Because maybe it will help get me actually writing again... I have been so bad about my free time. This is about originals, so if you're looking for fanfic info, not here!
1. Tell us about your favorite writing project/universe that you’ve worked with and why.
Liquid because it was better than therapy, but currently I'm really really excited about the Techno Noir That I Haven't Come Up With a Cool Name For Yet Which Is Why I Haven't Really Written as Much as I'd Like. Nothing like taking an over-complicated mess of a story and distilling it into the parts I like and simplifying the setting because I hate worldbuilding. XD
2. How many characters do you have? Do you prefer males or females?
Fuck, more than I'll ever get into stories, I tell you what. I'm pretty even with gender, but most tend to be at least a little gay. XD
3. How do you come up with names, for characters (and for places if you’re writing about fictional places)?
Creepily enough, dreams usually. Or they are based off of real/fictional people I admire. Audrey was obviously taken from Audrey Hepburn, despite the fact that style-wise she is the exact opposite. Valerie was originally based on Veld, and departed sharply, which is good because I'd hate for her to be a genderswapped expy. Liam's name comes from a childhood ah, imaginary friend. >.> Oh and most of my love interests/best friends/second leads were actually named by my girlfriend. XD
4. Tell us about one of your first stories/characters!
Well there's Liz Ladybug Goes to Planet Ladybug, and adventure story I wrote in kindergarten that won a prize, despite the obvious self-insert. Then there's Alien Trouble from first grade, which is also illustrated and involves Bill Clinton being tortured by having to watch Barney episodes (no really). And then Underwater Adventure which was heavily influenced by the movie Explorers and features a trashcan submarine and the fact I was starting to read Jules Verne about then (I think I was 9?).
After that I pretty much only wrote poetry until I got to college and discovered fanfiction. XD Oh and plays. I wrote/directed/acted in a lot of plays with my sister. I still kind of want to write one and get my friends to act in it and put it on youtube, I admit.
6. Where are you most comfortable writing? At what time of day? Computer or good ol’ pen and paper?
At a computer, with a couple solid hours to just PLOW though parts. Pretty much every short story I've ever liked was basically written in two hours. I like uninterrupted writing time with music. The time of day actually doesn't matter as much as the uninterrupted time.
7. Do you listen to music while you write? What kind? Are there any songs you like to relate/apply to your characters?
Ha ha, funny this question should come now. I cannot write in silence, and when I do, it tends to come out really really creepy. I tend to start a story while in my whole music library shuffle, and then if it turns out to be a multichapter or a series I'll make a soundtrack of sorts, but certain songs appear in several of my soundtracks. The Underworld version of David Bowie's "Bring Me the Disco King" appears in a lot, probably because my favorite characters in most stories are older and that song is basically one of the best "well I'm getting older and things are looking strange" songs of all time. I like that version the most because it's darker than the original, which is spare and more sad than dark.
8. What’s your favorite genre to write? To read?
Well, the more I write my own stuff, I guess I'm leaning towards liking to write New American Gothic, as has been pointed out to me as kind of how my stuff tends to come out. Whatever you call more emotional and character driven with an undertone of Things That Should Not Be Messed With. I say "new" because I prefer contemporary settings to historical ones, unless you're talking WWII. XD And American cause I'm American and it's very hard to remove that bias and I've never left the country so I try not to be offensive and fuck up some other country because my knowledge is solely from books.
I like reading a great variety of things, but lately I've liked historical fiction/non-fiction, surrealism, feminist science fiction, and feminist literature in general.
9. How do you get ideas for your characters? Describe the process of creating them.
Despite my huge dislike of worldbuilding, I usually get a scene first, usually from a dream. Like a clear cinematic scene, and whoever is in the scene I later build into a proper character. Usually this first scene gets cut from the story, ha, but the feel of that scene tends to affect the basis of the character. Also a phrase. Like a single narrative phrase description. Those tend to end up in the story.
