Ask me anything about my stories and/or writing process: inspiration, process, what the hell was I thinking, etc. No limit on questions, just ask away.
Only one or two. Most of the things I write are usually done in a fairly short space of time, depending on how long they are, obviously. I like to have lots of ideas hanging around though - I have pages of notes and scraps of things I want to get round to eventually but I don't think of these as WIPS, just future things.
I think Crowley would make a wonderful mother. The only question is, would he lay an egg?
From a conversation about another another baby story I wrote. I think I was trying to show off and be silly, but the sadness of the story really got to me in the end.
For the other question - there are two things. One is the process of making the first draft into something that pleases me. I have a vivid mental metaphor for it of combing tangled hair until the knots and tangles fall out and just the thought of it makes me really happy. The other is finding out that people have liked and enjoyed reading what I've written - it's an amazing thrill.
This can vary, because sometimes World War three could break out and I'd be concentrating so hard on writing that I wouldn't notice. That's when I'm really into a story and it's flowing easily and I'm the middle of it.
Music can put me in the right frame of mind for a pairing and make me want to write, but I usually have to switch it off before I actually start writing, or if I'm doing something hard like trying to fix something that doesn't work. At those times it's too distracting - I just want to sit and listen to the music and look at the pretty images in my head and not do the nasty hard bits, like actually *starting* something.
I don't think I can say. They're very different experiences. Writing while travelling is much more of an escape route from my immediate circumstances than writing while stationary. Maybe that makes me more imaginative, perhaps, or makes me more eager to try ideas and to think myself off the train. It definitely helps me picture things more vividly, so perhaps this is true. I'd never considered it before.
I've never written a story from 1st person POV. I think of it as being very hard because there's less room for error, I think. You'd have to get everything right
As for genres, well, don't laugh. I want to write horror stories. I can't entirely say where this came from, but I know it's been hanging around for a very long time. My childhood was littered with those Pan horror anthologies and the genre feels very much a part of me in that way. It's not the blood and gore, but more the stories that are unspeakably creepy and make good use of the the terror of simply being human. Ramsey Campbell rather than, say, Brian Lumley (who is the world's biggest hack, let me add).
It depends on the fun-- short crackfics that make me giggle as I type are wonderful, but I have as much fun, but of a different kind, in writing and polishing longer, serious stories. I get more satisfaction from those.
As for characters - I don't feel like there's anyone I *couldn't* write. But doing it well is another matter. For Saiyuki, for eg, I find Gojyo very easy and Hakkai very hard, because Gojyo is very warm and caring and Hakkai is, essentially, nuts. I think it rests on how deeply you can investigate them and present something new and insightful.
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no subject
Date: 2005-06-02 02:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-02 07:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-02 02:21 pm (UTC)What gave you the inspiration for "Baby Snakes" anyway?
no subject
Date: 2005-06-02 07:53 pm (UTC)I think Crowley would make a wonderful mother. The only question is, would he lay an egg?
From a conversation about another another baby story I wrote. I think I was trying to show off and be silly, but the sadness of the story really got to me in the end.
For the other question - there are two things. One is the process of making the first draft into something that pleases me. I have a vivid mental metaphor for it of combing tangled hair until the knots and tangles fall out and just the thought of it makes me really happy. The other is finding out that people have liked and enjoyed reading what I've written - it's an amazing thrill.
no subject
Date: 2005-06-02 08:03 pm (UTC)And feedback is the drug we live on, isn't it? XD
no subject
Date: 2005-06-02 09:52 pm (UTC)You and your young man. That kills me. So cute!
no subject
Date: 2005-06-02 02:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-02 07:59 pm (UTC)Music can put me in the right frame of mind for a pairing and make me want to write, but I usually have to switch it off before I actually start writing, or if I'm doing something hard like trying to fix something that doesn't work. At those times it's too distracting - I just want to sit and listen to the music and look at the pretty images in my head and not do the nasty hard bits, like actually *starting* something.
no subject
Date: 2005-06-02 03:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-02 08:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-02 08:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-03 10:54 am (UTC)As for genres, well, don't laugh. I want to write horror stories. I can't entirely say where this came from, but I know it's been hanging around for a very long time. My childhood was littered with those Pan horror anthologies and the genre feels very much a part of me in that way. It's not the blood and gore, but more the stories that are unspeakably creepy and make good use of the the terror of simply being human. Ramsey Campbell rather than, say, Brian Lumley (who is the world's biggest hack, let me add).
no subject
Date: 2005-06-03 11:42 am (UTC)And horror! Yes. That would be very cool.
no subject
Date: 2005-06-03 01:00 am (UTC)What type of story is most fun to write?
no subject
Date: 2005-06-03 11:08 am (UTC)As for characters - I don't feel like there's anyone I *couldn't* write. But doing it well is another matter. For Saiyuki, for eg, I find Gojyo very easy and Hakkai very hard, because Gojyo is very warm and caring and Hakkai is, essentially, nuts. I think it rests on how deeply you can investigate them and present something new and insightful.