Tagged by: FayeeeM
Sourced from: the960writers on Tumblr. (Please credit the sources on the answers.)
i. When did you first start writing?
It was around... five or so years ago? I was in my elementary fifth grade year then, I think.
ii. What was your favorite book growing up?
Definitely the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan, along with Number The Stars by Lois Lowry and Mythology by Edith Hamilton.
iii. Are you an avid reader?
Started in first grade, and now, around nine years later, I'm still continuously reading any kind of literature, so most definitely, I am.
iv. Have you ever thrown a book across the room?
The times I got pissed off at someone disturbing me not withstanding? Er.. I don't think so.
v. Did you take writing courses in school/college?
Just standard mandatory subjects. There's also the occasional journalism-related seminars and/or press conferences since I'm a part of the school campus paper, but other than those, not really.
vi. Have you ever read any writing-advice books?
Just once, for journalism. Other than that one time, nope.
vii. Have you ever been part of a critique group?
...No? I don't think so.
viii. What's the best piece of feedback you've ever gotten?
You probably mean pieces, but every single comment on any of my works makes me really happy, but I definitely love moments when my senpais (like Maria-san and my cousin Faye) critique what I have.
And yeah, even rants help me. XD
ix. What's the worst piece of feedback you've ever gotten?
Like I said, I appreciate every comment I get, but when people speak as if they understood what they read even though it's obvious that they didn't.. well. It gets me sometimes.
x. What's your biggest writer pet-peeve?
Typographical errors, mostly. I commonly miss several errors even when I reread the draft and edited it several times, and it annoys me too much. Another is that even though I try my best, what comes out in the piece isn't what I had in mind.
xi. What's your favorite book cover?
Several, actually, but the Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, Book One: The Sword of Summer's cover is my favorite so far.
Just look at how all those colors blend together so damn perfectly, it's beautiful.
xii. Who is your favorite author?
Like, published-books-wise? Definitely Rick Riordan—the dude inspired me to write about mythology and fantasy. Other than Mr. Troll Riordan, Cassandra Clare and John Green are two of my other favorites.
xiii. What's your favorite writing quote?
I actually don't have a favorite quote which pertains to writing, exactly, but when it comes to motivation, well, my home screen can be proof of the quote I love most.
Photo edited by yours truly, the phrase "Keep Calm and Carry On" was a motivational tagline, so to speak, created by the British during WWII, and it's stuck with me until today. Other quotes for me are from the Bible (i.e. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,"—Philippians 4:13) or song lyrics (i.e. "You only hold me up like this / 'Cause you don't know who I really am,"—"Of All The Gin Joints In All The World" by Fall Out Boy)
xiv. What's your favorite writing blog?
Something like that exists?
xv. What would you say has inspired you the most?
Books, books, books, fanfiction, fanfiction, fanfiction, music, music, music, anime, anime, anime. There's no levels to those; they all helped me one way or another. Heck, even random moments in school gives me several uncontrollable ideas.
xvi. How do you feel about movies based on books?
I detest a vast majority of them, but there are a select few which did the book justice. I dislike the fact that most people assume that the movie adaptations are the original stories as opposed to the books.
xvii. Would you like your books to be turned into TV shows, movies, video games or more?
I don't think that my writing so far deserves any of those; but if ever, I'd like the adaptations to justify the original else I'll be hunting down those responsible.
xviii. How do you feel about love triangles?
I typically enjoy writing about them; so, so much fun when everything's justified and you get to play with both the characters' and readers' emotions. (Just ask my cousin.) However, when reading about them or writing about them, I want everything to be perfectly justified and beneficial to the plot; if the triangle isn't useful or is simply detrimental to the plot, then I'd rather not use this admittedly overused trope at all.
xix. Do you prefer writing on a computer or longhand?
I usually type things up on my iPad; I'm seldom apart from said device unless needed. I used to write everythinh down manually, but that eventually grew old and I got lazy, so I usually just store the ideas in my brain until such time that I can type them out freely.
xx. What's your favorite writing program?
Wattpad or Google Docs, mostly. I keep a shit-ton of drafts on my Google accounts.
xxi. Do you outline?
Sometimes, when I'm being industrious or when I'm dreadfully bored and in need of entertainment. My drafts are usually pretty organized (OCD is key), and I eventually make edits to said outline when I have new ideas to add or when I want to erase it altogether.
xxii. Do you start with characters or plot?
Plot, usually. I try to start developing the characters after I get a small beginning to the plot. Edits to both usually occur over a long, long span of time because of varying inspirations.
xxiii. What's your most and least favorite part of making characters?
Appearance and personality development is a pain in the ass, but it can all be worth it (and fun) if I try. I usually alter the plot as needed when an additional detail is added to the character's backstory.
xxiv. What's your most and least favorite part of plotting?
I hate plotting the middle ground. Beginnings and endings are okay with me, but connecting them's a different problem altogether. Favorite part of plotting's the beginning and the end.
xxv. What advice would you give young writers?
