hard time writing. (It does have to play quietly, however.)
Do you have a weblog or livejournal?
Yes. This one,
daphne_neville, the as-yet-empty songstar05, my Songbook, and more that I don't remember now.Are people surprised and confused when they find out you write well?
Not generally; I’m intelligent and fairly well-spoken; they tend to expect me to be a good writer, in fact. Which can be a blessing and a burden, because there are a lot of things that I’m not good at with words—structured poetry, business writing, resumes.
Quote something you've written. The first thing to pop into your mind.
Ailsa looked at her, finally, with broken shadows rising up in her dark eyes. "I knew when I walked into the building," she confessed in a hoarse whisper, for Kath's ears alone--Jacob couldn't hear anything now, trapped in the first rush of grief. "I could feel your death clouding the air of our apartment, knew when I walked in the door your body would be dead."
Tags:
