#sunday writeblr ask-a-thon

[anonymousfoz]

Hi there! Its Week 1 of the Sunday Writeblr Ask-A-Thon! I'm Athena, my question for you is: What's writing to you? What does it mean to you, what inspires you, who inspires you?

(it is still Saturday for me but I do not care!)

Writing is a passion to me, something for me to let my creativity (and stress) free. If it happens to be HS journalism, writing stories here or poems. It is a passion I will love to the end of time as it allows me to explore the inner and deeper thoughts of myself to create people that I will adore and let others adore.

A few people here inspire me to get better, I will not ping all like... hold up

I am only doing those I can remember off the top of my head. Sorry if you weren't listed.

The lovely queen @stesierra

@wipsbymor and @macabremoons (including you two together felt right, I love reading about your characters and I would go on but my brain refuses to think when I talk about you too because it just has too much to say)

@vite-poh (not a writeblr but that one fan/friend that goes crazy over any piece of writing you make. No matter how bad you think it is. We can all use a person like Vite, our own personal cheerleader.)

@fictionalbullshitter (founds familiar)

@save-the-villainous-cat ( I don't think I read so much hero x villain before)

@immortaladrien (My poor heart can't take all the tragedy)

@elbritch-kit and @jgmartin (love reading your horror!)

I think that is everyone I can list from my fried brain currently.

[lunarsands]

Hi buddy! I'm sending another round of questions for Sunday Writeblr Ask-A-Thon! My question to you is: Do any of your characters have any favourite media, real or stuff you made up?

Hello! Hmm, I'll have to go with hypothetical answers for some of this I think, but I'll start with the modern magic one:

Helios the technomancer would watch those "How It's Made" shows and sit there complaining the whole time how inconsiderate the electronic gadget segments are because it's obvious the mass production facilities didn't consult with an actual technomancer before calibrating anything.

Darrien the cosmic entity would watch documentaries about space and enjoy the human's POV about the stars, including how different cultures interpreted and named constellations.

Donovan "Van" the will-o'-wisp enjoys club music of all types.

In the [untitled deity project] universe, if TV existed, the deities of flora and fauna would watch nature documentaries and take notes on changes they could make to possibly mess with the mortals' understanding of certain plants and animals, or take inspiration to create new ones, because the two would be equally fascinated by how mortals perceive things.

In the Feathers & Flowers universe, if TV/Internet existed, Aurelia the winged messenger would watch as many gardening videos as possible to learn more about plants so she could impress, or at least assist, Fiore the plant-hybrid with her herbalist shop. Fiore would probably listen to classical music or soft jazz since plants respond well to those types of music.

The theme of documentaries continues with a joke scenario @cynthrey and I came up with of a couple of thousand-year-old characters who watched technology evolve to the point where the history of their own family was being covered, complete with rumors and inaccurate theories about their shorter-lived siblings (and themselves, when they disappeared from history to avoid attention). They debate if it would be a risk to reveal themselves to correct these inaccuracies, but then one of them simply resorts to writing "historical fanfiction" and gives all the "characters" the real personalities that they knew they actually had.

[scribbling-stardust]

Hi buddy! I'm sending another round of questions for Sunday Writeblr Ask-A-Thon! My question to you is: Would your ocs fight a god to save someone they loved?

Hi Athena! Thank you for the ask :D (I still don't understand how you've managed to send them to so many people. Its amazing!)

Yes they would and they do! Well not quite a god but a being called a glory who is a magic user with godlike powers (they can change reality, resurrect when they die unless they're trapped in a death loop).

In general they all end up fighting at least one glory but there are a few scenes I have planned where someone has to get saved. My favourite one is near the end of the first book where Rai is severely injured and Lux manages to fend off the glory single handedly to save him. I just think its super sweet :')

[clairelsonao3]

Hi there! Its Week 1 of the Sunday Writeblr Ask-A-Thon! I'm Athena, my question for you is: Think of the genres you write, what drew you you to them? What do you love about them?

Thanks for the ask, Athena!

