Beautiful People: Author Edition
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It’s that time again, time for the first Beautiful People
link up of the year. Beautiful People is a link up for writers, hosted by Cait
from Paper Fury and Sky from Further Up and Further In, which is designed
to help writers get to know their books better, and to give them a chance to
share a little about their books with other people. This month is a special
edition, putting us writers in the spotlight. In the interest of length I’ve
cut the original 15 questions down to just 10, which I hope you will enjoy.
1. How/why did you start writing?
It was the fault of a character, Indigo Starsight. She was
supposed to be a bit of an alter ego for myself, but she turned out to have
such an interesting story of her own that I decided to write a book about her.
It was terrible, as a first book should be, but that helped me realised how
much I wanted to write books and I haven’t stopped since.
2. What’s your favourite part of writing?
That would definitely be where I get to start a brand new project while the idea is still shiny, new, and perfect. All the planning, all the coming up with amazing characters, all the excitement, it all comes together in that moment when I put the first words down. It is an amazing moment. The whole first drafting process is so much fun, but beginning the book is the best part of all.
3. What’s your biggest writing struggle?
Editing. My first drafts are very messy. I know that, and I know editing is supposed to make my pile of random words into a book. The problem comes when I keep missing important things I need to fix. I’m sure I should be better at it now, but I’m in the sixth draft of a book (the first two being total rewrites), and it’s still got big problems. I’m still learning about editing, and it’s definitely my biggest struggle.
4. Do you write best at night or day?
Definitely in the day. I do my best work in the middle of the morning, and in the middle of the afternoon (my brain dies in the middle of those two points). Unfortunately, due to study, I end up doing most of writing at night, but I must prefer writing in the daytime.
Definitely in the day. I do my best work in the middle of the morning, and in the middle of the afternoon (my brain dies in the middle of those two points). Unfortunately, due to study, I end up doing most of writing at night, but I must prefer writing in the daytime.
5. What does your writing space look like?
The best answer to this question is to show you a photo or two. What is most important to me in my writing space is that there has to be, well, space. Preferably clean space. I need to be able to find my pens, notebooks and resources. And there has to be a cup of tea or coffee.
The best answer to this question is to show you a photo or two. What is most important to me in my writing space is that there has to be, well, space. Preferably clean space. I need to be able to find my pens, notebooks and resources. And there has to be a cup of tea or coffee.
6. How long does it typically take you to write a complete
draft?
It depends when I write it. Outside of NaNoWriMo, it takes me about a month, start to finish. During NaNoWriMo it takes me one to two weeks. My first drafts are always really quick, really messy, and really fun. The advantage of writing my drafts so quickly is that I don’t lose the initial excitement, but they are a lot messier than if I’d taken more time.
It depends when I write it. Outside of NaNoWriMo, it takes me about a month, start to finish. During NaNoWriMo it takes me one to two weeks. My first drafts are always really quick, really messy, and really fun. The advantage of writing my drafts so quickly is that I don’t lose the initial excitement, but they are a lot messier than if I’d taken more time.
7. How many projects do you work on at once?
When I’m drafting: One.
When I’m drafting: One.
When I’m editing: Two to three.
I’m a one book girl when I draft, mostly because I draft
fast and try not to get distracted from the story I’m supposed to be writing.
All those shiny ideas. But when I’m editing, I’ll cycle through a couple. So I’ll
edit one book, then let it rest and either plan or edit another book. I never
have more than three active projects at any one time though.
8. Do you let people read your writing? Why or why not?
I let some people read my writing, but not everyone. I have a few friends who I will let read pretty much everything. They’re my encouragement team. They don’t critique my books. I’m sure they notice all the bad stuff and mistakes, and goodness knows I warn them about the bad quality enough times before I give it to them. But they just read it for fun and then they encourage me to keep going. And then I let a few people read and critique my writing when I feel that it’s ready to be looked at. Or when I think I need to be brave. But I don’t show many people my writing before it’s finished. It’s too scary.
I let some people read my writing, but not everyone. I have a few friends who I will let read pretty much everything. They’re my encouragement team. They don’t critique my books. I’m sure they notice all the bad stuff and mistakes, and goodness knows I warn them about the bad quality enough times before I give it to them. But they just read it for fun and then they encourage me to keep going. And then I let a few people read and critique my writing when I feel that it’s ready to be looked at. Or when I think I need to be brave. But I don’t show many people my writing before it’s finished. It’s too scary.
9. If you didn’t write, what would you want to do?
I don’t really want to imagine a life where I wasn’t writing. But, hypothetically, if that ever happened, I would fall back on my second passion, which is music. Admittedly, I feel even less qualified to be a musician than I do to be a writer, but to be a musician would definitely be my second choice.
