#this was. something. can you tell i am enthusiastic about scrivener

[maskedemerald]

Writer Q&A Tag

Took a while but thanks @pb-dot for the tag! It got a little long but I really enjoyed doing this!

What motivates you to write?

My mind is nearly always churning with ideas and stories. If I left them there they would stage a rebellion. No but really I'm motivated to write because I love telling stories. I want to share those stories with others where I can. I'm always my first target audience and if I like it then there is sure to be someone else out there.

A line/short snippet of your writing that you are most proud/happy of. If not maybe share a line of someone else's work that you love (just please credit them)

Picking a bit of my writing is hard. I have scenes that I really like in all of my WIPs but its hard to choose something. Right now with my focus on A Curiosity Piqued the bit I would like to share most is my opening. I just feel it really sets well the frame of mind Aelfraed is in at the start.

Aelfraed had been hearing the snapping of the metaphorical thread for weeks, the weight of years of pressure pulling on him. Stretching fibres fraying. He was about to break.

Which OC makes you smile every time you think/talk about them and what are they like?

I must betray Aelfraed right now, he isn't the character that makes me feel like this. It depends depends on the story. For A Curiosity Piqued it would be Ari but they don't show up for some time so Shhh... secrets. As for Magic Act I'd say it's Night. I love the mysterious over enthusiastic fae. I love how sinister they are without meaning to be and trying so hard to understand humans. Specifically Magician who they are currently helping to hide.

What process of writing do you enjoy the most?

The drafting process. I like the flow and creativity that is involved. I'm distinctly less fond of editing and unfortunately editing is where I am at the moment with the first A Curiosity Piqued novella. Maybe I can change hating editing this time!

What part of writing do you think you are the best at? (Yes stroke your own ego it's okay)

I think the thing I do best when I'm writing is getting in the heads of characters. I find when I get really into a character's head for a scene the writing flows. My favorite though are the existential crises, if I haven't given a protagonist one its more I haven't given them one yet!

What is something in the writeblr community is most enjoyable?

Honestly the tag games and asks. I love getting a tag or a question. It reminds me to talk about my project rather than just hide in a corner and write. It also sometimes has me thinking about things I hadn't considered before for a project!

Seriously I'll always be happy to see an ask or tag even if it takes me a while to get to it!

A writing tool/device you use that helps you with writing? (It could be speech to text, a writing program etc)

I know a lot of people here will be mentioning Scrivener. Scrivener is great and I love using it but I really want to talk about the notebooks I use for discovery drafts. When it comes to the very very first draft of a story before I even have a proper outline I like to pick out a nice notebook that has something about it that feels inspiring for the story. Basically pretty notebooks inspire me and give me some feel for the mood of the story too. It also means I write with a certain level of no taking back what I have written which is great for fighting through that first draft. Once I've got that go with the flow stage done things get digital for making a proper outlined first draft.

A piece of worldbuilding that you like in your own story? (It could be the magic system, a particular place in the story, a law etc)

The thing is I love world building, I could probably answer this for all the WIPs I have shoved under the rug in the corner that I have to keep sweeping back under if I want to focus on my main ones.

For A Curiosity Piqued it would have to be the magic system. I wanted a system with hard rules about what can be done and how, while still having a sense of mystery. That comes from treating it as a science. The society is experimenting and learning how magic works while also learning how other sciences work so that they can use that in their magic. The rule at its most basic is you have to have an understanding of how it works to do it magically. Traditional healing magic can seal a cut because they've seen it happen over time and know what helps. More advanced healing magic needs knowledge of the science of how the body heals that deeper or larger injury what the blood does, what the cells do, etc.

What piece of advice would you say to encourage others to write if they are having a rough patch?

Don't be afraid to take breaks if you need them, burning out will not help.

Pick something in your project that makes you smile and write that next. Not got any. Drabble with your characters with tropes that make you smile. Like found family? Write a fluffy scene of your characters all together. It doesn't have to be something you use later just something to get you smiling about your project again. Get creativity flowing and the like.

It won't work for everyone but this it what helps for me when I'm struggling to find the motivation to write for a specific project.

Tag some people whose works you love/have been your biggest supporters

I smile when I see posts from @pb-dot , @scribe-of-stories , @jasperygrace , @card-queen and @squarebracket-trick I love reading about their work, the snippets they post and the talk about the writing process. I would recommend checking out their blogs and dropping them a follow!

Gently no pressure tagging the people above if they haven't already done this. I'd always love to hear more about what you are creating and the process! Also to anyone else that wants to do this!

[transmasc-wizard]

an opinion on scrivener (by a normally very picky individual)

I've seen a lot of people talk about scrivener, mostly in a mix of positive and negative; it's too expensive! It's great for organizing! It's too complicated! It's XYZ!

It's only natural for I, someone who has had scrivener for about a year now, to want to add my opinion, so... here I am! This is somewhere between a review and a basic how-to? Idk. When have I ever made sense.

Note: this is not in any way sponsored. Literature & Latte/Scrivener does not even know I exist.

