#weird questions for writers

[glorfindel-of-imladris]

18. Choose a passage from your writing. Tell me about the backstory of this moment. How you came up with it, how it changed from start to end.

Oh, this is a nice item. Thank you for sending it!

I'll take a passage from my latest fic, Closing the Circle:

Watching Erestor watch Glorfindel in the distance, with the stars beginning to appear in the sky behind him, in that moment, Ecthelion thought that Erestor’s smile lit his face like gentle moonlight.

This line was made to be a turning point in the fic. The task for this fic was: 1) Ecthelion letting go of his resentment towards Erestor, and 2) Ecthelion finding what it was to love about him.

What I love about Erestor's character is that he has a subtle presence. He has a strong personality, but he is not one to take the limelight, so I imagine that when you meet him, it takes time to appreciate him. Glorfindel is an exception in that typically I write him taking an instant liking to Erestor, but also Glorfindel is unique in that he practically lives life based on vibes, so he sees Erestor and goes, ‘Ah! Yes, that one!’

Meanwhile, Ecthelion is a more cognitive, calculating character. The approach to him is more logical, and things have to make sense for him to go for it. I knew I needed a moment when he sees Erestor, lifting the veil that used to color his opinions of Erestor simply because he was the Elf that Glorfindel chose (over Ecthelion, in Ecthelion's mind). I knew the moment needed to be different from their previous interactions, so it needed to be at a time when Ecthelion was distant enough to finally be open to who Erestor was as a person. As for Erestor, he needed to be softer and with his guards down, without the filters he naturally puts up around Ecthelion.

Originally, the line was, “Erestor smiled like gentle moonlight.” I thought it was good imagery, and would be useful for future fics when a Glorfindel = sun, Erestor = moon comparison would come in handy 🤭 Then I got to writing the scene in which to put it, and it became the way it is, as I found that just read better given the rest of the scene.

[heartstringsduet]

MICHELLE 4, 5 and 10 please and thank you!

Hi Tessa thanks for asking ❤️ 4. What’s a word that makes you go absolutely feral? one of my favorite English words is "pathetic" which sadly...I don't use for writing often! It feels really nice to say, scathing (which is another great word lol)! I just realized I really like to use the words "cradle" and "inherently" ! There's few words I feel icky about though! English is delicious, not gonna lie. It's a lot more melodic than German but then, if you think "pathetic" can be spit out, the German equivalent is that times ten Erbärmlich . If someone called me erbärmlich, my god, could I recover?

5. Do you have any writing superstitions? What are they and why are they 100% true? Ohhh fun thought. But then I have enough control issues so maybe not. 10. Has a piece of writing ever “haunted” you? Has your own writing haunted you? What does that mean to you? For sure it has! I think especially profoundness is haunting to me. A new thought or new way to look at something. I love people musing. Also I use so many words I love I just realize. MUSING??? HAUNTING? 🥵 I think books like "Know my name" and "Born A Crime" are haunting to me because they are real and raw and beautifully written. But also there are some Goosebump books that I legit still think are scary. My own writing doesn't really haunt me except for when I feel like the worst writer in existence and want to burn it all to the ground. iykyk

[kiwiana-writes]

Hello! 4 and 18 for the weird writers questions please

4. What’s a word that makes you go absolutely feral?

Answered here!

18. Choose a passage from your writing. Tell me about the backstory of this moment. How you came up with it, how it changed from start to end.

This moment, from chapter six of With so much of my heart (that none is left to protest):

His phone chimes again, and when he picks it up and opens the message, Henry almost swallows his tongue. Because Alex has sent him a selfie, from bed, shirtless and with what appears to be a heavily-annotated copy of Much Ado About Nothing open in his lap and a smear of pink highlighter visible on his cheek and wearing glasses. He had no idea Alex wore glasses; he's absolutely sure Alex has never worn them publicly. And if Henry whimpers at the sight, that’s between him and David. Another message, right underneath the picture: do you think when i tell you while you’re in disguise ‘i am sure he is in the fleet: i would he had boarded me’ i’m lowkey talking about wanting you to rail me? because i could play it that way Henry places the phone down gently on the mattress, picks up a pillow from the other side of the bed, puts it over his face, and screams into it.

