Did I not already do the elemental? Air, spirit, winter!
I hadn’t posted the elemental meme at the time :)
speaking of: Elemental Ask Meme
Air: What’s the easiest part of writing for you?
Character voice? Can that be a thing? I hear my characters, or I do most of the time. It feels sometimes like they’re dictating. I’ve had walk-on extras become more significant (and give themselves names, for crying out loud) because they decide to expand their role and give me a clear voice to write. I realize this sounds psychotic, but I trust other writers get it.
I hate it when I lose that voice for a minor character. I don’t always have enough to read to get it back.
Those characters who show up so easy can be flat or repackaged from earlier work or lifted whole from someone else’s. I have to watch for stereotypes. But these things can be fixed in edit if I don’t catch them early and adjust accordingly.
“Voice” isn’t restricted to dialogue. It’s their word choice and emphasis, an accent if they have one (compared to whatever is standard in their world. No one has an accent in their hometown), and all that kind of dialogue related stuff. But it’s also (for me) the things they notice, the topics they discuss, the way they see other characters, their appearance and style, how they expect to be treated and how they are treated by others. All those things that bleed into descriptions and movements and set dressing and interaction.
Spirit: What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received on your writing?
On one of my F!Agent fics, a person commented that “I write Chiss as though I am one” which I really liked. To me it felt like I showed someone a different perspective and communicated it well. On a review of The Death of all Things, (I know, I know, don’t read the reviews!) the reader wanted to know more about the couple in Raveling, which was my story in the anthology. It was only a snapshot of their world, but for that reader at least, the characters existed in a larger context and they wanted to see more of that context. Again, I felt I successfully transported a reader somewhere else, if only for a little while.
Since that’s something I value in the books I enjoy most myself, these comments are the ones I liked best. I gave others the kind of experience I want from reading.
Winter: Have you ever written a story based on a holiday? If yes, which holiday was it for and what was it like?
I wrote a crackfic for “Sithmas,” a made-up alternative (I think by @exvind ) to the Star Wars Thanksgiving/Christmas derivative “Life Day.” It was twelve posts made by Darth Infodump, a recent emigree from the Empire to the Republic under some kind of witness-protection and/or rehabilitation program, in which he recites and explains the verses of the traditional carol “The Twelve Days of Sithmas,” as well as detailing a rivalry with a linguist at the Coruscant Historical Museum and plans to remodel his apartment. It was complete and utter silliness and I had much fun with it.
Searching Sithmas on my blog (or clicking the link here) actually brings up all the posts. Shocking for tumblr, where it’s easier to search google for your own posts :/ .
I can’t recall any others, fanfic or otherwise.
