I did the writing meme.

[dawnofme]

I haven't posted much lately as I've been caught up in my writing. I'm having such a good time with it. It's taking up every ounce of my free/alone time and I'm not complaining. So much so, that when I decided to take a break, guess what I decided to do? A writing meme. LOL! I saw slaymesoftly 's post and thought I'd do it too.



What's the last thing you wrote?

Last finished thing?  My fan fic story “A New Acquisition”
Unfinished?  Chapter five of an untitled story based on original characters from my story “Soul Survivors”.

Was it any good?
I liked it.  : )

What's the first thing you ever wrote that you still have?
Poetry

Write poetry?
Yes.  Not as much now as I did when I was younger.

Angsty poetry?
Yes.  As a teen, most of my poetry was angst filled.

Most fun character you ever wrote?
I had the most fun writing the character, Torch. 

Most annoying character you ever wrote?
Quentin Travers

Best plot you ever wrote?
I haven’t written that many stories yet, so I don’t have much to choose from.  I’ll say the plot for “Soul Survivors”.

Coolest plot twist you ever wrote?
Having a past, turned slayer (Andra) still existing and meeting Buffy.

How often do you get writer's block?
Not very often.  It’s pretty rare.

How do you fix it?
I write everyday.  I force myself to, even if I don’t feel like it. 

Do you type or write by hand?
I type everything, with the exception of poems, if I happen to be without my laptop.

Do you save everything you write?
Yes.  Including my diaries from grade school.

Do you ever go back to an old idea long after you abandoned it?
Yes.  The original story that I’m writing now, with the hope of getting published, was an idea that I had written notes for five years ago.

What's your favorite thing that you've written?
I’m going to have to say the story about Torch that I’m working on now. 

What's everyone else's favourite thing that you've written?
Well, that’s hard to say, since I’m not everyone else.  I’d have to guess “Soul Survivors”.  The reviews have been very good and it’s been nominated at award sites.

My two oldest children love one of my poems that I wrote as a young teen.  They have it memorized and quote it to each other often. 

Do you ever show people your work?
Original work, yes.  Fan fiction, no.  Only online.

Who's your favorite constructive critic?
My beta, Slaymesoftly.  Big emphasis on the word constructive.

Did you ever write a novel?
Yes.  I started writing a novel when I was fifteen and finished it a little over a year later.  It was fourteen chapters long.   My parents had bought me a word processor when they found out I was writing.  It had a monitor, keyboard and a printer on the top.  I had the finished rough draft on a 3.5 disk, but I was never able to open it with another computer. 

I look back on that experience of writing and tell my self that I can finish a project.  I can write a novel.  So, even though it’s lost, it’s still a big confidence booster.

Have you ever written fantasy, sci-fi, or horror?
Not before I started writing fan fiction.

Ever written romance or teen angsty drama?
Yes.  Both.  The genre I’m focusing on for my original work is Young Adult.  

What's one genre you have never written, and probably never will?
Westerns.

How many writing projects are you working on right now?
Three. 

Do you want to write for a living?
Yes.

Have you ever written something for a magazine or newspaper?
Do school newspapers count?

Have you ever won an award for your writing?
Fan fiction, yes.  Some awards for my poetry as a teen.

Ever written something in script or play format?
No.

What is your favorite word?
Knowledge

Do you ever write based on yourself?
I think all writers bring a little something of themselves to their characters.  I’ve never written anything with myself as a main character.  I’m not that interesting.

Which of your characters most resembles you?
Even though I’m a female and I don’t write him often, I would have to say, Giles.
If we are talking looks, it would be a character named Kim in my original story.  She’s a supporting character with light brown hair and blue eyes, but in my mind’s eye her face does not resemble mine at all. 

Where do you get ideas for your characters?
With fan fiction, I think the answer is obvious.  Original characters:  A mash up of people that I’ve met or observed.  Sometimes the character is just there.  I have no idea where they come from, and they seemed to have a mind of their own. 

Do you ever write based on your dreams?
Yes.  I get snippets of scenes in dreams.  Probably because I go to sleep thinking about what I’m writing.

Do you prefer happy endings, sad endings, or cliff-hangers?
I prefer happy endings, but I like surprises in stories. 

Have you ever written anything based on an artwork you've seen?
No.

Are you concerned with spelling and grammar as you write?
Yes.  Spelling is easily corrected with a checker, but the perfectionist in me hates it when I misspell a word.  I’ve made it a point to study words and learn how to spell better.
With grammar, it’s even worse for me.  I have a desire to improve, and I’m trying my best to make good grammar an automatic writing habit.  I’ve got a long way to go.

Ever write something entirely in chatspeak
No, I’ve never written something entirely in chatspeak.

Does music help you write?
I can use music to get in a certain emotional mood, but I prefer to write in a quite space and let my mind be the only noise I listen to.  In a house with five kids, this is not always possible, but I’ve learned to work through anything. 

Are people surprised and confused when they find out you write well?
Maybe they are surprised that I write well, but everyone knows that it’s been my dream to be a writer since grade school.

I’ve written a lot of poetry for my husband and he loves them.  (He’s more of a romantic than I am).  In the sixteen years that we’ve been married, I hadn’t written any fiction until just recently.  I’ve been sharing it with him as I go along. 

He’s been my biggest cheerleader.  After he reads something that I show him, he’s very quiet about it, but he gets that smile.  He looks at me like I’m something special and says something about it being good.   But, it’s the “wow” in his eyes that really makes me believe that I can write something.  He doesn’t say it, but I can see the dollar signs there.  He believes I can get published.  

I’m so grateful for his support.

My thirteen year old daughter is also reading the rough draft as I go along.  She keeps bugging me for the next chapter, because she’s “dying” to know what happens next.  : )

Quote something you've written.

It's not the best thing I've written, but I’ve chosen the bit below from “A Perfect Fit”, because it makes me laugh every time I read it. 

Spike and an OC vampire are babysitting a tied up Angelus:

When Spike didn't take the bait, Angelus continued.  He liked the sound of his own voice after all.  “I mean really, it shouldn't surprise me.  I couldn't beat real evil into you when you were a fledge.  It must be a wet dream come true to fight side by side with Angel to save the humans,” he chuckled. “It’s like some twisted version of that pathetic human group PETA.   Only it would be VETH.  Vampires for the Ethical Treatment of Humans.  How lame is that?”  He laughed then mocked in a goofy voice, “Hi. I'm Willie and I'm a card carrying member of VETH.”  In a normal tone he added, “Then some dumb-ass member of PETA comes along and stakes your ass for drinking pig’s blood.  Ah, hah, hah!” he laughed manically. 

 Spike threw Candy a disgusted looked when she burst out laughing, too. 

“I'm--Sorry--Spike,” she spit out between laughs.  Her phone rang and she continued to laugh while she fished it out of her purse.  She flipped it open, took a deep breath and cheerfully greeted, “Hi.  I'm Candy and I'm a card carrying member of VETH,” and started laughing again.

 “What the hell, vampire?” Faith shouted from the other end.  “What have you been smoking and what the hell is VETH?”

 That got her laughing harder. When she finally calmed down to speak, she made sure Faith was still there, before saying, “Angelus just started the first chapter of a new human rights group.  Vampires for the Ethical Treatment of Humans.  VETH for short.  Spike's going to be president and I'll be vice-president.  When we get Angel back, he can be secretary,” she told her and went into another laughing fit at the horrified look on Angelus' face.