la_marquise (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
la_marquise) wrote2009-09-26 12:18 pm
la_marquise) wrote2009-09-26 12:18 pm
Because I'm predictable.. the writing meme
1. Are you a "pantser" or a "plotter"?
The former. I tend to have a sense, a feel, a sort-of shape, maybe a scene or two if I'm lucky.
2. Detailed character sketches or “their character will be revealed to me as I write”?
That's more variable. Some characters write themselves into my head before they appear on the page, complete with their details; others jsut walk onto the page and get on with it.
3. Do you know your characters’ goals, motivations, and conflicts before you start writing or is that something else you discover only after you start writing?
The main ones, yes.
4. Books on plotting – useful or harmful?
They don't work for me, except to make me feel even more confused about my ability to plot. But then, they usually aren't aimed at people who write whatever it is I write.
5. Are you a procrastinator or does the itch to write keep at you until you sit down and work?
Yes. Sometimes one, sometimes the other. Worst of all, both at once, when I want to write, but the words are not there.
6. Do you write in short bursts of creative energy, or can you sit down and write for hours at a time?
I need to do a set amount every day or I stall. Hav said that, sometimes it will then take off and I go on and on.
7. Are you a morning or afternoon writer?
I write better in the mornings, but more often end up working in the afternoons due to sheer incompetence.
8. Do you write with music/the noise of children/in a cafe or other public setting, or do you need complete silence to concentrate?
I usually write with either the radio on, or with music. Particular characters have 'cue' songs, in fact, which I put on for certain scenes, and there are pieces of music I go to for mood or context. So Gracielis, for instance, is 'Poison' (Alice Cooper); the court scenes in Ghosts were written to Marin Marais and Lully, and a lot of the rest to Kate Bush and Sandy Denny; a lot of Grass King has been written to Nolwenn LeRoy, Histoire Naturelle and (though it's a bit cringe-worthy), various Blackmore's Night albums and the soundtracks to Once Upon a Time in China, Fallen Angels, Fanaa, Rang de Basanti and Rangeela.
9. Computer or longhand? (or typewriter?)
Longhand until 2000, computer thereafter. (I wrote two complete drafts of Ghosts in longhand. Also all my academic books and articles down to The Welsh Kings</>.)
10. Do you know the ending before you type Chapter One?
I know where the book ends, if that's the same thing. But not necessarily why.
11. Does what’s selling in the market influence how and what you write?
No. Because I am hopeless that way.
12. Editing – love it or hate it?
Mostly it's okay, though it can be a pain when non-fiction subs get ideas about your field of expertise and have to be explained to at length as to why, no, that can't go in as 'fact', because, yes 'common knowledge' but there is No Evidence. I'm still irritated by both the title and the back cover blurb of Princess Nest, because, you know, she wasn't a princess and she didn't seduce anyone that we know of for certain. The text of the book shows these things. But hey, I only wrote the thing. Marketing did those bits. (Mutter, mutter, grumble, mutter). Editing for DAW can be hard, but it's always good. Nice editor only makes good suggestions.
The former. I tend to have a sense, a feel, a sort-of shape, maybe a scene or two if I'm lucky.
2. Detailed character sketches or “their character will be revealed to me as I write”?
That's more variable. Some characters write themselves into my head before they appear on the page, complete with their details; others jsut walk onto the page and get on with it.
3. Do you know your characters’ goals, motivations, and conflicts before you start writing or is that something else you discover only after you start writing?
The main ones, yes.
4. Books on plotting – useful or harmful?
They don't work for me, except to make me feel even more confused about my ability to plot. But then, they usually aren't aimed at people who write whatever it is I write.
5. Are you a procrastinator or does the itch to write keep at you until you sit down and work?
Yes. Sometimes one, sometimes the other. Worst of all, both at once, when I want to write, but the words are not there.
6. Do you write in short bursts of creative energy, or can you sit down and write for hours at a time?
I need to do a set amount every day or I stall. Hav said that, sometimes it will then take off and I go on and on.
7. Are you a morning or afternoon writer?
I write better in the mornings, but more often end up working in the afternoons due to sheer incompetence.
8. Do you write with music/the noise of children/in a cafe or other public setting, or do you need complete silence to concentrate?
I usually write with either the radio on, or with music. Particular characters have 'cue' songs, in fact, which I put on for certain scenes, and there are pieces of music I go to for mood or context. So Gracielis, for instance, is 'Poison' (Alice Cooper); the court scenes in Ghosts were written to Marin Marais and Lully, and a lot of the rest to Kate Bush and Sandy Denny; a lot of Grass King has been written to Nolwenn LeRoy, Histoire Naturelle and (though it's a bit cringe-worthy), various Blackmore's Night albums and the soundtracks to Once Upon a Time in China, Fallen Angels, Fanaa, Rang de Basanti and Rangeela.
9. Computer or longhand? (or typewriter?)
Longhand until 2000, computer thereafter. (I wrote two complete drafts of Ghosts in longhand. Also all my academic books and articles down to The Welsh Kings</>.)
10. Do you know the ending before you type Chapter One?
I know where the book ends, if that's the same thing. But not necessarily why.
11. Does what’s selling in the market influence how and what you write?
No. Because I am hopeless that way.
12. Editing – love it or hate it?
Mostly it's okay, though it can be a pain when non-fiction subs get ideas about your field of expertise and have to be explained to at length as to why, no, that can't go in as 'fact', because, yes 'common knowledge' but there is No Evidence. I'm still irritated by both the title and the back cover blurb of Princess Nest, because, you know, she wasn't a princess and she didn't seduce anyone that we know of for certain. The text of the book shows these things. But hey, I only wrote the thing. Marketing did those bits. (Mutter, mutter, grumble, mutter). Editing for DAW can be hard, but it's always good. Nice editor only makes good suggestions.
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Did you notice how Sheila can get right into the very soul of your writing? She does with mine. :) It is what makes her one of the best I was told. And because she is in there with you, the changes she needs resonate with you. She has a way of explaining what needs done so you can see instantly it is right.
We have had the odd difference of opinion, but if I can justify it to her, she will accept it, but that was more in the early days.
Loved your answers. 8) Poison was the song for one of my novels, along with Dreaming from Kiss Psycho Circus. :)
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Sheila is a wonder: working with her is a masterclass in professionalism.
I'm now wondering which novel had Poison as a theme. Between Darkness and Light?