10. What are some really weird situations your characters have been in? Everything from serious canon scenes to meme questions counts!
Valerie and Reika getting stuck in a closet in a drabble. This is![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
finch's fault. Anything that A.J. gets into could be considered weird too, but she's a child inventor with a robot zombie best friend, that comes with the territory.
11. Who is your favorite character to write? Least favorite?
Valerie's my favorite, because I like her perspective, it reminds me why I like older characters. She's got a lot of experience and authority, but she's still fundamentally missing some stuff and not sure if she can change with it at her age, and that just is so compelling. Close second is her son, because he's really such a sweetheart and proof that she's not a failure in life and she needs that.
Least favorite lately is Audrey, mostly because I was a very different person when I first started writing her and it's a tad uncomfortable to get into her head.
12. In what story did you feel you did the best job of world building? Any side-notes on it you’d like to share?
I'm shit at worldbuilding, because well, I really don't care about the world in stories. XD In fact, I tend to skip a lot of descriptions in books that are solely OMG LOOK AT MY WORLD I MADE because I just don't care that your elves are different or whatever. I do however like gizmos, and cultural worldbuilding I guess? Anyway that doesn't answer this question.
I think Liquid probably did, because the setting did actually matter and was kind of an indicator of the protagonist's state of mind. Granted, it was based on somewhere I used to live (with a LOT of creative license), so that probably helped.
13. What’s your favorite culture to write, fictional or not?
American? I know, boring, but really it's such a clusterfuck sometimes that I can always find some place in it that surprises me. One I'd like to write, however, is Soviet Russian. I've studied enough of it and have a personal cultural link to it that I wouldn't feel nearly as bad trying it. I would probably do it within an American context at least.
I like reading about others though, quite a lot. XD
14. How do you map out locations, if needed? Do you have any to show us?
God no, this is why a lot of things happen in small rooms. XD
15. Midway question! Tell us about a writer you admire, whether professional or not!
Neal Stephenson, for writing in the way I can't (long and rambly with lots of setting... however he does it in such a way that I adore ever bit of it, and I admire anyone that can dump that much exposition and not bore me). Virginia Woolf and F. Scott Fitzgerald because god do they know their way around a stream of conscious and I adore their female characters (even the crazy ones... probably especially them). Lois Lowry because she was one of my favorites as a kid and kept me from being bored at the crap they tried to push on kids when I was growing up (ha ha why yes I was a little bit of a snob).
Non-professionally, I lovenovel_machinist's ability to do action scenes, get a story actually moving, and her no nonsense approach to dialog. Also because she can collaborate with me and make me write better than I can on my own. XD I also like how seventhe can do worldbuilding that doesn't make me want to tear my hair out because her peen is already bigger than yours and she doesn't have to rub it in. Oh and finch because I really like his characters and the fact he doesn't take himself seriously to the point of having no sense of humor.
16. Do you write romantic relationships? How do you do with those, and how “far” are you willing to go in your writing? ;)
I can only write porn for fanfiction, just going to say that, and I always feel dirty for it. I can barely read sex scenes in books, and am slightly uncomfortable with them in movies, even if they don't show anything. Not that I think they're wrong or anything, I just feel like such a voyeur.
Romantic relationships, however, always happen. Even when I don't intend on them. If my protagonist turns out to be asexual (like Audrey, she really is) then someone else has something going on. I try not to be too chick flick about it, but I think they're a compelling part of the human experience and they just happen.
17. Favorite protagonist and why!
Repeat question? Valerie.
18. Favorite antagonist and why!
Gershom, because he's good old fashioned nihilism and I have no intention of redeeming him, because that's not the point. XD
19. Favorite minor that decided to shove himself into the spotlight and why!
Catty, because she's both a healer and an particle physicist and how fucking cool is that? And Nev, because she's an underachiever without being a complete prick.