Don't turn out like me; read as many books as you want and pay attention to the authors' writing styles, listen to music you like, and observe other people as much as you can. You'll find a lot of things can inspire you to write.
xxvi. Which do you enjoy reading the most: physical, ebook, or both?
I'm fine with either, since due to practicality reasons ebooks are more accessible, but nothing beats the scent of a book's pages.
xxvii. Which is your favorite genre to write?
I suppose that would be either Romance or Fantasy, maybe Mystery, sometimes. Oh, and I love to write so much angst in any of my stories. Just.. Action isn't my thing.
xxviii. Which do you find hardest: the beginning, middle, or the end?
The middle; I find it difficult to bridge together the start and the conclusion of what I have planned.
xxix. Which do you find easier: writing or editing?
Writing, most definitely. Editing takes too much of my time and effort.
xxx. Have you ever written fanfiction?
Dude, I live to write fanfics. I haven't even started on my originals yet.
xxxi. Have you ever been published?
Nah.
xxxii. How do you feel about friends and close relatives reading your work?
I'm surprisingly okay with it... though they flatter me too much, sometimes, and it makes me too awkward and flustered so I regret ever making them read the piece in the first place.
xxxiii. Are you interested in having your work published?
Of course, if it's decent enough.
xxxiv. Describe your writing space.
Any area with little to no people, my earphones in and playing music, and me sitting in a comfortable corner of said space with pillows and some food to match. Presenting: Zoe's Ideal Den of Random Shit.
xxxv. What's your favorite time of day for writing?
Late afternoons, specifically the hour when twilight starts, preferably with me occasionally watching the sunset. Sometimes late nights are good, too.
xxxvi. Do you listen to music while you write?
Why do you think I have so many songfics? Of course I do; it's one of my main sources of inspiration.
xxxvii. What's your oldest WIP?
..That could have been the Eyes of Azure trilogy, which I'd been working on for two to three years, but I discontinued that.. I'd have to say that it's Excelsior, the rewrite of the rewrite (Enmity's Embrace) of my very first fanfiction, Revenge of the Abandoned, which was a Percy Jackson and the Olympians fanfiction. That fic was written about three to four years ago, I think. The title's still tentative, though, as I'm still trying to pick between Excelsior or Angelus for the fic's title.
xxxviii. What's your current WIP?
To Be Remembered, my way overdue to be finished USUK fic over on my other account. Aside from TBR, there's also random plot bunnies I'm trying hard to ignore.
xxxix. What's the weirdest story idea you've ever had?
Define weird. Because really, a lot of my story ideas can be considered weird.
xl. Who is your favorite original character and why?
Hands down? Probably either Beau Evans or Aidan Hathaway. Aoife Halloran's too selfless for her own good, Micah Falkner's still pretty unrealistic.. Okay, so, it's Aidan. I somehow really like how he turned out in my original, How To Save A Life, though he makes me feel guilty for what I did to him..
xli. What do you do when characters don't follow the outline?
I alter the outline as I see fit. Or if I can't, then I attempt to mold the character to fit, but if that doesn't work, I set the character aside to see if any of my other works are in need of that kind of a character. If that still doesn't work, then I'll scrap the character altogether.
xlii. Do you enjoy making your characters suffer?
YES. (Though it also hurts me too.)
xliii. Have you ever killed a main character?
Yup. Once. Though since I changed the Chronicles From The Void trilogy and fused it into the Distortion universe, I wonder if I can still use this idea..
xliv. What's the weirdest character concept you've ever came up with?
I think it was for Akita Mikoto, Tanizaki Makoto's cousin in EA.. He was a weird guy.
xlv. What's your favorite character name?
It's Micah. Weirdly enough, I don't really know why, but I have a certain attachment to the names of prophets in the Bible.
xlvi. Describe your perfect writing space.
My bed, piled high with pillows, and a cup of tea. With fast internet.
xlvii. If you could steal one character from another author and make them yours, who would it be and why?
It's Luke Castellan from the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. I don't know why, but I rather like his character development, and I aim to create a character who can impact readers as much as Luke did.
xlviii. If you could write the next book of any series, which one would it be, and what would you make the book about?
This is actually a pretty hard question.. hm.. Probably the Hunger Games trilogy or Divergent. I want to make the ending justified or just tie up any loose ends which were left unchecked as one can see in a reader's perspective.
xlvix. If you could write a collaboration with another author, who would it be and why?
I'd want to do a collab with my cousin (Faye), Dani-chan, Ri-chan and Maria-san, actually. I've already done some collabs with my cousin, and I'd been planning a collab with Dani. With Ri-chan, I probably would want to write something dystopian or set in a post-apocalyptic universe.. With Maria-san, I don't really know, but maybe something space-themed? (What happens after I try watching The Martian xDDD)
l. If you could live in any fictional world, which would it be?
I'd probably join my cousin in Camp Half-Blood. Because why not?
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