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Oct. 23rd, 2009 03:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dolari1. When did you start writing?
1987. I had a wierd dream about rescuing a friend from some kind of lab. This turned into The Book of Xand, a story that runs from 3113BC to 3797AD, an alternate universe and three planets.
2. First drafts: Handwritten, typed, or some combination?
Almost never. I tend to write straight to "paper," with only some minor proofreading after I'm done.
3. Do you keep any kind of notebook or writer's journal, and if so, what kinds of things go into it?
My Livejournal has been incredibly blank of late, to go with my mood, but that's the journal I use.
4. Do you set any quotas for your work (number of words per day, number of hours per day, etc.)? Why or why not?
No, I write when the mood hits me. But usually, my mood needs to be good before I can write. (looks at Wishworld's five month hiatus).
5. Are you most comfortable writing short stories, novels, or something else?
I write what I write. Might be short, might be long. Tend to be longish.
6. What's your favorite kind of story to write?
Stories about primitive peoples (Jana in Wishworld, Han'a in AWFW, Hatchaya in Book of Xand), but also some hefty science fiction, which you don't really see much in CS or AWFW (Book of Xand, is pretty hardcore Sci-Fi, despite taking place "twenty years from now").
7. Talk about a story of yours that was easy to write and one that was difficult to write, and why.
AWFW was easy. The story just laid itself out to me inside of a week, and a sequel developed shortly after I began writing. Wishworld is probably the hardest. When I do comics, I simply write dialogue. When I write prose, I have to describe the scene, and unless I'm in a state to write, I simply can't describe stuff. Look at "The Chase" in Wishworld. IT starts off great, ut as my situation got bleaker and bleaker, I see the story quality just grinding to a halt. Never liked how I wrote that last paragraph.
8. Which of your characters is closest to your sense of self? In other words, who do you most identify with in your own work to date?
Xand. Xand is a very sweet person, with a nice disposition who broods. Broods a lot And get envious. And jealous. And the more he broods, the worse he gets. And when he spends thousands of years brooding, he goes from being a hero, to being a villain. There's a LOT of me in him. There'a another Character called Jenn in Xand, too, who is the flipside of Xand. She's my innocence and wonder.
9. What work are you most proud of right now?
I love all my work, really. :)
10. What do you feel your strengths and weaknesses are as a writer?
Strength: I can weave stories together easily, adding continuity and arcs and foreshadowing all over the place (Heidi is in Episode 1 in 2001...and only now, in 2009 and Episdoe 270 are we getting to see her as a main character).
Weaknesses: I'm incredibly slow, and my writing depends on my mood. My mood the last few months (and especially htis last week) has become so sour, that it's a struggle to do anything creative.
11. Name a few writers who have influenced you or your work in some way.
J Michael Straczynski. Frank Herbert. Old myths and legends.
12. Talk about something you've written that you later found embarrassing for some reason.
A silly stupid sub plot in The Book of Xang involving...and this is all I'll say about it..."Briggy Cola."
13. Talk about the earliest stories you remember writing. What were they about?
The Book of Xand was my first story. It came at me out of nowhere, told me to "Write me down" and it's never left my side.
14. If you knew you would be successful, what would you most like to write?
The Book of Xand.
15. What inspires you?
The characters in my head who clamor to "get out there." They want nothing more than to get out of my head and into yours.
16. How many projects do you tend to work on at once?
All of them, but I concentrate on just three or four at any one time.
17. Who reads your work before it's released to the public? Do you have beta readers, a critique group, etc.?
Comic artists who I'm closest with, and a few select fans.
18. When you're not writing, what do you do for fun?
Watch movies.
19. Advice to other writers?
Just Do It. Don't dwaddle, don't overplot, don't overplan, don't sit there thinking about writing. Just Write.
20. What are you currently working on?
Wishworld, Closetspace.
21. Share the first three sentences of a work in progress.
"They'd been scavenging the roads for days, now, and in that time, they hadn't seen a single person on it. Food was running out, and if it got much worse, the highwaymen would need to find another road to stake out. While the two men didn't recognize the buzzing sound coming towards them, they didn't care."
