I got tagged by @siadea (for some reason, Tumblr doesn’t want me to @ you, alskdjhfglajsh gdi – but THANK! and ahh very happy you did! 😀 )
okay here it is (SO UNPOLISHED, MUCH WIP, VERY DRAFT):
When the echoes had finally died
away, a minstrel stepped forward with a fiddle in hand. “Lord, I beg leave to
sing?” he said.
“Only if Mister Frodo’s up for
it, mind,” Sam said, and Aragorn laughed.
“Mind your audience, master. But
it would please me.”
“Aye, just the moment for a song
an’ a dance, and most definitely an ale.
We’ve a score to settle, ghivasha,” came a low rumble from behind the throne. A
hissed, ‘shhh, Gimli! This is a solemn
occasion!’ answered it.
The minstrel struck his fiddle
for his note, and then called out over the throng, “Lo! lords and knights and
men of valour unashamed, kings and princes, and fair people of Gondor, and
Riders of Rohan, and ye sons of Elrond, and Dúnedain of the North, and Elf and
Dwarf, and greathearts of the Shire, and all free folk of the West, now listen
to my lay. For I will sing to you of Frodo of the Nine Fingers and the Ring of
Doom.”
And you are an absolutely lovely soul to say such lovely things, lasdgjlah my brain is shorting out, it cannot handle such a sheer level of NICE, thank you so sos oso much!!
A: What do you write? Fanfiction, original fiction, nonfiction, articles, songs, poems, essays, plays, what?
Fanfic, nonfiction, articles, songs (MY WORD DO I EVER WRITE SONGS – lyrics, chords, orchestration the works), sometimes poetry, I’ve written plays in the past, too.
K: Share an old, embarrassing work?
Ooohhhhhh ouuuuuuchhhhhhhh FINE OKAY FINE, *strikes dramatic pose* IF I MUST hehehehheh
Here’s one from 2011 – and to achieve maximum possible cringe, I chose a crossover :DDDD
War Stories – Megamind/Doctor Who (Crossover), Teen, 8.5K, complete.
U: What’s your least favorite part of the writing process? Why?
The final edit, when it’s so nearly done, so nearly ready, and I’m impatient to post the damn thing and move away from it. I have to stop and breathe a lot, talking myself through it, counselling myself to be patient and stay focused on what I’m doing or I’ll miss something. But I just want it DONE AND FINISHED, GOTTA PAY ATTENTION THOUGH AUGH, CAN i POST PLS. I am not always fab at self control!
Another thing I dislike about the process is bloody, BLOODY formatting – but that’s terribly fanfic-specific, I guess!
G: What’s your least favorite book? Least favorite author?
Urgh. Um. Anne Rice, tbh. Stephanie Meyer also (an old work colleague lent me the first of her books, and I struggled through it, groaning and rolling my eyes the whole way.)
V: What do you listen to when you write?
I don’t, on the whole. I don’t listen to music as I write! I understand that this might be a bit odd? people have asked before. But I’m a muso IRL, and I have been trained to pay attention to music. It forces itself into the forefront of my brain rather than staying as background, it’s amazingly distracting!
P: What are your goals for things to happen to your writing? (Getting published, getting a good review, having a fandom, etc)
Escapism, like I said! I never really post with any sort of expectations from fandom, or for accolades yadda yadda. I know that sounds sort of silly or unrealistic, but I tend to view the escapism I find in writing itself as a reward!
It’s something I’ve done for ages, as I said. Reviews are wonderful, comments are wonderful. I want to share my story, of course I do. I always do. I’ll never get on the case of anyone who writes looking for reviews, EVER, because I can absolutely understand that. I’m just a solitary little mouse, who likes diving into something that isn’t my own reality.
I guess my main goal is to write a story that I myself find entertaining, escapist, fun, heart-tugging, hot, silly, etc. I want to write something that speaks back to me. On the whole, I like re-reading my own stuff. If I can’t bear to re-read it, then I’ve not achieved my goal.
X: (Leave a prompt in the person’s ask box)
DONE! Check your askbox, m’dear!
Y: How would you describe the perfect prose? How would you describe your own prose?
“Perfect prose” is a bit of a pipe-dream, I think, but I can tell you the things I value: elegance, unpretentiousness, lyricism, clarity, innovation.
My own prose I consider a little overwrought at times. I am also a serial comma abuser. A huge chunk of my editing process is SHORTENING SENTENCES TO MANAGEABLE, READABLE LENGTHS.
But now and then I write something that pops out of the murky depths of my brain and sit back thinking ‘OKAY THAT’S NICE, good job me, how the fuck did I think of that, where’d that come from????’.
