Writing Meme

Here’s something I found on Pterodaustro Dreams‘ blog, a survey/meme thing that I found interesting. Feel free to use it for your own blog 🙂 It is a meme 🙂

Do you write fiction or non-fiction? Or both?
Strictly fiction. I only did non-fiction when I had to do research papers in college.

Do you keep a journal or a writing notebook?
I suppose I have this one, but then I have a little notebook I carry with me should any ideas creep into my head while I’m at work, church, the supermarket, etc.

If you write fiction, 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?
I know the gist of their goals and conflicts before I write but then it often evolves as the characters decide to grow and change and pretty much take lives of their own. I try to keep up with it, but sometimes it just comes out when I’m writing a chapter.

Are you a procrastinator or does the itch to write keep at you until you sit down and work?
I think I’m a procrastinator most of the time. I say I’m gonna do it; I dream about doing it; yet the book is still unfinished. Perhaps it’s because I realize the depth of the story that needs to be told and it’s a bit frightening; perhaps it’s also the research factor that I know will consume my soul at some point. Either way I know I need to STOP being the procrastinator and just get with it already, otherwise I’ll just be another writer who longs to have the story told but then never does it.

Do you write in short bursts of creative energy, or can you sit down and write for hours at a time?
Generally it’s short bursts. I have a hard time writing for more than two hours at a time–and most of the time that’s when I’m out at a write-in for NaNo or forcing myself to work on the laptop of mine that doesn’t have Internet access. If I have distractions like Internet, I get sidetracked….perhaps a bit of ADD there. 😛

Are you a morning or afternoon writer?
Afternoon/evening. I have work (as most of us probably do) and while there are some slow times I can do things, I generally can’t concentrate enough there, so I do it when I get home.

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 must have some sort of music playing. It’s too hard for me to “get in the mood” of the story without it. And the music generally has to be some sort of movie soundtrack, classical, or on my “novel playlist” meaning it’s a song I think represents a character/theme of the story. During NaNo I often work with others at a cafe for a write-in, but then I need my music to help me along. My thoughts don’t form or flow without it (another reason I have a hard time at work writing if there’s time).

Computer or longhand? (or typewriter?)
Computer. I wouldn’t be able to read my handwriting; I can type words faster. Writing longhand would require hours of trying to decipher the scribbles 😛 I used to write longhand back when I was working on my first novel at the age of twelve or so (before computers really became big) but my handwriting was also neater for some strange reason 😛

Do you know the ending before you type Chapter One? Or do you let the story evolve as you write?
I have the gist of the ending but nothing definite. It’s changed and evolved as I’ve added different things. Actually, I’m kind of struggling now with how exactly I’m ending it–the last few chapters are up in the air. I suppose that’s one thing that I’ll see what happens as I get closer to that point.

Does what’s selling in the market influence how and what you write?
Not really. I mean, how many other books are out there involving the yakuza and a half-American/half Japanese young woman? None that I know of 😛 I only ever write historical pieces too, so if for some reason historical fiction becomes obsolete in the next five years, I suppose I’m at a loss! 😛

Editing/Revision – love it or hate it?
Not really sure…sometimes I like it, because it makes the story better, other times I get frustrated by it. But it’s necessary and I know it’s what will make my book marketable, so I’m leaning towards liking it.

Thanks again to Pterodaustro Dreams for posting this!