I’m a little bored today and I’m not exactly in the mood to write, so I decided to surf around the net for a nice meme on writing for a change. As I told you previously, a meme can be quite helpful when you’re running out of ideas. Here’s something I found on Writing Wrongs. Lovely site, and the posts are insightful. Anyway, here’s the meme with my answers:

What’s Your Writing Style?

1. Are you a “pantser” or a “plotter?” I don’t actually plot (technically speaking), because most of the things I write just around in my head. I don’t go for the outlines or character sketches; it’s not that I’m some sort of genius who requires no such preparation — it’s just that I’m not used to doing so. I just write what comes to mind and that’s that (hence the rather random and sometimes illogical outcome of my writing).
2. Detailed character sketches or “their character will be revealed to me as a I write”? I sort of base my characters on a particular concept, so it’s all in the head. I often sit around and stare at the outside world while thinking of my character. I don’t write it down, I just keep thinking and thinking about a particular character in my head until I start visualizing specific scenes and his/her probable reactions (based on the attitude I imagined).
3. Do you know your characters’ goals, motivations, and conflicts before you start writing or is that something else you discover only after you start writing? Yes. I let it all swirl in my head then when I start getting good lines in there, I scramble to write them down lest I forget.
4. Books on plotting - useful or harmful? I think these self-help or self-taught books can be useful, but only if you use them as guides rather than bibles. There’s a lot in these books that work only for a specific person; writing doesn’t have molds you can sort of stick yourself into. A lot of it is about learning the rules then working around them in a way that lets your personality and gut feel shine through.
5. Are you a procrastinator or does the itch to write keep at you until you sit down and work? I’m a horrible writer, really. I have to sort of force myself to write, otherwise I’ll put it off again and again. Unless, of course, it’s something that’s really bursting inside me and I can’t hold it in any longer, then yes I write and I write a lot. This happens particularly when I get a really good sentence in my head. I get excited.
6. Do you write in short bursts of creative energy, or can you sit down and write for hours at a time? When I’m in the mood, I can write for hours on end. Otherwise I write in bursts. I have a short story in the works that I haven’t really finished because I just had the greatest paragraph in my head but not enough details to continue.
7. Are you a morning or afternoon writer? I like writing in the very, very early morning, because my day job renders me powerless at night.
8. Do you write with music/the noise of children/in a cafe or other public setting, or do you need complete silence to concentrate? I don’t need complete silence but I have to at least hear myself think. I like having music playing in the background but noisy kids, not so much.
9. Computer or longhand? (or typewriter?) There are days when I feel like writing longhand. It just feels more natural. Other days I go straight to the computer. Completely mood-related.
10. Do you know the ending before you type Chapter One? No. I don’t even know how Chapter 1 ends. Writing fiction is sort of a trance for me.
11. Does what’s selling in the market influence how and what you write? Hmm. Sort of. But I realized that it doesn’t work that way. No matter how popular a topic is, if you’re not into it you won’t be able to write it properly.
12. Editing - love it or hate it? Love it. I correct my posts even if they’ve been up for a long time. And I’m horribly OC, so I have to reread and edit all my posts several times.

Tagging anyone who’s remotely interested.

XOXO,