F, J, & Y?

Hey Boots!  Thank you so much for asking!  I get all nostalgic about the folks who’ve been with me since my livejournal days.

F: I think Jane Eyre is probably my favorite book, as well as Paradise Lost, The Scarlet Letter, and The Book of Mormon. I also have a soft spot for local histories, I’ve never really been into nonfiction, but local histories and mugbooks are so charming and sweet.  You can tell what they care about.  I have a lot of favorite Books, I could go on probably, but I’ll spare us all.  I love Vivian Vande Velde, Terry Pratchett, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Poe, and Stephen King.

J: Well, it means I get to eat and pay my bills, which I like to do.  This is also an awkward sort of question to ask without falling into the pretentious oft heard, sort of ‘well what does my left arm mean to me’ sort of answer that feels too often given.  It is an emotional and creative necessity, as well as a strain and a hardship, a struggle.  Some days I dread writing because I’m so drained and sometimes I’m up at four trying to get stuff written before anyone needs me.  So I guess writing is like marriage to me?  A source of great joy, comfort, and belonging, and a source of struggle, work, and genuine sacrifice.

Y: The perfect prose is almost an organic animal that can have its parts defined but each is so connected to the other it can’t be pulled or broken part.  It allows an initial superficial reading and a deeper analysis if the reader wants to put the work in.  Ideally its both a glass of cool water and a meal.  Doesn’t have to be a heavy meal, just something to chew on.  My prose tends to be a bit baroque.  Its got bits and pieces and crannies and everything is just piled on top of everything else.  I tend to make it clear that an idea is the important thing in the scene/story/series, but there’s density to the story curlicuing all over the place.  As a result I tend to show too much and tell too little, but I’m try to get better.

Hiya! B, C, M, T. Byeya!

B: I write every single day!  I write for work 5-6 days a week and I write stuff like fanfic and fun little drabbles on the weekend.

C: I have so many fav characters! I have a character named Arete who is a sort of bird elf who loves books, his terrifying dragon wife, his wife and his precious troublesome babies.  I also have a character I love called Arche who is a post apocalyptic moderator for users trapped in virtual reality games.  She is an agricultural ‘goddess’ and she keeps really big pigs.  And I have a character called Queen Pi who’s the physical manifestation of the number pi.  She is very smart and self-disciplined and well as funny and emotional.  I also love Bad Davey because he was a lot of fun to write and design.

My favorite character someone else has created is probably Jane Eyre who is queen of the moors and the schoolhouse and my heart.  I also really love Benton Frasier from Due South and all of the Heroes of Hogan’s Heroes.

M: I have feelings about the phrase ‘harsh yet constructive criticism’ because in my experience the best constructive criticism is neither cushioned or flowery or harsh, its simple and gives examples.  This character doesn’t work because they feel like two separate people, this plot line is unsatisfying because its over before the reader can process what’s happening, that sort of thing.  People write harsh criticism most of the time because they didn’t put the work into the text and they want to push back against the unspoken fact they should have, they want to feel smart or funny, or they’re trying to make a point.  That aside, I get the point that the meme is trying to make, how do I feel about criticism that is hard to hear because of delivery or my personal attachment which an Venn diagram in to a place called hurt feelings.

I’m usually okay with ‘harsh’ criticism, especially in the editing stages, because I feel like it makes the story better.  If something doesn’t work I need to put the time in to make it work or I need to change it, or both.  If I don’t its a disservice to myself and the story.  Once a story is finished I get a little more edgy about it because I know the story/poem/chapter has gone through an editing process and been refined. 

I think that (especially in fanfic, although somewhat in literary criticism) when a reader reads something once, gets upset because the writer didn’t read their mind and give them what they wanted and then just vomit out really negative things without going back to look at the text that’s not criticism at all.  That’s just being upset something isn’t the way the reader wants and wanting everyone else to agree with them and validate their opinions.

T: For fanfiction, it is about ninety percent people reading and enjoying it the other ten percent is the part where I finish a chapter and am pleased with it.  For regular writing its the editing process: discussion and pulling stuff apart with the editor to talk about what works and what doesn’t.  My life (and job) runs on research and analysis, I write things that are meant to be researched and analyzed.  I put historical references into my historical fiction and pack in metaphor and imagery into my chapters.  Sitting down and talking about he what and why of my chapters is a lot of fun.

Congratulations on being almost finished with your most recent draft of Wee Doctor! *high five* I’m looking forwards to it! Take as long as you need, we’ll wait.

Thank you, I appreciate that!  My schedule with my editor has sped up and at the same time I’ve switched my ‘real’ job so I’ve just got a lot going on.  To be honest though, after the way people reacted at the end of Bantam Wars I’m just trying to do a really good job of tying everything together and making everything complete.  I know you can’t please everyone, but I want to try to please at least a few people, so I want it to be right.  I’ll figure out what I want with it (and whether it should be one or two chapters) and get it posted eventually.  Thank you for the encouragement!

I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,but I was just reminded that THE NEW QUEEN’S THEIF BOOK BY MEGAN WHALEN TURNER IS COMING OUT IN MAY. THAT IS IN LESS THAN A MONTH! Oh, goodness, I’m so excited. I would definitely recommend this series if you haven’t read them yet!

Don’t worry, I love messages in my askbox!  Thank you for your lovely note, Anon.  Feel free to make book recommendations any time you want!  Or just say hello, or whatever.

Turner is very good at making complex, nuanced characters (though the later books are better at this than the first), and at implying things without directly stating them. Each book is told from a different character’s viewpoint, and they follow the destiny of the thief Eugenides and the effects of his actions on the struggles between three warring nations. Check them out!

I will!  I have a bit of a backlog of books right now (my editor discourages reading books too different from my writing style because my writing becomes suddenly Dickensian in the middle of a page) but I’ll definitely check it out!

Reblog If You Are A Writer Of Any Kind And Want To Be Asked These Questions

askboxmemes:

A: What do you write?  Fanfiction, original fiction, nonfiction, articles, songs, poems, essays, plays, what?

B: How often do you write?

C: Who is your favorite character of your own?  Who is your favorite character created by somebody else?  Why?

D: If you had the choice of going without writing forever or going without dinner forever, which one would you choose?

E: Have you ever participated in National Novel Writing Month or any of its variations?

F: What’s your favorite book? Favorite author?

G: What’s your least favorite book?  Least favorite author?

H: How long have you been writing?

I: What grades do you/did you get in English class?

J: What does writing mean to you?

K: Share an old, embarrassing work?

L: What advice would you give to other writers?

M: How do you feel when somebody gives harsh yet constructive criticism?

N: Which writing blogs and writing help blogs do you follow?

O: What motivates you to write?

P: What are your goals for things to happen to your writing? (Getting published, getting a good review, having a fandom, etc)

Q: How do you get through writer’s block?

R: What genre do you write in?

S: Would you let a stranger off the streets read your first drafts?

T: What’s your favorite part of the writing process?  Why?

U: What’s your least favorite part of the writing process?  Why?

V: What do you listen to when you write?

W: What’s your biggest pet peeve in writing?

X: (Leave a prompt in the person’s ask box)

Y: How would you describe the perfect prose?  How would you describe your own prose?

Z: How often do you read?