#this is just me living vicariously through characters because we don’t have ren faires where I live

[orphiceonian]

would you let the local knight joust for you? I certainly would

[hyba]

11/11/11 Tag Game

This is the 11 Questions tag game! I was tagged by @ren-c-leyn - thank you very much! This is officially my first tag game! Excited!!

The rules, as I understand them: answer 11 Qs, make 11 new Qs, tag 11 people? 

Let’s rumble! :D

#1: What’s your favourite genre to write in and why?

Eerie, if that’s a genre... I quite enjoy writing creepy/eerie/weird stories, when they work out! That includes horror, suspense, mystery, and thriller. Quite a few of my WIPs fit under this category, and one in particular, Apartment, which is a short suspense novella, comes to mind. 

I also enjoy writing fantasy - creating entirely new worlds under my complete control - usually because I don’t have many personal experiences that could lend themselves well to more realistic fiction. 

#2: Do you play video games? What’s your favourite?

Definitely love video games. I’ve always loved the Sims franchise - definitely my all-time favourite. But, I also like playing Rise of Nations and other development-building-based games. Every now and then I play stuff that catches my eye - most recently I played Valkyria Chronicles.

#3: If you were going to do a WIP crossover, which OCs would be most interesting together? (If you’ve only got one WIP crossover with something else)

Let’s see... Given that my WIPs are vastly different, and therefore the characters are extremely different, this is a hard one. I’ll come back to this one in a separate post, perhaps. 

#4: Do you prefer to plan WIPs in a document or through handwritten notes?

So, I do have a notebook that I write blurbs in. Summaries? Blurbs. That’s how I start out some of my WIPs - even the ones I haven’t started writing yet. I sit down and write blurbs, as if I’m reading the back cover of the book, and it’s surprisingly effective.  

However, I’d say the vast majority of my WIPs are the results of just opening up a Word document or a OneNote page (usually the latter) and writing a scene out of the blue, with characters created just for that scene. Sometimes they grow from there. 

Sometimes they die and are never seen again. Tragic.

As for the actual planning of a story - in-depth and in detail, with character files and all that jazz - I use OneNote. Definitely love using it for that. Plus, I can keep up with the thoughts in my mind much better if I’m typing as opposed to writing.

#5: Do you multiple languages exist in your WIP? If so how do you address that in the story?

Yep. Since it’s a vast world with two continents (that the reader knows of :P) and very different cultures/peoples, I figured that it was only right to include a language dimension. At first, I was pretty lazy about this. Everyone just sort of understood everyone, even that one stranger that came from a kingdom halfway around the world, but that just wasn’t realistic.

So, I came up with ways of explaining their abilities to communicate with one another. For example, one character notices that another has a thick accent or speaks their language imperfectly (think, broken English, but not English...). Another way of doing this is using an international language, and I go into more detail about that here.

#6: What’s your favourite animated film that’s not Disney or Pixar?

I had to look up all the animated movies I’ve ever seen XD 

I love How To Train Your Dragon and can’t wait to see the newest one! And I’m pretty sure Anastasia was the first animated movie we bought on DVD - and I re-watched that dozens of time. It’ll always have a special place in my heart, regardless of historical accuracy.

#7: Do your real-life surroundings influence your WIP’s settings?

My life is pretty mundane, so it’s nice to be able to create something where you can vicariously live through your characters and create exciting plots. Although, to be fair, I also feel that I am lacking in personal experiences that could make me a better writer.

#8: Which OCs would be most likely to break the fourth wall?

Oof. None of them. They’re all living in my mind and don’t know it. 

Marie is extremely blunt, and I feel like she’d be that one character in a show that constantly says what the audience is feeling.

#9: How do you work out your OCs’ personalities?

In #4 I mentioned that I like starting stories by writing scenes out of the blue, and these scenes are often based around a character’s struggle or a situation that they’re going through, and from there they kind of grow and crystallize in my mind. 

After that, if I decide to continue with that character and the story, I will create a page for them in OneNote that lists all of their relevant info, backstories, relationships with other characters, and even character soundtracks. I like to find digital art that I feel represents them as well, just to get a better image in my mind of that character. 

It’s important to note here that their personalities are never set in stone, and neither is their physical appearance. For example, Grey’s character was supposed to be this very young, very shy, very soft-spoken boy, and even the art that I found as support showcased that (this is a character from my fantasy series, btw). As I began writing him, though, I changed a lot about him.

A lot.

#10: Do you prefer worldbuilding or character building?

Character building, hands down! It’s not that I don’t like worldbuilding, because I love it, and it’s really fun, but a character I can tackle in a day or two, whereas working on a kingdom or a certain setting can take me over a week because I’m trying to think of it from various relevant perspectives. 

For example, I need to think about architecture, and how is it different from other places’ architecture, and why it turned out this way. I need to think about culture, and how the character might find the differences between their home culture and this new place’s culture irritating or strange or amusing. Stuff like that takes time for me.

#11: Do you know how your story ends before you start writing?

Not at all, usually. I’m the kind of writer that just starts writing, and I usually amass a few “excerpts” before starting to weave them together and see where the whole thing goes. 

After a while, if I’m serious about the story and want to finish it, I’ll get frustrated with this, because the story will feel aimless. That’s when I stop, try to see where I could take the story, figure out a rough ending, and then go back to writing again. 

I’m usually great at creating major plot points and twists, but actually linking them together - going from Plot Point A to Plot Point B - is something I often struggle with.

Et voila!

Tag, you’re it! 

As a fairly new writeblr, I’m not sure who to tag. 

Any writeblr that comes across this and would like to partake, I’d be more than cool with you saying I tagged you.

I love getting to know more about my fellow writers!

Here are my 11 Qs (or, I guess, you could use the Qs above?):

#1: How do you deal with plot holes in your writing? Can you easily ID them or does it take a second eye?

#2: What’s your biggest writing weakness? What’s your biggest writing strength?

#3: How do you usually go about describing settings? Block descriptions, or just as stuff is noticed by the character/required by the plot?

#4: Do you keep a journal? If so, does it help you with your writing?

#5: How do you feel about creating art for your books/WIPs (or having someone else create art for them)? Do you find that it limits a person’s imagination of your characters/settings?

#6: Movies based on books - yay or nay? Any specific examples that you thoroughly enjoyed/disliked and why?

#7: What’s the biggest writing lesson you’ve learned during your time as a writer?

#8: What’s the most frustrating thing about writing your WIP(s)?

#9: First book that comes into your mind, and general thoughts about it.

#10: Which WIP are you most proud of, and why?

#11: Pick one song that accurately describes the relationship between two of your characters. 

Enjoy! 

Can’t wait to see what everyone has to say!