Well, I figure memes are of some interest, so here is one and anyone with a blog is hereby tagged.
1. Are you a “pantser” or a “plotter?”
It depends on the situation I suppose. Sometimes I plot, and sometimes I don’t. Most of the time I don’t, to be honest. I have a general idea where a story is going, but that’s about all.
2. Detailed character sketches or “their character will be revealed to me as a I write”?
The character is revealed to me as I write. I usually have a good idea who the characters are as far as personality goes in my head, though. I think you have to know your characters a little in your head to even write about them.
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?
It’s a little of both, actually. I knew Carl in The Lies of Venicia was going to be a sort of ruffian with women problems before I really started writing him just as I knew that some of my other characters would have certain goals and conflicts. The only thing I don’t really know are the details of those conflicts, etc. I don’t know why the Elders of Venicia are exterminating entire groups of innocent people under the guise of an “infection”. I have an idea, but there are a lot of factors to take into account.
4. Books on plotting – useful or harmful?
Not a clue. I’ve never read a book about plotting.
5. Are you a procrastinator or does the itch to write keep at you until you sit down and work?
My problem is less that I procrastinate than my brain can get really fried if too much is going on all at once and by the time I get to writing I just don’t have the drive for it. Yes, I can force myself, but usually that just leads to headaches. I get distracted more often than I procrastinate. I’m a bad person when it comes to arcade games. I have to really hunker down on that part of my life, to be honest.
6. Do you write in short bursts of creative energy, or can you sit down and write for hours at a time?
Yes to both. The longer periods are more rare, especially when there are things around me that can pull me out of the groove. I love the longer ones though. They are truly amazing.
7. Are you a morning or afternoon writer?
Neither. If I have time to write, I write. Usually my writing time is late morning to early afternoon, but not this quarter.
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 can write in a public setting if it’s noisy, because I can’t make out individual voices. I can write with classical and instrumental music, but not any music with words. Silence is really nice for writing when you’re in a groove though.
9. Computer or longhand? (or typewriter?)
Computer. I write longhand if I’m in a place without a computer, though. I prefer computer because I can type faster than I can write by hand.
10. Do you know the ending before you type Chapter One?
Sorta. I have an idea what the ending will be like, but I don’t know the real ending. I know that so and so will kill so and so (if a death is the ending), I just don’t know the where, when, how, and why (for the most part, and sometimes it really depends).
11. Does what’s selling in the market influence how and what you write?
Yes. But not in the way of themes, just in ideas. I got a lot of ideas from Paul Melko and even from Tobias Buckell. It just happens. They raise an issue and it sparks new ideas in your mind.
12. Editing – love it or hate it?
Hate it. Who really likes editing their own work?
