Writing meme
May. 12th, 2025 12:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shivverI love doing memes, so I yoinked this from scifirenegade. Not doing their other one, because of its twenty-six questions, fully half are about shipping and two more are about Tumblr, neither of which I care about.
1. The last sentence you wrote.
A great open area stood opposite, filled with bored people arrayed on rows of chairs and accompanied by more piled carts.
2. A character whose POV you’re currently exploring.
Sylvia Noble, a character whose point of view needs more exploration. (Also, <3 Jacqueline King.)
3. How you feel about your current WIP?
It’s not like I have a single current WIP. I work on multiple fics at the same time. (Not saying anything about actually finishing them.) I also really don’t have any particular feelings about a work. I don’t think about them on a meta level, is this good or bad, is it coming out, etc.
4. A story idea you haven’t written yet.
“A story where the celery is actually relevant.” Got that from my list of ideas. It’s better than “Nonsensical dream idea #3”.
5. First sentence of the fifth paragraph of an unpublished WIP.
“No. It’s not.”
Hmm. Not that interesting. Let’s look at another.
Will looked around the open-air patio of the restaurant, at the indigenous bipedal elk-like customers with disturbingly carnivore-like teeth enthusiastically downing this and other strange food.
There, that’s better.
6. The word that appears the most in your current draft (wordcounter.net can tell you).
Nah, skipping this one.
7. Your preferred writing fonts.
Whatever it is that Google Docs defaults to. Arial, probably. Font doesn’t matter at all to me.
8. If you had to write a sequel to a fic, you’d write one for…
Blue Rain, because it needs a sequel and I already have most of the story worked out. It will be markedly different from the original, though.
9. Start to finish, how long did it take you to write the last fic you posted?
A couple of hours, but that’s because it was an impulse work for a comm and the deadline was a couple of hours away. Normally, even a small fic like that one (less than 1000 words) takes me about a week, counting from the first word written: a few hours to write the first draft and then four or five days of editing and rewriting. And that’s not counting the ideation time before I start writing.
10. What is the longest amount of time you’ve let a draft rest before you finished it?
What does “rest” and “finished it” mean? I have tons of WIPs, and often I’ll abandon one for months or years before finishing the first draft, but that doesn’t sound like what the question is asking.
If this is talking about having done the first draft and then setting it aside before editing/rewriting to let it become fresh again, it does depend on circumstance, but I generally put a draft away for at least two or three days, and often a week or more, before pulling it back out for rereading, editing, and rewriting.
11. A WIP you’d like to finish someday.
Too many to list.
12. A trope you’re really into right now.
I don’t really think about writing in terms of tropes. Even back when I was writing a number of stories in which the Tenth Doctor met other David Tennant characters, I wasn’t thinking, “Oh, I want to write a doppleganger crossover,” I was thinking, “Oh, now this is why the Doctor owes Casanova a chicken”; using DT’s Casanova was just a bonus to the story.
13. A fandom you’re thinking about writing for.
I don’t really think in terms of “what fandom should I write for?” either. For me, it’s about spotting a question I want to answer or a story I want to tell and then writing it, for whatever IP is inspiring that thought.
14. Where do you get your inspiration?
I think I just answered that question above. I also get a lot of ideas from my husband, who loves coming up with story ideas but has no interest in actually writing them.
15. Favorite weather for writing.
I can’t say I’ve ever looked out the window to see what was going on out there while writing.
16. Favorite place to write.
I don’t really have one. I just write wherever my iPad/computer happens to be. (Edit: Okay, while I usually write on my iPad because I can take it anywhere, I prefer to write at my second computer, the laptop that I used to use for work, because it has a Logitech analog gaming keyboard and typing on that thing is just heaven.)
17. Talk about your writing and editing process.
When I come up with an idea that I feel might be worth pursuing, I think about it for a long time to figure out what’s the actual story that I want to tell, how it might go, and whether I might be able to pull it off. If it’s a multi-chapter, I might write an outline.
If it’s a short story, I’ll usually start writing at the beginning and write until the end. If it’s a multi-chapter, I’ll usually write the more interesting (to me) chapters first, then the less interesting ones. I rarely write anything in a single sitting. Sometimes there's months or years between starting writing and finishing the first draft.
Once the first draft is finished, then the editing and rewriting phase begins, and it’s usually 2-5 times longer than the writing took. This involves multiple re-reads of the work and rewriting things, and finding inconsistencies and fixing them up.
18. If you keep them, share a deleted sentence or paragraph from a published fic.
I do have a file where I’ve kept things that I thought were good but didn’t work in the current fic, so that I might use them later. However, printing them here would defeat the purpose, wouldn’t it?
19. The most interesting topic you’ve researched for a fic.
Tons of things. I have no idea which to pick here. How about, actually visiting Camden Lock so that I could write Donna and the Doctor being there?
