Writers on Writing

Oh hey! Another Monday post from me! This time it's because I was tagged by my dear Miss Tracey Neithercott to talk about my writing process. She posted her piece last week on her blog, and you should definitely check it out. This blog hop/chain basically asks 4 questions about writing, and it's been cool seeing how different people approach the process of getting a story written.

WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON

I am the WORST right now in that I'm not really working on anything. My brain has all over the place lately, which is bad. But the last thing I was working on was a sort of murder mystery written in verse. It's very experimental for me in that I've never written anything long in verse, and it's a story told from 3 different POVs, which presents a whole other set of challenges.

The idea originated from brainstorming sessions with my #twtpoem cohorts April Tucholke and Lydia Kang, and it was going to be a story told in a series of tweets. That ended up not happening, but with their blessing, I started messing with the story on my own.

Novel-wise, I've been tinkering on and off with a Cinderella retelling. I know it's like the most retold fairy tale ever, but I find myself consistently coming back to this story. And my co-blogger Alz would like me to get back to my Asian Fantasy that I talked about ages and ages ago.


HOW DOES YOUR WORK DIFFER FROM OTHERS

Um, I've been told I have pretty writing? So I guess it might be that. I think because I'm into lyrical writing, I tend to pay attention to flow and mood when I'm writing as well. So it goes a bit beyond just metaphor and description and clever turns of phrase.

This goes hand in hand with my interest in poetry. I don't read it very often (or practice it much) and I've never studied it in depth, but I like it because it's writing in a very condensed, sharp form. I feel like there's more pressure on each line, each word in poetry because you have to say and do so much in so little space. So I think it's a good study for writing in general, and I like to experiment with poetic techniques and forms in my prose too.

I also like ambiguous characters. So hopefully, you'll see a few of those lurking about.


WHY DO YOU WRITE WHAT YOU DO?

Because it's fun??? But more seriously, I write things with magical elements or that play off of fairy tales and myth because those are the things I love. Wanting magic to be real has been a wish of mine since I was a wee lass, so given the chance to make my own magic, why wouldn't I?

WHAT'S YOUR WRITING PROCESS LIKE?

When Tracey asked me to participate in this blog chain, I joked with her that my answer for "writing process" would simply be "Bwuuuhhh?" and that's kind of true. I'm a pantser by nature, so I sort of write whatever strikes my fancy and go with it.

The problem with this is that I frequently run out of steam and then I'm stuck because I didn't really think things through. So now, unless it is really nagging at me, I will sit on an idea until I have a better hold of it. I might write down a line or two, especially if I like the turn of phrase or mood or whatever, but I'll turn the premise over in my head until I've come up with something closer to a plot. I'm also trying to work in more outlining, so that my heading is clear. Basically, I've become more of a hybrid pantser-plotter.

Now, this will be a more unusual thing to say but I have the (maybe bad?) habit of revising as I go. I'm working on turning off my edit-brain and just getting the first draft out, but it's a work-in-progress for me. It's what makes me a slow, probably too deliberate writer. In novel stuff, I read the scene I wrote before to get myself back in the right frame of mind, but I'll also tinker with it. Like I said, it makes drafting slow and I'm not sure how much more effective it is in the long run. But I have this habit because this is how I've always written my academic essays/papers - as in, I rarely did multiple drafts of my papers/essays because I wrote to be done in as few drafts as possible. So whenever I got to the end of my papers, they were essentially finished because I'd already done the revision while drafting, if that makes sense. (And yes, this worked for me if my grades were anything to go by.) But like I said, I don't think this is quite as effective for novel-length stuff but I'll let you know how it goes since my process is still evolving. :p

Anyway, when I get stuck and/or when I'm finished, I step away for a bit before coming back to look at it again.

Pinterest has been a great help for visuals and references. And unlike most people it seems, I can't do the music thing. I like music, but I also like singing along to music. So anything with words is likely to distract me. I can do soundtracks sometimes, but ultimately, I prefer silence (or ambient noise).


Thanks for the tag, Tracey! To continue this enlightening chain, I'm going to tag the multi-talented Cat York and the smartie Yahong Chi! Looking forward to learning all your secrets reading about your process, ladies!

(Edit: Yahong has already written her post! Here: Yahong's Writers on Writing post.)
(Edit 2: And now Cat's post is up too! Here: Cat's Writers on Writing post.)


*Thanks Supernatural (specifically the character Chuck) for all these fantastic writing-related jokes. Perfect gifs.