Another note: I believe the iOS/Mac version of scrivener is, in fact, more complicated than this, but the same stuff probably applies. I wouldn't know, because I'll burn in hell before I have an Apple product.

Onwards!

So, once you open a scrivener document (specifically the "novel with parts" template, but they're all very very similar), this is what you see. The corkboard-looking thing is, in fact, called the corkboard. The teal band off to the side (which iirc I changed the colour of, I think it defaults to grey) is the binder. If you look above the corkboard, you'll notice there are three little icons; the middle one is selected (and yellow), and sets it to the corkboard. On the right is the editor (actual page with words) and on the left is the outliner (more on that in a second).

You can write in the little notecards; this creates a synopsis that can be viewed in the inspector (more on that in a second, again), in the outliner, and in the corkboard, like this. There's also labels and statuses and stuff, but that's more than just The Basic Basics, so... moving on.

Now I've both gone over to the outliner, which lets me see the synopsis, label, status, word count, target, progress, and target type of each document, and have also opened the inspector (that column on the right) by clicking the blue i in the top right corner.

All these features are fine and dandy, but this is the love of my life:

The binder, my beloved. It lets you have individual documents for ANYTHING you want, plus folders to keep them separated & grouped. I have not had to worry about keeping track of 48763847 word docs for one story since getting scrivener; it's all!! right there!! In little folders!! I like organizing things, ok? This is my happy place.

So, above we have the actual scrivener editor! It's pretty similar to word's page, all things considered, with the exception that there's no page breaks. If you go up to "project" in the top of the screen and click "project statistics" you can see page count, but scrivener focuses on word count. WC is more accurate toward story length, anyway, as page count can vary vastly depending on font, font size, and spacing. (Also, I have the page colour changed to a light pink, but it defaults to white.)

Those are all the main screens you'd use if you had scrivener; there's also focus mode/full screen, but that doesn't usually get as much use.

The actual review-ish part of this post:

Scrivener, if you couldn't tell, is my favourite program I've ever used. (I've used word and google docs, btw). It has the most functions, is AMAZING for organization (which is great as a fantasy writer with a lot of Stuff), is great for progress tracking and project goals (something I didn't really touch upon hear; short version, each individual document can have a goal, plus each chapter/part/etc, plus the manuscript as a whole), and is much easier to use than it's reputation says it is.

I didn't even go into detail on keywords, labels, custom icons, the auto-save and auto-backup (every two seconds without writing), document notes, snapshots, custom meta-data you can track, the name generator, the trash function (you cannot accidentally delete a doc), or the thesaurus!

Overall, if you're interested in scrivener, I strongly suggest trying out the trial. It's 30 free days of use. To be clear, that means if you don't open it that day, it doesn't count as a day in your trial. You only write 2 days a week? You'll have that scrivener trial for 15 weeks.

Scrivener doesn't work for everybody! I most strongly suggest it for my fellow organization lovers, but really, if you're interested, I encourage you to give it a try.

[bouncingkadachi]

Blessed Rain

Summary: A Hunter’s weapon of choice says a lot about them. OR: Kyle upgrades his weaponry and gets caught red-handed in the act. Luckily (?) for him, only Tsukino seems to know exactly why he's having an emotional crisis over this.

Word count: 3,260

Note(s): set post-game

Also available on AO3!

Kyle’s had his new bow for a good couple of weeks before the feel of the limbs and the weight of the draw became comfortable enough for him to consider upgrading it. If he’s going to be injured, he reasons, he’d rather it be purely by way of monster and not because he pulls a muscle wrestling with a bow that hasn’t been properly broken in. His wallet despairs as he forks over the zenny, but this’ll hopefully let him take on some of the bigger hunts like the ones that Reverto goes on. It’ll all be worth the investment up front once he has his completely finished bow and restocked his coatings and finally drops the last of his coin on a couple new talismans.

He refuses to think about the implications of his reasoning with a literal coin, rolling it around and around his fingers as he pushes through the market throngs towards the smithy���s. Perhaps he ought to have a change of scenery—the fog-shrouded summits of Terga were said to be particularly beautiful at this time of year, and the heat in Lamure was becoming just shy of unbearable.

The final product that the blacksmith puts into his hands when he finally makes it to collect is nothing short of gorgeous. Blessed Rain is sleek where his old Rex bow was bulky, far lighter and certainly not as clunky. The upgrades on the riser gives the entire weapon a pleasant solidness in his hand, yet the delicately reinforced plating on the limbs doesn’t retract at all from its flexibility. The decorative grip protector gleams. Just looking at it makes Kyle excited to shoot.

“Bring her back if you’re finding that you need anything adjusted,” the smith tells him after Kyle’s diligently inspected every inch of the bow. “Kept the poundage the same for you, but added another inch to the draw length like you asked.”

“Thanks,” Kyle says. Eventually, he’d like to work up to the point where he can up the poundage again. Even just another five pounds would be good. He can do most of the hunts in his skill range alone now, but extra firepower would make him just that much more efficient, or that much of a better support for team hunts. 

