Rising Author Tag || times two

So I was reading Kendra Lynne's blog, and she did a post called the Rising Author tag. (Apparently, it was the fifth time she'd done it.)

I was intrigued by the questions, thought I'd steal them, and told her so. (She was lovely about it :)

That was in September 2017. Because MASTER PROCRASTINATOR HERE.

Then I was tagged - legally! - by Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee (at A Looong Time Ago In A Galaxy Far, Far Away) and I will refer to forevermore to her as "Ani" because that's what Anidori got called in the book. (even though her name seems to be... Cecelia? maybe? the irony is killing me?) (If you haven't read Shannon Hale's The Goose Girl, do so. It starts off a bit slow, but it's lovely.) Thank you for tagging me, Ani!

So I'm going to answer two lots of questions.

The Rising Author Tag || x2 because I procrastinate like that

(The "Rising Author Tag" - that makes it sound like I'm going places! apart from between my bed, my desk, and the kitchen! which is cool! mostly untrue, but cool!)

The Rules:
#1: No tagging back
#2: Tag Four People
#3: Thank The Person Who Tagged You

........

Ani's questions first!

--{ 1: What is your "go-to" song for writing? }--

If I'm completely honest with myself, I don't write my most efficiently when I'm listening to music. Buuut who wants to hear that, right??

I don't have a go-to song, but one I recently discovered is the main theme for Frankenstein (1994). I was skeptical at first, but it's a really interesting song (not weird like I was expecting!) and I think it would be cool to write to.

Other songs I've used include Cannon in D Minor (Two Steps From Hell) and Bourrasques (Alexandra Streliski).

--{ 2: Have you ever struggled with creating a character too similar to one of your favorite characters? (Definitely never happened with Geric or Char....) }--

Uh, well, since we're talking about the cinnamon-roll prince category here...

...I mayyy have written Zephyr with the intention of him fitting in that category?

--{ 3: What is the weirdest thing someone has said to you about your writing? }--

Basically no one gets to read my writing, so unfortunately I don't have anything interesting to put here!

--{ 4: What is one of your MC's flaws? (I gave one of mine a fear of spiders. Scratch that, two of mine have it :P) }--

Flaws or fears?

I gave Billie from Three Sisters a fear of not being enough to keep her sisters safe... and the flaw of not relying on anyone else. Those should play together nicely... ;P

--{ 5: What is your least favorite genre to write in? }--

I'm going to assume that this means a genre that I've tried writing in. Which is basically fantasy/fairytales, "fugitives" (is that... contemporary YA thriller??), and superheroes (that's a genre, okay - not that I think many of you will argue with me, since so many people are writing superhero novels ;)

I don't really have a least favourite of those three, although I've written the most in fairytales and the least in superheroes.

-wAIT I REMEMBERED. Non-fiction. Read on to Q7. (Not skipping Q6, obviously. I mean, it has a gif.)

--{ 6: What was the worst thing you ever wrote? }--

YOU'LL SEE.

THANKS, KENZIE.

THANKS A LOT.

--{ 7: Do you like writing non-fiction? }--

*twelve-year-old me screaming*

*shredded newspaper articles flutter aggressively*

*screaming continues*

No.

Let's move on.

--{ 8: What was the most awkward scene you've ever written? (mine was a proposal scene...let's not go into that...) }--

Ever written... huh. I'm pretty sure it was a "romantic" scene (note the quotes because wOW WHAT WAS I THINKING HAHAHAAA) in the very early story referenced in Q6!

Thanks aGAIN, KENZIE.

--{ 9: On a scale from one to ten, how often do you end up writing more than 3 chapters of the stories you start? }--

wHAT

HAVE YOU BEEN SPYING ON ME

(Maybe... 0.39 out of 10. Not very often. I think I have a total of... three? maybe four?)

--{ 10: How many people do you let read your stories? }--

I need to start by saying that my mum is an awesome mum.

But once I let her read my first serious novel (or... the first three chapters, which was all I'd written). And she laughed.

To be fair, it was nOT in let-other-people-read-it shape. 

Still. Now, I sometimes provide snippets/excerpts, but no one reads my unfinished work. (And I haven't finished any first drafts. So. I'm safe there.) I do have two sisters who request something to read fairly regularly; I think they've read the first five pages of Three Sisters? (For more than that, they have to read my blog. Which they do. Hi, guys...)

Basically, no one.

........

And now for the questions I stole borrowed with permission from Kendra!

--{ 1. What is your favourite genre to read and to write? }--

I'd love to find more books in the "fugitive" genre?? I don't know why. Has anyone read Gordon Korman's On the Run series? Or - pretty sure I've mentioned it before - DJ Stutley's Operation Foxtrot Five? I want more like that.