20. What are your favorite character interactions to write?
Felix and anyone, because he's a charming bastard, Nev and anyone because she's really good with people. Valerie and Reika because Reika is so freaking weird and throws Val off balance so much. Also Vicky and Valerie in the new incarnation of stuff because Vicky makes Valerie all fumbly. Oh and Al and Cindy because they're so cute.
21. Do any of your characters have children? How well do you write them?
Yes, I like families, even if they tend to be broken ones. I like kids from around the 7-12 range, and then skip teenage years to 19-23. I'm not terribly fond of puberty and despite knowing and liking some great coming of age stories, I just get bored focusing there. I think there's plenty out there for that. Catty and Valerie have sons, and while Catty's kid is about 11, you'll see Valerie's at a couple of different ages, though primarily at 21ish. Oh and AJ is a child and a protagonist, she's like 13, but a late bloomer so the weird stuff for her hasn't started up yet. I might give Grey a kid later on, though not through normal means since his storyline is full of The Weird.
22. Tell us about one scene between your characters that you’ve never written or told anyone about before! Serious or not.
Well I have lots of little things where characters from different stories meet up. Like Liam and Brandon hanging out at Grey's or Valerie meeting AJ. They're mostly so I don't lose my voice and tend to be rather silly.
23. How long does it usually take you to complete an entire story—from planning to writing to posting (if you post your work)?
Anything from a day to three years. XD
24. How willing are you to kill your characters if the plot so demands it? What’s the most interesting way you’ve killed someone?
I'm fine with that. I remember asking some of my friends if they wanted to have minor characters based on them for Gershom to kill. XD
25. Do any of your characters have pets? Tell us about them.
Grey has a chinchilla that also happens to be an Egyptian Elder God, so I'm not sure if that counts. Sylph had a parrot for a while when he was first starting out as a pirate because he was 18 and thought all pirates had parrots. He conveniently lost said parrot because it was mean.
26. Let’s talk art! Do you draw your characters? Do others draw them? Pick one of your OCs and post your favorite picture of him!
I can't draw, and my artist friends tend to draw my fanfic characters more than my originals and I'm cool with that, because I tend to write about minor characters for fanfic and they don't have much fanart. I'm especially proud when my headcanon comes into play for those.
27. Along similar lines, do appearances play a big role in your stories? Tell us about them, or if not, how you go about designing your characters.
Yes, because a lot of my characters are 40+ or otherwise some kind not beautiful or somehow representing something that I want to change as a cliche. Like, Felix is a very pretty guy, and he flirts a lot with Catty, who is cute but in a not Hollywood cute way, and they may end up having something going on, because I don't see enough non-model looking chicks get with very attractive guys. Valerie wears mom jeans and is flabbergasted by makeup and is kind of pear-shaped. Vicky is gorgeous, but hates it because her mother pushed her into modeling over it and her height makes her self-conscious. Nev changes her hair color a lot and gets tattoos of cartoon characters. Rachel, my paladin that hasn't shown up yet has Jewish and American Indian heritage. Audrey's appearance is more intimidating than pretty, because she's a conduit. Liam's appearance matters because it's very Aryan and since he spent a lot of time in WWII spying on Nazis this is helpful. So appearance matters, but I guess I try to make it a tad subversive? Though I'm trying to get more non-white people, I'm just careful with that because I don't want to be patronizing there.
28. Have you ever written a character with physical or mental disabilities? Describe them, and if there’s nothing major to speak of, tell us a few smaller ones.
I usually do crazy, and have a dude who can't die. XD And Grant is missing part of a leg, his prosthetic is something he tries to hide. I also realize that most people haven't seen the Grant and Tomorrow stories. XD
29. How often do you think about writing? Ever come across something IRL that reminds you of your story/characters?
Quite a bit, and I run across things that remind me of them all the time. And sometimes my girlfriend does and sends me websites/pictures. XD
30. Final question! Tag someone! And tell us what you like about that person as a writer and/or about one of his characters!
