Writing Survey

I've had a pretty horrible last couple hours. I was exhausted from travelling a lot of the day, came home, gave my mom her present and she hated it. So I kinda just cried and unpacked. EMOTIONAL DAY GUYS. But I decided to do Blake's questionnaire because I always need ways to procrastinate.

The start of a story! How do you figure out just what that is going to be?
Oh god, this is a good question. I usually just come with an idea and write out a few sentences and see if I like where it looks like the story is going to go. A lot of the time my stories start because I have writer's block and just write out a random drabble and try to make a story out of it if I like it.

After you’ve figured out where your story is starting, what is your next step?
I just wing it. This is the reason that almost none of my stories get past the first few chapters.

Characters are essential in every story, they more or less make it, how do you make sure your characters are diverse?
I try and find a quality that I want each character to have and then build off of that. Like I'll know at least one specific personality trait of each character that are all different, and then I'll just work off of that.

When writing your characters do you get in their minds, or do they get in your mind?
I like to try and get into their minds, but lord knows that never works out how I want it to.

Plots are fun! Do you develop the plot before you start writing, what does that process look like? Or do you just wing it?
I wing everything when I write. Oddly enough, the only stories I've ever planned for are Aphrodite, which is the only story I've ever actually finished, and The Fallen, which hasn't made it past the prologue.

Setting is also something that all the good stories have, of course. Where do you pull inspiration for your settings from? Do you browse the internet, or do you use places you’ve been?
I like to use places I've been. A lot of my stories are sent in small towns because I lived in a tiny town for half of my life.

Let’s not forget about detail. Details are like little goodies that every readers loves to devour, do you think you’re good at spreading them out and making your story look like a fabulous work of art? Or do you think that you could use a little help in that department?
I like to think I'm good at description when I try. Sometimes it's super lacking because I just want to get a story done. Whoops.

Let’s go back to characters for a second. Are you a JK Rowling, or are you a George R. R. Martin?
I FEEL LIKE I SHOULD UNDERSTAND THIS QUESTION BUT I DON'T.

How long do you try to make every chapter?
My chapters are always so short. I want so bad to make them longer but it's something that I really struggle with.

What is your favorite part about creating a story?
I love figuring out how my characters are gonna interact with each other.

Do you emulate any of your favorite authors, or do you try and build your own style?
I try and have my own style, but I'm sure I emulate people often.

Is there a certain soundtrack you listen to when you’re working on your story?
Not really. I generally have my Spotify playlist on if I'm just working on random stuff. If I'm writing songfics (which I always and forever am), I'll listen to the song I'm writing about on repeat.

What do you think your demographic is?
I feel like because I read a lot of YA stuff, I tend to write YA stuff. I dunno.

When you have writers block, because let’s face it, it happens, do you do anything to try to overcome it, if so what do you do?
I usually listen to music, and I'll write random, super descriptive paragraphs to try and get back into the swing of things. That's actually how Fingertips was born.

We haven’t talked about dialogue yet, have we? No, we haven’t, no need to scroll up to check. So let’s talk about dialogue. How much is too much, and how much is too little?
I think it depends on the story. I really like when people are clever with dialogue, and just stick it in randomly so it flows in the story super well. I also find it super interesting when people have chapters/drabbles/whatever that only have dialogue. I enjoy writing like that but I don't do it too terribly often.

Genre is also something worth talking about, is it not? What is one genre you love to write, a genre you hate to write, a genre you wish you could write, and a genre you wish didn’t exist at all?
I always call m favourite genre "depressing romance", because my characters always die. I don't really hate writing any genre, but I find straight-up romance quite challenging. I wish I could write better scifi, because I find it so fascinating, and I guess I wish horror didn't exist. I get scared easily so I tend to avoid it.

When did you first start writing? What inspired you to take it on as a hobby? Or is it more than just a hobby for you?
I first started writing when I was about 12 or 13. I was on Quizilla constantly and kinda just decided to try and write my own stories when I was at my grandparents' house one summer. Plus I was super into All Time Low and wanted to write stories based on Nothing Personal hahaha. It's really just a hobby for me. I really wish I could swing a job as a writer, but I know that won't happen so it gets put on the back burner of my life a lot.

Do you try to add subtle messages to your stories, if so, what?
Not really. Sometimes I'll add random things into stories to see if people will pick up on them, but no one ever does because they aren't obviously and usually aren't meaningful to anyone but me.

Has there ever been something you’ve added to a story that you’ve wished someone would pick up on and ask you about, only to have it be completely looked over?
Sometimes there's lines that I adore or a character trait or some dialogue that I really love and secretly hope people will point out and say they like too, but it doesn't usually happen.

Finally, give some advice to your fellow authors, you don’t need to get deep here, you can be as shallow as you like, there’s no judging.
Just go for it and write. No matter how horrible you think it is, write whatever you feel like writing and go from there. Also, help a fellow author out and give concrit on stories. We all (well, almost all) want to know how we can improve.

Bonus round! Do you judge your characters? If they do things you don’t like, do you contemplate letting bad things happen to them?

Not usually. I mean, if my character's a bad person, they usually have consequences in the story, but mostly because I want to make my stories as realistic as I can.

What is one sentence you’re absolutely proud of?
I had Anabel the way you can have wind or rain or oxygen, she was always there but she never stayed, always leaving in way or another.
That's one of the last lines in Aphrodite and I've always really loved it.

Titles, yes I almost forgot to say anything about this part of the story, shame on me. How do you come up with titles? Do you use working titles?
I'm the worst at titles. I usually use song names if I'm writing a songfic or I'll just find a random word or phrase I like that seems to kinda fit. I use working titles when I can't think of what to call a story and need to save the document.

If you could get published, would you use your own name, or would you use a pen name? Why?
I'd probably use my own name, or I'd use my first and middle name because I go by the a lot.

And staying with that question, if you were to be published, who would you dedicate your first book to?
Oh god, I have no idea. That's a super hard question. I guess whoever inspired it and helped me figure out everything.