Confessions of a Writer

It's only fair, I suppose. These tag posts go around. I hit someone up with a homework assignment of a blog post, it's only fair for them to return the favor. And talk about homework, this one's a doozy!

Courtesy of Anna Humphrey at The Muse's Lair, here's a little (a lot) about me.

When did you first start writing? Was being a writer something you always aspired to be?
I started writing in the 2nd grade. It wasn't intentional. Luck, really, is what did it. I loved books, was the first kid to read in Kindergarten, but I never thought about making my own story. Now, in Florida, we have a state standardized test called the FCAT, taken in 10th grade, but practiced every two years starting in 2nd to get us used to it. At least, that was how we did it then. You can't ask 2nd graders to write anything too complicated, though. They just don't know enough of the world to do an essay on economics or politics. "What I Did My Summer Vacation" is about the limit of 7 to 8 year old creativity. So we children were given one random prompt: a nonfiction one about vegetables or a fiction one about a door in the middle of nowhere. By the grace of where I was sitting, I got the fiction one, and I fell in love. After that, I knew all I wanted to do with my life was write.

What genre do you write?
I started in fantasy, and twenty years later, I still write fantasy. I also write science fiction and have ideas for horrors and thrillers, but the majority of what I do is some kind of fantasy.

Can you tell us a little about your current work in progress? When did you start working on this project?
I started my current WIP, The Business of Being Dead, for NaNoWriMo 2012. The idea came from a dream about being a grim reaper helping people pass on. Additionally, I'd always wanted to start a story with "I woke up dead this morning." I combined the two and ended up with a story about a girl who wakes up dead and is told by a sock-eating bogeyman that she's a grim reaper. Not The, just one of many meant to assist the Big D with the business of being dead: supplying blood for vampire, body parts for Frankstein monsters, keeping zombies from overrunning the Earth, that sort of thing. Unfortunately for her, she's arrived at a time of undead political upheaval, where the other undead are tired of being told what to do and where to hide. Caught on the wrong side of a revolution, she's going to have to run for her afterlife and figure out a way to save the world from the lich who would be the new Death.

What was your first piece that you can remember writing? What was it about?
I still remember that first prompt about the door (girl ran from bullies and escaped into Candyland), but after that, I wrote a two or three page story about a girl named Clarinet who was basically Cinderella but instead of going to a ball, she wanted to be a gymnast.

What’s the best part about writing?
The creating something from nothing. When you craft something, like building a clock, you have all the parts that will become the whole. When you write, it's just you and a blank sheet of paper, and it could become anything.

What’s the worst part about writing?
Having to clean it up when you're done. Being objective with your creation enough to slice it apart, find what's wrong, remove the darlings, and make it into something actually sensible and legible is difficult.


What’s the name of your favorite character and why?
Pick just one of my babies? Geez. Making me play favorites here.

I'm gonna have to go with Dave, the sock-eating bogeyman. His story is tragic; bogeymen are only formed when a person dies a gruesome, painful death. They're meant to be creatures of hatred and agony who feed on fear and children. But Dave's goodheartedness in life carried over despite his agonizing death. Despite living an afterlife of pain, persecution, and lots of hunger, he sees the good in the world around him and can't bring himself to give in to his animalistic nature. He's noble, loyal, creative, goofy, and kind, and god bless him, he tries so hard despite being a creature of nightmares. I love him.

How much time a day/week do you get to write? When is the best time for you to write (morning or night)?
I can write any time, although I prefer doing it during the day so I can have my evenings free. I do it where and when I can. It's difficult since I have a day job, but I just keep my WIP open in a Google Doc and if I have ten minutes during lunch, I do what I can.


Did you go to college for writing?
I did not. My major was in computer information systems with minors in graphic design and philosophy.

What bothers you more: spelling errors, punctuation errors or grammar errors?
Um, all of the above? Anything that disrupts the flow of the story bothers me.


What is the best writing advice that anyone has given you?
An online secret santa sent me a copy of Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman's How Not To Write a Novel. It's been the best writing book I've ever read. The advice in it has helped me become a better writer and a more observant reader.

What advice would you give to another writer?
Don't give up. When it feels like the story's crap and doesn't deserve to be finished, keep going. When it feels like YOU are crap and don't deserve to be a writer, keep going. When you haven't written in months and sit down and write that first bit of utter dreck, keep going. You can polish crap into a shiny diamond, but you have to get that crap on paper first. As long as you're trying to write, you're making progress, even if it's crap.

I'm sorry for saying 'crap' so much there. But I think I made my point.