These days, I primarily write romance, thrillers, and romantic thrillers. 😂 I don't know if whump counts as a "genre" in and of itself, but everything I write invariably has whumpy elements mixed in (and why I'm into whump is probably worthy of a psychology paper, so I won't touch that in this post). I still consider myself a historical fiction writer as well, although I don't have any of that going right now.

Ever since I was old enough to experience romantic feelings myself, I was ALWAYS interested in romance and romantic elements and incorporated them into virtually everything I wrote, even during my MFA period when I looked at "romance" as a genre with snobbish disdain. I really wish I'd gotten over that earlier because it's now my favorite genre and I'm totally without shame about it. I've even learned to embrace the fact that it's so often dismissed as an unserious "women's" genre because I think there's a certain feminist power to be taken back in telling stories that are by us and for us, that is often missing in a literary industry still mostly in the shadow of the male-dominated notion of the "Great American Novel" (even though the majority of writers AND readers these days are in fact, women).

I discovered mysteries and thrillers much later and actually started reading them more often when my father (a writer himself) started writing and eventually publishing a series of thrillers and he asked me to beta/edit his work. I enjoy both old-fashioned Agatha Christie-style whodunits and newfangled thrillers where you know whodunit right from the start 😂. Why? Well, I've always loved puzzles, and there's nothing like trying to solve a puzzle alongside a fictional detective. And although I do sometimes read stories heavy on blood and gore and serial killer-type stuff, that's not really what appeals to me. It's more about the puzzle and letting an author twist your mind around like a pretzel (and then the fun of attempting to do it to my own readers).

So then I started putting all of those together, and here I am today the extremely confused, genre-blurring writer you see before you. But I'm also writing what I want to write and surprisingly, once I stopped feeling limited by genres, I found an audience of people very receptive to the kind of thing I was writing. It's funny how that works.

[laurenhufflepuff2]

Hi there! Its Week 1 of the Sunday Writeblr Ask-A-Thon! I'm Athena, my question for you is: Has any music ever inspired a piece or scene of writing? Do you listen to music when you write? Do you listen to podcasts and stuff?

All very good questions, Athena!

The song Shape of My Heart by Sting inspired an entire storyline I made up about a superhero that accidently travels back in time with her friends to the middle ages where she meets a knight and they fall in love. They end up overthrowing the corrupt king but eventually she and her superhero friends have to go back to their own time, and the last thing she sees before going through the time portal is (tw:suicide) the knight stabbing himself with his dagger because he can't bear to live in a time without her.

On a lighter note, the song I Want it That Way by the Backstreet Boys inspired an idea where my ocs and the younger characters in the DC comics universe have a party in the Bat Cave, complete with karaoke. It ends abruptly when Batman comes home, and the Robins have some 'splaining to do

I don't usually listen to music when I write because it distracts me and makes my mind wander. If I do ever listen to music, it'll be instrumental music without lyrics, like video game or movie soundtracks.

I don't listen to podcasts, but I have listened to audiobooks. I like it because listening to a story rather than reading it on the page helps me multi-task.

Thanks for the fun questions, I enjoyed answering them!

[desastreus]

Hi there! Its Week 1 of the Sunday Writeblr Ask-A-Thon! I'm Athena, my question for you is: What are you currently writing about/ thinking about in regards to writing?

hiii,

i've been wanting to write more cozy things. just fun conversations between 2 or more characters that show how different they are and how awkward they can be and also watching them grow closer.

but yeah, i'm not home and i don't have my laptop so can't really write much. unless i write in my art journal, but not sure if i like that.

thank you for asking <3

[sleepingsun501]

Hi there! Its Week 1 of the Sunday Writeblr Ask-A-Thon! I'm Athena, my question for you is: Has any music ever inspired a piece or scene of writing? Do you listen to music when you write? Do you listen to podcasts and stuff?

Thank you so much for the ask Athena!! 🥰🥰

Music has inspired so many of my works, both art and writing. If I listen to music when I write, it’s usually theme music or soundtrack-type music without lyrics. If I draw, I like music with lyrics. It really helps set the mood and keeps the distracted part of my brain quiet so I can focus better.