This joke went through SO MANY revisions. At first the line Alex was referencing was 'for my love some other way than by swearing on it', but that was both too late in the show and too serious for what I wanted, so then it was something else I can't remember, and then it became this. It was also in the third person for a long time: "Do you think when Betrius says X he's gunning for [sex act]" and it was pretty late in the game when I was like oh, no, for peak Henry torture Alex is definitely going to make this personal lmao.

[Weird questions for writers]

[cmdrburton]

Weird Questions for Writers: 2, 18 and 32?

aw thank you (◕‿◕｡) here's the ask game masterpost, btw

2. If you had to give up your keyboard and write your stories exclusively by hand, could you do it? If you already write everything by hand, a) are you a wizard and b) pen or pencil?

That would be very difficult for me. I used to write on paper very early on, think middle school... but now I edit way too much to stick with it. I edit nearly constantly. Any paper I used would quickly devolve into striked-out corrections made to striked-out lines xD

18. Choose a passage from your writing. Tell me about the backstory of this moment. How you came up with it, how it changed from start to end. Spicy addition: Questioner provides the passage.

Ooh, a tough one :3 I think I'd pick...

The salvagers went quiet when they saw where the beacon was transmitting from. It was a cloud of mangled ship parts and debris, as well as large chunks of ship that had partially survived an explosion of some kind. Anu deactivated the distress beacon, grimly aware there might not be anybody left to save.

I wanted to set the scene. Initially there was a great deal of stuff about navigation beacons set up by the salvagers' home station, but that didn't make sense, as I wanted the salvage ship to be the first ones on the scene. A lot of that got cut off. Some description of the carnage got cut too, as one cloud of space debris probably looks much like every other to the people who're brought in to clean it up. (It's just me who wants to talk about frozen shards of coolant, ha.)

32. What is a line from a poem/novel/fanfic etc that you return to from time and time again? How did you find it? What does it mean to you?

I wish I had something like this, but I don't. Things slip from my mind so easily these days. If I had such a line before I lost my memories, well, I wouldn't know. Sorry about the disappointing answer ><'

Thank you so much for the ask! <3

[thehoneybeet]

4 and 12! 🦩

Hello friend! Thank you so much for the asks 💕

4. What’s a word that makes you go absolutely feral?

Questions like these are hard because as soon as I try to think of something I no longer remember any words 😂

I will say that I love the word 'hideous', especially when it's said in Draco's (judgemental) voice. I especially love it when the thing in question is objectively not that bad. For some reason I just love the concept of something being beyond ugly and so offensive it's hideous in Draco's eyes. I don't go feral exactly but it makes me laugh every time I read it.

12. If a genie offered you three writing wishes, what would they be?

To be able to do the honeybeet treatment on my own writing

The ability to keep a consistent writing practice

A published novel some day

for the weird qs for writers ask game!

[claudiajcregg]

10 & 15 for the weird asks for writers. Please & thank you.

Danielle! Thank you so much. Sorry I took so long to reply - didn't know I scheduled that one so soon. Just got back from vacation.

10. Has a piece of writing ever “haunted” you? Has your own writing haunted you? What does that mean to you?

Right now, I'd say 'haunted' is something that has stayed with me for longer than I'd have planned it to, and rather unexpectedly. I feel like there is a lot of writing (whether it's books, or fics, or poems) that have had that staying power. Since I'm on the spot, I can't think of any, but if you give me a way to narrow it down, I can probably think about it!

I guess my writing doesn't haunt me by this definition. I do think about it when I get the plot bunnies and try to develop it! And I definitely feel like there are some stories of mine that I still think about! But we all know how I feel about what I write, so… I'm the least objective person.

15. Do you write in the margins of your books? Dog-ear your pages? Read in the bath? Why or why not? Do you judge people who do these things? Can we still be friends?

Absolutely no judgement from me! I will sometimes dog-ear (but they're tiny) if it's a passage I want to get back to! I don't think I've written in the margins since IB, and even then, I always try to have some kind of sticky in there. But I get why some do it! (I don't read as many books anymore, but 90% of the time it's on kindle, so some of these do not apply.)

more weird questions for writers here!

