I was a strange little girl - I loved homework. I still recall the bitter disappointment on my first day of kindergarten when the teacher did not give us books to take home or a homework assignment to complete. This week's Write On Wednesday is to placate my inner child, who's been awakened by all the back to school advertising and the plethora of school supplies in every store. It's an assignment! Answer the following questions about your writing habits/style.
Goodie!
Wait, I have to get some clean paper... and sharpen my pencil...hang on, maybe I'll use this notebook instead, the one with the pretty purple cover...
O-kaaay...I'll get to work now.
- Do you write fiction or non-fiction? Or both? I actually do write both, although I've always considered myself more of a non-fiction writer. I have fun dabbling in fiction, especially at NaNoWriMo time!
- Do you keep a journal or a writing notebook? I write morning pages quite religioiusly, and use ordinary spiral notebooks you buy in the Walgreen's. I kept a separate notebook for the last novella I wrote, with divided sections for research, ideas for plot and character development.
- If you write fiction, do you know your characters’ goals, motivations, and conflicts before you start writing or is that something else you discover only after you start writing? Do you find books on plotting useful or harmful? In the two novellas I've written, I had a pretty good idea of the characters goals and motivations. As I wrote, some rather surprising things turned up, and they were so interesting I decided to use them.
- Are you a procrastinator or does the itch to write keep at you until you sit down and work? Sigh. Mostly a procrastinator. But when I do make it to the page, I can go on for hours.
- Do you write in short bursts of creative energy, or can you sit down and write for hours at a time? . See above. However, if I'm pressed for time, sometimes I get a lot done because I know I don't have the luxury of doodling around.
- Are you a morning or afternoon writer? Definitely morning. Or late night. Not much in between, which is usually reserved for the detritus of everyday life.
- Do you write with music/the noise of children/in a cafe or other public setting, or do you need complete silence to concentrate? I really need SILENCE. Have to have it.
- Computer or longhand? (or typewriter?) Mostly good old Microsoft word. If I write longhand, I get going so fast the writing becomes illegible.
- Do you know the ending before you type Chapter One? Or do you let the story evolve as you write? I ususally think I know the ending - but it seems like it often surprises me!
- Does what’s selling in the market influence how and what you write? Not really. I think I write the kind of things I like to read, in my fiction and non-fiction - stories about real women facing real life situations and emotions.
- Editing/Revision - love it or hate it? Hate it. Scared to death of it. Desperately need help with it. Sigh.
If you'd like to be part of the class, go on over to Write On Wednesday and join in :)