I don’t really want to imagine a life where I wasn’t writing. But, hypothetically, if that ever happened, I would fall back on my second passion, which is music. Admittedly, I feel even less qualified to be a musician than I do to be a writer, but to be a musician would definitely be my second choice.
10. Which story has your heart and won’t let go?
The Dragon Thief
for sure. This story has massive problems. It’s a fantasy story about a
convicted thief who has to chance to earn her freedom by finding an important
magical item that was stolen. It’s a great idea (to me at least), but I have
big problems like the fact that I have no idea what the villain’s motivation
is. It’s on the backburner at the moment, but it won’t stop poking me to sort
it out and make it shiny. I love the idea and the main character, so hopefully
one day I’ll get it straightened out.
I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit more about me and
my writing. Are you participating in the Beautiful People linkup? Link me to
your post! Anything else you'd like to know about me? Ask me a question in the
comments and I’ll do my best to answer it.
10 comments
These are really cool answers; I know what you mean about sharing your writing, and editing. I'm editing right now and it's just a little bit frustrating for me as well. *sigh* But, it's cool that a character got you into writing, and I hope you figure out the villain's motivation for your story you want to write. :D
ReplyDeleteUgh, editing can be so hard, can't it? I had a big session of planning edits a couple of days ago and oh my goodness I found some massive holes. It seems like a never ending task sometimes. But at least we know it can be done. If other people can edit their books, so can we! Good luck with your editing. I'm sure you're doing a great job with it. And just think how much better your book will be after all that extra work.
DeleteFirst drafting is definitely one of the best things about writing. I love all the excitement and enthusiasm that comes when I have a new idea. I love your writing space. It's so neat and clean and airy. My desk is nowhere near that neat, unfortunately. And one week to one month for a normal first draft?!? That's crazy! I wish I could write first drafts that fast.
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly what I love about first drafts. The other drafts have things to like about them too, but nothing compares to the excitement of starting off with a shiny new idea and just running with it. Thanks! I love my desk set up. Admittedly, it's not always as clean as this, but I generally try to tidy it up before I start writing so I can at least find everything. And it's great to have places to keep my notebooks and writing books in easy reach. I'm quick at first drafting, but that does mean that they're really messy. I have to get them out fast while I'm excited and really want to write them, otherwise they drag and I get bored. It's a necessity for me. I actually envy people who take longer and come up with some amazing writing in their first drafts. Mine take forever to look good.
DeleteWoah, that is the weirdest thing. One of my characters/alter egos had the nickname of 'Star', which I changed to Indigo Star after an artist I adore called Destiny Blue. O_O By the way, I ADORE your writing space. It's so neat and organised!!! The Dragon Thief sounds really really amazing, I'd love to read that. I enjoyed this post, great stuff. =D
ReplyDeleteWow, what a coincidence. It has to be an awesome name if we managed to get two characters with pretty much the same one. Thanks! I got tired of not being able to find anything, so when I get a new desk last year I immediately put all my important stuff (read: writing stuff) right where I can see it all the time. Aw, thanks! It's one of my favourite books, simply because it's so fun. The main character is the best. I really hope I can get it to work at some point. Thanks for dropping by!
Delete"It was terrible, as a first book should be." That made me feel better about my own past writings, thank you. ^.^
ReplyDelete#2 yep yep yep! I love beginnings and all that jazz! XD
#5Your writing space is so CLEEEAAAANN I LOVE IT SO MUCH you have pleased my inner (and often, outer) OCD greatly. X)
#6 that is.....really really fast. o.0
#10 sounds AWESOME!! :D I'd read it. ^.^
Haha, I'm glad I was able to make you feel a little better. Looking back can be quite a painful experience sometimes, can't it? I'd rather wince when I look back than see no improvement though. Thanks! I love my writing space. After five years or so of writing, I finally have the writing space I've dreamed of. Can you tell I'm a NaNo junkie by the speed I write? Trust me, there's no quality in the writing. My first drafts deserve to be burnt!
DeleteWhoahh... You write first drafts /fast/. Good for you! :)
ReplyDeleteAnd your writing space. *flails* It's amazing.
Thanks Katie. I love first drafting so it naturally goes pretty quickly for me. I'm a NaNo addict too so that really affects the way that I write in the rest of the year too. I love it too. I have the best family in the world because most of my writing equipment came from them over various birthdays and Christmas. it's so nice to finally have a good workspace. It makes such a difference to my writing I can tell you. Thanks for stopping by.
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