Wednesday 10 November 2010

30 Days of Writing Questions - Part Two

6. Where are you most comfortable writing? At what time of day? Computer or good ol’ pen and paper?

Computer, computer, computer. I used to write longhand all the time (when I had a good old typewriter and needed to save my ribbons) but now I only write notes and quick outlines on paper. I do regret losing the knack, but darn it, those words look so much prettier and real when filling a blank screen.

7. Do you listen to music while you write? What kind? Are there any songs you like to relate/apply to your characters?

Not while I write, but I do attach songs to my books and play them when I need to create the right mood / atmosphere. I've been terribly remiss with my current book, it has one lousy song. Ooh, feeling a need to procrastinate.

8. What’s your favorite genre to write? To read?

I prefer to write dark stories with a touch of the weird (okay, a sledgehammer of the weird). My favourite genre to read is dark fantasy / horror, though I like anything speculative, thriller or smidgen of Austen. Never rule anything out, I say.

9. How do you get ideas for your characters? Describe the process of creating them.

I read Natalie Sin's stories and ache to have her character building talent. My process needs work. Next question.

10. What are some really weird situations your characters have been in? Everything from serious canon scenes to meme questions counts!

Where to start… Recently my characters have suffered/accepted/lived the following:

-A poor, dear farmer had his crop of hats ruined by some (unfortunate) bikers when they decided to take a joyride through his field.
-A girl stuck at her sisters wedding found herself trapped in a snow globe and facing the prospect of marrying her sister's ex.

And in my current WIP, well… I'll be updating some of the weirdness during this wonderful month of November on this here blog.

Today's Word Count: 1951 + 517 (other projects)
Total Word Count: 19,770 + 1803 (other projects)

Plus today I reviewed M-Brane SF #22 for Skull Salad Reviews. And I didn't add the review to my word count. When I stop procrastinating, I seriously stop procrastinating.

11 comments:

Aaron Polson said...

Thanks for the review, Cate. And awesomesauce on the word count. One little push, and you're over the 20K mark. Whoot!

Fox Lee said...

Ooh. Perhaps I shall steal this : )

Fox Lee said...

PS: You can have my secret. Imagine doing things to beautiful men. Repeat.

Danielle Birch said...

I don't think your characterisation is anything to sneeze at :) You and Natalie both inspire me.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the peek into your process. =]

Andrea Allison said...

Look at you passing 20K. Way to go!

N. R. Williams said...

Interesting. I'm a sucker for happy endings. I think there are too many unhappy endings in real life.
Thanks for your comments on my blog, I truly appreciate them.
Nancy
N. R. Williams, fantasy author

Cate Gardner said...

I'm there, Aaron. I made it :D

Ah, can do, Natalie.

Thanks, Danielle (though I also think you're insane :D)

You're welcome, Milo.

:D Andrea

I'm an unhappy ending kinda girl, NR :D or should that be :(

Cate Gardner said...

I'm there, Aaron. I made it :D

Ah, can do, Natalie.

Thanks, Danielle (though I also think you're insane :D)

You're welcome, Milo.

:D Andrea

I'm an unhappy ending kinda girl, NR :D or should that be :(

Katey said...

Oh man, these questions are great!

... also, really, really want the new weird stories. Snow globe. Oh my god, that is beyond cool.

Cate Gardner said...

Ah, my poor unloved snow globe story. It keeps on trucking.