And now, onto the actual post:
Beautiful People is a linkup hosted by Cait @ Paper Fury and Sky @ Further Up and Further in, where writers answer questions about their books/characters. I did do a Beautiful Books the other month, and today, I'm talking about myself!
1. How many years have you been writing? When did you officially consider yourself a ‘writer’?
I've been writing for a really long time. Discounting school compositions, I think I decided to write a book when I was seven. Needless to say, mess. I dropped it for until I was thirteen, i.e. two years ago. At that point would be when I officially considered myself a writer, and started a Figment account and blog and everything.
2. How/why did you start writing?
When I was seven-ish, I read A Series of Unfortunate Events and had ALL THE FEELZ for it. I think that's when I decided I would write an equally awesome book and become an awesome author. Yeah, I was a bit clueless. When I rebounced at thirteen, I start my writing journey again with the Internet.
3. What’s your favorite part of writing?
In terms of the writing process, it's seeing my characters come to life and sometimes do things I never expected them to do. And then they sort of get their little slices in my brain and take over my dreams and stuff. But in terms of just writing, it's definitely hearing from readers.
4. What’s your biggest writing struggle?
Erm, editing. I'm still trying to get the hang of it—I figured out a rhythm on the go with my last ms, and I'm hoping this one will turn out better? I'm not very good at spotting how to improve my work.
5. Do you write best at night or day?
Night! For the entire months of September and October I allocated half an hour before I slept to writing. If I couldn't meet my quota, I didn't sleep. (How we punish ourselves.) It worked, though.
6. What does your writing space look like? (Feel free to show us pictures!)
All my writing ends up on my computer, but before that here are a few places I scribble:
In order: a notebook with chemistry and writing in it, a printed-out ms for first readthrough, and tiny notebooks with tiny handwriting. A future blog post will elaborate more on where I write :)
7. How long does it typically take you to write a complete draft?
Considering that I've only written two complete drafts (well done, Alyssa), I can only say the first one took half a year and the second took two months.
8. How many projects do you work on at once?
One novel at a time. I can't handle more. I can juggle a few more short stories, though.
9. Do you prefer writing happy endings, sad ones, or somewhere in between?
SAD ENDINGS ALL THE WAY. I'm evil. And my characters must SUFFER.
10. List a few authors who’ve influenced your writing journey.
Some authors I really, really admire: J.R.R. Tolkien, David Handler (Lemony Snicket), JK Rowling, Kate DiCamillo, Phillip Pullman, Philippa Gregory, George R. R. Martin.
Quick shout-out to these fellow online teen writers who give the best support a writer could ask for: Christina, Topaz, Nivedha, Rona, AnQi, Taylor. HAVE SOME TAKEOUT, GUYS.
11. Do you let people read your writing? Why or why not?
Funnily enough, I'm all good with letting people read my writing online — I'm on Figment — but I don't actually let real-life people read my stuff. I just cringe whenever someone glances at my writing and I have to see their reactions. Reading comments/critiques online are just fine, though.
12. What’s your ultimate writing goal or dream?
Become a published author! (And be Cait's Minion #1 as
13. If you didn’t write, what would you want to do?
Well, I never envisioned writing as my sole career; something sciency is definitely happening as well. Either science research or medicine or both, I'm not sure. Depends on my grades.
14. Do you have a book you’d like to write one day but don’t feel you’re ready to attempt it yet?
Yep, a memoir-ish diary-ish thing about what it's like here in Hong Kong. Politics, life, school, etc. I'm just mildly irritated that Hollywood thinks we're a mafia spot or something.
15. Which story has your heart and won’t let go?
Other than my current ms, I'm also pondering a Shadowplay sequel tentatively titled Matryoshka.
I might elaborate more on this idea and the memoir in the future, but this is getting a bit long :) If you joined the link-up, do leave your link so I can check out your post! Any praise for the awesome me? (Thank you, thank you.) Share any of my quirks? Leave a comment below!
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