Thank you for asking, Danielle! And sorry these are underwhelming answers, 😬

[colormepurplex2]

More, more, more 👀

On weird questions 5, 6 and 11 PLIZ :3

More, more, more! Yes! Here, here, here 💜

Weird Questions For Writers:

5. Do you have any writing superstitions? What are they and why are they 100% true? Oh...umm...👀 the first thing that comes to mind is not starting a fic until I have a title set for it. I know that might seem counterintuitive to some, but I need it before I can begin otherwise, to me, the story has no foundation and can easily fall apart. However, I am okay with the title changing, if the story and writing process take me in a different direction than the original title was directing me. For instance, Chasing Shadows was originally titled Shot In The Dark, but as the story developed, the title did, too.

Another one is that I can't have a character with a name that is the same as someone I know or a family member. I work so hard on names sometimes just so I can avoid a name that reminds me of someone. Unless it's the name of a villain or something, I'm working on a fic right now where a character is named Chaddick, which is a play on the name Chad + dick (all Chads that I know are dicks) and even though I know people named Chad, I'm okay with using the name because it holds more significance for my story than the person in real life holds in my life, if that makes sense? I even have a hard time reading stories that use people in my family or close friends' names. I tried reading a story a few months ago where one of the main male characters had the same name as my kiddo and I ended up having to DNF it simply because I couldn't read that name without thinking about my kid.

6. What is your darkest fear about writing? My darkest fear about writing? I think it would be acceptable to say something like rejection or low reception...but, when I honestly think about it, I believe the thing I fear the most is becoming one of those writers that don't care about sensitivities or growth. I've always tried to make it a point to not write about potentially discriminating things. I purposely try not to include a physical description or use those physically descriptive words when I write a reader insert story. At the same time, I also try to be informed on social issues and keep those in mind when writing as well. I don't want to ever come off as offensive, even if it's accidental or not intentional. The worst thing I could do as a writer is make someone uncomfortable or feel out of place in my works. It's not always been easy, and I know I've made missteps that I've learned from...but, that's my darkest fear, becoming blind to those things I've worked so hard to open my eyes to. As someone who has fought their own battles in similar areas, I understand just how important being open to learning, change, and growth is.

11. Do you believe in the old advice to “kill your darlings?” Are you a ruthless darling assassin? What happens to the darlings you murder? Do you have a darling graveyard? Do you grieve? This...makes me sad haha. I have done it...sort of. I never truly 'kill' the darling. I will take whatever bit of the story that needs to come out/be killed and I'll drop it into another doc. I hate the idea of writing being completely deleted, so I'll just hang on to it until the time is right and introduce it in another story or a different place of the one it was removed from. Of course, minor changes might be necessary for the darling, but it'll never truly die...even if it lives inside my WIP ideas folder for the rest of its life 👀

These questions were so good, made me really think. There are more if you're interested 💜

[ageless-aislynn]

11, 25, 27 for the weird writer asks!

Aw, thank you so much! 💖

11. Do you believe in the old advice to “kill your darlings?” Are you a ruthless darling assassin? What happens to the darlings you murder? Do you have a darling graveyard? Do you grieve?

I'm absolutely horrible in how I over-write my first drafts, so yes, pretty much every fic I have that's over, say, 2k words or so has a bloody swath of murdered darlings in its wake. You'd think that I'd be pretty unaffected by it now but, yes, I do rather mourn a lot of them. Most of my wasted time on drafts is usually trying desperately to find some way to justify keeping a darling in there when I know, deep down, that it really serves no purpose and needs to go. ����

However, I also have given myself permission to keep the occasional darling in there despite it serving no purpose because life is short and this is my fic and nobody paid for it or anything so, darn it, if I want to indulge in something, then I'm going to indulge in something, lol!

It's just a balance, what can I say? I do save every draft I've written and I have on occasion pulled out a darling and saved it separately so to more easily find it later but I've never really made use of any of them. Maybe one day!

25. What is a weird, hyper-specific detail you know about one of your characters that is completely irrelevant to the story?

Vannak from the Halo series has a sweet tooth and you can earn his unending, unswerving loyalty by keeping him supplied in homemade treats. 😛

Vannak, when Kai asks if he's "sweet" on the person who keeps bringing him baskets of cookies and brownies and candy and... 😛

In related news: I tend to ship Vannak and Riz, whether or not the fic in question has Kai with John or not but I've been considering giving Vannak and Riz their own Readers like how John has the "15 Minutes" Reader and Kai has her own in "Recreation." So Vannak might get a baking-enthusiast Reader one of these days, who knows? 😉

27. Who is the most stressful character you’ve ever written? Why?

Game!Chief, by far. Now, you might be thinking, "Um, Ais? You've never written game!Chief, so how can you say he's stressful?" That's because I've never written game!Chief as far as anybody knows. 😛

It's one of those things where I know nobody is ever going to mistake me for a military or hard sci-fi writer. I'm a romance writer, the rest of the stuff is just the environment I'm using to tell my silly little romance stories. I can justify that for the Halo TV series but I can't for the games. I think I'd be pretty well eviscerated for running game!Chief through my usual paces. 🤷‍♀️

As a follow-up to the first question, before I finished writing this, I was hopping over to work on a fic and had to literally just kill one of my darlings in it. As much as it amused me to have Jorge throw shade at Emile, it really didn't serve a purpose in the story and was just a needless distraction. 'Cause this ain't a Halo: Reach fic. 👀😉

Weird Questions for Writers

[tabswrites]

Hello, can you do #13, #33, and #38 from "Weird Questions for Writers?" :')

Hey, Bug! Thanks for the ask :)

13. What is a subject matter that is incredibly difficult for you to write about? What is easy?

Honestly anything personal is difficult for me. I can have my self insert characters and one of my OCs is basically just me, but the personal details and stories always change. I could never write a memoir because I generally just have an issue with self reflecting and connecting with myself. On the other hand, having an OC that I love to write with and being able to recognize some of those qualities as my own have both helped me a lot with learning to love myself. If I had to pick something that is easy…anything to do with animals or nature.

33. Do you practice any other art besides writing? Does that art ever tie into your writing or is it entirely separate?

I sew and I make hand-painted clay magnets, and I like to sing. None of that really translates to my writing, it’s just for fun and sometimes I use it as stress relief from writing.

38. What is something about your writing process YOU think is really weird? If you are comfortable, please share. If you’re not comfortable, what do you think cats say about us?

I think the weirdest part of my process is that I…don’t really have one? I get an idea, a write a little bit, and if I like it, I write more. My fantasy WIP is very unique because most of the plot just kind of appeared in my head all at once? I did a lot of initial planning with the characters and worked on a few scenes, so far it’s been writing itself. Unlike my other WIP, where I just keep staring at the blank page wishing for a quarter of that inspiration. I make little edits every time I open the doc because I’m insane and hyper-fixate until it feels right.

As far as what cats think about us…we’re just big, dumb babies to them.

[winterandwords]

4 and 33 for the ask game?

--@oh-no-another-idea

Hello, lovely! Thanks for the asks 💜

1. What font do you write in? Do you actually care or is that just the default setting?

I just checked Google Docs and apparently it's Arial. I'm pretty sure it's the default, but it's fine with me because my tastes run very sans serif.

33. Do you practice any other art besides writing? Does that art ever tie into your writing, or is it entirely separate?

I do, but not in any kind of serious way. I love photography. It's what I went to college for and it was my job until health stuff meant I had to stop doing it, but I still do it as a hobby even though the kinds of photos I take now are very different from before.

I also like watercolour painting. I have no idea what I'm doing and I plan to keep it that way for as long as possible. There's something really beautiful about just playing with colours and seeing what comes out.

Sometimes I use my own photos for book graphics, so I guess that ties in with my writing, but the painting is totally unconnected.

[killerandhealerqueen]

14, 15, 16 for weird asks to ask a writer plz 🫶🏼 how are you btw sass?

