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6.24.2013

Day 4

Day 04:Your first stories/characters. 

Errrr...like, very first?  Back in childhood?  I'm not sure I can remember back that far...

I do recall that I liked to write about a lot of fairy-tale/fantasy type stuff.
There was a story called "The Crystal Heart" I wrote when I was about eleven, maybe? I don't recall the character's names but the girl was sent to England to stay with her uncle and ended up in a magical kingdom.  And somehow helped save the day, obviously.  For some reason my parents made a bunch of copies and mailed it to all my relatives.

Then there was a story I was developing when I was between 12-14 about a girl named Katrina who was raised as a tavern wench but dreamed of adventure, and was eventually whisked to a kingdom where her best friends were a mermaid named Shimmer, a dragon, and a Prince named Wesley.  And she didn't know it, but she was actually a fairy princess.

Wow, okay so that's really embarrassing to write down, but in my head it was this whole Disney-style story and I'd often draw pictures of scenes and characters.  I also ended up loosely basing Wesley on my first irl crush, so.  :P

I wish I could say that I wrote more sophisticated things, but alas.  Though I did write a short story in my science class when asked to speculate about what we thought was on the other side of black holes...


6.23.2013

Day 3

Day 03: How do you come up with character names? 

Ooh, this is a good one.
So, I have a few different methods.  
The first is, I like to use the names of people I've known or read about.  For example, in the Dark Lightning Trilogy, I used a lot of my college friends' names kind of mishmashed together.  I think about the kind of people I've known with certain names; sometimes I just need to like how a name sounds.  
But I'm also a big believer in using a name dictionary.  Even if the name meaning has no bearing on the story, I think it's important to know what it is.  

Anna, for example, means "grace or favor."
Davin, incidentally, is listed as meaning "intelligent, shining  and beloved," depending on the country of origin.

Do they have a bearing on their characters?  You'll just have to read to find out...

Day 2

Day 02 :  How many char­ac­ters do you have? Do you pre­fer males or females? 


Hmm, how many characters?  I have no idea.  I mean...I'd say there's around 20 characters with names and dialogue just in Tall, Dark Streak of Lightning alone.  
As for my preference, I prefer to write from a female perspective (because hello, I am a female!  I can get into the mindset much more easily than a man's, obviously!).  But I do like the challenge of writing the opposite sex.  

6.21.2013

30 Day Writer's Challenge

So I've decided to get back in the habit of using this blog by doing a 30 day questionnaire about my writing.
As a bonus, I get to pretend I'm participating in the world's longest interview. ;)

So anyway, on to question #1:

Day 01: Your favorite writ­ing project/universe that you've worked with. 

Though this is tough, I'm leaning towards The Dark Lightning Trilogy.  That could partly be because I've worked on it the most over a long period of time, and I've grown very attached to the characters.  It could also be because it's what I'm currently spending most of my mental energy on.

But the story that eventually became a trilogy (...and inspired a subsequent spin-off trilogy...) was the first one I ever felt a relentless desire to write.  Night after night I would sit typing at the computer or scribbling in notebooks.  It was the first story I "had" to tell.  A lot of ideas have come and gone, or are in various stages of revision on my external hard drive as I write this.  

The story of Davin and Anna, though not set in a different universe but a city I came to know and love, is one that I've grown very fond of.  I'm fond of all my stories and ideas in different ways, but I do feel a little like "Tall, Dark Streak of Lightning" is my baby.  Well, my first born of triplets, you might say. :)

I think what it comes down to is that I have a lot of deep, strong feeling about these two characters--to the point where sometimes they seem very real to me, and simply that Anna dropped by one day to tell me her life story, and I happened to write it down.  It's a pretty powerful feeling.

6.02.2013

So I'm back on blogger now.
I admit, it's been a long while.

I was using a few other social networking sites to connect with people, but I think this is the best place to sort house all my more "authorly stuff."

But I'd just like to apologize for not updating my reading list in over a year.
I still don't know how often I'll be using this; I may try to start posting thoughts regularly again.  And maybe a bit more of my writing.

I guess it depends on whether anyone is actually reading this....