Today's Earworm: The Way of Your World by Destrophy
Today's Date: May 30, 2016
Okay, so sit back and close your eyes. Imagine you're reading a story (on Fictionpress.net, or WattPad, or any service like that and you come to the last two chapters.
But wait! They're not chapters! They're an Author's Note that is telling you they're ditching the story or stories for whatever reason. Usually it's something stupid like "I don't get enough reviews/likes/kudos/whatever to post more on this so fuck all of my readers who really enjoy this story".
Or they're not even an Author's Note, they're actual chapters but the story hasn't been updated in years, so you go to the profile page of the person. And they state that they aren't doing their stories any more for a bad reason*.
*Bad reasons are those reasons that you have to stare at and go "What? What kind of bull is this?" This does NOT include reasons that include mental problems, emotional problems, computer problems, or reasonable real life excuses.
Now this really pushes my buttons (and the fact that I had to edit this several times to make it less ranty and more actually informative is telling you something I hope) and I seem to keep running across it.
Both in the world of fanfiction and site based originals. In regards to site based originals, I am talking about such sites like WattPad, Adult-Fanfiction, Archive of Our Own, and Fictionpress.net. Yes, AFF.org and AO3 both do have original sections but you have to kind of dig around for the better things.
I can and do understand life getting in the way. I've had stuff make it so that I wasn't posting, much less writing, for months at a time. So thank you to those who have updated us about their lives and where things are going for you , and I hope life balances out and doesn't kill the muse on you completely.
But I can't understand people not trying to find a balance in their life with their writing.
Okay, look. This is kind of an interesting subject because I had to work on finding a balance with my own writing and life when I was younger.
I have to say this again though: I can and do understand that life can get in the way or your writing and this is directed to those whose life is kind of not writing allowable currently. This is directed to those who say that they want to write, but don't do anything to figure out a schedule or work ethic.
I keep finding those who go "I want to be published/publish" but for some reason ditch a story (even if it is just fanfiction or an original on a site) because they're not getting any reviews/kudos/what have you.
I'm going to impart a bit of truth: Unless you are an established writer who has a good sized fanbase who feels they can trust you in getting your stories out and written and looking good, you won't be getting many reviews. Or pimping. Or anything like that.
Allow me to break it down into simple terms. For those who self-publish, they work their asses off to get any kind of reviews for their books, much less any "You should read this book!" reviews. Most traditionally published writers work just as hard depending on their popularity at the time and the company that is publishing them. They tend to still talk about their own stuff on their own blogs, web sites, and social media accounts.
If you have problems with the fact that most readers on a free to read site doesn't review or kudo, then you're going to have many more problems with the fact that your books won't have that many reviews. At least not until you start creating a fan base that trusts you in putting out a good book.
And in this world, holding a book hostage for reviews is career suicide. It's career suicide to hold a chapter to an online story as it is anyways. People are getting kind of tired of that and tend to pick up and move on.
Yes, I do have some stories that aren't done, but that's because I have decided that I need to sit down and tear them into bitty pieces to rewrite them, if not just turn into some new books.
No, I am not abandoning them.
Yes, they will be done.
No, I do not know when the stories will be done.
No, I do not know if I will replace the posted chapters on my sites with the new stories.
I'm not that far along in this process after all. But that doesn't mean that I've abandoned my stories, okay? I'm working on them, and I won't abandon them. The same goes with my fanfiction. I have to much fun with it to give it up ever.
And I don't know if I want to turn my Butterfly Series into something publishable.
Now, onto something a bit happier, as a general update on things, I am preparing for National Novel Writing Month (November 2016) and the next Camp National Novel Writing Month (July 2016), so we're going to see where I'm at when it comes time.
I'm hoping to finish Bk 1 of Through the Ages series, which is my hero series. That will allow me time to set it aside for a couple of months before I start the massive rewriting overhaul of the story itself. I'm also going to work on a couple of other fictions that I need to get done and start a couple of others, including my submission to Forward Motions 2016 Anthology.
I need to rethink my plot for that as it is. I have a few ideas but I need to rethink it.
So I'm busy as always, melting from the heat, and editing videos for my vlog and for the youtube channel that I am a part of with my friend. Need to get the intro video done though if it keeps giving me trouble I'm going to say screw it and rerecord it when I can.
As for the NaNo story that I'm going to do this year, I'm working on a fanfiction idea that is driving me up a wall so I'm going to write it. I have around 11 chapters planned out already. Here's hoping I have the rest ready to go.
Anyways, I have a lot to do today and very little time to do it.
So for now, I shall leave you with this and go about trying to find a story that is complete, long, and not abandoned. Wish me luck!
Monday, May 30, 2016
Monday, May 23, 2016
Writers Meme Tag Questions 2
Today's Earworm: Whore by In This Moment
Today's Date: May 23, 2016
And we come to the other half of the asks that I started last week. Remember you can find the list of all 50 questions on Maxkrin's Tumblr Blog along with all sorts of goodies that will help any writer.
