#spanspeaks

Hello Nonnie!!  Oooh Yay! I feel like I am being interviewed! :D

My favourite book of all time and the rehearsed answer, is The Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams.  But that feels like a bit of a cop-out answer, so my current/recent favourite book is The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee 

I don’t tend to listen to music while I am writing unless I am stuck in a particularly silent room with a ticking clock. I strongly believe that music influences emotions and emotions influence writing. Sometimes, if I know I have to write a sad scene, but I am in a good mood, I will find sad songs and listen to them. Mood music. If I am writing while listening to the sound track of How to Tame Your Dragon, my writing is very different than if I am listening to Breathe(2am) by Anna Nalik.

But in general like... alternative pop maybe??  I seem to only listen to the same 159(ish) songs in my life. Most of them are from the late 90s. Although recently I have made a playlist on Spotify called ‘Take On The World’  named so after You Me At Six’s song of the same title... the playlist has 23 songs on it and goes for 1hr 28 mins and I have to listen to them in order. Very inspirational. After that I let Spotify choose for me. eg. bands: American Authors, Imagine Dragons, Augustana, Jaymes Young, P!nk, Rob Thomas, Matt Nathanson, Meat Loaf, Train, Phillip Phillips, Lady Antebellum

My favourite movie will always be The Lion King. Nostalgia is a beautiful thing. My favourite show is Doctor Who and my OTP is Rose and The Doctor. I particularly like it when Captain Jack Harkness is thrown into the mix too :P 

I LOVE Fanfiction, but I don’t read it very often. I love the concept of literary fanart soooo sooo much and I wish I would get more into it.

Would I feel comfortable sharing some original characters??  Interesting question. Yes?  But like, how? I don’t want to share snippets of books or anything like that, just yet.. I guess could do some sort of character profiling thing. That could be super fun. I could draw up some pictures to go with it maybe. INTERESTING CONCEPT. Thanks Nonnie! I’ll ponder this. 

I don’t remember not being into writing. That is to say i can’t remember a time when I didn’t write one way or another...I’ve always kept journals and art diaries and have forever been jotting down my ideas. I love stories more than anything. I am a bad sleeper, I always have been and when I was really little my Dad used to tell me stories at night to try soothe me into sleep.  For example he’d describe a hut by a forest and he’d walk me down the cottage garden path and through the squeaky rusted gate, across a moss covered wooden bridge, and into a cool clearing where we imagined a spotted deer peacefully grazing. I like to think that this was the beginning of my writing addiction. Instead of going to sleep I would lay silently in the dark imagining the world and creating the universe. It’s probably a form of mind palace or meditation, but to me it’s writing, just without the physicality.

My 2nd question involves my deity hierarchy. I have it set up in 3 tiers: tier 1 is the lowest level deities that only work with their single universe, tier 2 is the Temporals that work with their multiverse (universes where "x" is always true), tier 3 is Celes the ruler of the omniverse, and just above her are The Writer (creator) and The Reader (makes real as they read, like the actual reader, also a power check for the writer). Does this make sense at all or did I make it to complex?

Wow! @501arceus This is awesome!   It seems to make sense to me from this basic explanation, which is definitely a sign that it is not too complex! 

You’ve just got to make sure that all the information is translated into your text as you write your story. Complicated universes are good, but make sure you iron out all the kinks as you go and pay attention to how the rules of your created universe affect your characters. The worst thing for me as a reader in a book like this, is inconsistency. 

 Hello @princesserwin​ :D 

Ahhh yes,  the elusive problem of motivation. Here’s the thing, we all get this. The inept feeling when our burst of genius is gone and we are left sitting there staring like ‘what just happened?’ for 3 weeks. It’s a maddening thing, but I assure you it can be worked through. Written through.

Here’s my practical advice: 

Set a schedule.Stick to it. Write every single day for a minimum allocation of time. Whether you write 100 words or 10 000, doesn’t matter. You just gotta sit there and plod along. Don’t use this time to make writing playlists. Don’t use this time to think out your plot, or your character flaws. This time for actively writing.  Even if what you end up writing is something along the lines of “Damn this advice is silly and really not working for me I should be doing something productive!!’ Because here’s the catch- that is productive.That is writing, and the more you write, the more you write. It’s simple and infuriating. 

Here’s my impractical advice: 

Cry. 

Goodluck!  You’ve got this.  Just keep writing.

@hypotherium 

Hi, oh no! Try not to feel guilty for your creative expression! Feeling bad about not living up to the writing of someone you admire is both a terrible thing, and a good thing. The terrible ting is that it hinders your creativity and confidence, and you feel bad. However the good thing about you noticing your own spin on the established canon is that you are observant, which is an essential for a good writer.

I think what you are experiencing is a version of  ‘The Gap’ which is the difference between what you want to be creating, and what you actually are creating, a void we all struggle to lessen. This gap is where great talent is created. Don’t be ashamed of it because it is your potential.  

 Hey thanks :D  

  Yep I think so- So she can get sick and injured and her healing process is average and she still feels pain... she just never dies of her ailments.. Yes this makes perfect sense! :D  

Hi @the-pits-of-disclaire   Thankyou!! :D 

Yes, I have some very infuriating advice for you. You ready?

 #sorrynotsorry.  

Okay no so - 

You don’t have to start at the beginning. You just have to start.  Start anywhere. Start at the part where the really exciting thing happens. Start writing the bit that you have most planned out.  Then jump to a description of your side characters hair.  Then jump to world building… Where are your characters?  Why are they there in particular?  Write out your plan. Flesh out your characters.  Jump around like crazy, write as many words as you can about something. Once you start, you will eventually find a flow,  you’ll get really excited about writing out some weird part near the end and chase it.    

You’ll probably end up with a very messy document of paragraphs that aren’t linear and are written in different tenses and perspectives and you’re going to hate it.  But then you have something to work with. You can edit and re-write and add bits in and create sense out of your chaos. Yes, it’s infuriating, but it is also fun. The difference between a writer and everyone else, is that a writer writes. You just gotta start, and keep starting every day.