shah_of_blah (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
shah_of_blah) wrote2010-04-17 08:26 pm
shah_of_blah) wrote2010-04-17 08:26 pm
Entry tags:
Writing meta and Doctor Who
Last part of the writing meme!
21. Do any of your characters have children? How well do you write them?
Well, technically I gave Kara and Lee a kid in "Horizon," but it's a tiny little fic and the kid doesn't even have a name (though this tiny little fic spawned not one but TWO excellent remixes). I also wrote a short story awhile back about a young mother and her blind child called "Leave the Light On." In both of these stories, the children are not especially developed, I think. They're not the focus of either story, really. And when I presented the first draft of "Leave the Light On" to a workshop I got called out for not knowing anything about how to take care of a small child.
22. Tell us about one scene between your characters that you've never written or told anyone about before! Serious or not.
Hmm. Well, I'll tell you about something that popped into my head a little while ago. It started as a sort of game--a friend (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
radio_silent , actually) asked me which four characters I would choose if I were creating my own SG-1-style team. I picked Kara Thrace, Zoe Washburne, Chuck Bartowski, and Martha Jones. I've been sort of flirting with the idea of writing this crazy crossover, and then two nights ago, while I was supposed to be writing something else, I wrote...the beginning. Thing is, I don't like Stargate. I don't think I can write this in the Stargate 'verse. I also realized that I was subconsciously placing this more in the Firefly realm, which complicates things. For one thing, I'd have to get Chuck into the future. That's a little tricky. Also, I'm not sure four people is a large enough crew. Though you'll notice I've selected four people with complementary skills--Kara and Zoe can handle the captaining, the fighting, and the piloting; Chuck can be the mechanic/brains; Martha's the medic. And I can ship Chuck/Martha and Kara/Zoe (you know it would be awesome!).
23. How long does it usually take you to complete an entire story—from planning to writing to posting (if you post your work)?
A long frickin time. Well, it depends on the story. I mostly write one-shots which can take days or weeks, depending on the story. "The Disappearing Ground" was written, beta'd, and posted within, like, three days, whereas "The Other Side (of This Life)" took at least a month. In terms of multi-chapter fics, you've got my![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
pilotsbigbang fic, where I spent a couple months writing a 13k story. And then there's my plotfic, which I have been writing on-and-off for years. And it's only 9000 words so far. Conclusion: I write slowly, except when I don't.
24. How willing are you to kill your characters if the plot so demands it? What's the most interesting way you've killed someone?
Pretty willing. I killed Kara (sort of) in "A Good Day for Dying." And I happen to think it was a pretty brilliant/dastardly move. As for the most interesting...well, my first fanfic ever, a BtVS fic called "One Tiny Piece of Metal," included an alternate ending in which Angel made a wish (in front of Anyanka...silly, silly vampire) that he had been there to stop Buffy from getting shot. Wish granted! Angel burns up in the sunlight.
25. Do any of your characters have pets? Tell us about them.
Yup. In my novel-in-progress, one character has a dog. This dog is named after my old dog. And you know...when I was ten, I think I had some wacky plotpoint about the dog actually being a god or something. I don't know. It seemed like a good idea at the time (now he's just a dog).
26. Let's talk art! Do you draw your characters? Do others draw them? Pick one of your OCs and post your favorite picture of him!
I'm a terrible artist. Really. But I did want to be a painter before I wanted to be a writer, so again...when I was ten, I drew the main characters of my novel-in-progress. And they were painfully bad. Then my friend drew slightly better portraits of them for me. But I don't have any of these drawings.
27. Along similar lines, do appearances play a big role in your stories? Tell us about them, or if not, how you go about designing your characters.
Not really. In my short stories, I usually only go into detail with appearances when it's significant to the plot. For example, in one story ("Hollow") the antagonist was meant to sort of reflect the protagonist, so I used the same descriptors for them.
28. Have you ever written a character with physical or mental disabilities? Describe them, and if there's nothing major to speak of, tell us a few smaller ones.
I feel like a broken record, but I wrote a story featuring a blind child. His name is Benjamin and he's three years old. He's kind of smothered by his mother who has Issues with a capital I.
29. How often do you think about writing? Ever come across something IRL that reminds you of your story/characters?
All the time. For both of these questions. A fairly recent example: two weeks ago, I read Chuang-Tzu's Basic Writings for a class (he's the guy who said "Am I a man dreaming I'm a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming I'm a man?"). He said some stuff about death and life and dreaming and it reminded me of my pilotsbigbang fic.
30. Final question! Tag someone! And tell us what you like about that person as a writer and/or about one of his/her characters!
Uh, I'm gonna skip this one because I don't like tagging people or singling any one person out when there are so many amazing writers in this fandom.
