How many characters do you have? Do you prefer males or females?

I’ve never thought to count my characters. I do know that most of my stories start off with a huge ensemble that I have to whittle down as I write. I like having a bunch of people to choose from. Then I either delete them or I combine characters. I guess a novel by me would have an average of about 10 characters. Main character, love interest, best friend, parents, a sibling of some sort, a teacher. I don’t know, I’ve never really thought about it, actually. I just write and edit people as I see fit until I feel that I have the right amount of characters to carry the book.

Do I prefer males or females? That’s a weird question. Hmmm. Well, I prefer to write from a female’s POV (usually a 17-year old), but I have a mix of males and females in my books.

I found this meme at my friend Ivy’s LiveJournal, and thought it would be a neat way for me to explore my writing, and for me to also make more use of this blog. I really want to become more active in the blogosphere in regards to my writing. Back when I was very much into it, about 4-5 years ago, I was amazed by the helpfulness, the willingness to extend a hand and pull a newbie up, and the friendships I’ve made. I want that again. 🙂

Knowing me, I won’t be able to keep up with this meme daily, but I will answer every question in it. 🙂 So, here goes. Question 1:

Tell us about your favorite writing project/universe that you’ve worked with and why.

I definitely got the most joy out of the ONLY YOURS. This story was a true romance, but YA instead of adult. I stole every free moment–and even moments I wasn’t supposed to have–to write. I stayed up late every night. I worked during every break and lunch break. I used any down time I had to write, and when I didn’t have down time, I was constantly thinking about the story and the characters. Writing notes. Listening to certain songs to help me along. I was in love with all of my characters. I’d made up this school culture, and video games, and getting inside this girl’s head was so much fun for me. The research for that book was fun, too. I was pretty into church back then, and I helped out with the youth groups. Being around teenagers really helped me feel at ease writing about them, because I got to see how they acted and talked. My main character is a devout Christian, so being in that atmosphere really helped me develop her character and her personality. I think Jeremy (the love interest) is one of the coolest guy characters ever, and I really hope that one day I can get that story out there somehow.

I wrote ONLY YOURS in only six months, but the story had marinated in my mind for years before. Then I guess it burst out of me. And that was awesome.