Meme Time

Got this from fellow writer Lynda Schab’s blog. Feel free to take this and put it on your own blog–with your own answers of course 🙂

A Writer’s Meme

What’s your favorite genre of writing? Historical fiction

How often do you get writer’s block? Too often. Probably every three or four chapters.

How do you fix it? Listening to music that reminds me of my book, watching the book trailer I made for it (gives me a little creative boost every time) and eating lots and lots of chocolate.

Do you type or write by hand? Type. Although I will write if the inspiration comes when I’m somewhere with no computer access. That’s why I always carry a notebook.

Do you save everything you write? YES.

Do you ever go back to an old idea long after you abandoned it? Definitely. I still plan on re-working the novel I wrote when I was twelve.
Do you have a constructive critic? Yes, my entire critique group as well as a few writer friends online who graciously read and critique my chapters.

Did you ever write a novel? Yes, at age 12, and working on another one now.

What genre would you love to write but haven’t? I’d love to write an epic fantasy although I don’t know if I’d be able to do all that worldbuilding.

What’s one genre you have never written, and probably never will? Mystery/suspense. For some reason my mind just can’t come up with good mystery ideas and my suspense scenes always feel fake.

How many writing projects are you working on right now? 1 mainly, although I do occassionally go back and add some ideas for two others that I have.

Do you write for a living? Do you want to? No, but I do freelance a little and I’d like to eventually write for a living. Or at least supplemental income 🙂

Have you ever written something for a magazine or newspaper? For a student newspaper back in college. No magazines yet.

Have you ever won an award for your writing? One a few years ago for FaithWriters Writing Challenge. It wasn’t an award exactly but it did get printed in an anthology.
Do you ever write based on your dreams? Not yet, but I do have one idea that I wrote down from a very vivid dream. Had another one the other night, but I couldn’t remember it long enough to write it down so that one is now lost to the dream eaters. 😛
Do you favor happy endings, sad endings, or cliff-hangers? I like happy endings best (probably why I’m going to be a member of RWA soon :)) although two of my favorite books have bittersweet endings.

Penmanship Meme

A quick break from the little series I have for a fun meme! (Don’t worry I’ve got the post for my “novel” all set up 🙂 )

I think I may have been tagged by fellow blogger Corra McFeydon over at The Victorian Heroine for this fun little meme.

You actually have to use a pen and paper for this one and then scan (or take a picture of it if you don’t have a scanner) it to your blog. Here are the following items:

1. Name/Blog Name.
2. Right handed, left handed or both?
3. Favorite letters to write?
4. Least favorite letters to write?
5. Write: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
6. Write in caps:
CRAB
HUMOR
KALEIDOSCOPE
PAJAMAS
GAZILLION
7. Favorite song lyrics?
8. Tag 7 people.
9. Any special note or drawing?

Here’s mine. Probably somewhat hard to read since I don’t have the best penmanship.

I hope you all can read who I tagged. If not, here’s who I tag: Mariah, Caitlynn, Victoria Dixon, Sandy Shin, Patti, Jeannie and Meghan Ward. Yes, it’s hard to read–shows you how bad my handwriting is 😛

A Fun Writing Meme

What’s the last thing you wrote? An email here at work. Before that, my blog entry today.

Was it any good? LOL, I guess

What’s the first thing you ever wrote that you still have? A story I dictated to my mom at age 4 or 5. Technically she transcribed it but I “wrote” it

Write poetry? No. My attempts are poor at best

Do you type or write by hand? Type mostly, but much of my outline and character bios are written out by hand in whatever little notebook I have handy

Do you save everything you write? Yes, unless I think it’s garbage

Does music help you write? Yes! I often listen to movie soundtracks or songs that I think convey the theme or scene I’m writing

Do you even show people your work? I do when it’s time for critique group. But never a chapter I’ve not edited to some degree.

Do you want to write for a living? It would be nice
Have you ever written something for a magazine or newspaper? College newspaper
The last thing you’ve had published for pay? Nothing yet
Fiction Writers…

Where do you get ideas for your characters? Who knows! They just pop into my head. Most of the time it starts out with an interest in a certain time period or certain event and then I wonder “What if?” My MC for my current WiP started out completely different from who she is now, but it all started with a “what if” question about how a mixed race girl would live in 19th century Japan

Are you a Pantser or a Plotter? Plotter. I have to plot out a semi-detailed outline to see how the story progresses. It often changes when I’m in the middle of writing, but at least I have an idea of where the story is going. If I didn’t the story wouldn’t be cohesive in the slightest. It’s probably barely cohesive even with the plotting

Have you ever written sci-fi, fantasy, or horror? Not yet. I may end up trying fantasy or maybe horror, but not sci-fi. I think though my calling is historical

Ever written romance or teen angsty drama? Yes and yes. Most will never see another pair of eyes.

Genre of choice? Historical!!! But I do like a nice deep literary novel every once in awhile. Some contemporary, though I don’t find myself as interested in it as the former.

Do you favor happy endings, sad endings, or cliff-hangers? Anything with closure. I don’t like cliff hangers unless it’s a series; I don’t think it works well if it’s a stand-alone novel.

Quote something you’ve written. The first thing to pop into your mind.
My current WiP (set in 1890 in Japan); one of the verbal sparring matches between Naomi and Ryuji. It’s a bit rough.

 “They don’t see many foreigners up this far north,” Ryuji said. “Especially ones that look—“ he stopped.
 “That look as strange as me?” Naomi finished. “I am fully aware that my distinct facial features draw plenty of attention.”
 “That’s not what I meant,” Ryuji said.
 “Then what did you mean?”
 Ryuji muttered something under his breath and then spoke up. “I only meant that there aren’t many travelers that have foreign ancestry.”
 Naomi rolled her eyes. “That’s the same thing, only disguised behind a thin veil of courtesy.”
 “You are impossible, ” Ryuji said.
 “And I thought the Japanese prided themselves on their civility.” Naomi said, determined not to let him have the last word. “You have proven otherwise.”

 

Meme: Seven Degrees of Separation

I’ve been tagged by Emily over at Lefty in My Write Mind to fill this out. And of course, I can’t pass up the opportunity to do a meme!

Seven Degrees of Separation

1.  I’ve been a storyteller since before I could write. My mom used to transcribe stories for me that I would dictate for her and I would illustrate it (I still have my first one in a folder: The Story of the Tulip, written at age 4 :P). I wrote a whole bunch of stories when I was young–even had one that I did a “book on tape” version for (though sadly, the tape is lost).
2. Along the same lines as #1, I wrote my first “novel” between ten and eleven. It ended up being nearly 180 pages (90 sheets of paper, front and back). I wrote the bulk of it by hand, in pencil. It’s nearly impossible to read now because the pencil is starting to fade, and at 12 I attempted to do some edits, which make it a bit difficult to read.
3. I can remember the very moment when I wanted to be a historical fiction writer. I was reading an American Girl book, “Meet Kirsten” and was so intrigued by the story and the history that I knew I had to write something like that. That’s one of the main reasons I started writing the first novel mentioned back in #2. And I’m still a historical fiction writer 🙂
4. I am deathly afraid of the water. I refuse to go deeper than my waist, unless there is something or someone to hold on to (even then, I have a hard time maintaining my calm). I had a traumatic experience with nearly drowning at a friend’s pool party back in third grade. No one saw me struggle and somehow I managed to get to the edge of the pool and pull myself out, sputtering and coughing up water. The “lifeguard” didn’t even look up from her magazine. In high school, everyone had to take a mandatory course of swimming. I purporsely didn’t “pass” on to the deep end of the pool because I was too terrified.
5. I am a chocolate addict. Not exaggerating here 😛 I literally have to have some form of chocolate every day; if I don’t, I begin having cravings for it. I try to always keep some form of chocolate in the house, whether it’s hot chocolate or the little Hershey Bliss candies.
6. I have a really high metabolism and have a hard time gaining weight. Yes, I know that makes me the envy of many women, but there are times I wish I could add another ten pounds so I can actually find clothes not in the junior’s section (seriously, it is incredibly difficult to find a 3-4 in women’s, at least where I go). Perhaps all this will change after I have kids and then I’ll actually be normal 😛
7. I have been blessed with an amazing family–by blood and by marriage. I have supportive parents; a younger sister who’s one of my best friends (next to my husband, of course) and  my in-laws couldn’t be any better 🙂

There you go! Now I tag the following six blogs (I couldn’t decide on only five :P):

Anna Scott Graham at her blog

Jessica Nelson at BookingIt

Cassie Hart at In Sunlight and Shade

Lynda Schab at On the Write Track

Patti Nielson at her blog

Courtney Vail at ~Creative Burst~

28 Random Things

I’ve seen this meme all over and I’m finally doing it. A fellow writer friend and blogger Lynda had it on her site and said that those commenting on her entry had to do it 😛 I won’t make the same request, but feel free to take this little meme over on your blog.

28 Random Facts

1. I cannot remember a time when I wasn’t creating stories or wasn’t writing.
2. One of my great-grandmothers gave birth to quadruplets–the first recorded set in Cleveland, Ohio.
3. I have a passion for history and one of my dreams was to become an archeologist.
4. I absolutely HATE driving 😛
5. I grew up Catholic and still attend the Catholic church when I visit my family.
6. I don’t drink coffee or pop but live off of water and juice.
7. I am currently addicted to Animal Crossing: City Folk on the Wii.
8. My parents met and married in Anchorage, Alaska.
9. I want to travel the world and see places like Japan, the U.K., New Zealand, Australia…and the rest of the U.S. beyond Houston.
10. I hate cooking, but love to bake brownies, cookies and cake–all the stuff that’s bad for you 😛
11. Give me a good anime series any day. There are some really good ones out there, despite what people think.
12. My cat and dog have unique names: our cat is Sata (short for “Serial ATA”, a computer term I still don’t understand…leave it to Phil…lol) and Tato–short for Potato (again. a name courtesy of my hubby–he named him after a dog in an anime)
13. I love to dip my french fries in a Wendy’s chocolate Frosty.
14. Still working on my novel, which has changed names yet again 😛
15. My favorite candy bar is 3 Musketeers–and they are AWESOME chilled in the fridge after 20 minutes.
16. The address of my childhood home was 666 #7.
17. I am deathly afraid of water over my waist. I can’t swim, nor do I want to learn.
18. For a few short months in college, I actually attempted to play World of Warcraft. Then it got too complicated 😛
19. I unfortunately have a weakness for the reality show “America’s Next Top Model.” Yes it’s shallow at times, but it’s interesting to see how much work is put into the photography and modeling.
20. I am a Gilmore Girls addict.
21. I have only been on a plane twice–to and from North carolina when on my honeymoon.
22. The first time I’ve been to Florida was last summer.
23. I am taking violin lessons, though I’m still very much a beginner.
24. Another “addiction”–going to Sephora and roaming the aisles looking at all the moderately expensive makeup.
25. I am a movie junkie, at least when it comes to romantic and romantic comedies
(yes I’m very much a “chick flick” kind of girl)
26. Even though I love to read, I’ve discovered I’ve become quite picky and often won’t finish a book.
27. Almost every night before bed, I have a bowl of cereal.
28. I often talk to myself when I’m alone 😛

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!