Brief and insubstantial thoughts on the latest Doctor Who episode:
1. Why must the new Daleks resemble Power Rangers? Or M&Ms?
2. I finally know what a jammy dodger is! Been wondering for years. Ever since I saw this:
21. Do any of your characters have children? How well do you write them?
Well, technically I gave Kara and Lee a kid in "Horizon," but it's a tiny little fic and the kid doesn't even have a name (though this tiny little fic spawned not one but TWO excellent remixes). I also wrote a short story awhile back about a young mother and her blind child called "Leave the Light On." In both of these stories, the children are not especially developed, I think. They're not the focus of either story, really. And when I presented the first draft of "Leave the Light On" to a workshop I got called out for not knowing anything about how to take care of a small child.
22. Tell us about one scene between your characters that you've never written or told anyone about before! Serious or not.
Hmm. Well, I'll tell you about something that popped into my head a little while ago. It started as a sort of game--a friend (
radio_silent , actually) asked me which four characters I would choose if I were creating my own SG-1-style team. I picked Kara Thrace, Zoe Washburne, Chuck Bartowski, and Martha Jones. I've been sort of flirting with the idea of writing this crazy crossover, and then two nights ago, while I was supposed to be writing something else, I wrote...the beginning. Thing is, I don't like Stargate. I don't think I can write this in the Stargate 'verse. I also realized that I was subconsciously placing this more in the Firefly realm, which complicates things. For one thing, I'd have to get Chuck into the future. That's a little tricky. Also, I'm not sure four people is a large enough crew. Though you'll notice I've selected four people with complementary skills--Kara and Zoe can handle the captaining, the fighting, and the piloting; Chuck can be the mechanic/brains; Martha's the medic. And I can ship Chuck/Martha and Kara/Zoe (you know it would be awesome!).23. How long does it usually take you to complete an entire story—from planning to writing to posting (if you post your work)?
A long frickin time. Well, it depends on the story. I mostly write one-shots which can take days or weeks, depending on the story. "The Disappearing Ground" was written, beta'd, and posted within, like, three days, whereas "The Other Side (of This Life)" took at least a month. In terms of multi-chapter fics, you've got my
pilotsbigbang fic, where I spent a couple months writing a 13k story. And then there's my plotfic, which I have been writing on-and-off for years. And it's only 9000 words so far. Conclusion: I write slowly, except when I don't.24. How willing are you to kill your characters if the plot so demands it? What's the most interesting way you've killed someone?
Pretty willing. I killed Kara (sort of) in "A Good Day for Dying." And I happen to think it was a pretty brilliant/dastardly move. As for the most interesting...well, my first fanfic ever, a BtVS fic called "One Tiny Piece of Metal," included an alternate ending in which Angel made a wish (in front of Anyanka...silly, silly vampire) that he had been there to stop Buffy from getting shot. Wish granted! Angel burns up in the sunlight.
25. Do any of your characters have pets? Tell us about them.
Yup. In my novel-in-progress, one character has a dog. This dog is named after my old dog. And you know...when I was ten, I think I had some wacky plotpoint about the dog actually being a god or something. I don't know. It seemed like a good idea at the time (now he's just a dog).
26. Let's talk art! Do you draw your characters? Do others draw them? Pick one of your OCs and post your favorite picture of him!
I'm a terrible artist. Really. But I did want to be a painter before I wanted to be a writer, so again...when I was ten, I drew the main characters of my novel-in-progress. And they were painfully bad. Then my friend drew slightly better portraits of them for me. But I don't have any of these drawings.
27. Along similar lines, do appearances play a big role in your stories? Tell us about them, or if not, how you go about designing your characters.
Not really. In my short stories, I usually only go into detail with appearances when it's significant to the plot. For example, in one story ("Hollow") the antagonist was meant to sort of reflect the protagonist, so I used the same descriptors for them.
28. Have you ever written a character with physical or mental disabilities? Describe them, and if there's nothing major to speak of, tell us a few smaller ones.
I feel like a broken record, but I wrote a story featuring a blind child. His name is Benjamin and he's three years old. He's kind of smothered by his mother who has Issues with a capital I.
29. How often do you think about writing? Ever come across something IRL that reminds you of your story/characters?
All the time. For both of these questions. A fairly recent example: two weeks ago, I read Chuang-Tzu's Basic Writings for a class (he's the guy who said "Am I a man dreaming I'm a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming I'm a man?"). He said some stuff about death and life and dreaming and it reminded me of my pilotsbigbang fic.
30. Final question! Tag someone! And tell us what you like about that person as a writer and/or about one of his/her characters!
Uh, I'm gonna skip this one because I don't like tagging people or singling any one person out when there are so many amazing writers in this fandom.
Brief and insubstantial thoughts on the latest Doctor Who episode:
1. Why must the new Daleks resemble Power Rangers? Or M&Ms?
2. I finally know what a jammy dodger is! Been wondering for years. Ever since I saw this: