#it's a good meme template bront

[wozzlehere]

Me @ Darkstone Digital:

[xoxoladyclara]

Asks for Writers

hey @missanthropicprinciple @the-skywalker I’m on a tag meme kick so here you go

poetry or prose Prose. I’m terrible at poetry. I love reading it, but I’m awful at writing it.

dialogue or description Dialogue, 100%. Mainly because as a reader, I love being able to imagine some of the more nuanced location details as I’m reading. I get really tired or prose that tells me absolutely everything that I should be looking at, especially in glittery terms. 

favorite character you’ve ever written I’ve mainly been writing fanfiction up until this point (grad school), so just on sheer frequency alone, I’d say my favorite to write is Barbara Gordon. She’s pretty underrepresented in fics, and I feel like I have the freedom to explore her character in many different ways that I wouldn’t have with a more popular character.

least favorite character you’ve ever written Hermione Granger, actually. Mainly just because there’s so much Hermione fic out there that I love, and I have a really hard time trying to come up with something that feels new and natural to Hermione as I see her.

favorite character trait to write Kind. One of my childhood heroes growing up was Padme Amidala (I know, not everyone loves the prequels), and as much as I love writing strong women, what I loved about her was that she was “strong,” but not in the traditional Supergirl/Captain Marvel/Wonder Woman sense. Her strength came from her intelligence and femininity, and I really want to show a multitude of types of “strong” in the women that I write.

favorite character name you’ve come up with Ava Gray. She’s the protagonist of a Victorian Carmilla/Dorian Gray/Dracula mash-up I have in the works.

biggest weakness in writing TOO MANY IDEAS. I know that sounds dumb, but it’s actually paralyzing, because I’ll get focused on an idea and forget about everything else and it takes me FOREVER to finish what I have in progress.

biggest strength in writing My writing definitely has a strong voice. That, and I’m fully capable of writing long and complex plots, and enjoying the process, which is a miracle in and of itself.

favorite trope UGH SO MANY. Give me ALL OF THE TROPES!

author you look up to Again, UGH SO MANY. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Austen. J. Sheridan le Fanu. Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Emily Dickinson. Mary Shelley. Elizabeth Gaskell. Alice Bolin. Tori Telfer. Rebecca Solnit. Roxane Gay.

favorite book/piece you’ve written My Master’s Essay, 100%. And I’m pretty proud of “Unexpected” and “Valkyrie Rising”, two fics of mine on AO3.

favorite line you’ve written It’s more like a favorite exchange that I’m going to be using in an upcoming fic. Tony Stark: “I will have you know that I am the very model of restraint.” Darcy Lewis: “You placed an order for a dozen albino peacocks, like, yesterday.”

fanfiction or original work BOTH!

favorite genre to write in Genre fiction itself? Like, fantasy, sf, gothic, romance, etc. Give me all of the “unrealistic” stuff any day!

heavy description or little description Little - see #2 above.

first person, second person, or third person Third person for fiction, first person for non-fiction

multiple point of views or just one point of view It depends on the story. “Valkyrie” has multiple points of view, although we spend most of our time with Barbara, whereas “Unexpected” is almost 100% the protagonist. 

multiple protagonists or just one protagonist Again, it depends on the story. Most of the time, I focus on one female character and her relationships (romantic, platonic, familial, etc.) and I’ve found that to be a pretty good template for the sort of writing I’m doing.

favorite villain you’ve ever written My Joker in “Queen of Hearts” is positively EVIL. It’s fun in a horrifying sort of way.

longest piece (word count) you’ve ever written I want to say that “Valkyrie Rising” has 130k+ words. In comparison, my Master’s Essay was 9.5k.

where do you get your inspiration from Other stories, tropes, prompts, music, books I read, movies I watch - basically, inspiration can come from anywhere.

how to deal with writer’s block If I have a case of writer’s block, I just force myself to take a mental break - from thinking about fics, working on fics, plotting, etc. I force myself to just read others for enjoyment until the muse comes calling - or, until I have the energy enough to sit down and plow through a hard chapter. 

writing one book at a time, or multiple at a time LOL LIKE A DOZEN AT A TIME. 

planning out the book before writing, or just writing it on the go I usually have a vague overarching plot idea, and the rest just sort of comes to me as I write it

picking chapter titles before writing or after Some fics have chapter titles, others don’t; it just depends, again, on the story I’m telling and if I feel the chapters add anything to it. If my chapter titles don’t have some sort of important meaning, I don’t use them

picking character names before writing or after Character names always come at the beginning of the process for me; a name sort of helps solidifies their traits, personality, etc.

simple or complex plotlines HAHAHAHAHAHA @the-skywalker wouldn’t it be nice if my plotlines were simple?

multiple different characters or just a few It depends on the fic, but I like a full cast. (See Valkyrie: Resurrection, which is going to feature upwards of 120 named characters)

sad or happy endings Happy. Bittersweet, if I think it serves the story better, or if it’ll have a happy ending in part two. 

rhymed poetry or free verse I think it depends on the poem. I prefer to write free verse, but that’s mainly because I’m terrible with making rhyming poetry sound good. 

epilogues or prologues BOTH!