ROOMIES Story & Giveaway

Right before Christmas 2013, a book about two girls who form a friendship over the summer when they find out their going to be freshmen roommates at the University of California, Berkeley had its book birthday. That book was ROOMIES by Sara Zarr and Tara Altebrando.

Unfortunately, since I've been in a reading funk I haven't read the book yet, but I was intrigued by the premise, the cute cover, and the fact that the two MCs were headed to my Real Life alma mater: UC Berkeley (Cal). On top of that, I was fortunate enough to have had incredible roommates for my entire college experience. So when I received an email asking bloggers to share a "roomie story" to help launch Sara and Tara's book tour for ROOMIES, I felt I had to participate!

AND at the end of this post, there's a chance for you, dear readers, to win a copy of the book!

But first, see if Sara and Tara are stopping by in your town and go out and see them if they are! Here are their tour dates:

January 12, 2014 – New York, NY: McNally Jackson
January 15, 2014 – Salt Lake City, UT: The King's English
January 16, 2014 – Provo, UT: Provo Library
February 4, 2014 – San Francisco, CA: Books Inc, Opera Plaza
February 5, 2015 – Petaluma, CA: Copperfield's Books


As I mentioned, I was super lucky when it came to my college roommates. I essentially lived with the same girls the 4 years I was there. Let's call my roommates M, S, and R. (There was a 5th roomie and she was wonderful too, but she only lived with us for the year that S was studying abroad.) I went to high school with M, my first roommate (the one I dorm-ed with), and after freshmen year, we moved out together to an apartment, which we shared with S & R.

Sure there were moments of frustration- undone dishes, trash that wasn't taken out before it started smelling up the place, pretty sure I hogged the TV (and that one corner of the couch)- but overall any roommate drama anxieties we might have had remained thankfully and mercifully in our heads. (At least, I thought so?)

We had so many fun and odd times that I don't know which one to pick - from living room picnics to late night cram sessions helped along by late-night sushi deliveries to seeing the newest Harry Potter movie at midnight! So instead of ONE story, I'm just going to share 3 incidents I recorded in my journal from our years living together at Cal.


From sophomore year of college: Toilet Troubles

This afternoon as I sat around doing whatever it is I do in the living room, I heard a cry for help. Literally. It went something along the lines of "HELP! BRING THE MOP!"

And then the phone rang, and I had a split-second moment of being torn between getting the mop and getting the phone. Then S said, "Believe me. THIS IS MORE IMPORTANT."

But I managed to get the phone (telemarketers) and the mop and ran to the bathroom, where there was a full blown Situation. It's not as nasty as it sounds. It was just toilet water, but it had overflowed and spilled out onto the tiles and was creeping its way across the tiled sink area. Luckily, our floor mats were unharmed.

So S and I spent a good hour (or so...or more) mopping it up and then Pinesol-ing that shizz, and the reason it took so long was because we tried to flush the toilet again. Bad idea.


From sophomore year of college: Finals Week

R went off to the library to study. She IMed me around midnight. The following ensued:

R: naked people!
Me: what?! where are you?!
R: did you know every semester during finals, naked people run through the library?
Me: i think i've heard that before...
Me: IT'S TRUE?!
R: LOL
Me: It's not even safe in the libraries!
R: it's sooo funny
R: embrace the berkeley culture.


From sophomore year of college: RE: Finishing a final

S: We went and we conquered.
M: Um, I don't know about conquered.
S: No, we vanquished that final. Destroyed it.
M: Annihilated.


From our senior year: A Momentous Occasion

November 28, 2007: We finally ran out of trash bags.

[Context for this is that at the end of freshman year, I had a ton of meal points left over. But at the time, meal points were basically like money at campus restaurants, cafes, convenience stores. So I used my considerable meal points to help furnish our new apartment. Basically, I bought a ton of trash bags - so much that we didn't need to by any until mid-way through our senior year!]

Over the course of 4 years, I lived with a bunch of smart, funny girls with minimal drama. I am so, so lucky to have had them as my roomies and to have them for friends.


GIVEAWAY Details: To enter to win a copy of ROOMIES from Little & Brown Books, please fill in the rafflecopter info below. Name and mailing address are required. Sorry international peeps, this is US only. Winner will be announced next Wednesday, 1/15.

a Rafflecopter giveaway



Q4U: What's your Roomie Story? Everyone's got one.