A Majestic Beast; #THEWRITERSTAG

For the sake of brutal honesty, I should probably just state here and now that I'm not a real writer. 

I value sleep and a social life over word counts, and I haven't done any serious work on my novel in several months.

But I'm doing a writer's tag, anyway, because America's a free country (even though I don't live there), and also because Cait and Jenny and Mirriam made it look like such fun.

Read on at your own risk.

1. WHAT GENRES, STYLES, AND TOPICS DO YOU WRITE ABOUT?

Genres:

I would love to write historical fiction, but the idea of that scares me because I have so much respect for getting every single tiny detail 100% correct when it comes to history. So, I write what is, essentially, historical fiction with wiggle room (meaning, it doesn't take place in history as we know it, so therefore, it's ok if I bend the facts). I also write a great many bits and bobs of non-fiction, poetry, etc. 

Styles:

I'm working on one novel that's third-person, past-tense, and I've got another one waiting in the wings that will be a multi-voice first-person novel (we'll see how that goes!). Everything else is a thoroughly mixed bag of whatever seems to be working the best at the moment. I think the moral of this story is that I'll try anything at least once.

Topics?

I'm all over the place. My goal is to tell the truth, and tell it beautifully. That doesn't really count as a topic, I know, but it's all you're going to get. Take it and be happy.

2. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WRITING?

I think I started my first novel when I was about 8. It was going to be about a family on a farm. There were probably characters with the names of Eliza and Tommy, because those were my favorite names at that time. It was in one of those child's composition notebooks with the triple lines. I think I wrote about 3 pages before running, head first, into my weak spot which is lack of plot. 

I guess that was about 16 years ago now. I still have trouble with plots, but not all of my characters are named Eliza and Tommy.

3. WHY DO YOU WRITE?

Well, I tried not writing for about a year. It wasn't such a good thing for my sanity, so here we are.

4. WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO WRITE?

When I'm not super stressed. When no-one's speaking directly to me. When I have coffee or tea. When I'm not so busy that I barely have time to breath. When my soul is being fed on the strong food of good literature and time spent with my Maker.

5. PARTS OF WRITING YOU LOVE VS. PARTS YOU HATE?

I love those moments when I look back at something I've written long enough ago to feel that I can trust my own judgment and think, 'wow! That's actually pretty okay!'

I love the people, the places, the experiences.

I love how my writing can connect me with people I'd never meet otherwise.

I don't truly hate anything about writing, at least, not to this point. However, I do thoroughly dislike feeling forced into creating something when I don't have a clear vision or idea for it. I'm also a big un-fan of having to publish a piece of writing when I know that the piece isn't equal to or pushing my current capacity as a writer. 

6. HOW DO YOU OVERCOME WRITER'S BLOCK?

Generally, writer's block is my writing's way of telling me, "Pay attention! You're doing something wrong!" So, if I'm struggling too much with a story, I will take a step back and ponder it from a variety of angles until I figure out what's broke and how to fix it. 

Writer's block is not to be confused with my aforementioned problems of extreme busyness or stress, where I very well may have some ideas, but lack the conditions to write about them.

7. ARE YOU WORKING ON SOMETHING AT THE MOMENT?

When am I ever not???

(*ahem* aside from months-long creative hiatuses when absolutely nothing works properly and I'm too frantically busy to stop and figure out why)

When I'm not blogging, writing short stories/sketches, or sharing my ponderings on Instagram, I am slogging my way, mile after weary mile, through God of Wind and Fire.

I actually really love this story, despite my use of the word 'slogging'. It's just got me a little depressed at the moment because human nature is so messed up and WHY CAN'T THE PLOT JUST BEHAVE???

I'm also doing research/plotting for The Novel in the Wings, and valiantly trying not to get too involved with three other story ideas that are clamoring at the back of my mind.

(Two active novels are enough at the moment, thank you very much).

8. WRITING GOALS THIS YEAR?

I hesitate to talk about this, because my life is one, big mess of unpredictable.

I think I could finish the first draft of God of Wind and Fire, if all of the stars and caffeine align themselves properly.

Honestly, though, my biggest goal is just to keep on writing, in some form or fashion, and not let myself succumb to another miserable, months-long hiatus.

If all else fails...CRACK ON!

Would you like to join in? Please add the link to your post in the comments.