What are your favorite writing sites or blogs that you turn to for help, tips or encouragement?
The Absolute Write forum, which has educated me in ways I never imagined. Through the people I've met there, I've started to complete and submit short stories, learned about all the behind-the-scenes stuff I never knew about, the things to look for and avoid when picking a publisher or agent, and in general become a more educated writer. Add that on with the support group of friends I've made in the chat threads, the world updates from the Politics & Current Events forum, the thousands of pages of general writing advice, and the Share Your Work section to practice critiquing query letters and chapters, I can't imagine a better place for a writer.

Besides writing, what else do you enjoy doing? What are your hobbies?
Video games, mostly. I'd like to pick up a more physical creative hobby, but I'm lazy and overly busy. When I have the time, though, I enjoy cooking, and I've always been fascinated by dollhouse props and furniture. I don't think I have the patience for it, though. I'm too much of an impatient perfectionist, not very good when you want to work with small, delicate objects.


What’s the best thing you’re watching on television?
I don't watch television, actually. Not Netflix either. The last thing I watched from TV was a few episodes of Agents of SHIELD, which rules. 

What’s the best book you’ve read this year?
Oh geez, I've read so many. Let's go with a non-Discworld book, since most of my latest reading has been that. Did I ever mention I finished? Yeah, October 5th, I finished The Shepherd's Crown. I might've cried. A lot.

Best this year, it's hard to pick one. I've read a lot of excellent books by my AW friends, like S. L. Huang's Zero Sum Game and Joshua Roots' Summoned Chaos (unsubtle plugs) but I think the winner for best this year will have to be Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. I just absolutely loved it, if you couldn't tell by the blog post I made about it.


What is the best movie you’ve seen this year?
Another hard one. It's been a good year for movies. I'd have to say either Ant-Man (come on, I gotta pick at least ONE Marvel movie, and I think I liked Ant-Man just a wee bit better than Age of Ultron) or Mad Max: Fury Road. But oh, The Martian is so good too! I'm hoping, though, optimistically, that Star Wars: The Force Awakens will blow them all out of the water. Guess we'll see.


What is your favorite book or series of all time?
The Discworld series. Every single one of them.

Who is your favorite author?
Terry Pratchett

What are your plans for the rest of the year in terms of your writing?
Not much left for the rest of the year! Like I said before, I'm hoping to finish NaNo with two completed novels. They'll need to sit, soak up the new stuff in preparation for editing. After that, it's preparing for the annual Absolute Write Secret Solstice Science Fiction/Fantasy Story Swap, the short story gift exchange! We'll receive our prompts on Dec 25th, and then it's time to get writing.

Where else can we find you online?
Where CAN'T you find me online? Well, not on Facebook. I'm waiting to have something published before I make a FB page. And I have a Wattpad account, but nothing on it yet. I'll add it to the list once I do. For now, you can find me at any of the links on the upper right of this blog.

I'm guessing you all abandoned ship 17 questions ago. It'll be safe to come back next week. I promise it'll be shorter. Maybe I'll have more con pictures from this year's NC Comic-con.

Oh right, I'm supposed to tag people. Hm, who to victimize this time?

M. J. Ravenhill!
Lillith!
JR!
PK Baxter!

Y'all're it. And if anyone wants a tag and a link, please leave a comment! Happy Friday!

Just to make it easier on you, here are the questions:
When did you first start writing? Was being a writer something you always aspired to be?
What genre do you write?
Can you tell us a little about your current work in progress? When did you start working on this project?
What was your first piece that you can remember writing? What was it about?
What’s the best part about writing?
What’s the worst part about writing?
What’s the name of your favorite character and why?
How much time a day/week do you get to write? When is the best time for you to write (morning or night)?
Did you go to college for writing?
What bothers you more: spelling errors, punctuation errors or grammar errors?
What is the best writing advice that anyone has given you?
What advice would you give to another writer?
What are your favorite writing sites or blogs that you turn to for help, tips or encouragement?
Besides writing, what else do you enjoy doing? What are your hobbies?
What’s the best thing you’re watching on television?
What’s the best book you’ve read this year?
What is the best movie you’ve seen this year?
What is your favorite book or series of all time?
Who is your favorite author?
What are your plans for the rest of the year in terms of your writing?
Where else can we find you online?

Brief NaNo Update

So far so good. Six days in and, after a slow start, I've caught up to my daily 2k goal. I'll likely loose some of that tomorrow when my mother comes to visit. Sunday and Monday will be catch-up days. Whether I'll hit 50k or not is still up in the air, but the story is moving, at least. Current project is The Business of Being Dead and I'm enjoying the new direction a lot more. The characters are growing better as people. They've hit rock bottom. Now to start pulling them out of the hole they dug.

I'm having a slow wordage day, so no big posts today. Next week, look for a huge post about my writing on a tag challenge from my friend A. F. Humphrey. If you take a look and want to take part, leave me a comment and I'll hit you up!