Today was not my day, but hopefully tomorrow will be better. But watching High & Low the Worst is making it a little bit better. Also finished watching High & Low The Worst X and it was glorious

14. Do you lend your books to people? Are people scared to borrow books from you? Do you know exactly where all your “lost” books are and which specific friend from school you haven’t seen in twelve years still possesses them? Will you ever get them back?

I have lent my books to people in the past. I do lend books to people now, mainly my grandmother who then lends it to my uncle, but I always read the book first and it's a book I'm not really worried about getting back.

15. Do you write in the margins of your books? Dog-ear your pages? Read in the bath? Why or why not? Do you judge people who do these things? Can we still be friends?

I absolutely do not write in my books. I hate annotating books, I hate dog-earring my pages, I hate all of that. I don't judge people who do, because that's just how some people read, but I absolutely cannot do it. I'm a puritan when it comes to my books

16. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever used as a bookmark?

Ah, see, I don't use bookmarks. I memorize the page number (when I actually do read a book). It's how I've always read books. I never use bookmarks

Weird Questions for Writers (because writers are weird) | send me asks

[glorfindel-of-imladris]

19 and 38 for the writers ask 🌻💛

19. Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Were there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going?

I started writing very early. I can't remember if I've been writing anything else before I wrote fanfiction, but I was 12-13 when I wrote my first Yuu Yuu Hakusho fic. It definitely sucked lmao, but the important thing is that I did it. I think kids who want to write should just go for it.

Before writing though, I definitely read a lot, both fiction and non-fiction alike. I think reading is important in writing because it feeds the skill. Read from people who write better than you. Now back in the day of door-to-door salesmen selling encyclopedia sets (did I just date myself), my parents just went and bought every damn collection they found, and I was just the kind of obedient Asian child who thought, “Oh my parents bought all these books. I should read them!” 😂 I therefore went through the lit classics (on top of amassing a lot of obscure science trivia lol). In the fiction collection, my favorite book was Heidi, but also I dreamt of the day that Alice in Wonderland would make sense lmao, so I read it often. There was also a book of Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales that I loved a lot, and that likely started my love affair with fairy tales (and later, fairy tale tropes in fanfic looool). As I grew older though, style-wise, I think eventually the writers who most influenced the way I write were Arthur Conan Doyle, Bram Stoker, Charlotte Brontë, Anne Rice (though I hate to admit it now akdhjs), and of course, J.R.R. Tolkien.

In school, I alternated between being an artist and a writer in school newspapers from grade school to high school. In university, I opted to join the literary folio over newspaper. I was part of the art and the poetry sub-groups. I think this was an important decision because apart from just writing, the group spent a lot of time reading. I also took a lot of literature electives around this time (because of course my majors were nowhere near art or writing 🥲). I loved close reading sessions the most, and I sincerely think that learning to be a good reader was the best thing I could have done for myself as a writer.

As for bumps, there were a lot! University is when I realised I cannot write professionally. My personality is not cut out for heavy critique, and I lose my drive when assigned topics as opposed to derping around waiting for a muse I get along with to come along. I am also not a disciplined writer, and even now I struggle with regular writing schedules.

After university, I still wrote here and there. By the time I entered the workforce, my writing was pretty solid, so I got a lot of side projects related to writing even though that's not my part of my day job. On the side, I also teach part-time in university, so there is some academic writing going on (albeit Very Slowly™). I also recently had the chance to write for a local publication on LGBTQIA+ issues, which I'd like to continue in the future. But over the years, I have been most active and most regularly wrote for fandom. I hyperfixate like crazy, and some days it's the only way I keep sane. I think fandom is the single most important thing that keeps my love for writing alive.

Where I'm going: I hope to continue writing. I do believe we grow wiser with age. There are things I appreciate more now than I did a decade ago, and I think that seeps into my writing. Our writing inevitably grows with us and I think that's wonderful. I can't wait to read what I can write at 70.

38. What is something about your writing process YOU think is Really Weird? If you are comfortable, please share. If you’re not comfortable, what do you think cats say about us?

I write my fics on my phone. I have been told this is Weird™.

[heartstringsduet]

Ohhh so many weird writing questions to choose from, Michelle!! How about #7 and to make you think, #19!! ❤️🦎

Hi Desi-dear 🥰🥰 Thank you! 7. What is your deepest joy about writing? The best moment is when it FLOWS. Like it pours out of you with nothing to stop it and your fingers have figured something out before your mind has and suddenly a page fills and leads you down a new and better storyline and you think...wow this is all me. I did this?! I DID THIS! And that is why I write! 19. Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Were there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going? I started writing when I was 14. I was horrible at it. And I mean...HORRIBLE. My best friend straight up told me to my face and she was right lol. But I wasn't deterred. I was a pretty angsty child (look at me now....so different...ehem) and it definitely was a place for me to explore that without any actual repercussions. But then back then the world of fanfiction was wild and free and different LOL. Started out with Naruto then Glee and then fully stopped writing for nearly 6 years because of mental health reasons mostly and a lot of changes in my life. I only restarted end of 2022 for Glee, putting down 100k in two months like a mad woman and I still haven't published them ?? oops. And then Tarlos took over my life and you can see that surely lol. I love writing. I really hope I will never stop loving it again ecause it's my favorite hobby now. 🥰 Road blocks are definitely debilitating self-doubt and being tired or in pain a lot of days. But I ride the waves of that a little better now. ☀️

[kiwiana-writes]

1 and 21 for the writer asks

1. What font do you write in? Do you actually care or is that just the default setting?

Default setting, baby. I literally could not care less.

21. Could you ever quit writing? Do you ever wish you could? Why or why not?

Hell no. Writing is and has always been how I process and express my emotions—not to get all therapy about it but I wasn't encouraged to share how I felt growing up and so I started channeling it into writing instead, and that's never stopped. I also feel my mental health slipping when I'm unable to write, and it's a bit of a self-perpetuating cycle because of course the worse my mental health gets the harder it IS to write. Writing's all I want to do for the rest of my life, lol. Whether I succeed or not is another question.

[Weird questions for writers]

[thehoneybeet]

1 and 33 for the writer questions! 🖤

Hello lovely! Thank you for the asks 🌹

1. What font do you write in? Do you actually care or is that just the default setting?

The font I use varies; I like changing it up especially when I feel stagnant in my writing. I wrote Euphoria in Garamond, EIRTY in Baskerville, wild with all regret in Times New Roman, and one current wip in EB Garamond and the other in TNR.

I've even written in comic sans, which is a trick that helps speed up the writing. (It's not just me!)

The one font I will not abide is Arial (the default in google docs). The first thing I do is change the font. Frankly I am a saint for betaing my dear friend @the-fools-errand's 225k masterpiece The Secret Keeper entirely in Arial. Love you. But also, why!!

33. Do you practice any other art besides writing? Does that art ever tie into your writing, or is it entirely separate?

I love this question!

I've played traditional Irish fiddle music since I was 9. Had a bit of a hiatus during university but I still love listening to the music, writing tunes, etc. I once wrote a twenty page paper on an Irish music album for an ethnomusicology class.

Ceramics - lately obsessed with teapots and raku.

I've done my fair share of painting/drawing as well, and most recently have been dipping my toes into some fanart on procreate (a steep learning curve for me).

Knitting! Something I haven't done in a while but would love to go back to soon.

If anyone who knows me in real life stumbles across this page, they'll probably know it's me just from this combination of art forms 😂

I think they do tie into my writing in abstract ways. It affects the way I see the world, the things about life I focus on, which get translated in how I describe and phrase things. I also listen to music while I write, so definitely some osmosis going on there as well. I haven't actually written any artists into my fics, but I would love to do that someday.

Sorry this was so long, and thank you for asking!

(for the weird qs for writers asks)

[aces-to-apples]

For the ask meme, 28?

28. Who is the most delightful character you’ve ever written? Why?

Lol Maul is always great fun and if I can swing it I'll pretty much always choose to write from his POV. He's just such a great combination of pretentious, awkward, and confused, you can have him say almost anything as long as it's ridiculous and slightly off-putting.