20. In what year did you publish your first fic?
2013. I started watching Doctor Who for the first time in August of that year (well, except for catching a handful of disconnected episodes on PBS when I was a kid) and “The Girl in the Fireplace” inspired a story. It was the first time I ever wrote anything.
21. When did you publish your most recent fic?
About three weeks ago, that due-in-two-hours comm fic I mentioned above.
22. Do you ever worry about public reaction to what you’re writing? How do you get past that?
No. I write for myself, to tell myself stories and entertain myself; I have a number of stories I’ve never posted. I don’t expect anyone to read what I post and any views/kudos/comments I get are nice but not necessary.
23. Pick three keywords that describe your writing.
unemotional, niche, dense
24. How do you recharge when you’re not feeling creative?
I only write when I know what I want to write. I don’t “feel creative”, so not feeling creative isn’t something I worry about and I don’t do anything to try to make myself feel creative.
25. Besides writing, what are your other hobbies?
Computer games, concert band music, calligraphy, constructing Metal Earth models
26. Are you able to write with other people around?
Yes, but only if forced to (such as, writing on my iPad or phone while waiting for an oil change or a doctor’s appointment) and only if I’m not being interrupted. At home, I hate even having my husband in the room if I’m writing, even if he’s entirely paying attention to his own thing.
27. Your favorite part of the writing process.
I love crafting sentences. I prefer to refer to myself as a “wordsmith” rather than a “writer”. I especially love creating complex sentences, which is exactly the opposite of what you’re supposed to do as a writer. (See question #23, item 3.)
28. Your least favorite part of the writing process.
I actually can’t name one. I enjoy the ideation, the research, the writing, and the editing/rewriting. Maybe it’s the posting, because I hate posting to multiple sites and having to reformat the work each time based on what kind of HTML or WYSIWYG editor they’re using (which is why I’ve stopped posting to ff.net and deviantArt).
29. How easy is it for you to come up with titles?
Pretty easy.
30. Share a fic you’re especially proud of.
No. I hate self-reccing. Well, for myself anyway. (See question #22.) If you like it, have at it.
scifirenegade. Not doing their other one, because of its twenty-six questions, fully half are about shipping and two more are about Tumblr, neither of which I care about. 1. The last sentence you wrote.
A great open area stood opposite, filled with bored people arrayed on rows of chairs and accompanied by more piled carts.
2. A character whose POV you’re currently exploring.
Sylvia Noble, a character whose point of view needs more exploration. (Also, <3 Jacqueline King.)
3. How you feel about your current WIP?
It’s not like I have a single current WIP. I work on multiple fics at the same time. (Not saying anything about actually finishing them.) I also really don’t have any particular feelings about a work. I don’t think about them on a meta level, is this good or bad, is it coming out, etc.
4. A story idea you haven’t written yet.
“A story where the celery is actually relevant.” Got that from my list of ideas. It’s better than “Nonsensical dream idea #3”.
5. First sentence of the fifth paragraph of an unpublished WIP.
“No. It’s not.”
Hmm. Not that interesting. Let’s look at another.
Will looked around the open-air patio of the restaurant, at the indigenous bipedal elk-like customers with disturbingly carnivore-like teeth enthusiastically downing this and other strange food.
There, that’s better.
6. The word that appears the most in your current draft (wordcounter.net can tell you).
Nah, skipping this one.
7. Your preferred writing fonts.
Whatever it is that Google Docs defaults to. Arial, probably. Font doesn’t matter at all to me.
8. If you had to write a sequel to a fic, you’d write one for…
Blue Rain, because it needs a sequel and I already have most of the story worked out. It will be markedly different from the original, though.
9. Start to finish, how long did it take you to write the last fic you posted?
A couple of hours, but that’s because it was an impulse work for a comm and the deadline was a couple of hours away. Normally, even a small fic like that one (less than 1000 words) takes me about a week, counting from the first word written: a few hours to write the first draft and then four or five days of editing and rewriting. And that’s not counting the ideation time before I start writing.
10. What is the longest amount of time you’ve let a draft rest before you finished it?
What does “rest” and “finished it” mean? I have tons of WIPs, and often I’ll abandon one for months or years before finishing the first draft, but that doesn’t sound like what the question is asking.
If this is talking about having done the first draft and then setting it aside before editing/rewriting to let it become fresh again, it does depend on circumstance, but I generally put a draft away for at least two or three days, and often a week or more, before pulling it back out for rereading, editing, and rewriting.
11. A WIP you’d like to finish someday.
Too many to list.
12. A trope you’re really into right now.
I don’t really think about writing in terms of tropes. Even back when I was writing a number of stories in which the Tenth Doctor met other David Tennant characters, I wasn’t thinking, “Oh, I want to write a doppleganger crossover,” I was thinking, “Oh, now this is why the Doctor owes Casanova a chicken”; using DT’s Casanova was just a bonus to the story.
13. A fandom you’re thinking about writing for.
I don’t really think in terms of “what fandom should I write for?” either. For me, it’s about spotting a question I want to answer or a story I want to tell and then writing it, for whatever IP is inspiring that thought.