Oh whoever feels like it.
1. Tell us about your favorite writing project/universe that you’ve worked with and why.
Liquid because it was better than therapy, but currently I'm really really excited about the Techno Noir That I Haven't Come Up With a Cool Name For Yet Which Is Why I Haven't Really Written as Much as I'd Like. Nothing like taking an over-complicated mess of a story and distilling it into the parts I like and simplifying the setting because I hate worldbuilding. XD
2. How many characters do you have? Do you prefer males or females?
Fuck, more than I'll ever get into stories, I tell you what. I'm pretty even with gender, but most tend to be at least a little gay. XD
3. How do you come up with names, for characters (and for places if you’re writing about fictional places)?
Creepily enough, dreams usually. Or they are based off of real/fictional people I admire. Audrey was obviously taken from Audrey Hepburn, despite the fact that style-wise she is the exact opposite. Valerie was originally based on Veld, and departed sharply, which is good because I'd hate for her to be a genderswapped expy. Liam's name comes from a childhood ah, imaginary friend. >.> Oh and most of my love interests/best friends/second leads were actually named by my girlfriend. XD
4. Tell us about one of your first stories/characters!
Well there's Liz Ladybug Goes to Planet Ladybug, and adventure story I wrote in kindergarten that won a prize, despite the obvious self-insert. Then there's Alien Trouble from first grade, which is also illustrated and involves Bill Clinton being tortured by having to watch Barney episodes (no really). And then Underwater Adventure which was heavily influenced by the movie Explorers and features a trashcan submarine and the fact I was starting to read Jules Verne about then (I think I was 9?).
After that I pretty much only wrote poetry until I got to college and discovered fanfiction. XD Oh and plays. I wrote/directed/acted in a lot of plays with my sister. I still kind of want to write one and get my friends to act in it and put it on youtube, I admit.
6. Where are you most comfortable writing? At what time of day? Computer or good ol’ pen and paper?
At a computer, with a couple solid hours to just PLOW though parts. Pretty much every short story I've ever liked was basically written in two hours. I like uninterrupted writing time with music. The time of day actually doesn't matter as much as the uninterrupted time.
7. Do you listen to music while you write? What kind? Are there any songs you like to relate/apply to your characters?
Ha ha, funny this question should come now. I cannot write in silence, and when I do, it tends to come out really really creepy. I tend to start a story while in my whole music library shuffle, and then if it turns out to be a multichapter or a series I'll make a soundtrack of sorts, but certain songs appear in several of my soundtracks. The Underworld version of David Bowie's "Bring Me the Disco King" appears in a lot, probably because my favorite characters in most stories are older and that song is basically one of the best "well I'm getting older and things are looking strange" songs of all time. I like that version the most because it's darker than the original, which is spare and more sad than dark.
8. What’s your favorite genre to write? To read?
Well, the more I write my own stuff, I guess I'm leaning towards liking to write New American Gothic, as has been pointed out to me as kind of how my stuff tends to come out. Whatever you call more emotional and character driven with an undertone of Things That Should Not Be Messed With. I say "new" because I prefer contemporary settings to historical ones, unless you're talking WWII. XD And American cause I'm American and it's very hard to remove that bias and I've never left the country so I try not to be offensive and fuck up some other country because my knowledge is solely from books.
I like reading a great variety of things, but lately I've liked historical fiction/non-fiction, surrealism, feminist science fiction, and feminist literature in general.
9. How do you get ideas for your characters? Describe the process of creating them.
Despite my huge dislike of worldbuilding, I usually get a scene first, usually from a dream. Like a clear cinematic scene, and whoever is in the scene I later build into a proper character. Usually this first scene gets cut from the story, ha, but the feel of that scene tends to affect the basis of the character. Also a phrase. Like a single narrative phrase description. Those tend to end up in the story.