The smith laughs when Kyle sheepishly admits this. “Well, I always like to help a Hunter improve, and you know where to find me,” he says cheerily, clapping Kyle enthusiastically on the shoulder. “Come by again anytime if you need a tune up or want to test out something new.” 

And with that, he waves Kyle away so that another Hunter can step up, holding a tired-looking sword and shield and looking equally exhausted. “Aye, rookie Hunter?” Kyle hears as he wanders off to find a more relaxed corner of the market in which to admire his new bow some more. “If you’ve got the materials I can repair and upgrade that for you.” The conversation peters out and melts into the general din of the marketplace as Kyle slips into the crowd, taking care to step out of the way of a Felyne carrying an absolutely massive basket groaning with produce. He watches the precarious load totter away, trying and failing to locate Tsukino in the brief respite the parted crowd affords him. They’d split earlier that morning and he hasn’t seen her since.

He still hasn’t managed to find even a whisker of Tsukino’s whereabouts by the time he settles into a decently quiet nook next to a stall selling all manner of spices. Pity, because the dappled light spilling through the colorful drapes of the marketplace catches so beautifully on the milky-white sheen of the bow, and he’d been looking forward to showing it to her. As a Hunter, Kyle will always care more about weapon practicality than aesthetics, but as a normal human being he certainly won’t turn down the opportunity to have both an aesthetically pleasing and perfectly functional weapon. He’s still grinning a little when he goes to strap the bow to his back, and it’s in the process of looking up that his gaze catches onto wide eyes staring plainly at him from across the street. 

He freezes, arm suspended awkwardly halfway to sheathing. His beautiful bow glints damningly in the bright Lamure sunlight as his unexpected friend wades through the throngs of people towards him, gesturing for him to stay put with a wave of her hand that really can’t be mistaken for anything other than a greeting.

“Hey,” he says cautiously and lamely when she finally reaches him. Belatedly, he remembers to lower his arm. He is momentarily thankful that she doesn’t try to reach up for his face in the Mahanan greeting, although his goodwill evaporates when she leans in to inspect his bow, body thrumming with unexplainable anticipation.

“Oh, that’s pretty,” she says finally. Kyle can’t help himself from preening just a little, shifting his grip so that she can get a better look. After all, what was the point of spending all that money and materials if there was no one to excitedly show the end product off to? Besides, it’s been a while since they last saw each other. Last he heard, she had been traveling, keen to finally see the world on her own terms and at her own pace.

“It’s fresh off an upgrade,” he answers smugly. “Easier to handle than the Rex.”

“Slightly less intimidating though,” she chimes in, and Kyle bristles, not liking where this conversation is going. And true to form, she goes in for the kill: “Mizutsune? I recognize the plating.”

Kyle can feel the flush crawling up to his ears. Logically, he knows that there’s nothing for him to be embarrassed about. It’s a mark of good smithing that one can tell at a glance which monster a weapon was inspired by, and a Mizutsune was both powerful and extremely iconic. This bow in particular had good stats and the ability to fire rapidly, which admittedly took him some time to get used to after focusing mostly on piercing shots. The paralysis coating that works so well on this bow has also already saved his skin on more than one occasion. There is little more a career Hunter can ask for out of his weapon. It’s not like he’d been heading out to Pomore Garden at any given opportunity and holding onto an increasing multitude of Mizutsune materials just because he wanted some physical reminder of what was probably the most pivotal moment of his life, something that never failed to put a very complicated and jumbled mess of emotions deep within his chest whenever he thought back to it.

He’s starting to feel very, very hot under his collar. The sun is terrible. He resolves that his next big hunt really needs to be somewhere outside of Lamure.

His friend, however, just looks more and more baffled as he launches into an unprompted defense of his newest purchase. Every time she opens her mouth, Kyle talks a little faster. Eventually, she doesn’t even bother trying to interject, which is arguably worse, because instead she just looks progressively more and more thoughtful. Kyle wished desperately for Tsukino to peel away from whatever hidey hole she was tucked in. Then, his train of thought screeches into a rude and abrupt halt.

“What,” he croaks. “What are you doing.”

One of her brows quirks up. “I sure hope your eyes are still working because that’d be a detriment to your job,” she says plainly. “What does it look like I’m doing? I promise it’s not a trick question.”

What she’s doing is holding Kyle’s hand—the one not clutching his new bow—the one that had apparently been waving about with increasing agitation as he jabbered on and on. What Kyle doesn’t understand is why. It’s not like he just did some impressive shot to give them the edge in a battle or anything else that was cool and hand-holding worthy. He’d just been yammering about bow mechanics, and maybe embarrassingly dipping into his talisman hopes and dreams. He stares a little helplessly at his trapped hand. Her kinship stone winks up at him.