[ask-a-thon]

Sunday Asks

Okay, so I was wrong- Ask problem still hasn't been fixed like I was told it would be. Hoping it'll be fixed for the Tuesday asks though! I'll keep you guys updated.

If you had to describe your story in 5 words, what would they be? How do those words relate to the story?

What are some reoccurring themes / tropes in your stories? Do you include these intentionally or do they just… happen? Do you also read stories with these themes / tropes?

Has any form of media influenced your stories? If so, what was it and what effect did it have? If not, what's your main source of inspiration for your stories?

~Myth

[caxycreations]

Hi there, its Athena for Sunday Ask-A-Thon week 2 at @ask-a-thon: Is there any advice you would give to a new writeblr or a friend/ an oc who wanted to get into writing?

A few things, actually! There's some pretty simple and basic steps you can take to really sink your teeth into writing.

Don't be afraid to write small! It doesn't matter if your work is 500k words, 250k, 10k, 2k, or just 500 words long. It's your work, and that's worth being proud of! So if you want to write but don't feel like you can put together the full story in your head, just pick your favorite part of it, find a starting point for that and put a little of it into words. Even if it's only ten words, it's experience and it's progress!

If your project is big, set a reasonable daily goal. If you can usually knock out a couple thousand words a day, then set a goal of about 1.5k. It's easy enough to be within reach, but not so low that you feel unproductive calling it quits there. If you have a slower pace and average around 200-300 words a day, that's fine too! Terry Pratchett only wrote 400 a day and look where it got him! Set reasonable goals, and you'll make progress at a solid, steady pace, I promise.

Take breaks from the serious work. It's important, believe me. Nobody can sit there and write seriously for hours a day, multiple days a week, for any length of weeks, without getting burnt out or sick of their own effort. Whether "taking a break" means stopping writing entirely for a day or two, or if it means writing a silly, goofy little non-canon ficlet, do something to relax your writing muscles. You'll be glad you did.

Writing for you is the most self-sustaining method, but if you're like me and you just CAN'T write for yourself with any degree of satisfaction, write for one person. Can be your mom, a friend, a role model, or a hypothetical person you don't know exists for sure. But pick someone, someone important to you, and write for them. You don't need to write for thousands, or millions, or even just hundreds. You just need to write for one, single person. And if you can't be that person for yourself, remember you always have at least one other person who will read your work and love every word.

This is the big one...BE YOU! Write like YOU. Nobody picks up a Terry Pratchett book and expects to find Stephen King's writing, nor does anyone pick up one of Tolkien's works expecting to find Rick Riordan's writing. If people are reading your work, it's because they want to read it the way YOU wrote it. So don't ever let anyone else tell you what style to write in, or what perspective, or even what format. Write YOUR way. The right crowd WILL find you, and they will ADORE you.

That's all I can really say on it. Hopefully it helps someone, somewhere. Thank you for the ask <3

[anonymousfoz]

Hi buddy! I'm sending another round of questions for Sunday Writeblr Ask-A-Thon! My question to you is: Would your ocs fight a god to save someone they loved?

Hey!

To answer your question, all of them would. Majority of my stories consist of characters bonding and developing relationships that they have to defend over and over. Now they might lose but they still would try.

[midnight-and-his-melodiverse]

Hi there! Its Week 1 of the Sunday Writeblr Ask-A-Thon! I'm Athena, my question for you is: Do your family read your writing? Does anybody in real life read your writing?

Hi Athena!! I think only two people have read my writing, and those people were two of my high school friends lol Well okay, no. actually three people!! My lovely friend Ame (who goes by "@scratched-fountains around this part of writeblr), was the first friend of mine back in middle school who ever saw the beginnings of my writing XD Thanks for askin' !!

[scribbling-stardust]

Hi there! Its Week 1 of the Sunday Writeblr Ask-A-Thon! I'm Athena, my question for you is: What's writing to you? What does it mean to you, what inspires you, who inspires you?

Hi Athena! Thank you for the ask <3

What does writing mean to me?