10. What are some really weird situations your characters have been in? Everything from serious canon scenes to meme questions counts!
Valerie and Reika getting stuck in a closet in a drabble. This is
finch's fault. Anything that A.J. gets into could be considered weird too, but she's a child inventor with a robot zombie best friend, that comes with the territory. 11. Who is your favorite character to write? Least favorite?
Valerie's my favorite, because I like her perspective, it reminds me why I like older characters. She's got a lot of experience and authority, but she's still fundamentally missing some stuff and not sure if she can change with it at her age, and that just is so compelling. Close second is her son, because he's really such a sweetheart and proof that she's not a failure in life and she needs that.
Least favorite lately is Audrey, mostly because I was a very different person when I first started writing her and it's a tad uncomfortable to get into her head.
12. In what story did you feel you did the best job of world building? Any side-notes on it you’d like to share?
I'm shit at worldbuilding, because well, I really don't care about the world in stories. XD In fact, I tend to skip a lot of descriptions in books that are solely OMG LOOK AT MY WORLD I MADE because I just don't care that your elves are different or whatever. I do however like gizmos, and cultural worldbuilding I guess? Anyway that doesn't answer this question.
I think Liquid probably did, because the setting did actually matter and was kind of an indicator of the protagonist's state of mind. Granted, it was based on somewhere I used to live (with a LOT of creative license), so that probably helped.
13. What’s your favorite culture to write, fictional or not?
American? I know, boring, but really it's such a clusterfuck sometimes that I can always find some place in it that surprises me. One I'd like to write, however, is Soviet Russian. I've studied enough of it and have a personal cultural link to it that I wouldn't feel nearly as bad trying it. I would probably do it within an American context at least.
I like reading about others though, quite a lot. XD
14. How do you map out locations, if needed? Do you have any to show us?
God no, this is why a lot of things happen in small rooms. XD
15. Midway question! Tell us about a writer you admire, whether professional or not!
Neal Stephenson, for writing in the way I can't (long and rambly with lots of setting... however he does it in such a way that I adore ever bit of it, and I admire anyone that can dump that much exposition and not bore me). Virginia Woolf and F. Scott Fitzgerald because god do they know their way around a stream of conscious and I adore their female characters (even the crazy ones... probably especially them). Lois Lowry because she was one of my favorites as a kid and kept me from being bored at the crap they tried to push on kids when I was growing up (ha ha why yes I was a little bit of a snob).
Non-professionally, I love
novel_machinist's ability to do action scenes, get a story actually moving, and her no nonsense approach to dialog. Also because she can collaborate with me and make me write better than I can on my own. XD I also like how seventhe can do worldbuilding that doesn't make me want to tear my hair out because her peen is already bigger than yours and she doesn't have to rub it in. Oh and finch because I really like his characters and the fact he doesn't take himself seriously to the point of having no sense of humor. 16. Do you write romantic relationships? How do you do with those, and how “far” are you willing to go in your writing? ;)
I can only write porn for fanfiction, just going to say that, and I always feel dirty for it. I can barely read sex scenes in books, and am slightly uncomfortable with them in movies, even if they don't show anything. Not that I think they're wrong or anything, I just feel like such a voyeur.
Romantic relationships, however, always happen. Even when I don't intend on them. If my protagonist turns out to be asexual (like Audrey, she really is) then someone else has something going on. I try not to be too chick flick about it, but I think they're a compelling part of the human experience and they just happen.
17. Favorite protagonist and why!
Repeat question? Valerie.
18. Favorite antagonist and why!
Gershom, because he's good old fashioned nihilism and I have no intention of redeeming him, because that's not the point. XD
19. Favorite minor that decided to shove himself into the spotlight and why!
Catty, because she's both a healer and an particle physicist and how fucking cool is that? And Nev, because she's an underachiever without being a complete prick.
