#sadviper

52. How did writing change you?

I think that rediscovering writing has given me a chance to rationalize experiences, to put into words emotions and sensations that we hardly ever take time to digest. So it's been helpful to be more aware of my surroundings and the small joys of everyday life.

(It's been quite hard considering recent historical events, but you know.)

And that's also the magic of it. If you give a scene another light or if you address it from a different perspective there are so many possibilities that are easy to miss. Some of my favorite fics focus on mundane tasks and that's what I aim for with my stories too :D because there's something so nice about extraordinary people finding joy in the simple act of sharing a cup of tea, or in their favorite shade of lipstick.

Writing has also allowed me to meet wonderful people, and I'm always grateful for giving it a chance again.

54. Any writing advice you want to share?

Uffff this is going to make me feel like a hypocrite, but let's consider this advice for you (not sure If you can take anything valuable from here (because this is nothing new)) and for me. And since I can't tell you to write the story in your mother tongue and then translate it because that's how I got to edit some of Exit Wounds and how it became Heridas Abiertas, please consider this:

1) Real synonyms don't exist. Each word has a unique semantic field, so every time you see those lists that go "Options for X word" take it with a grain of salt. We've talked about this, and they are indeed a good starting point, but they are not The RulesTM.

2) Write and edit later. One of the worst things I've done is over editing scenes that would have progressed much faster if I had come back to them later. And I know that it's hard and that we always aim for perfection, but that's the easiest way to get stuck. Trust me I know.

I mean, my business is like adjacent to literature ahahaa, but you know. I wish I were as cool as you described, but hey, here you have my journal and fountain pen.

(And since you showed us your notes, this is how my organized mess looks. I used to handwrite my fics back in the day.)

I do enjoy classical music, but I wish I knew more about it than I actually do. And regarding all the literature involved in EW, you know, when we are little, the ministry's official program basically forces us to read some of the books I referenced in the fic. And I think it was a way to reconcile with those stories that resonated with me back then and that I enjoyed when I had to read them again for academic purposes.

There are such amazing stories written in Spanish that we take for granted because when you try to learn another language, everything else sounds more interesting than the things you already are familiar with.

Anyway thanks for the ask and for telling me your assumptions. It's been a while but, as usual, I'm grateful that you came across my Spanish story :D

What are their thoughts or feelings about religion? Superstitions? Were they raised with any particular faith?

Sin-jae’s an atheist and also incredibly angry with god. Cops are superstitious about a bunch of things but Sin-jae gets a reputation for being resolutely opposed even to the smallest, most harmless talisman or palm-reading. But it’s important to him, see? He clings to reason and rationale because he’s seen what their absence can do to someone. Believing in fate can be an addiction, and his life depends on him not going for the easy explanation.

Hyeon-min, I think, is raised Catholic. (Of course I would, because of @drivingsideways​’s amazing Tell Me The Truth About Love.) Maybe he went to a Buddhist school for a while. He’s easy and happy to observe rituals (mostly for the food, he’ll tell you) on two sets of festive occasions. He’s a born skeptic, but he’s pretty relaxed about people and their quirks, lets Auntie Kim buy a talisman for his health when she’s getting a couple made for her daughters, even goes with his mother to a shaman when his mother decides enough is enough and she needs answers about when she’s getting a son- or daughter-in-law and grandchildren. (Fair warning to her: he does it so he can joke about it for the next ten years.) He doesn’t know if he believes in god; but he knows enough about himself to be grateful.

Is this person afraid of dying? Why or why not?

Sin-jae’s desperately afraid of dying, and desperately afraid that he’ll suck at it. There are times when he wants just to know what the truth of his life is, and before he sees a plum blossom crest on a horsewhip he’s very sure that only death with either give him the answers or make it unnecessary to ever know. But when the demons are quiet he’s like everyone else: he loves sitting in the sun eating ice-cream on the steps up to the dojang, loves the a-ha! moment of cracking a case wide open, has moments when he’s out to dinner with the squad, listening to Eun-seop tell tall stories and Chief Park object and letting Tae-eul pour him a drink and pouring her one in return––those are the moments that make him feel like life is worth living, and also that heaven, if it exists, should be like this.