14. Where do you get your inspiration?
I think I just answered that question above. I also get a lot of ideas from my husband, who loves coming up with story ideas but has no interest in actually writing them.
15. Favorite weather for writing.
I can’t say I’ve ever looked out the window to see what was going on out there while writing.
16. Favorite place to write.
I don’t really have one. I just write wherever my iPad/computer happens to be. (Edit: Okay, while I usually write on my iPad because I can take it anywhere, I prefer to write at my second computer, the laptop that I used to use for work, because it has a Logitech analog gaming keyboard and typing on that thing is just heaven.)
17. Talk about your writing and editing process.
When I come up with an idea that I feel might be worth pursuing, I think about it for a long time to figure out what’s the actual story that I want to tell, how it might go, and whether I might be able to pull it off. If it’s a multi-chapter, I might write an outline.
If it’s a short story, I’ll usually start writing at the beginning and write until the end. If it’s a multi-chapter, I’ll usually write the more interesting (to me) chapters first, then the less interesting ones. I rarely write anything in a single sitting. Sometimes there's months or years between starting writing and finishing the first draft.
Once the first draft is finished, then the editing and rewriting phase begins, and it’s usually 2-5 times longer than the writing took. This involves multiple re-reads of the work and rewriting things, and finding inconsistencies and fixing them up.
18. If you keep them, share a deleted sentence or paragraph from a published fic.
I do have a file where I’ve kept things that I thought were good but didn’t work in the current fic, so that I might use them later. However, printing them here would defeat the purpose, wouldn’t it?
19. The most interesting topic you’ve researched for a fic.
Tons of things. I have no idea which to pick here. How about, actually visiting Camden Lock so that I could write Donna and the Doctor being there?
20. In what year did you publish your first fic?
2013. I started watching Doctor Who for the first time in August of that year (well, except for catching a handful of disconnected episodes on PBS when I was a kid) and “The Girl in the Fireplace” inspired a story. It was the first time I ever wrote anything.
21. When did you publish your most recent fic?
About three weeks ago, that due-in-two-hours comm fic I mentioned above.
22. Do you ever worry about public reaction to what you’re writing? How do you get past that?
No. I write for myself, to tell myself stories and entertain myself; I have a number of stories I’ve never posted. I don’t expect anyone to read what I post and any views/kudos/comments I get are nice but not necessary.
23. Pick three keywords that describe your writing.
unemotional, niche, dense
24. How do you recharge when you’re not feeling creative?
I only write when I know what I want to write. I don’t “feel creative”, so not feeling creative isn’t something I worry about and I don’t do anything to try to make myself feel creative.
25. Besides writing, what are your other hobbies?
Computer games, concert band music, calligraphy, constructing Metal Earth models
26. Are you able to write with other people around?
Yes, but only if forced to (such as, writing on my iPad or phone while waiting for an oil change or a doctor’s appointment) and only if I’m not being interrupted. At home, I hate even having my husband in the room if I’m writing, even if he’s entirely paying attention to his own thing.
27. Your favorite part of the writing process.
I love crafting sentences. I prefer to refer to myself as a “wordsmith” rather than a “writer”. I especially love creating complex sentences, which is exactly the opposite of what you’re supposed to do as a writer. (See question #23, item 3.)
28. Your least favorite part of the writing process.
I actually can’t name one. I enjoy the ideation, the research, the writing, and the editing/rewriting. Maybe it’s the posting, because I hate posting to multiple sites and having to reformat the work each time based on what kind of HTML or WYSIWYG editor they’re using (which is why I’ve stopped posting to ff.net and deviantArt).
29. How easy is it for you to come up with titles?
Pretty easy.
30. Share a fic you’re especially proud of.
No. I hate self-reccing. Well, for myself anyway. (See question #22.) If you like it, have at it.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-12 07:47 pm (UTC)Yes, Sylvia’s POV would be an interesting one to explore. And ha, a story where the celery is relevant! :) That’s good. Like how I’ve wanted for years now to know the circumstances of the “ save the world with a kettle and string” line.
Same. I didn’t think the weather mattered for writing?
no subject
Date: 2025-05-13 04:15 pm (UTC)That's what fanfiction is for. Why don't you write it?
no subject
Date: 2025-05-13 11:22 am (UTC)Sylvia Noble POV 👀 The celery being important 👀
Too many WIPs gang!
no subject
Date: 2025-05-13 04:14 pm (UTC)(That the questions existed at all also kind of offended me. What does it matter if a person has only one type, mostly one type but a couple of the other, or a mix? I expect that while answering the earlier questions, the person wasn't thinking, "Oh, I'll only put my heteroships here because I'm mostly a heteroshipper with only a couple of homoships." Wow, I actually really don't like those words. Words I've never used before and hopefully never will again.)
no subject
Date: 2025-05-15 05:12 pm (UTC)And yeah, the questions are super weird too.