“Look,” she says patiently, when it becomes very clear that Kyle is going to need a moment before he can get his brain back online. “There’s nothing wrong with a bow made from Mizutsune parts and I am the last person who will ever turn down pretty things. What I was going to say was that this is an interesting departure from your whole—” She pauses, as though looking for a specific word. “Well, your whole image as a very grown-up and serious and intimidating Hunter or whatever it was you were trying to convey with that scowl you used to like so much. And you weren’t letting me get a single word in.”

“You’re getting plenty of words in now,” Kyle scowls, just to be contrary. “And I’ve grown since then.”

“Someone’s in a mood today.” She smiles, crinkle-eyed, up at him. Kyle very seriously debates wrenching his hand out of her hold like he did the last time this happened and then pointedly doesn’t act on the impulse.

“Why’re you in Lulucion?” he asks instead with a truly remarkable level of self-restraint. “Thought you’d never want to come back again after what happened.”

She shrugs, the greatsword on her back heaving with the movement. “Guess I’ve grown too,” she says loftily, though she sobers quickly. “I was actually visiting my grandfather. He used to go back to Mahana around this time of year… he can’t do it anymore of course but I’ve got Ratha now, so I figured I could do it instead. And then I figured I’d stop by Rutoh before going home, to see Ena and Alwin and wheedle a few more stories out of them.”

She lets go of Kyle’s hand. He tries not to miss it. “Even Ratha can’t make the trip in one go, and Lulucion was closest, so we’re stopping to rest. I dropped by the Scrivener’s Lodge earlier because I was hoping Reverto could give me a few weapon pointers as I’ve saved up just about enough for an upgrade, but they told me that he was out on an urgent mission and wouldn’t be back for a while.”

“Oh,” Kyle says, a little stung that she hadn’t come specifically to see him first, out of all the Hunters in the city. He’s slightly mollified when she grins at him, though.

“And then I met Tsukino by the cannons. She said I could find you here, so here I am.”

“I don’t know anything about greatswords,” Kyle blurts out, and immediately wants to kick himself. She blinks at him, and then bursts into laughter.

“I was just going to ask the smith,” she wheezes when she’s got herself somewhat back under control. “Can’t I see a friend just to say hi to him anymore?” Kyle stares very intently down at some of the finer detailing on his bow.

“Where is my Palico anyway?” he finally settles on, falling into a tried and true grumble. “I haven’t seen her all day.”

She waves her hand vaguely in the air. “Navirou said something about getting donuts. I wasn’t really listening.”

But there was a donut stand right here in the marketplace, Kyle wanted to cry out. He should have seen Tsukino by now if they’d really been going to buy snacks! And how was it possible that he had missed Navirou in his entirety, between the Felyne’s penchant for wearing ridiculous little outfits and his inability to shut up?

“Why? You have a hunt you need to run off to?” 

“Yes,” Kyle says hotly. It’s a lie. He’d accepted a subquest that wouldn’t depart until later that evening for the sole purpose of testing out his new weapon in a relatively stress-free environment. Before that, he’d just planned on hitting up the shooting range in the training arena to break in the new string. His schedule was very, very free. Tsukino was perfectly aware of that.

His eyes widened. Tsukino had been with him on every excursion into the Gardens. She went where he did (usually), and it’s not like Kyle would ever begrudge her a visit home. But she’d been with him every step of every single Mizutsune job he’d ever taken—had watched him craft traps when he needed to capture and had kept watch for opportunists hoping to sneak up as he’d carved. She’d been the one who’d recommended the spinner for all the excess purplefur he was ending up with. At first, he’d simply thought that she’d wanted the thread to mend some of her own items, or to send back home to her brethren, but instead she’d tucked each skein of vibrant, silk-soft thread into the bottom of his pouch with gentle paws, cryptically talking about how strong a material it was, and how nice it looked when woven. Kyle has never touched a loom in his life, but now he’s looking at someone who he definitely knows has.

His stomach drops. Hadn’t Tsukino looked particularly smug ever since he’d lingered on the blueprints for Blessed Rain after getting a look at its stats and required materials?

“She got me,” he groans. His friend just looks at him bemusedly, though perhaps with a touch of wariness at his ferocious frown. Hastily, he tacks on: “It’s nothing. I, uh—I just remembered that I needed to tell Tsukino something. Important. Later, when I find her again.”

“Alright,” she says, though she doesn’t quite look like she believes him. “A quest’s a quest, though, so I won’t keep you here. The bow really is pretty though. I know I just said it doesn’t match your image and all but I really don’t think you can go wrong with something you like. You’ve got the skills for it, anyway.”

“Thanks,” he croaks, feeling a little overwhelmed. He manages two whole steps out of the nook before he pauses, worrying at his lower lip. “Actually,” he says sharply, spinning around on his heel and nearly causing his friend to startle right into a spice display. “How long are you staying for?”

“However long it’ll take to upgrade my sword, I guess,” she says after she collects herself, the words lilting into a question. “Three days or so, I guess?” She skirts nervously away from the glaring vendor, careful not to overbalance on her greatsword.

“Cool,” Kyle says with a nod, steeling himself. “Great, even. Look, how about this. Your last visit to Lulucion was terrible—” an understatement, “—so when I get back from my hunt I’ll show you some of the better sights Lulucion has to offer. There’s a hole in the wall that I think you’ll like. Dad used to take me after hunts—they grill really nice queen shrimp. And the parapets—you can climb them, and they’ve got all these little carvings in the stone that you can search for like a scavenger hunt.” He’s keenly aware that he’s rambling again, but she looks interested, so he barrels on. “I’ll come pick you up tomorrow just as soon as I can get a nap in. We can stay in the city or take Ratha out to the Barrens, down by the water. Just make a day of it.” He’s pretty certain that he looks at her with something akin to hope as she considers. It feels like a lifetime before she finally comes to a decision. 

“I want to take Ratha out in the evening,” she says finally. “I don’t want him to be cooped up too long here ever again.”

“Yeah,” Kyle breathes out, the word rushing out of him in a flood of relief. “Yeah, I can work around that.” She beams at him.

“I’ll look forward to it,” she says, sincere and looking more than a little surprised despite herself at the prospect of looking forward to doing anything in Lulucion. “I’m staying at the inn closest to the stables. Pretty sure I’m the only Rider there currently so they’ll know who I am.” Kyle nods, and lets himself get his hand squeezed again, though not without her hands first hovering in an instinctual bid for his cheeks before she remembers herself.

“Good luck on your hunt. If I see Tsukino I’ll let her know you’re looking for her.”

“She’ll show up in due time,” he mutters darkly. “I’ll let you know if Reverto gets back early or if he’s just been loafing around this entire time. For your next upgrade or whatever.” She laughs, bright, and then slips off into the crowd to wrestle her way into the smithy’s queue. Kyle is left staring in her wake before his gaze is drawn back down to his bow.

“This is all your fault,” he tells it. Predictably, it doesn’t answer. Also predictably, Tsukino takes that exact moment to drop down from seemingly nowhere. 

“I didn’t know we had another job lined up,” the Felyne says delicately, carefully brushing crumbs off of her coat. Kyle groans, sheathing his weapon.

“Don’t tease me,” he huffs. “I’m going to the shooting range. Are you coming?”

“Hmm,” says Tsukino. “I suppose I can spare the time.”

“Of course you can spare the time!” Kyle hisses, indignant. “You just spent the day eating donuts and eavesdropping!” He pointedly doesn’t look towards the smithy, where his friend was patiently browsing the display while another Hunter was getting their hammer looked at.

“One must always be prepared with the latest intel,” Tsukino says mildly. “I’m glad the upgrade went well.” 

“It’s got good stats,” Kyle protests weakly in what is quickly becoming a tired argument. “The rapid shots have been going very well. And I had a surplus of Mizutsune parts.”

 “Yes,” his hunting partner agrees readily enough. “Have you thought of what you’re going to do with the thread?”

“This conversation is finished,” Kyle says abruptly, making a very determined push towards the market’s exit. “Either come or don’t, so long as we meet at the gate for tonight’s hunt.”

Tsukino looks at him with exasperated fondness, which is frankly a little insulting, but readily falls into step next to him. Kyle wonders how many rounds he’s going to have to shoot in order to clear his head again and rid it of thoughts of Hazepetal Garden or Mizutsune or high-grade thread that he’ll never use himself. He’ll examine them again someday—because he’s not a coward—but that day is most certainly not today.

He does his rounds in the training arena and marvels at the way the string slides off his fingers with a satisfying twang, even though it’ll still be a good few days before it’s fully broken in to his liking. Tsukino’s saved him a donut, the cakey sweet sticky with honey and practically melting in his mouth. He’s got some free time even after stocking up for the evening hunt, so he takes a few minutes to browse the quest board, taking careful note of the jobs that were situated near the Harzgai Rocky Hill, or the ones from further afield in Alcala that’ll take him closer to Rutoh. And when he leaves the city, he pointedly doesn’t look up at the familiar shape circling in the dusky sky, even as he knows that they’ll surely see the last rays of the setting sun winking off of the plates of his bow like a beacon.

[dominimoonbeam]

QUESTIONS

Questions came from @shadesfalcon blog

@gr4vi asked if I’d answer them and, of the few topics I am more than able to rambled about, writing is one of my favorites!

1) is there a story you’re holding off on writing for some reason?

A dark hurt/comfort one for Redacted ASMR’s Davey. I think I’m skittish because the fandom is such a small group and there are only a handful of fics floating around... Like, I get this nervousness that I could actually offend the fandom or the creator when it’s still so intimate like this.

I felt this way at the start of the TOG fandom too.

2) what work of yours, if any, are you the most embarrassed about existing?

I’m not sure “embarrassed” is the right word but the Twilight one is definitely the odd one in the mix for me. Not the content, it’s all very on brand HAHA but just it’s existence?

3) what order do you write in? front of book to back? chronological? favorite scenes first? something else?

I start at the beginning but I tend to jump from one favorite scene to the next. I am not much for filler...

4) favorite character you’ve written

fanfic: Zhengxi from 19 Days. He was honestly such a surprise. I didn’t really plan for him to develop the way he did in Open and that really spiraled into him being a favorite of mine in other fics.