Writers Meme Tag Questions 1
26: Which do you enjoy reading the most: physical, ebook, or both?
Physical or Ebook. Now that's kind of a tough one to answer. I like both really depending on what I'm doing. If I'm going for a long trip, I don't want to carry physical books so I'll make sure I have my chargers and bring my tablet to read my books on. But if I'm in bed, I like a real book in my hands.
I have a thing for the smell of paper and ink okay? I'm a writer. It's my kink.
27: Which is your favorite genre to write?
My favorite genre has to be Horror. Especially psychological horror. It's just so much fun to take something innocent or simple and twist it and make others wonder and fear.
28: Which do you find hardest: the beginning, the middle, or the end?
I have to say that the middle is probably the hardest part for me. When it comes to the start, I tend to know where I want to start and how I want to start by the time I want to write, and the end usually writes itself, so to speak. But filling in that point B in the A-B-C of my books tends to be a bitch.
29: Which do you find easiest: writing or editing?
Writing is actually easier for me than editing. Why? It's mostly because I don't want to sit there and read my own writing over, and over, and over again. It's kind of hard to do that, but I push through it. I usually rewrite while I write though so I can smooth a few of my issues out before I edit so that is making things easier.
30: Have you ever written fan-fiction?
Yes, I have and yes I still do. If you want to find me, I'm willing to tell you where to find me but since I would like to keep that part separate from my original writing career, it will be via e-mails or private messaging on one of my man sties. Sorry you guys.
31: Have you ever been published?
Not yet, but I am working on getting there.
32: How do you feel about friends and close relatives reading your work?
It depends on the person and the story. Most of my relatives won't understand why I write male/male pairings much less horror so I don't share it with them. But I do share most of my writing works with close friends who I know will enjoy writing them.
33: Are you interested in having your work published?
Yes, and I'll probably end up doing indie publishing when I get that point in my career. Just takes time.
34: Describe your writing space.
My writing space is actually in my bedroom. It's pretty much just a desk that I bought from Amazon and a rather comfortable chair (now that I got a memory foam sitting pillow). My laptop sits on a lap fan with mouse and keyboard (wired both) attached to it but resting on a keyboard drawer, so that works for me.
My desk is kind of covered in stuff (tissue box, bunny, some candles, wax burner, lip balms, necklace, some rubbing alcohol, suntan lotion, aloe gel, and body lotion). The shelves are covered in notebooks and files.
35: What’s your favorite time of day for writing?
My favorite time for writing has to be around sunset when the world starts to cool down. I don't do well in the heat and unfortunately, I don't do much writing while hot. Which sucks.
36: Do you listen to music when you write?
I do listen to music. It all depends on what I'm writing that will depend on what I listen to.
37: What’s your oldest WIP?
My oldest WIP has to be the Butterfly series, but I'm going to work on creating two different stories in that world. I'm going to focus the Butterfly series as a world on it's own while I work on creating Rye and his husbands as their own world connected with my friend's world.
I just need to get her for like 10 seconds and tell her what I'm thinking of doing.
38: What’s your current WIP?
I have several current WIPs. I have my "Zombie with a brain" story, Follow Me Down, Crimson Drops, Thread the Needle, Black Veiled Saviour, Honey Drops bk 1, a prompt based horror short, and my Lex/Rose story. There's a few that I had to forcibly put down because they'll be shorter series, but I seriously don't want to start those just yet.
39: What’s the weirdest story idea you’ve ever had?
The plot idea for Honey Drops because of the fact that it mixes Mythological creatures with aliens.
40: Which is your favorite original character, and why?
My favorite original has to be Rye. He's just such a broken little mess with so much power that he's not sure on what to do with it. He has two hubbies (for the moment), a Goddess watching his every move, and Fate trying to string him up by his nuts. Not only that he's stalked by a demon he fucked for power, and he's impossible to kill at the moment.
Though people have tried to kill him. Once by burning him at the stake. It wasn't pretty.
He's just a such a lovely little thing.
41: What do you do when characters don’t follow the outline?
I adjust the outline if I feel that it's where the story should go to. There is a good reason why I rarely have more than 10 chapters planned out for any one book. And if I do have more than 10 chapters planned, it's because I know what needs to be done. But the outline is always changing as I write.
42: Do you enjoy making your characters suffer?
Yes. Why do you ask?
Okay, look, I'm a horror writer. I have to enjoy making my characters suffer or the story never goes anywhere and it doesn't read right. If I wasn't a sadistic bitch to my characters the story would fall flat okay?
I'm a nice person to those in the real life.
43: Have you ever killed a main character?
Why yes, I have. Clary was a main character in my Butterfly series and he was killed to help the plot move along. I got some heavy cries of "NOOO" from my readers at the time.
44: What’s the weirdest character concept you’ve ever come up with?
Weirdest character concept? Not really should he's weird but an old blood demon (original vampiric beings which spawned the vampires) that I used to RP with. He was then reformed into one of my brothers for Honey Drops.
