Random Things About Me as a Writer

I stole and modified this meme from Thomma!

1. I wrote my first book when I was six. It was a guide to flowers, lovingly illustrated with crayons on manilla paper and professionally bound using my very own “tot” stapler.
   
2. I wrote my second book when I was in sixth grade. It was a rambling, mostly plotless space epic. Hey, space stories were “in” back then!
   
3. The first book I really think of as my “first” is one I wrote while I was in grad school. There’s something about statistics class that makes my brain flee to creativity as a self-defense measure, in rather the same way an animal will gnaw off its own foot to get out of a trap. I outlined my novel in stats class and actually saw it through to completion. It was based on the people I met and experiences I had working in the restaurant/nightclub business. It’s a fun story, but so badly written I can hardly stand to read it now.
   
4. I like writing “long.” Forcing myself to write anything under 5,000 words is a challenge.
   
5. I hate writing poetry, although I sometimes wonder if I should force myself to practice it, since it might make my prose better.
   
6. Characters and dialogue come easy for me. Plot less so.
   
7. I like editing. When I’m having trouble moving forward in a story, going back and editing the last few paragraphs often helps put me on track.
   
8. I like to use a plot outline. It doesn’t have to be elaborate, and I never end up following it exactly, but if I have no outline at all, my plot will wander and go nowhere at all.
   
9. I don’t use character charts or character trait lists, except very occasionally for minor characters. My main characters never need them—they’re too busy telling me about themselves.
   
10. I mostly write late at night. I like the time after Dan has gone to bed and the critters are settled in. The world is quiet. I know no one is going to interrupt me, and I can immerse myself in the story.
    
11. I love those times when my characters start doing things on their own. It feels like I’m watching a movie in my head and just writing down what I see and hear. Only fellow writers seem to understand this.
    
12. I get my best writing ideas in boring situations, like meetings and classes.
    
13. I’ve been writing stories based in a dystopian American Southwest for several years now.
    
14. My character Diana has her own web presence. She will answer questions on “her” blogs, if she knows the answers.
    
15. I have a new blog fiction idea that would be in a contemporary setting and have a lot of “extras,” such as video, artwork, podcasts, etc. But I can’t do it alone and right now my partner on this project (read: husband) is dragging his feet.
    
16. More than anything, I like sharing what I write. Posting things on my blog and illustrating them is oddly satisfying.