Thursday 3 December 2009

Writer's Meme

Erica over at Laugh Write Play tagged me in this MeMe (what the hell does MeMe stand for anyway?), so I am going to answer these questions, and as the tradition dictates, I must tag two people....and the lucky victims are... Jamie over at The Variety Pages Eric over at Working My Muse On with the questions-- 1. What's the last thing you wrote? What's the first thing you wrote that you still have? Unless you count scribbled notes for brainstorming, my NaNo Novel is the last thing I wrote. The first thing...hmm...I am sure I have some of my old poems somewhere. 2. Write poetry? I used to write it a lot in my teenage years. Now it's quite rare. I started writing with poetry. I still remember my first one was when I was 13. 3. Angsty poetry? Not anymore, but yeah, some of my best work was angsty (though I must point out that my English poems were rubbish. But when I wrote them in Gujarati/Hindi, they were quite good. It's funny, because I wrote better short stories in those languages too, but novels, definitely English. Weird) 4. Favorite genre of writing. Not sure yet. Fantasy in a way, because I love to read fantasy the most too, and it meets all the criterias of my escapist nature. However, I also have couple of multicultural WIPs on the go, and plan to write science-fiction, so haven't decide what I enjoy writing the most. 5. Most annoying character you've ever created. None of my characters have annoyed me. It's usually the plot that annoys me, characters are just fine. 6. Best plot you've ever created? Okay, I can see I am not giving very good answers here, but again, I don't know. I would have to have a totally completed book that I am satisfied with before I can decide if the plot created is best or not. 7. Coolest plot twist you've ever created? Same as number 6 8. How often do you get writer's block? No such thing. At least not for me. When I am not writing, it's due to my own faults, lack of discipline or sheer laziness. 9. Write fan fiction? I haven't tried. I have thought about it, but if I am going to work hard on writing something, I prefer to work on something that's truly my own. Besides, creating stories is sooooo much fun. 10. Do you type or write by hand? Both. A lot of my brainstorming is especially done by hand. But now, at least when I am actually writing the story, I try to stick to typing because it's a lot of hassle consolidating everything. 11. Do you save everything you write? Yes. 12. Do you ever go back to an idea after you abandoned it? I am an idea hoarder. I don't abandon them. Even if I haven't touched them for years, I have them saved, and I believe that it's just waiting for one day in the future when we will be ready for each other. 13. What's your favorite thing you've ever written? My favourite things are whenever I end up writing something that ends up making me laugh-out-loud and still does that when I read it later, or when I think about it. I have had a few of those moments, and I love them. Unfortunately, haven't had any where they made me cry, but would love some of those too. 14. What's everyone else's favorite story that you've written? No one's seen any of my stories so no answer as yet. 15. Ever written romance or angsty teen drama? A historical romance was the first book I ever wrote. 16. What's your favorite setting for your characters? I don't have a favourite. It depends on the story. 17. How many writing projects are you working on right now? NaNo novel is the definite one. Other than that, I am considering my options right now. I have 3 half-done books, which would real mess to start with because they are in a horrible state, and I don't even know where to begin. But I also have a couple of new ideas which I am considering. 18. Have you ever won an award for your writing? Nope. 19. What are your five favorite words. Bloody (as in Bloody hell - but only when spoken with British accent) Oxymoron Dithering Muggle Googled 20. What character have you created that is most like yourself. There was a character in one of my WIP that needs a total re-write. She was actually exactly me. Fortunately for me, there were 3 other major characters in that book. In my defense, when I wrote the full first draft, it was very early in my writing career. Eventually I realised what it was, so I deleted that character completely, and guess what - now I have a story, instead of an autobiography ;) 21. Where do you get ideas for your characters? From my head....from that wonderful place knowns as the Imagination Land 22. Do you ever write based on your dreams? No. My dreams are a complex, International Mix, which could be a head-quarters for UN. 23. Do you favor happy endings, sad endings, or cliff-hangers? Happy Endings!!! If I want sad endings or cliff-hangers, I will stick to real life, thank you. 24. Are you concerned with spelling and grammar as you write? Concerned, yes. Obsessed, no. I pay attention to them, and if I notice something is wrong, I correct it. But I don't worry about it. If something feels wrong but I don't know how to correct it, I move on. That is tomorrow's problem. 25. Does music help you write? No. Music is the devil of distraction. Music distracts me from everything, so I rarely listen to it. I prefer multi-tasking, so my choice of noise is TV, because that works for me. 26. Quote something you've written. Whatever pops into your head. Okay I cheated. I had to look something up, because nothing popped. This is from my NaNo novel - "Don't stick your whole hand in one pie, when you can have your fingers in many."

6 comments:

  1. Love your five words! Oh and "idea hoarder," so awesome! I enjoyed yours :o) I wasn't sure what to answer for some of them too.

    I've only been writing novels for a couple years now, so I have some half- finished ones too!

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  2. Great answers....and that last sentence is excellent advice for us multi-taskers!

    Finally, someone else who doesn't listen to music while writing.

    Dithering is such a great word...

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  3. Nice answers!

    Bloody is a fabulous word. :-)

    Adam

    PS. I did this one a while back, if you're curious! ( http://editinghat.blogspot.com/2009/08/big-ass-writers-meme.html )

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  4. This is very interesting! Why haven't you shared your stories with anyone yet, may I ask? Even if you just have rough drafts, you should let at least someone see it. That's my opinion, anyway. :)

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  5. Erica,

    Thanks. Half-finished ones are the nightmare. Sorting them out is the biggest challenge for me. But at least I have learned, and don't make the same mess any more.

    Jamie,

    I know everyone always seems to go on about music. Nice to see we have one more similarity :-)

    Adam,

    I was actually going to tag you at first, but then I remembered about your meme. I will check it again to refresh my memory of your answers.

    Davin,

    Thanks for commenting. :-) About sharing my work, the people I am close to in "real" life, none of them are very big readers, and even the ones who read, have totally limited taste and don't read the kind of stuff I write, so I don't think they would be the best judge. If they say they love it, I would wonder whether it's true reflection. And if they say it's crap, again, I wouldn't be sure. It would just make things more confusing for me.

    And I have so far refrained from actively looking for a critique partner online, because I don't feel I am qualified to judge someone else's work until I've had at least something published.

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  6. Muggle?

    Ha!

    Good one.

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