45: What’s your favorite character name?
It has to be Alexx because it's such a lovely name. And very flexible. I have a few styles of this character for various worlds and places.
46: Describe your perfect writing space.
My perfect writing space is where I have privacy, sunlight that I'm not directly under, with a comfortable seat and a lovely desk to sit at with access to a TV, VCR, DVD player, computers, music systems, water kettle, coffee pot, and a good supply of both tea and coffee with all needed additives.
I pretty much have that now.
47: If you could steal one character from another author and make then yours, who would it be and why?
One character from another author to make mine? Hmm, not sure actually. It would probably be Son'arrin from my friend who writes "A Demon's Toy" (online story that is going through some MASSIVE amounts of rewriting) but I doubt that I could do him full justice.
He's a broken character just like Rye.
48: If you could write the next book of any series, which one would it be, and what would you make the book about?
Harry Potter. I would love to do a book in the Harry Potter series and write it from Neville Longbottom's POV or from Hermione Granger's POV. Work my way through all 7 books and see how things went through their eyes. They were such interesting characters.
Or even characters like Dean Thomas or Seamus (I forget his last name). It's such a big world that there would be so much to explore even sticking to the canon of the story.
49: If you could write a collaboration with another author, who would it be and what would you write about?
A collaboration with another author would have to be with Jennifer Amriss. She is a wonderful writer and a friend that I made a while ago. So I would love to work with her on a collaboration.
Or I would love to write with Necia Phoenix. She to is a wonderful writer and I would love to see what we could come up with if we sat down and worked out some interesting story lines.
Yes, writers who are indy are the ones that I'm after for collaborations if that ever happens. But I love their writing and their style. It's just so much fun.
50: If you could live in any fictional world, which would it be?
I don't think I would ever live in any fictional world because they all have their problems and I'd rather not run into that.
Today's Date: May 23, 2016
And we come to the other half of the asks that I started last week. Remember you can find the list of all 50 questions on Maxkrin's Tumblr Blog along with all sorts of goodies that will help any writer.
Writers Meme Tag Questions 1
26: Which do you enjoy reading the most: physical, ebook, or both?
Physical or Ebook. Now that's kind of a tough one to answer. I like both really depending on what I'm doing. If I'm going for a long trip, I don't want to carry physical books so I'll make sure I have my chargers and bring my tablet to read my books on. But if I'm in bed, I like a real book in my hands.
I have a thing for the smell of paper and ink okay? I'm a writer. It's my kink.
27: Which is your favorite genre to write?
My favorite genre has to be Horror. Especially psychological horror. It's just so much fun to take something innocent or simple and twist it and make others wonder and fear.
28: Which do you find hardest: the beginning, the middle, or the end?
I have to say that the middle is probably the hardest part for me. When it comes to the start, I tend to know where I want to start and how I want to start by the time I want to write, and the end usually writes itself, so to speak. But filling in that point B in the A-B-C of my books tends to be a bitch.
29: Which do you find easiest: writing or editing?
Writing is actually easier for me than editing. Why? It's mostly because I don't want to sit there and read my own writing over, and over, and over again. It's kind of hard to do that, but I push through it. I usually rewrite while I write though so I can smooth a few of my issues out before I edit so that is making things easier.
30: Have you ever written fan-fiction?
Yes, I have and yes I still do. If you want to find me, I'm willing to tell you where to find me but since I would like to keep that part separate from my original writing career, it will be via e-mails or private messaging on one of my man sties. Sorry you guys.
31: Have you ever been published?
Not yet, but I am working on getting there.
32: How do you feel about friends and close relatives reading your work?
It depends on the person and the story. Most of my relatives won't understand why I write male/male pairings much less horror so I don't share it with them. But I do share most of my writing works with close friends who I know will enjoy writing them.
33: Are you interested in having your work published?
Yes, and I'll probably end up doing indie publishing when I get that point in my career. Just takes time.
34: Describe your writing space.
My writing space is actually in my bedroom. It's pretty much just a desk that I bought from Amazon and a rather comfortable chair (now that I got a memory foam sitting pillow). My laptop sits on a lap fan with mouse and keyboard (wired both) attached to it but resting on a keyboard drawer, so that works for me.
My desk is kind of covered in stuff (tissue box, bunny, some candles, wax burner, lip balms, necklace, some rubbing alcohol, suntan lotion, aloe gel, and body lotion). The shelves are covered in notebooks and files.
35: What’s your favorite time of day for writing?
My favorite time for writing has to be around sunset when the world starts to cool down. I don't do well in the heat and unfortunately, I don't do much writing while hot. Which sucks.
36: Do you listen to music when you write?
I do listen to music. It all depends on what I'm writing that will depend on what I listen to.
37: What’s your oldest WIP?
My oldest WIP has to be the Butterfly series, but I'm going to work on creating two different stories in that world. I'm going to focus the Butterfly series as a world on it's own while I work on creating Rye and his husbands as their own world connected with my friend's world.
I just need to get her for like 10 seconds and tell her what I'm thinking of doing.
38: What’s your current WIP?
I have several current WIPs. I have my "Zombie with a brain" story, Follow Me Down, Crimson Drops, Thread the Needle, Black Veiled Saviour, Honey Drops bk 1, a prompt based horror short, and my Lex/Rose story. There's a few that I had to forcibly put down because they'll be shorter series, but I seriously don't want to start those just yet.
39: What’s the weirdest story idea you’ve ever had?
The plot idea for Honey Drops because of the fact that it mixes Mythological creatures with aliens.
40: Which is your favorite original character, and why?
My favorite original has to be Rye. He's just such a broken little mess with so much power that he's not sure on what to do with it. He has two hubbies (for the moment), a Goddess watching his every move, and Fate trying to string him up by his nuts. Not only that he's stalked by a demon he fucked for power, and he's impossible to kill at the moment.
Though people have tried to kill him. Once by burning him at the stake. It wasn't pretty.
He's just a such a lovely little thing.
41: What do you do when characters don’t follow the outline?
I adjust the outline if I feel that it's where the story should go to. There is a good reason why I rarely have more than 10 chapters planned out for any one book. And if I do have more than 10 chapters planned, it's because I know what needs to be done. But the outline is always changing as I write.
42: Do you enjoy making your characters suffer?
Yes. Why do you ask?
Okay, look, I'm a horror writer. I have to enjoy making my characters suffer or the story never goes anywhere and it doesn't read right. If I wasn't a sadistic bitch to my characters the story would fall flat okay?
I'm a nice person to those in the real life.
43: Have you ever killed a main character?
Why yes, I have. Clary was a main character in my Butterfly series and he was killed to help the plot move along. I got some heavy cries of "NOOO" from my readers at the time.
44: What’s the weirdest character concept you’ve ever come up with?
Weirdest character concept? Not really should he's weird but an old blood demon (original vampiric beings which spawned the vampires) that I used to RP with. He was then reformed into one of my brothers for Honey Drops.
45: What’s your favorite character name?
It has to be Alexx because it's such a lovely name. And very flexible. I have a few styles of this character for various worlds and places.
46: Describe your perfect writing space.
My perfect writing space is where I have privacy, sunlight that I'm not directly under, with a comfortable seat and a lovely desk to sit at with access to a TV, VCR, DVD player, computers, music systems, water kettle, coffee pot, and a good supply of both tea and coffee with all needed additives.
I pretty much have that now.
47: If you could steal one character from another author and make then yours, who would it be and why?
One character from another author to make mine? Hmm, not sure actually. It would probably be Son'arrin from my friend who writes "A Demon's Toy" (online story that is going through some MASSIVE amounts of rewriting) but I doubt that I could do him full justice.
He's a broken character just like Rye.
48: If you could write the next book of any series, which one would it be, and what would you make the book about?
Harry Potter. I would love to do a book in the Harry Potter series and write it from Neville Longbottom's POV or from Hermione Granger's POV. Work my way through all 7 books and see how things went through their eyes. They were such interesting characters.
Or even characters like Dean Thomas or Seamus (I forget his last name). It's such a big world that there would be so much to explore even sticking to the canon of the story.
49: If you could write a collaboration with another author, who would it be and what would you write about?
A collaboration with another author would have to be with Jennifer Amriss. She is a wonderful writer and a friend that I made a while ago. So I would love to work with her on a collaboration.
Or I would love to write with Necia Phoenix. She to is a wonderful writer and I would love to see what we could come up with if we sat down and worked out some interesting story lines.
Yes, writers who are indy are the ones that I'm after for collaborations if that ever happens. But I love their writing and their style. It's just so much fun.
50: If you could live in any fictional world, which would it be?
I don't think I would ever live in any fictional world because they all have their problems and I'd rather not run into that.
Monday, May 16, 2016
Writers Meme Tag Questions 1
Today's Ear Worm:
Today's Date: May 16, 2016
First and foremost, go over to this here Link, and read my interview done by the every lovely Connie! It's my first one and I kind of had fun doing it.
But I decided to do a couple of writer tags but just do them on here since I can't do a video properly right now due to my throat.
So this is part one and the list of questions if you wish to do it yourself is here on Maxkrin's Tumblr Blog.
01: When did you first start writing?
When did I first start writing? Gods years and years and years ago. I was about 12 years of age actually when I started scribbling silly little poems before moving onto fanfiction that will never see the light of day right around 15.
02: What was your favorite book growing up?
I didn't really have a favorite book until I was like 14. And then it was Anne Rice's "Interview with a Vampire" which expanded to a few of her other books.
03: Are you an avid reader?
Yes, I am. I read quite a bit actually.
04: Have you ever thrown a book across the room?
No. No, wait yes, once. When I tried to read "50 Shades of Grey". I threw it hard enough to break the spine.