5) character you were most surprised to end up writing

Qiu from 19 Days. Kind of tried him on impulse and then again for an ask.

6) something you would go back and change in your writing that it’s too late/complicated to change now

Okay. Just between you and me, don’t tell anyone. I would have done some things in Stages in a different order because now I’m kind of teetering between two large event plans and not sure which way to go...

7) when asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write?

AGAIN I wouldn’t say “embarrassed”...I’d say “uncomfortable”. haha I don’t like talking about my writing with people that aren’t my writing friends.

8) favorite genre to write

Scifi. You didn’t see that coming did you!? You wouldn’t because that’s not what I fanfic but it is HANDS DOWN my favorite.

9) what, if anything, do you do for inspiration?

Read. I read a lot of books and fanfics and when they’re good, it makes me want to write my own things.

10) write in silence or with background noise? with people or alone?

Background noise! I have playlists for different moods and stories. Or I listen to asmr rambles.

11) what aspect of your writing do you think has most improved since you started writing?

Grammar? And being more direct rather than writing about things in round about ways.

12) your weaknesses as an author

I don’t do filler. So I think I can be pretty abrupt. Oh, and I’m hella wordy.

13) your strengths as an author

I’m hella wordy. Sometimes it’s a good thing?

14) do you make playlists for your current wips?

I DO.

15) why did you start writing?

Because I have stories in my head that want out.

16) are there any characters who haunt you?

My own, yes. They haunt me until they’re stories are finished--like scenes keep popping up in my head.

17) if you could give your fledgling author self any advice, what would it be?

I still feel like a fledgling...but I guess I’d tell her to really live by the “write what you want to read” creed and not let anyone tell her to hit a certain word count or avoid certain topics. Life’s too short. Write what you want.

18) were there any works you read that affected you so much that it influenced your writing style? what were they?

I was largely influenced by other writers on an rping forum when I was a kid.

19) when it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.?

I have outlines. And for my own work, I write them in Scrivener with notes on everything.

20) do you write in long sit-down sessions or in little spurts?

Both. I love to sit and just write for long sessions. Most of my fanfic posts are written in one or two sessions. I usually stew on a scene in my head for a bit until it’s ready and then just pour it out.

21) what do you think when you read over your older work?

Oh gosh, it sounds super conceded, but I love rereading my old stuff. I’m not bullshitting when I say I wrote this stuff for myself. It’s just been a huge blessing and thrill that other people have enjoyed my fics.

22) are there any subjects that make you uncomfortable to write?

Anything with pregnancy or kids. And anything where the primary relationship is non-con or abusive. I can get pretty dark in my fics, especially when I’m chasing that “hurt/comfort” goodness, but I don’t like it without the comfort. haha I am deeply romantic. 

23) any obscure life experiences that you feel have helped your writing?

Poverty. A sketchy childhood. An amazing mother. Falling in love with a writer just as romantic as I am.

24) have you ever become an expert on something you previously knew nothing about, in order to better a scene or a story?

I was honestly stumped on this. I have done a lot of googling in my life for stories and characters... Pretty much ANYTHING I know is because of a story I wrote at some point in my life.

25) copy/paste a few sentences or a short paragraph that you’re particularly proud of

From Waiting. I LOVE immortal romances...

“Nicolo,” Yusuf said, one hand hovering near his caved-in cheek, afraid to touch him and cause more pain. “Go. I will wait.” He said it in Nicolo’s Italian, desperate for him to hear it, to stop hanging on and fighting. His arms twitched in the grass, one hand still fisted, body tensing. “I will wait,” Yusuf said again. He had seen what Nicolo could do—how long he could hang on to life even when everything was pulling toward death. He had wondered many times if that was why the man was immortal—because of will alone. But that did not explain himself. And then that eye, teary and blood burst, looked at him. Yusuf stared back, humbled by what he saw. Nicolo relaxed. He let go of life. And he died.

Yusuf waited.

[leapwriter]

25 Questions Tag

And thanks again to @falling--in--place for the tag! :D

This is ridiculously long so I’m putting this one under the cut.

1. Is there a story you’re holding off on writing for some reason?

I don’t think so.

2. What work of yours, if any, are you embarrassed about existing?

I have a few…early works that should probably serve out their remanding days as kindling. There were also some fanfics from my old FFN days, but those have been deleted for a long time.

3. What order do you write in? Front of book to back? Chronological? Favorite scenes first? Something else?

I write the scenes that grab me first. Whatever feels “important” — key scenes, the things that inspired that piece in the beginning, the ones that I can’t ignore go first. Then the rest of the story is built around those. It’s a bit like being a detective — I follow the clues and from there figure out what happened and how we got from once place to another.

4. Favorite character you’ve written?

How do you pick a favorite child....I’m going to cheat and say it changes all the time (which is true).

5. Character you were most surprised to end up writing?

I usually end up with at least one surprise character per wip -- random unplanned characters who fuck with my plot are a tradition at this point.

6. Something you would go back and change in your writing that it’s too late/complicated to change now

Nothing, really. In old works I’ve moved past the point of wanting to mess with them without a complete rewrite, and my current wips are still very much in the messy first draft stage, so I don’t doubt most of it WILL change at some point.

7. When asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write?

On the internet? Enthusiastic. In real life…not so much. I’m always nervous about people I know offline finding my blogs.

8. Favorite genre to write

Fantasy! Specifically urban fantasy but I have my roots in high fantasy. Horror is also fun.

9. What, if anything, do you do for inspiration?

Go for walks if I can, if not pace in circles or take a shower. Movement helps me think. But for more traditional “inspiration”, moodboards, music playlists, and stuff like that.

10. Write in silence or with background music? Alone or with others?

Silence and preferably alone. I have a hard time filtering out background noise so I struggle to write with music or even people talking.

The playlists come in when I’m daydreaming or brainstorming ideas.

11. What aspect of your writing do you think has most improved since you started writing?

Er…all of it, probably? Hopefully my ability to write nuanced, well developed characters though, as that’s my favorite part of writing. I’m a character driven storyteller, so I really hope I’ve improved at least SOME in that area haha.

12. Your weaknesses as an author?

Adverbs. My habit of starting things and then abandoning them when they stop being “shiny and new”.

13. Your strengths as an author?

I like to think it’s writing angst, or emotionally tense situations, or just…tension and conflict in general. It’s one of my favorite parts of the writing process, anyway.

14. Do you make playlists for your work?

Yeah, usually when I’m supposed to be writing or working on something else…

15. Why did you start writing?

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

16. Are there any characters who haunt you?

Just the dead ones ;)

Kidding, kidding. Probably all of them when I’m not writing them.

17. If you could give your fledgling author self any advice, what would it be?

Purple prose is not your friend. Whipping out the thesaurus just to put in fancy words for NO REASON does not make your writing better. Not everything you write has to sound like a dramatic, gothic horror novel that got dipped in 7 layers of pretentious pseudo philosophical ramblings.

18. Were there any works you read that affected you so much that it influenced your writing style? What were they?

When I was a kid, Harry Potter was a big influence. During my early teen years was the first time I started looked at writing more analytically — picking it apart, thinking about themes, and word choice, and phrasing as something to consciously do, not just…let happen.

Harry Potter was my obsession at the time, so it was the first work of fiction I started “taking apart”.

A bunch of epic, high fantasy novels, for better or worse... (The Wheel of Time was like...a big deal for me in high school)

And a WHOLE lot of fanfic writers. Fanfic had a huge formative influence on me.

19. When it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timelines, ect.?

Haha…outlines. Yeah.

Um, sometimes I scribble stuff down in like 10 different word documents, on my hand, and on that napkin I picked up and shoved in my pocket, but then usually forget about those notes or misplace them when I need them.

Outlines are great in theory, but I never use them in practice. When I’m smart, I dump all those ramblings into one scrivener folder so I can at least find them but…I am a chaotic, disorganized writer.

So I guess the answer to this question is: I don’t. I just jump into things blindly saying, “I’ll figure it out when I get there” and hope for the best.

20. Do you write in long sit-down sessions or in little spurts?

Both. It just depends on what I have time to do.

21. What do you think when you read over your older work?

I get that it served its purpose, but it still makes me cringe a bit to read the really old stuff.

22. Are there subjects that make you uncomfortable to write?

Yeah, but if it’s something that makes me super uncomfortable I just avoid writing about it. I want to enjoy what I’m writing, not have to force myself to get through it.

23. Any obscure life experiences that you feel have helped your writing?

I don’t know, what counts as obscure? Maybe?

24. Have you ever become an expert on something you previously knew nothing about, in order to better a scene or a story?

Er, lots of medical/first aid stuff, murder related things, a variety of weapons. I tend to forget things pretty quickly after I’m done though, so I probably don’t remember half of that stuff now, unless I’m still using it haha. 

25. Copy/paste a few sentences or a short paragraph that you’re particularly proud of.

Mmm. Me and my writing are not getting along at the moment, check back later.

Tagging: @mukur0writes and um @damawrites. If you don’t want to do this, feel free to ignore it!

[helenpowers]

25 Questions Tag

Tagged by @hklunethewriter Thank you!

1. Is there a story you’re holding off on writing for some reason? God, there are a lot.

I have a pirate story that is based around the story of King Midas that I’ve been putting off, mainly because I have other projects that I’m more interested in writing.

Then there is my fantasy Rapunzel retelling that still needs to be edited/revised, which of course is putting it on the back burner. I have to completely rework the magic system and work on my world building, which I’m a little too scared to dive into. 

I have a Lesbian Figure Skater story with elements of sleeping beauty that I started outlining last year, but I got super inspired to write Tattoos and Tiramisu so it got put on the back burner as well...

Not to mention the ideas that are still just... barely even ideas.

