The #WritersLife Tag
Let's get started.
Write Fuel: What do you eat/drink while writing?
Anything and everything. Especially chocolate (including hot chocolate). A few other favourites are: ice cream, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (don't judge), cookies, and milk tea (since first being introduced to the concoction via this lovely tag). And now I'm hungry.
... Who am I kidding? I'm always hungry. I'm a dragon.
Write Sounds: What do you listen to while writing?
The rhythmic clicking of my keyboard, the far off lowing off cows, strains from the piano downstairs, and the distracting buzz of a trapped stinkbug.
That aside, I am a steadfast supporter of listening to music while I write. It might not work for everyone, but it sure works for me. And again, I pretty much listen to anything. I've got specialised playlists for both my major WIP and my upcoming NaNo novel, plus a collection of really gorgeous instrumentals when I really can't spare any extra braincells for lyrics (though singing usually helps me think better). And often enough I'll just turn my music on and let it play what it will.
If we're talking specifics, I adore instrumentalists like Audiomachine, Two Steps from Hell, and Martin Garrix.
Write Vices: What is your most debilitating distraction?
I won't deny it-- I am easily distracted.
The internet is my bane. I constantly get side tracked scrolling through Pinterest, reading all the blog posts, checking my email, and chatting with my online friends. And I can't actually turn the internet off like some suggest because I write on Google Drive.
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| For the record, I actually adore Google Drive. |
Also, family is distracting. And Doctor Who. And stinkbugs. And life in general.
Write Horror: What is the worst thing that's ever happened to you while writing?
Um... I don't actually remember? Obviously there are all the times when the computer randomly decided to delete whole passages of my story without consulting me.
And then there was the time my cousin stole my computer while I was writing and started reading my story before I could steal it back.
But otherwise, I've successfully edited all the terrifying occurrences from my memory.
Write Joy: What's the best thing that's ever happened to you while writing? How do you celebrate small victories?
The best thing that's ever happened to me, writing wise, was winning NaNo last year. And I celebrated that by going to see Big Hero 6 with my sisters.
Other great things that happen sometimes:
I start crying over something I wrote. This is a big deal. It's also a good thing.
Someone gives me chocolate. Rarely, but occasionally.
I win a writing competition of some sort.
Stuff starts making sense. Because this hardly ever happens.
Other ways I celebrate:
I eat chocolate. (If I have any.)
I take a break.
I scream and dance and do something that looks kinda like this:
Only I'm unfortunately not as adorable as Jeremy Renner.
Write Crew: Who do you communicate with or not communicate with while writing?
My "Write Crew" consists of my sisters and my best friend, who are all writers as well. They are all wonderful humans and wonderful writers, and they're super supportive of my writing habit.
That being said, it doesn't bother me to talk to people while I'm writing, unless the person is the sort of annoying person that I wouldn't want to talk to even if I wasn't writing. Actually, it's another way of procrastination for me, and I really love procrastinating.
Now talking about writing is different. I will talk about writing online, or to my family, and definitely to my best friend, and if someone asks what I like to do, I'll say "I like to write", but around most of my friends and acquaintances, I keep my writing pretty hush.
Write Secret: What is your writing secret to success of hidden flaw?
There are actually lots of these.
Secrets
- Write whatever you want. Don't get caught up on "this idea is stupid", "these words suck", "my readers will be mad at me" or whatever else. Just write it. If it helps, write like no one is ever going to read it.
- Remember not everyone is the same. There's lots of really great writing advice out there, from really great writers, but if it doesn't work for you, it doesn't work for you. That is not a problem. Find something that does work. It doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you-- it just means you're your own person, and that's a good thing.
- Sometimes you just need to scream, "WUT R WRDS" and turn on Chris Medina.
- You can't write if you're not experiencing real life to write about. Don't hole yourself up in your room and write all the time. Get out there and do stuff. Have fun. Be normal. Talk to annoying people. Then go write about it.
Flaws
What? I don't have flaws. I'm a dragon. I am fire. I am death. I am perfect.
Actually, I wrote half a post about this a while back, so I don't think I'll go over it again.
Write-spiration: What always makes you productive?
Nothing makes me productive. I am supremely unproductive.
Something that tends to help a lot, though, is community. When I have people around me, supporting me, I can get waaaaaay more done. People are just awesome like that. (People are also awesome for word wars, which are really motivating, while we're on the subject.)
Besides people, another important part of my community is Whoot.
This is Whoot. He's my writer's block owl. He is also adorable. I painted him myself, and he holds a special place in my dragonish heart. He's very inspiring.
Write Peeve: What is one thing that writers do (or you do) that's annoying?
