Writing survey
Feb. 3rd, 2010 08:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lathriel1. What's the last thing you wrote?
"A Lover and its Ghost" - a novella I wrote for my soul mate's 25th birthday :)
2. Was it any good?
I believe so. He has to read it in small portions because every time he gets a few paragraphs in he gets misty-eyed and has to stop.
3. What's the first thing you wrote that you still have?
I think I still have a copy of my ridiculously dark essay on, essentially, hell as being a mind-state that we're all subject to (written in 5th grade!) called "Dwelling of the Evil Past"...
4. Write poetry?
Sometimes. It usually comes to me in dreams, or snippets come in dreams and then I write out the rest in a feverish resolve within the week.
5. Angsty poetry?
Used to. Thank god that never got published anywhere outside of my high school lit mag...
6. Favorite genre of writing?
(sub)urban fantasy. You can write about almost anything, and have it appeal to all kinds of different audiences.
7. Most fun character you ever wrote?
Lykos, a psychopomp, the son of Hermes, who dresses and talks like a cowboy and always has sage advice for the humans he assists in The Hierophant
8. Most annoying character you ever created?
Probably Mother from The Sins of the Guardians. She was so whiny and self-obsessed... but that's how she was supposed to be...
9. How often do you get writer's block?
All the time, but it happens in degrees. Usually it's only mild, and I can conquer it with an afternoon of coffee and writing at a local cafe.
10. How do you fix it?
The only way to fix it is to force myself to write, even if it's bad.
11. Write fan fiction?
No.
12. Do you type or write by hand?
Usually I type, but I surprised myself by writing most of The Poppet and the Lune in a little blue leather journal while I was in Oxford.
13. Do you save everything you write?
I try to, but my hard drive crashed last summer and a lost almost everything :(
14. Do you ever go back to an old idea long after you abandoned it?
I've gone back to ideas that I'v put aside, but once an idea is abandoned it's usually because it was really never any good to begin with.
15. What's your favorite thing that you've written?
I'm on a downward trend with Renaissance lately, but I still think when the whole Lotus Children series is done it will be the best thing I've ever written. Right now, I think the best so far is The Hierophant because I cannot conceive of a good reason as to why it's not published and a runaway best-seller ;D
16. What's everyone else's favorite thing that you've written?
The Poppet and the Lune, most def. It's the only thing I've given to the public- of course, it's not finished yet...
17. What's your favorite setting for your characters?
Mysterious things always happen in the forest...
18. How many writing projects are you working on right now?
Writing TPaL, conceiving "The Tower," and always polishing The Hierophant
19. Do you want to write for a living?
I'd be the happiest woman alive if I made my living by my pen.
20. Have you ever written something for a magazine or newspaper?
Yes
21. Have you ever won an award for your writing?
I won the Joyce Carol Oates scholarship award for excellency in short fiction
22. Ever written something in script or play format?
Only for school
23. What are your five favorite words?
Catastrophe is my favorite... I don't know what else
24. What character that you've written most resembles yourself?
Probably Ana, even though it was unintentional. I channelled the me of my high school years into her character and mannerisms to make her more realistic- I can't help it if I was more interesting than an average teen ;p
25. Where do you get ideas for your other characters?
They just come out on the page.
26. Do you ever write based off your dreams?
Only poetry, oddly
27. Do you favor happy endings, sad endings, or cliff-hangers?
Sad endings that are hopeful :)
28. Are you concerned with spelling and grammar as you write?
Yes, but in first person grammar might go out the window sometimes...
29. Does music help you write?
No, I can't listen to anything with lyrics because I get distracted. Some orchestral is ok, but I'm not really listening to it.
30. Quote something you've written. The first thing to pop into your mind.
A poem I wrote as the intro to Jared's birthday gift:
Somewhere there’s an ocean,
salty dark and deep,
that swallows stars into its heart,
and lulls the sky to sleep.
There swims a single memory,
(amidst the floating lights
like lanterns lit for long lost souls)
as naked as the night;
It weaves between the luminescence,
dances on the crests
of waves too far from salt-stained shores
that catch what comes to rest.
But sometimes when the moon is full
and galaxies align,
reflecting on the ocean
one can glimpse among the brine
the sight of what has lingered there,
more brilliantly than most
the memory of what once was:
a lover, and its ghost.