20. What are your favorite character interactions to write?
Felix and anyone, because he's a charming bastard, Nev and anyone because she's really good with people. Valerie and Reika because Reika is so freaking weird and throws Val off balance so much. Also Vicky and Valerie in the new incarnation of stuff because Vicky makes Valerie all fumbly. Oh and Al and Cindy because they're so cute.
21. Do any of your characters have children? How well do you write them?
Yes, I like families, even if they tend to be broken ones. I like kids from around the 7-12 range, and then skip teenage years to 19-23. I'm not terribly fond of puberty and despite knowing and liking some great coming of age stories, I just get bored focusing there. I think there's plenty out there for that. Catty and Valerie have sons, and while Catty's kid is about 11, you'll see Valerie's at a couple of different ages, though primarily at 21ish. Oh and AJ is a child and a protagonist, she's like 13, but a late bloomer so the weird stuff for her hasn't started up yet. I might give Grey a kid later on, though not through normal means since his storyline is full of The Weird.
22. Tell us about one scene between your characters that you’ve never written or told anyone about before! Serious or not.
Well I have lots of little things where characters from different stories meet up. Like Liam and Brandon hanging out at Grey's or Valerie meeting AJ. They're mostly so I don't lose my voice and tend to be rather silly.
23. How long does it usually take you to complete an entire story—from planning to writing to posting (if you post your work)?
Anything from a day to three years. XD
24. How willing are you to kill your characters if the plot so demands it? What’s the most interesting way you’ve killed someone?
I'm fine with that. I remember asking some of my friends if they wanted to have minor characters based on them for Gershom to kill. XD
25. Do any of your characters have pets? Tell us about them.
Grey has a chinchilla that also happens to be an Egyptian Elder God, so I'm not sure if that counts. Sylph had a parrot for a while when he was first starting out as a pirate because he was 18 and thought all pirates had parrots. He conveniently lost said parrot because it was mean.
26. Let’s talk art! Do you draw your characters? Do others draw them? Pick one of your OCs and post your favorite picture of him!
I can't draw, and my artist friends tend to draw my fanfic characters more than my originals and I'm cool with that, because I tend to write about minor characters for fanfic and they don't have much fanart. I'm especially proud when my headcanon comes into play for those.
27. Along similar lines, do appearances play a big role in your stories? Tell us about them, or if not, how you go about designing your characters.
Yes, because a lot of my characters are 40+ or otherwise some kind not beautiful or somehow representing something that I want to change as a cliche. Like, Felix is a very pretty guy, and he flirts a lot with Catty, who is cute but in a not Hollywood cute way, and they may end up having something going on, because I don't see enough non-model looking chicks get with very attractive guys. Valerie wears mom jeans and is flabbergasted by makeup and is kind of pear-shaped. Vicky is gorgeous, but hates it because her mother pushed her into modeling over it and her height makes her self-conscious. Nev changes her hair color a lot and gets tattoos of cartoon characters. Rachel, my paladin that hasn't shown up yet has Jewish and American Indian heritage. Audrey's appearance is more intimidating than pretty, because she's a conduit. Liam's appearance matters because it's very Aryan and since he spent a lot of time in WWII spying on Nazis this is helpful. So appearance matters, but I guess I try to make it a tad subversive? Though I'm trying to get more non-white people, I'm just careful with that because I don't want to be patronizing there.
28. Have you ever written a character with physical or mental disabilities? Describe them, and if there’s nothing major to speak of, tell us a few smaller ones.
I usually do crazy, and have a dude who can't die. XD And Grant is missing part of a leg, his prosthetic is something he tries to hide. I also realize that most people haven't seen the Grant and Tomorrow stories. XD
29. How often do you think about writing? Ever come across something IRL that reminds you of your story/characters?
Quite a bit, and I run across things that remind me of them all the time. And sometimes my girlfriend does and sends me websites/pictures. XD
30. Final question! Tag someone! And tell us what you like about that person as a writer and/or about one of his characters!
Oh whoever feels like it.