The Rising Author Tag- featuring shadows from my dark past

Greetings friends!

You may have noticed that three of my four latest posts (including this one) have been tags. The reason for this being, of course, that I require assistance from one of my fellow bloggers to scramble back up onto the cliff I just fell off of.

Today the person who noticed me hanging off a cliff and kindly thought they might offer assistance was the wonderful Jem Jones! Thus I am here today to complete the Rising Author Tag! Many thanks to Jem for tagging me! Be sure to check out her fantastic blog!

The Rules:
#1: No tagging back
#2: Tag Four People
#3: Thank The Person Who Tagged You

1. What is the weirdest thing someone has said to you about your writing?

So this wasn’t a time when someone actually said anything. But my mom was reading this story I wrote and she got to this part where the main character was having really dark, morbid thoughts about being buried alive…

And she started laughing hysterically.

And she kept laughing. For a long time.

I wasn’t quite sure what to think.

2. What was the worst thing you ever wrote?

There’s so much. I can’t.

I was recently looking through some of my old stories and I stumbled across this gem:

“It’s dark in here,” whimpered Ralph. He was only six and terrified of the dark. “Don’t worry, I’ll find a light switch,” Emma assured him. She looked and looked but she could not find a light switch. The door swung shut. “A ghost!” Katie screamed. “It’s just the wind,” Lisa said rolling her eyes as she opened the door. Light flooded into the room. “You’re eight years old and you still believe in ghosts?”  “You think you’re so old just because you’re eleven,” Katie said. “I do not,” Lisa argued. Emma sighed. “I can’t believe I was that annoying two years ago.”

I thought I was being so clever inserting all the ages.

I don’t know whether to laugh or scream.

3. What was the most awkward scene you’ve ever written?

I feel like everything I wrote before the age of fourteen was the most awkward thing ever (see scene above).

4. On a scale from one to ten, how often do you end up writing more than 3 chapters of the stories you start?

I backed up too far and fell off the scale.

Help.

5. What is the hardest thing for you to write?

Endings. Maybe because, until recently, I NEVER got anywhere near the end. And now I find myself looking around saying, “Wait, is this the end? Does it need to stop now? What do I do? Was there even a climax? Does it count as a climax if no one died? HOW DO YOU DO THIS??”

Hard times indeed.

6. When you look back at your early writing pieces, what’s one thing you can see you’ve improved in?

Everything I hope. Yikes.

I think my dialogue has improved greatly. In most of my earlier writing the dialogue is either very thinly disguised (if disguised at all) plot exposition or just TERRIBLY awkward and cringe-worthy.

I like to think that has changed.

7. How do you name your characters?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

I have finished two first drafts in my life thus far. Both are written in first person and the naming situation is as follows:

First book: Main character doesn’t have a name, but hey! I finally named his friends!

Second book: NOT A NAME IN SIGHT.

When it comes to naming, my procrastination talents are beyond… reasonable.

8. If you had to pick one genre to write in forever, what genre would it be?

It feels weird to say, but honestly it would probably be contemporary. Or maybe magical realism/low-key sci-fi? I DON’T KNOW.

Thankfully, this is a choice I’ll never have to make.

OR IS IT?

9. Which of your characters do you feel most guilty about?

Well of course there’s the usual torture and angst and such.

But I think I’d have to say the kid who was experimented on when he was four years old, got superpowers, and grew up struggling with his identity and the constant fear that he was going to hurt someone. Also I have plans for super villains to corrupt his mind sometime in the future so… yeah. I feel a little guilty about that.

10. Which of your characters deserves everything you’ve given them?

Writers are not known for their just treatment of their characters. I don’t think any of my characters deserve the pain and anguish I heap on them.

I have a character I’ve just written several random short scenes about who hasn’t suffered any terrible anguish yet. I gave him animal crackers. He probably deserved those.

 

Now I tag:

Katie @ The Act Diary

Annie Xia @ Zoelogist

May @ Forever and Everly

Ilsa @ A Whisper of Ink

The Questions:

1. What’s your favorite thing to write about?
2. What’s the weirdest thing someone has said to you about your writing?
3. Do you outline, or make the story up as you go?
4. How do you name your characters?
5. Which of your characters do you feel the most guilty about?
6. Are there any objects/situations/etc. that you’ve noticed tend to show up in a lot of your stories?
7. What’s a genre you’ve never written that you would like to try?
8. Do you let anyone read your writing? If so, who?
9. If your book were a movie, who would play the main character?
10. What’s something you’ve written that you feel proud of?

 

Thanks again to Jem Jones for tagging me! Her blog is hilarious and you should ALL go read it.

 

Do you enjoy reading your stories from when you were a wee writer, or do you find them unbearable? Do you enjoy making your characters suffer, or do you feel guilty about it (not that the two are necessarily mutually exclusive)? Have you had people react to your writing in startling or peculiar ways? Do tell!!

 

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