11: What’s your favorite book cover?
Mmm, not sure actually. But it has to be J.A. Marlow's series book covers.
12: Who is your favorite author?
I don't really have a favorite author actually. Surprisingly enough I really don't.
13: What’s your favorite writing quote?
Frank Miller's quote about a noir hero. It's a good thing to have in mind when writing it.
"The noir hero is a knight in blood caked armor. He's dirty and he does his best to deny the fact that he's a hero the whole time."
24: What’s your favorite & least favorite part of plotting?
My favorite part of plotting is creating it. My least favorite is sitting down and fleshing it out. It's a pain but it must happen.
25: What advice would you give to young writers?
Today's Date: May 16, 2016
First and foremost, go over to this here Link, and read my interview done by the every lovely Connie! It's my first one and I kind of had fun doing it.
But I decided to do a couple of writer tags but just do them on here since I can't do a video properly right now due to my throat.
So this is part one and the list of questions if you wish to do it yourself is here on Maxkrin's Tumblr Blog.
01: When did you first start writing?
When did I first start writing? Gods years and years and years ago. I was about 12 years of age actually when I started scribbling silly little poems before moving onto fanfiction that will never see the light of day right around 15.
02: What was your favorite book growing up?
I didn't really have a favorite book until I was like 14. And then it was Anne Rice's "Interview with a Vampire" which expanded to a few of her other books.
03: Are you an avid reader?
Yes, I am. I read quite a bit actually.
04: Have you ever thrown a book across the room?
No. No, wait yes, once. When I tried to read "50 Shades of Grey". I threw it hard enough to break the spine.
I. Do. Not. Regret. It. One. Tiny. Bit.
05: Did you take writing courses in school/college?
Outside of the basic English courses, no I didn't. I find that if I try to take a course on writing it tends to mess with my writing and I don't learn anything at all because I'm sitting there going "this is to stiff". It's kind of counter-productive.
06: Have you read any writing-advice books?
Again, they tend to be counter-productive for me, but I have read a few when I was first starting to write and looking to become better. One thing that I've taken from them is all "practice is a good thing" and "editing is your friend". So pretty much what I knew.
07: Have you ever been part of a critique group?
No because the last time someone asked for a crit, I was rather blunt that read as harsh since the bit that I was reading didn't look like she had tried to edit it much less make it look like a story.
08: What’s the best piece of feedback you’ve ever gotten?
Not a lot actually since I rarely share my stories, but the best bit I could have gotten was from a wonderful friend who told me to try psychological horror. I have and have learned that I love writing in that.
09: What’s the worst piece of feedback you’ve ever gotten?
"You suck. Your story sucks. Your characters suck." That's it. Yeah. Not the least bit helpful.
10: What’s your biggest writer pet-peeve?
Dialogue tags and punctuation! I swear people seem to not know how to write dialogue tags with proper punctuations. Let's not go into that yes? It's not that hard to understand. *sighs*
05: Did you take writing courses in school/college?
Outside of the basic English courses, no I didn't. I find that if I try to take a course on writing it tends to mess with my writing and I don't learn anything at all because I'm sitting there going "this is to stiff". It's kind of counter-productive.
06: Have you read any writing-advice books?
Again, they tend to be counter-productive for me, but I have read a few when I was first starting to write and looking to become better. One thing that I've taken from them is all "practice is a good thing" and "editing is your friend". So pretty much what I knew.
07: Have you ever been part of a critique group?
No because the last time someone asked for a crit, I was rather blunt that read as harsh since the bit that I was reading didn't look like she had tried to edit it much less make it look like a story.
08: What’s the best piece of feedback you’ve ever gotten?
Not a lot actually since I rarely share my stories, but the best bit I could have gotten was from a wonderful friend who told me to try psychological horror. I have and have learned that I love writing in that.
09: What’s the worst piece of feedback you’ve ever gotten?
"You suck. Your story sucks. Your characters suck." That's it. Yeah. Not the least bit helpful.
10: What’s your biggest writer pet-peeve?
Dialogue tags and punctuation! I swear people seem to not know how to write dialogue tags with proper punctuations. Let's not go into that yes? It's not that hard to understand. *sighs*
And "Damsel in distress with more than one guy after her". Just...overkilled lately.
11: What’s your favorite book cover?
Mmm, not sure actually. But it has to be J.A. Marlow's series book covers.
12: Who is your favorite author?
I don't really have a favorite author actually. Surprisingly enough I really don't.
13: What’s your favorite writing quote?
Frank Miller's quote about a noir hero. It's a good thing to have in mind when writing it.
"The noir hero is a knight in blood caked armor. He's dirty and he does his best to deny the fact that he's a hero the whole time."
14: What’s your favorite writing blog? c;
No real favorites again. I watch and read so many that I don't have a solid favorite for various reasons.
15: What would you say has inspired you the most?
My mother. She's been here from day one and encouraged me to find a new story in everything that I do. Which is what I'm inspired by. Just living my life and moving through things.
16: How do you feel about movies based on books?
They would be well done I think but I think that it would need to be watched by the writer if they're alive, or someone who knows the books well enough to make sure that the important things get into the movies.
17: Would you like your books to be turned into TV shows, movies, video games, or none?
I wouldn't mind any of them actually. But my books would probably be better to be movies more than TV shows and video games. Except my Magical Girl series actually. That would make a good TV show if done right.
18: How do you feel about love triangles?
Love triangles actually kind of annoy me to a point. Unless it's very well done, I tend to stay away from them when it comes to reading or writing them.
19: Do you prefer writing on a computer or longhand?
A mix actually. It depends on the story and what I'm doing during that month. During April and July (Camp National Novel Writing Months), I tend to write on my computer with very little longhand, and during November (National Novel Writing Month) I write exclusively on my laptop.
20: What’s your favorite writing program?
My favorite writing program is actually just Gdocs and OpenOffice Writer. I don't have the money for anything else really so I'm happy with what I have.
21: Do you outline?
Yes, yes I do, mostly because if I don't I'm not going to get far.
22: Do you start with characters or plot?
Mix actually. I'll start with a few characters and work the plot out that comes with them.
23: What’s your favorite & least favorite part of making characters?
Creating personalities, figuring out looks, and sexuality. All of that is just such a pain in my ass but I do it.
No real favorites again. I watch and read so many that I don't have a solid favorite for various reasons.
15: What would you say has inspired you the most?
My mother. She's been here from day one and encouraged me to find a new story in everything that I do. Which is what I'm inspired by. Just living my life and moving through things.
16: How do you feel about movies based on books?
They would be well done I think but I think that it would need to be watched by the writer if they're alive, or someone who knows the books well enough to make sure that the important things get into the movies.
17: Would you like your books to be turned into TV shows, movies, video games, or none?
I wouldn't mind any of them actually. But my books would probably be better to be movies more than TV shows and video games. Except my Magical Girl series actually. That would make a good TV show if done right.
18: How do you feel about love triangles?
Love triangles actually kind of annoy me to a point. Unless it's very well done, I tend to stay away from them when it comes to reading or writing them.
19: Do you prefer writing on a computer or longhand?
A mix actually. It depends on the story and what I'm doing during that month. During April and July (Camp National Novel Writing Months), I tend to write on my computer with very little longhand, and during November (National Novel Writing Month) I write exclusively on my laptop.
20: What’s your favorite writing program?
My favorite writing program is actually just Gdocs and OpenOffice Writer. I don't have the money for anything else really so I'm happy with what I have.
21: Do you outline?
Yes, yes I do, mostly because if I don't I'm not going to get far.
22: Do you start with characters or plot?
Mix actually. I'll start with a few characters and work the plot out that comes with them.
23: What’s your favorite & least favorite part of making characters?
Creating personalities, figuring out looks, and sexuality. All of that is just such a pain in my ass but I do it.
24: What’s your favorite & least favorite part of plotting?
My favorite part of plotting is creating it. My least favorite is sitting down and fleshing it out. It's a pain but it must happen.
25: What advice would you give to young writers?
Research is your best friend. That old adage "Write what you know" doesn't have to mean "don't fucking well learn nothing in the course of your damn life". You have books. The internet. Use it! Learn things. It'll come in handy with your writing and with your life to.
Come back next week for the second half of the questions!
Monday, May 9, 2016
Peeking Into My Mind
Today's Ear Worm: Highwayman by Beseech
Today's Date: May 9, 2016
Forwarning: This is going to be slightly rambly because there has been a lot that has gone on in the last 9 plus days. But this is what I'm going through and what I'm thinking and what I'm planning so buckle in and read each section's title.
Today's Date: May 9, 2016
Forwarning: This is going to be slightly rambly because there has been a lot that has gone on in the last 9 plus days. But this is what I'm going through and what I'm thinking and what I'm planning so buckle in and read each section's title.
My Friend Tonya
The last couple of months have been extraordinarily busy for my friend. She has, like me, chronic pain, but unlike me she has found a good chronic pain specialist who has been sending her to get various tests done. Which is good for her.
But makes life a tad busy for all of us since some of those tests are to see how she reacts to epidurals steroid shots. What happens is she's put under so that they can take long ass needles and stick them on either side of her spine.
She did the last one of her spine shots on May 2nd and I was babysitting a mutt while exhausted and doing a younow stream. I'll talk about the stream later in this post, promise. But she has a few other shots to go yet and those will be happening on the 9th and later on the 26th of this month.
She also lost her mother on Wednesday but we have been prepared for this for a long time. 7 Years and about 5 different types of cancer in those years will do that to someone who is having to watch. We knew that she wouldn't have long since the doctors couldn't unfortunately do a whole lot since through all of the other cancer's she became allergic to the chemotherapy and it was such an aggressive cancer this time.
She lasted a month at home with hospice care, dying with her husband by her side, holding her hand.
Tonya spent yesterday smoking her cigarettes and having an adult smoothie. Fruits, vanilla smirnoff vodka, and some juice okay? Adult smoothie.
So my friend isn't bad, but still it's been a stressful time for all of us since we do have to go with her to the appointments due to the fact that she is knocked out for the shots.
Camp National Novel Writing Month
Yep, that's right, I won April's round of Camp! I'm rather proud of myself really since it was such a fight to get the words out and down. I got about four chapters into Book 0 of the Don't Look series, the book called Thread the Needle. I have to work out what I want to continue to work on with it before I do anything with it thought so that's going to take time.
I did get some one-shots, gift fictions and a few other things done which was nice.
But still it was so hard to get the words down, but I did get them.
Personal Life
My personal life is just kind of eh right now. I'm having to say no to people just to keep my sanity and of course jury duty decided to pop up. *rolls eyes* So now I'm having to go "I can't do jury duty because of this reason" and having to call them and all that good shit. I'm sighing and stressing.
Not good for my health.
Writing
My writing is actually going okayish. I'm getting words, which is nice, but I spent most of last week rewriting with very little actual writing because I was just so busy with everything else.
I am focusing on Thread the Needle, figuring out what I want to do with it and how to go about doing it. I have the family and their names, have hinted at how the world is built (because it's historical but it's not at the same time), and have been thinking about how to mess around with that world.
I'm about 17 chapters through my first book of my superhero series, called Ages, and still have something like 19 more chapters to write before I put it to the side to sit and contemplate the second story for the series. It's now up to about 8 books in the series, but it's going to be interesting to write in the long run.
I'm also working on book 1 of my Crimson series that is pretty much the rewritten version of my NaNo book from 2010 or there about. That's making me happy.
I'm also doing the next anthology for Forward Motion (2016 one, 2015 shall be out soon!) with the prompt "Open Roads". I need to write that so I can have time to rewrite and edit it actually. I'm planning on doing that sometime this month.
Younow Streaming
Yes! I stream on Younow.com. I'm called SunnyLewis on there and I've only done 1 or 2 so far. I'm trying to figure out the best way to get things going so we'll see how things do in the following months. I have decided that I will be doing a stream every week as long as I'm up to it, but I just need to figure out the best time to do so seeing as I live in Arizona and we have our own time zone.
Can you see the rolling eyes? Yes? Good.
I'm thinking Sunday's around noon or 1PM will be best so we'll test that out for the next few months.
My Twitter account has the announcements of me online, along with my tumblr and facebook! So keep an eye out on that. :D
Well, that turned out less rambely then I thought it would be. Huh.
Anyways, if you have any topic that you would like to see come around, feel free to comment and suggest!
Also, on Connie's Random Thoughts on May 11th, she will be posting the interview with me! My first interview! Woot! I hope you guys enjoy and read it. :D
Monday, May 2, 2016
Camp National Novel Writing Month April 2016 - Days 25 to 30
Today's Ear Worm: Billy Talent "Pins and Needles"
Today's Date: May 2, 2016
April 25:
Word Count: 0
Total Word Count: 33,622
Thoughts for the Day:
I spent the day going up to Gilbert. I'm exhausted and just to tired to do anything but crash out hard for the day. Nights all.
April 26:
Word Count:
Total Word Count:
Thoughts for the Day:
I have officially validated my novel! Yay! I hit just over 35K words which made me very, very happy. I'll work on getting more words probably tomorrow.
I do need sleep though. Still getting over yesterday's trip.
April 27:
Word Count: 374
Total Word Count: --
Thoughts for the Day:
4:33PM
I actually started kind of late today but that's mostly because I was reading through Necia Pheonix's book and seeing how it read.
Two hours, 22 chapters, and a cliff hanger as I wait for more to come my way...and I'm hooked. *sighs*
I'm going to finish off another short story today since I need to get it done.
Midnight:
I got my rewriting done but that's about it. I started on actual words but only got about 200 in. That kind of sucked.
April 28:
Word Count: 2544
Total Word Count: --
Thoughts for the Day:
I did get those words done! One long as chapter that happily feel in about 2,544 words total, so that made me happy!
I also got a friend hooked on two of my stories. Which is fun. I cackled and teased her with ideas for future chapters. She pouted and demanded more.
Now I'm just rewriting an older story and getting that off of my plate (I'm still pretty damn far from the end actually), but it's slow going since it was well over 3K when I started editing it.
April 29:
Word Count:
Total Word Count:
Thoughts for the Day:
12:31AM:
I am still editing this monster of a chapter. Seriously.
I have no idea when I'll finish this but I've gone through two cups of coffee, a cup of tea, and half a huge bowl of popcorn so far working on this thing. And the entire collection of "Duff Until Dawn" which was like 6 half hour episodes. So about 3 hours.
So much detail to rewrite! This is killer man.