For me, writing is one of the only activities I can do where I don't feel like I'm "wasting time" it's sort of an escape from day to day stresses where I can just forget about the world around me and focus on my imagination and what I want to create.

What/who inspires me?

I'm partially inspired by the works of Tolkien. I read the hobbit and lotr when I was ~8 years old and ever since then I've loved writing stories involving a journey that changes you (not always for the better). Also Tolkien definitely inspired me to do a lot of in depth worldbuilding.

I'm also inspired a lot by the world around me which is why the settings in my stories usually have forests, heathland and beaches like the area I live in.

[clairelsonao3]

Hiya, it's Sunday and that means you get an ask! Courtesy of Athena's ask-a-thon, here's your question.

Would you ever write a crossover between multiple wips/ ocs worlds and timelines etc?

Thanks for the ask, Riveen (and Athena for the ask-a-thon)!

I know I said I would be working all weekend, but I figured one on Sunday to break up the monotony couldn't hurt! I'll get to yesterday's later this week!

I've never done it, but I'll never say never. I've actually considered doing it, a long time ago (which I think I mentioned in a post a while back), back when I kept writing short stories set in the same (real) town in Northern Minnesota, and I didn't see any reason why all of these characters couldn't exist in the same universe a la Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio. I mean, I guess you could say that technically they did, except there was no actual crossover except in my mind.

In any case, one of the characters from that universe, a kid named Sandy who I first introduced as an antagonistic bully and then pulled back the veil, I'm determined to bring back in some form, someday, so it may live on yet.

[did-i-do-this-write]

Hi buddy! I'm sending another round of questions for Sunday Writeblr Ask-A-Thon! My question to you is: Do any of your ocs hate or love certain weather?

Oooohhhhh, I love this question because my main original WIP is focused on characters with elemental powers, so their favorite weather matches up with their elements.

For instance, Sky and Kay are right at home during a thunderstorm. Sky loves the clouds and the shadows, while Kay feels energized by the lightning and thunder :D

Shaun could stand out in the rain all day, where as Reese prefers dry weather because it makes the earth easier for him to manipulate with his element :D

Matt loves the cold, but Nate thrives in the heat and warm weather.

This ask motivated me to write 194 words for Home is Where Your Light Shines Brightest.

Experiment Total: 71,798

[sergeantnarwhalwrites]

Hi there, its Athena for Sunday Ask-A-Thon week 2 at @ask-a-thon: Do your ocs have a favourite drink, alcoholic and non-alcoholic?

Hey! Thanks for the ask!

Donnie (Robots & Gardens): Cream soda Dr. Pepper

Digits (Robots & Gardens): Mtn dew kickstart (energy drink)

Elliot (Fucked at Five): Slurpee/Slushs favorite flavor is probably Coke or blue raspberry.

Ian (Fucked at Five): Alcoholic definitely beer (specifically IPAs). Non alcoholic probably strawberry milk.

[stinastar]

Hi there! Its Week 1 of the Sunday Writeblr Ask-A-Thon! I'm Athena, my question for you is: Have you ever been inspired by local stories, legends, myths and fables and the like?

Hello!! Sorry for my very delayed answer, I've been away!

Have I ever been inspired by local stories, legends etc. I don't remember being inspired by any local ones, but I've always been super into fairytales, myths and the like. My favourite is Beauty & the Beast, and related tales. I don't think I've come up with my own version (yet), though I've enjoyed reading a ton of them, lol. And daydreaming. My favourite version is one where the Beast doesn't turn back. Ok but back to your writing-specific question, lol. I'm not sure that I can remember writing much inspired by any, at the moment... I did write a short children's story based on a fairytale to submit to a children's magazine call, but it wasn't chosen. Do werewolves fit into the topic? I have notes for at least two werewolf stories, actually there might be notes for a Beauty and the Beast one as well... Sorry, I think I'm getting lost in the topic 😂 I think basically my answer is have I been inspired by local ones, not that I can remember, but have I been inspired by those things in general, definitely.

Thanks for the ask! 😊