Currently I'm mostly writing fairytales... I was working on a fugitive story, but it required too much research into comas and amnesia and police workings and stuff.

--{ 2. What would happen if your MC lost? }--

(Any questions regarding a specific story, I'll answer regarding Three Sisters.)

If Billie lost her fight, she'd lose her sisters. This would have implications spanning several countries (e.g. one sister's love interest is an ambassador of sorts), but mostly I'm taking it at a personal level. 

--{ 3. What would happen if a secondary character becomes the MC? }--

Billie, Elsie and Josie are the only ones who know their story, so... if a secondary character became the MC, the story would look a lot different. Zephyr finds out approximately halfway in, and I suppose his viewpoint would be interesting, but I'm looking at the conflict and stubbornness and protectiveness that occurs between sisters, so it wouldn't be the story I'm trying to tell.

(In entirely separate matters, my sisters keep asking if Billie/Elsie/Josie were based on anyone? anyone in particular? are you sure? pOSITIVE??)

--{ 4. How do you get your ideas? }--

Sometimes I read a book or watch a movie and think "hey, they could have used [x] and followed that plotline!" And then I develop it myself.

Other times I'm working off dreams, or that weird feeling you get in dreams where everything makes sense even though iT DOESN'T because apparently the logic centre of your brain is turned off.

Sometimes I find a strange historical fact or something intriguing in science, and want to use that.

One thing I never start off with is a character name.

--{ 5. What do you like to do to your characters? }--

Play nicely with them. Of course.

Or, y'know, make things awkward, split them up, watch them bicker. There's a lot of bickering.

--{ 6. What would happen if your villain had a change of heart? }--

Billie wouldn't know because she's not in touch with the wider world. She'd continue hiding in the forest until all three sisters were grumpy old women. Or gingerbread cottage witches.

--{ 7. Which would you rather: Never write again, or write for the rest of eternity - never stopping? }--

Never write again.

I don't think I could stand the strain of never stopping writing?? I mean, I think I have enough ideas to last me a little while, and I'm sure it would be awesome to finish a few drafts - but I'm really only writing because the books I want aren't written. (Besides, "write for the rest of eternity, never stopping" doesn't actually guarantee you anything. Not publication, not even completing a first draft. Maybe you're just rewriting the one thing forever. There's a little horror story for you.)

--{ 8. What's your favourite style to write in? }--

I used to write in first person. That's because I was writing my life how I wished it would be.

I now write in third person, if for no other reason than to distance myself from my old writing. It was very... self-inserting? is that the term? And I think I need to keep a distinction between my characters and myself - they need to be different, and I need to not pretend they're me.

Third person is almost always past tense, in my experience, and I don't do much present tense.

Future tense and second person? they're just weird. (congratulations if you can make them work for you, though)

--{ 9. Any writing tips? Please share. }--

One I like is "If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it." (Google claims that was said by an 'Elmore Leonard', but I don't know who that is. Good advice, though.)

--{ 10. What is the hardest thing for you to write? }--

Endings. Maybe romantic moments, though. Fight scenes are hard to write without them sounding like writing. ...There are a few contenders for 'hardest'.

(Bickering? Yeahhh. That, I don't struggle with so much.)

........

Tagged:

D.G. Snapper at Silver Phoenix
MK at Sarcastic Scribblings
The Story Sponge at, uh, The Story Sponge
and Erik (The Temperamental Writer!) at All Things Trivial and Insignificant

I would like to take a moment to congratulate myself for actually following the rules of the tag for once!


My questions: (because it seems like I'm supposed to give 10 questions? even though that wasn't in the rules?)

1. What is the weirdest thing someone has said to you about your writing?
2. What was the worst thing you ever wrote?
3. What was the most awkward scene you've ever written?
4. On a scale from one to ten, how often do you end up writing more than 3 chapters of the stories you start?
5. What is the hardest thing for you to write?
6. When you look back at your early writing pieces, what's one thing you can see you've improved in?
7. How do you name your characters?
8. If you had to pick one genre to write in forever, what genre would it be?
9. Which of your characters do you feel most guilty about?
10. Which of your characters deserves everything you've given them?

Yes, I know a lot of these are questions I just answered - I'm not feeling creative, and I wanted to see everyone else's answers to these!

........

Well, another long post from me! Did you survive reading all the way through that? What parts got you thinking - or made you laugh? What do you like doing to your characters? Who do you let read your stories? What's the worst thing you ever wrote? Who's good at writing romantic moments? and can you please help the rest of us ??