2. What work of yours, if any, are you embarrassed about existing? All of the fanfic I’ve ever written. Not because of the fact that it’s fanfic, but because it was from when I thought I was actually a really good writer, but in reality I was very mediocre at best.

3. What order do you write in? Front of book to back? Chronological? Favorite scenes first? Something else? I write in chronological order, front to back. I find that if I try to write out of order, I can’t keep the feelings straight in my head, and I have a harder time linking the events together.

4. Favorite character you’ve written? I have two that come immediately to mind. From Scarlett, I absolutely adore Derek. He’s such a sweetie and deserves better than what he gets. In Tattoos and Tiramisu, I love James like no other. My precious baby.

5. Character you were most surprised to end up writing? Scarlett, probably. I had never intended to write that novel, but something happened and it just flowed. Scarlett herself surprised me as well.

6. Something you would go back and change in your writing that it’s too late/complicated to change now I just really need to work on my world building. It’s definitely my weakness as an author.

7. When asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write? I love to tell people that I write, however when they ask me to explain my stories... that is when I clam up a bit. I’m always nervous that they are going to judge me based on my ideas.

8. Favorite genre to write Contemporary, usually. I love writing characters and their personal stories. Plus, seeing as world building is not my strength, contemporary allows me to not worry about it too much. 

9. What, if anything, do you do for inspiration? Inspiration comes to me a lot through music and other forms of media. I just do the things I love to do and inspiration comes to me through that. 

10. Write in silence or with background music? Alone or with others? Always with music. I have playlists for every project I work on, and I’ll listen to that playlist specifically while I am working on that project.

11. What aspect of your writing do you think has most improved since you started writing? I have gotten significantly better at dialogue since I started writing. I still have trouble with it in the first draft, but usually I know how to make it better now, which is something I definitely didn’t understand back then.

12. Your weaknesses as an author? Worldbuilding. Like I’ve mentioned before. Being descriptive with my characters and settings, as well. I tend to write as if my characters are blank and they are standing in a blank space. That’s why my first drafts are always so bare.

13. Your strengths as an author? I think I’m pretty strong when it comes to character interactions. I’m also fairly good at making characters that people enjoy reading about, thank god.

14. Do you make playlists for your work? ALWAYS. Like I said, every project has it’s own playlist. I keep them on spotify and just listen to them on repeat while I’m writing. 

15. Why did you start writing? Honestly, I don’t know. I started writing stories when I was like... five or six years old. I loved reading and I think I just wanted to make more stories for myself and others to enjoy. 

16. Are there any characters who haunt you? Of my own? None that come immediately to mind. 

17. If you could give your fledgling author self any advice, what would it be? Don’t stress about your first draft. That’s what revisions are for. And yes, by the way, you do have to revise AND edit.

18. Were there any works you read that affected you so much that it influenced your writing style? What were they? I will always be amazed my The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It’s one of my favorite books of all time. Also anything by Rainbow Rowell. I aspire to write characters as well as she does.

19. When it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.? I use scrivener most of the time, and I keep separate docs for each of those things, then have the main manuscript that I work through while it’s broken into chapters and scenes.

20. Do you write in long sit-down sessions or in little spurts? In NaNoWriMo, then it’s usually longer sit downs. However, through the rest of the year it’s more like little spurts. An hour here or there, whenever I can fit it in.

21. What do you think when you read over your older work? I usually have a really hard time reading it because all I can think about is how it can be improved, but usually they aren’t projects that I want to work on anymore, so just thinking about how to fix them isn’t doing me any good.

22. Are there subjects that make you uncomfortable to write? Nah. I was raised in a family that wasn’t scared to talk about anything, and that kind of wore off on me. 

23. Any obscure life experiences that you feel have helped your writing? Nothing that comes to mind.

24. Have you ever become an expert on something you previously knew nothing about, in order to better a scene or a story?  In the first draft of Scarlett, she used guitar string to behead her victims, so I became very well versed in murder cases that used similar methods.

25. Copy/paste a few sentences or a short paragraph that you’re particularly proud of. I posted one of my favorite segments of Tattoos and Tiramisu recently, so I’m trying to go through some of it to find another section that I’m particularly proud of... 

This will do, I guess.

“No, not really. I knew it was you a bit further back, but I wanted to make sure you were okay. You looked lonely. Sad.”

         “Well, now you can see that I am neither of those things, so you can go.”

         “I don’t know. You still look pretty lonely to me.” He looks around, like he’s half expecting there to be someone else just out of his line of sight, but there is no one.

         I look behind him and I can see his crew watching us. They seem confused, unsure as to why their leader would be conversing with me of all people. Some of them shrug and continue back into the school, not willing to stay in the cold weather for longer than it takes for them to ruin their lungs. Others, however, continue to watch with frowns.

         With a huff James takes off his jacket and puts it on the ground, sitting cross legged on top of it. He keeps his back to the path, like he knows that the others are still there, watching.

         “You know, you don’t need to sit with me out in the cold.”

         “I know.”

         “Your friends look like they’re waiting for you.”

         “I can catch up with them later.”