1987. I had a wierd dream about rescuing a friend from some kind of lab. This turned into The Book of Xand, a story that runs from 3113BC to 3797AD, an alternate universe and three planets.
2. First drafts: Handwritten, typed, or some combination?
Almost never. I tend to write straight to "paper," with only some minor proofreading after I'm done.
3. Do you keep any kind of notebook or writer's journal, and if so, what kinds of things go into it?
My Livejournal has been incredibly blank of late, to go with my mood, but that's the journal I use.
4. Do you set any quotas for your work (number of words per day, number of hours per day, etc.)? Why or why not?
No, I write when the mood hits me. But usually, my mood needs to be good before I can write. (looks at Wishworld's five month hiatus).
5. Are you most comfortable writing short stories, novels, or something else?
I write what I write. Might be short, might be long. Tend to be longish.
6. What's your favorite kind of story to write?
Stories about primitive peoples (Jana in Wishworld, Han'a in AWFW, Hatchaya in Book of Xand), but also some hefty science fiction, which you don't really see much in CS or AWFW (Book of Xand, is pretty hardcore Sci-Fi, despite taking place "twenty years from now").
7. Talk about a story of yours that was easy to write and one that was difficult to write, and why.
AWFW was easy. The story just laid itself out to me inside of a week, and a sequel developed shortly after I began writing. Wishworld is probably the hardest. When I do comics, I simply write dialogue. When I write prose, I have to describe the scene, and unless I'm in a state to write, I simply can't describe stuff. Look at "The Chase" in Wishworld. IT starts off great, ut as my situation got bleaker and bleaker, I see the story quality just grinding to a halt. Never liked how I wrote that last paragraph.
8. Which of your characters is closest to your sense of self? In other words, who do you most identify with in your own work to date?
Xand. Xand is a very sweet person, with a nice disposition who broods. Broods a lot And get envious. And jealous. And the more he broods, the worse he gets. And when he spends thousands of years brooding, he goes from being a hero, to being a villain. There's a LOT of me in him. There'a another Character called Jenn in Xand, too, who is the flipside of Xand. She's my innocence and wonder.
9. What work are you most proud of right now?
I love all my work, really. :)
10. What do you feel your strengths and weaknesses are as a writer?
Strength: I can weave stories together easily, adding continuity and arcs and foreshadowing all over the place (Heidi is in Episode 1 in 2001...and only now, in 2009 and Episdoe 270 are we getting to see her as a main character).
Weaknesses: I'm incredibly slow, and my writing depends on my mood. My mood the last few months (and especially htis last week) has become so sour, that it's a struggle to do anything creative.
11. Name a few writers who have influenced you or your work in some way.
J Michael Straczynski. Frank Herbert. Old myths and legends.
12. Talk about something you've written that you later found embarrassing for some reason.
A silly stupid sub plot in The Book of Xang involving...and this is all I'll say about it..."Briggy Cola."
13. Talk about the earliest stories you remember writing. What were they about?
The Book of Xand was my first story. It came at me out of nowhere, told me to "Write me down" and it's never left my side.
14. If you knew you would be successful, what would you most like to write?
The Book of Xand.
15. What inspires you?
The characters in my head who clamor to "get out there." They want nothing more than to get out of my head and into yours.
16. How many projects do you tend to work on at once?
All of them, but I concentrate on just three or four at any one time.
17. Who reads your work before it's released to the public? Do you have beta readers, a critique group, etc.?
Comic artists who I'm closest with, and a few select fans.
18. When you're not writing, what do you do for fun?
Watch movies.
19. Advice to other writers?
Just Do It. Don't dwaddle, don't overplot, don't overplan, don't sit there thinking about writing. Just Write.
20. What are you currently working on?
Wishworld, Closetspace.
21. Share the first three sentences of a work in progress.
"They'd been scavenging the roads for days, now, and in that time, they hadn't seen a single person on it. Food was running out, and if it got much worse, the highwaymen would need to find another road to stake out. While the two men didn't recognize the buzzing sound coming towards them, they didn't care."