POP YOU STELLAR STUPENDOUS AND SWEETHEART OF A HUMAN BEAN HELLO, HELLO MY FREN HELLO *hugs*
I can’t believe you picked my nickname, oh my god bwaaaahahahahahahah, you darling ❤
D: If you had the choice of going without writing forever or going without dinner forever, which one would you choose?
THIS IS A TERRIBLE CHOICE, A TERRIBLE TERRIBLE CHOICE. But I think I have my solution. I will skip dinner – but I shall also begin keeping Hobbit-meals. Second Dinner shall happen, and THAT I shall have. 😀
E: Have you ever participated in National Novel Writing Month or any of its variations?
Nahhh, I’m happy just frolicking around in fanfic tbh.
T: What’s your favorite part of the writing process? Why?
That magic span of time – though sometimes it can be very brief – when you’re so deep in the moment that you can write and hear the characters say the dialogue as you type it, give an action and see it happen. Those perfect synchronous moments when you are able to slip into your character’s skins effortlessly, hopping from one to the next, seeing the world from their eyes, telling it, feeling it, trying to capture it all before it fades.
That’s not to say that I don’t enjoy those moments where it feels like carving or scultping something, laboriously and carefully, chip by chip, lest you shatter the whole thing. I absolutely do, I am a stickler for minute detail, I like the fine puzzle-piece research stuff HOLY HECK YES i do!
But those moments where you’re soaring and seeing and speaking and feeling, and your fingers can barely capture it – those are what makes it beautiful, for me.
(aaaaand naturally, when you come back to those moments in edit? Usually a big mess, lmao. I do hope that the raw emotion and connection between narrative and character remains after I’ve cleaned it and cleaned it. Hopefully I just distil it!!!)
S: Would you let a stranger off the streets read your first drafts?
Probably not, tbh. I am an obsessive sort of editor!!! I’d be like NO IT’S NOT ANYWHERE NEAR READY FOR HUMAN EYES. I’ve never let anyone read anything that was not 80-90% polished. I am my own worst nightmare. Comes from my English teacher background, I suspect!
C: Who is your favorite character of your own? Who is your favorite character created by somebody else? Why?
ohshit, um. Difficult. It’s a three-way tie between Hrera, Baris and Bomfris. Hrera because I adore writing her, so so much – she’s one of the most fun characters to write, and she has so many shells and ways of deflecting that she’s literally an emotional onion. There’s a lot of fun to be had there. Baris because we share a lot – A LOT – in common. I love her, shy clever musical thing that she is. I’m nowhere near as brave or as stupendously talented as she is, though! And Bomfris because my aggressive awkward sausage with terrible timing is my child forever and ever and ever.
Of characters created by others (not canon characters, obvs) I am in dizzy, giddy love with both Bera and Valka, both in equal but different ways. They’re from Azhar by @yubiwamonogatari. Why? Because Valka is a badass and Bera is a SWEETHEART and alkjsdhfkajsh just read it.
L: What advice would you give to other writers?
Uh, I’ve tried to give writing advice when asked for it before – it never comes out right, I am shit at advice. So here goes! (you’ve been warned lmao)
Write YOUR story. Doesn’t matter if it’s the zillionth College AU in that fandom -it’s yours, your story.
People will criticise. Learn to distinguish between true, meaningful criticism that cares about the end product AND about you as a creator and human being, and discard the meaningless criticism that only seeks to tear you down or hurt you. One is useful and helps you grow and work and learn, both as a writer and a person. The other is not.
Do your research, particularly if you’re gonna write characters that are not of the same gender/race/orientation/ability as yourself. That Shit Matters.
Work on something else if the words aren’t coming out. Me, I compose music when I can’t write. It’s still keeping my creative mojo flowing, but I’m exercising a different set of muscles, if you will? Draw, dance, write headcanons, whatever.
Re-read a lot. Edit as you go – and then edit afterwards. Be ruthless. Even if you really like a section or moment, is it NECESSARY? Where does it lead? If it is a stand-alone moment and leads to nothing, it’s not necessary. Cut it out, save it elsewhere, re-use the ideas later on, when they can be relevant to the plot rather than to character or author service.
Adjectives are awesome. Adverbs are awesome. Verbs are awesome. Dialogue is awesome. Description is awesome. Language is awesome. Anyone who says ‘(this word) is a dead word’ or ‘the way you write is too (x or y)’ after consuming your work for free can go step on a lego.
that being said, though? New paragraph every time someone talks, please. “New idea, new paragraph” is also worth remembering, in order to break up your description.
Okay, I’m done, that’s me all advice’d out!
O: What motivates you to write?
Usually, escapism. I want to disappear into the world I’m writing about, the characters I’m writing about. I love the sensation of falling into the words, disappearing into a moment, feeling it take shape around me.
(and then ofc I have to tear it to bits THANKS EDITING)
Aw Yiss 