I hate it when authors use "interesting" dialogue tags. Think "gushed", "chortled", and "bubbled". Seriously guys, stop it. It's not interesting, it's distracting. I would infinitely prefer the good old-fashioned "said".
As for what I do, everything about myself annoys me. And everything about me annoys myself. Sometimes me and myself get so annoyed at each other that we stop talking to each other. But that's off topic.
Specifically writing related, I annoy myself by incorrectly using words like "you're" and "your". I know the proper usage. I swear I do. I just don't always think super carefully over every single word I write to make sure I'm not making typos. And then I look like an idiot and everyone gets annoyed with me. *cries*
Write Words: Share one sentence from a project past or present.
One sentence? PFFT. You're forgetting that I'm a dragon. I DO WHAT I WANT!!
"Damian!" cried Senator Robertson, throwing out his hands. "What a pleasant un-surprise!"
"The corn is very cheesy, thanks."
I make no apologies for cheesiness and sucky writing.
Senator Robertson face palmed. "Seriously?" he said. "Communication problems in the middle of an epic villain speech? Humanity is so annoying."I really love my villain. Just sayin'. He's seriously the best.
"Shoot if you like," said Damian. "Now's as good a time as ever. I'd do it myself if I had the nerve."
He stared across the empty space at Damian's dark shirt, barely seeing it. His hand curled around the grip of the gun, his index finger finding the trigger. Damian deserved it. The metal was cool against his hot skin. His anger surged and sank and surged again, with each surge attaining new heights. He could see Damian's chest heaving unevenly as he stood waiting. Damian deserved it.Because we had to end on a serious note. (We're so serious, son.)
And because I'm a dragon worth my salt, I'm going to ignore all rules and conventions and not tag anyone. *cackles*
But if you like this tag, by all means, help yourself...
Just maybe do it while I'm sleeping under a pile of my ill-gotten gains-- dragons don't care much for burglars.
So tell me about your writer's life! How do you cope with distractions? Do most people know you're a writer? What motivates you to write?
Oh gosh... I've seen that GIF of Jeremy Renner before and it throws me off every time because I actually have a character based on Hawkeye and that lovely dancey thing in the GIF is so NOT my character. xD
ReplyDeleteAlso, that owl... I have been trying to make sense of the little tiny picture I see in the URL bar and the Internet tab when I'm on your blog, and when I saw the owl I was like, hey, he kinda looks like-- OH MY GOSH that's the thing. xD Before I kept staring at the little picture like, "But it doesn't look like a daisy..."
Oh wow, no, I can't imagine anyone based on Hawkeye doing that dance-- except for Jeremy Renner. xD
DeleteYup, that's the thing. xD I set it as that because it matched my colour scheme and Whoot really is an important part of my operations here-- but mainly just cause I really hated the big orange B thing. *shrugs* Anyway, now you know. :)
Thanks for commenting!
I probably need to ban myself from Pinterest because that's the worst and every time I try to write it feels like I get sucked into it more and more xD I'm working really hard at getting rid of distractions lately, because it's cut into my writing time too much and when you couple that with all the schoolwork I'm having to do it's not much fun at all. Your writing tips are so great! :D
ReplyDeletePinterest is evil... but it's just so FUN. *sigh* Good luck cutting out those distractions! I know exactly what you mean. :/
DeleteThanks for commenting!
PBJ is the best!
ReplyDeleteYes, crying over something you wrote is important, I think. What do they say? No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader? I mean, if it moved me, and I knew it was going to happen, then it's got to be sad, right?
I love what you say about if it doesn't work for you than find your own way. So true!
"Have fun! Be normal." -- But Gemma! I don't understand this "normal" concept that you speak of! ;)
I like Whoot. He's cute.
Agh! Yes! Why do people always avoid "said"? It rives me crazy. I'll use other words every now and then, but usually only when my characters are playing around. They're not really "gushing," they're pretending to. (My characters are always kidding around with each other :P) Sometimes I just drop the whole dialogue tag and have them DO SOMETHING instead.
Your villain sounds awesome! XD
I don't cry easily at the worst of times, unless I'm angry (and angry tears are not what I'm looking for when reading/writing), so if something I wrote inspires me to tears, I know I did something right. :)
DeleteLol-- I tend to think of "normal" as being really subjective-- like it varies from person to person. Which seems to defeat the purpose of "normal", but whatever. *shrugs*
I let my characters play around once in a while and use fancier dialogue tags, and I try to use tags as little as possible anyway, but I don't understand this aversion to "said". There's nothing wrong with "said". At all.
Thanks for commenting!