"A Lover and its Ghost" - a novella I wrote for my soul mate's 25th birthday :)
2. Was it any good?
I believe so. He has to read it in small portions because every time he gets a few paragraphs in he gets misty-eyed and has to stop.
3. What's the first thing you wrote that you still have?
I think I still have a copy of my ridiculously dark essay on, essentially, hell as being a mind-state that we're all subject to (written in 5th grade!) called "Dwelling of the Evil Past"...
4. Write poetry?
Sometimes. It usually comes to me in dreams, or snippets come in dreams and then I write out the rest in a feverish resolve within the week.
5. Angsty poetry?
Used to. Thank god that never got published anywhere outside of my high school lit mag...
6. Favorite genre of writing?
(sub)urban fantasy. You can write about almost anything, and have it appeal to all kinds of different audiences.
7. Most fun character you ever wrote?
Lykos, a psychopomp, the son of Hermes, who dresses and talks like a cowboy and always has sage advice for the humans he assists in The Hierophant
8. Most annoying character you ever created?
Probably Mother from The Sins of the Guardians. She was so whiny and self-obsessed... but that's how she was supposed to be...
9. How often do you get writer's block?
All the time, but it happens in degrees. Usually it's only mild, and I can conquer it with an afternoon of coffee and writing at a local cafe.
10. How do you fix it?
The only way to fix it is to force myself to write, even if it's bad.
11. Write fan fiction?
No.
12. Do you type or write by hand?
Usually I type, but I surprised myself by writing most of The Poppet and the Lune in a little blue leather journal while I was in Oxford.
13. Do you save everything you write?
I try to, but my hard drive crashed last summer and a lost almost everything :(
14. Do you ever go back to an old idea long after you abandoned it?
I've gone back to ideas that I'v put aside, but once an idea is abandoned it's usually because it was really never any good to begin with.
15. What's your favorite thing that you've written?
I'm on a downward trend with Renaissance lately, but I still think when the whole Lotus Children series is done it will be the best thing I've ever written. Right now, I think the best so far is The Hierophant because I cannot conceive of a good reason as to why it's not published and a runaway best-seller ;D
16. What's everyone else's favorite thing that you've written?
The Poppet and the Lune, most def. It's the only thing I've given to the public- of course, it's not finished yet...
17. What's your favorite setting for your characters?
Mysterious things always happen in the forest...
18. How many writing projects are you working on right now?
Writing TPaL, conceiving "The Tower," and always polishing The Hierophant
19. Do you want to write for a living?
I'd be the happiest woman alive if I made my living by my pen.
20. Have you ever written something for a magazine or newspaper?
Yes
21. Have you ever won an award for your writing?
I won the Joyce Carol Oates scholarship award for excellency in short fiction
22. Ever written something in script or play format?
Only for school
23. What are your five favorite words?
Catastrophe is my favorite... I don't know what else
24. What character that you've written most resembles yourself?
Probably Ana, even though it was unintentional. I channelled the me of my high school years into her character and mannerisms to make her more realistic- I can't help it if I was more interesting than an average teen ;p
25. Where do you get ideas for your other characters?
They just come out on the page.
26. Do you ever write based off your dreams?
Only poetry, oddly
27. Do you favor happy endings, sad endings, or cliff-hangers?
Sad endings that are hopeful :)
28. Are you concerned with spelling and grammar as you write?
Yes, but in first person grammar might go out the window sometimes...
29. Does music help you write?
No, I can't listen to anything with lyrics because I get distracted. Some orchestral is ok, but I'm not really listening to it.
30. Quote something you've written. The first thing to pop into your mind.
A poem I wrote as the intro to Jared's birthday gift:
Somewhere there’s an ocean,
salty dark and deep,
that swallows stars into its heart,
and lulls the sky to sleep.
There swims a single memory,
(amidst the floating lights
like lanterns lit for long lost souls)
as naked as the night;
It weaves between the luminescence,
dances on the crests
of waves too far from salt-stained shores
that catch what comes to rest.
But sometimes when the moon is full
and galaxies align,
reflecting on the ocean
one can glimpse among the brine
the sight of what has lingered there,
more brilliantly than most
the memory of what once was:
a lover, and its ghost.