1:19AM:
3 hours, 3 cups of coffee, and a shit ton of squinting and I have gotten it done! *flops* I added well over 1K worth of words to it to, so that was surprising.
Really, really surprising.
I'm going to get ready for bed, crash out for a few hours. Get up at 11 to take a shower and wait for my friend to get her ass over here so we can go do things.
See you guys later!
April 30:
Word Count:
Total Word Count:
Thoughts for the Day:
I've been pretty much working on rewriting and putting down notes for one of my stories. I am still exhausted after yesterday. If you noticed, I didn't write anything yesterday because I was exhausted after all our shopping.
So rewriting and figuring out what to write tomorrow for the final thoughts on this April is pretty much what I'm doing today.
Fun times.
Final Thoughts on Camp National Novel Writing Month April 2016:
So this month was interesting. Seriously interesting since it was so busy outside of my writing.
I had days where I didn't have a single word put down and some days where I couldn't stop writing, which balanced everything out.
I got 3 chapters of "Thread the Needle" down but I need to plan a few more chapters out before I write on it some more. I want to get it done by maybe December, or at least the first draft.
I did get some fanfiction done and I'm working on finishing up a couple of other stories before I do anything since I have so much to finish.
And so little time.
I'm thinking that I will be doing the "Story-A-Day" thing on Forward Motion Writers, level 1 or 2 (which are light versions), and posting them here come June. So keep an eye out for those!
And maybe I can figure out a few of my stories, get a few other things done. Here's hoping.
But I think that I will make sure that July kisses my ass and I work on things during that month. Don't have much else to do after all.
Today's Date: May 2, 2016
April 25:
Word Count: 0
Total Word Count: 33,622
Thoughts for the Day:
I spent the day going up to Gilbert. I'm exhausted and just to tired to do anything but crash out hard for the day. Nights all.
April 26:
Word Count:
Total Word Count:
Thoughts for the Day:
I have officially validated my novel! Yay! I hit just over 35K words which made me very, very happy. I'll work on getting more words probably tomorrow.
I do need sleep though. Still getting over yesterday's trip.
April 27:
Word Count: 374
Total Word Count: --
Thoughts for the Day:
4:33PM
I actually started kind of late today but that's mostly because I was reading through Necia Pheonix's book and seeing how it read.
Two hours, 22 chapters, and a cliff hanger as I wait for more to come my way...and I'm hooked. *sighs*
I'm going to finish off another short story today since I need to get it done.
Midnight:
I got my rewriting done but that's about it. I started on actual words but only got about 200 in. That kind of sucked.
April 28:
Word Count: 2544
Total Word Count: --
Thoughts for the Day:
I did get those words done! One long as chapter that happily feel in about 2,544 words total, so that made me happy!
I also got a friend hooked on two of my stories. Which is fun. I cackled and teased her with ideas for future chapters. She pouted and demanded more.
Now I'm just rewriting an older story and getting that off of my plate (I'm still pretty damn far from the end actually), but it's slow going since it was well over 3K when I started editing it.
April 29:
Word Count:
Total Word Count:
Thoughts for the Day:
12:31AM:
I am still editing this monster of a chapter. Seriously.
I have no idea when I'll finish this but I've gone through two cups of coffee, a cup of tea, and half a huge bowl of popcorn so far working on this thing. And the entire collection of "Duff Until Dawn" which was like 6 half hour episodes. So about 3 hours.
So much detail to rewrite! This is killer man.
1:19AM:
3 hours, 3 cups of coffee, and a shit ton of squinting and I have gotten it done! *flops* I added well over 1K worth of words to it to, so that was surprising.
Really, really surprising.
I'm going to get ready for bed, crash out for a few hours. Get up at 11 to take a shower and wait for my friend to get her ass over here so we can go do things.
See you guys later!
April 30:
Word Count:
Total Word Count:
Thoughts for the Day:
I've been pretty much working on rewriting and putting down notes for one of my stories. I am still exhausted after yesterday. If you noticed, I didn't write anything yesterday because I was exhausted after all our shopping.
So rewriting and figuring out what to write tomorrow for the final thoughts on this April is pretty much what I'm doing today.
Fun times.
Final Thoughts on Camp National Novel Writing Month April 2016:
So this month was interesting. Seriously interesting since it was so busy outside of my writing.
I had days where I didn't have a single word put down and some days where I couldn't stop writing, which balanced everything out.
I got 3 chapters of "Thread the Needle" down but I need to plan a few more chapters out before I write on it some more. I want to get it done by maybe December, or at least the first draft.
I did get some fanfiction done and I'm working on finishing up a couple of other stories before I do anything since I have so much to finish.
And so little time.
I'm thinking that I will be doing the "Story-A-Day" thing on Forward Motion Writers, level 1 or 2 (which are light versions), and posting them here come June. So keep an eye out for those!
And maybe I can figure out a few of my stories, get a few other things done. Here's hoping.
But I think that I will make sure that July kisses my ass and I work on things during that month. Don't have much else to do after all.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)