Category Archives: Writing

Writing Meme #7

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Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten the writing meme. OK, I really had forgotten about it.

Here is question seven:

Do you listen to music while you write? What kind? Are there any songs you like to relate/apply to your characters?

I almost always listen to music while I write, and I have a few different playlists. I have a generic writing playlist which mostly consists of certain songs from movie scores and other instrumental songs that I really like or that I feel inspired by. There are a few songs with lyrics as well, but they have the be the sort of lyrics that blend into the background. Time by Sarah McLachlan fits into that category well. Then, I have playlists for each WIP. Any song that makes me think of the character, that inspires a plot point or idea, or that sets the mood for a scene I am writing gets added to the playlist.

The playlists are organic. I am always adding or deleting songs, but there are a few that make it on every list. Here are just a few of them:

– Alice’s Theme – Danny Elfman (Alice in Wonderland score)
– A Dazzling End – Murray Gold (Doctor Who: Series 4 soundtrack)
– Like A Dog Chasing Cars – Hanz Zimmer (The Dark Knight score)
– I Know What You Are – Carter Burell (Twilight score)
– God Particle – Hans Zimmer (Angels & Demons score)

On an unrelated note, I just went back and re-read some of the reviews I did for my now defunct review site. I guess I wasn’t as bad at reviewing as I thought. Maybe one day I’ll pick it back up again.

PHAIL!

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I’ve been terrible at keeping up with this blog. I apologize to all three of you readers. (Hmm, I’m thinking three is generous, actually.)

So much has happened since I last posted. The holidays. I had a birthday. I went to Disney World. I got to see S.J. Tucker sing many times again. I bought stuff. And traveled. And took pictures. But biggest of all: I got a (more than) full-time job as a proofreader at a Retail Marketing Agency. I proofread Sears circulars. Now, if you haven’t fallen down with boredom already, my job can be demanding. There are so many rules and standards and styles. Each business has its own nuisance, and it’s impossible to remember everything. And printer deadlines can hurt. For example, yesterday (it still feels like today because I haven’t gone to bed yet) I worked from 9am-9:30pm. My brain is still recovering.

Because working so much, writing definitely takes a back seat. 🙁 Being a proofreader makes writing hard; because I am concentrating so much on details and minutiae all day, it’s hard to come home and start THINKING again for plotting and whatnot. So what do I do? Waste time playing FarmVille and Cafe World. If I can tear myself away from the computer, I re-read some old favorites. Right now, I am re-reading GOOD GIRLS by Karen Young. It’s an adult book. I’m sure I got it from one of those Romance Book Clubs I was a party of when I was in college. Sort of like Columbia House or the Disney Movie Club, only with books (and wineglasses) instead of CDs and DVDs. I love the book. It came out in 1997. My copy is yellow. No cover. It sleeps in my bed with me at night. That’s a sign of a well-loved book.

I’ve had to replace a few of my favorite books over the years. Flowers in the Attic. (I’m just now learning that there are some who do not like FitA, but I love it. I truly do.) Heaven. Sweet Revenge. I am on multiple copies of all those books, all in various stages of wear and tear. Cause what do I do? I buy “new” used copies to replace my falling down ones!

I haven’t finished reading a new book since the start of 2011. This is bad, because I’ve usually read at least ten new books by now. I tried to read BUTTERFLY, but can’t bring myself to finish it. I’d like to finish LITTLE WOMEN, but it’s on my computer/iPhone and I still have a really hard time reading books on-screen. I will have to pick up a hard copy sooner rather than later. I won a copy of SLICE OF CHERRY by the awesome Dia Reeves (who is not afraid to let her snark flag fly!), but these days, the most free time I get is before bed. I’m kinda scared it’ll give me nightmares if I read it before I go to sleep. :O I think I’ll inhale the thing this weekend, though. It’s sitting here tempting me all day every day (when I’m not at work.)

I still dream of becoming an author. I’m jotting down ideas all the time. Stories are always taking root in my mind. People keep telling me I am a good writer. I just need for one of those stories to take root and blossom. How badly do I want it? Evidently, not badly enough right now. But it’s coming. I can feel it.

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And really, I need to stop making excuses and writing flowery purple prose and just do the damn thing. As Dia Reeves says:

Take the 26 letters of the alphabet and mix them up into sentences and then paragraphs and then chapters and just keep doing that until you get sick of it.

She’s right.

I freaking adore that woman. Anyway, those few of you who have stuck with me through this silly roller coaster I’m on…thank you. See ya soon. 🙂

Writing Meme #6

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Where are you most comfortable writing? At what time of day? Computer or good ol’ pen and paper?

I am most comfortable writing at home, I think. Late at night for sure, and I am flexible with computers or pen and paper. I like to have pen and paper on hand all the time to jot down ideas, quotes, or dialogue or whatever comes to me, but I like my computer for the hardcore writing. It’s easier to edit, cut or copy and paste, and find/replace on a computer. I have a laptop, but back in the day, I just used a desktop. And before then, it was pen and paper!

In fact, I still have somewhere what I call Ronni’s Big Ass Notebook, which has is a loose-leaf binder with a very long unfinished novel that I wrote during college. During high school and junior high, I wrote in notebooks, or stapled loose-leaf papers together.

In high school, the school bookstore had these notebooks that were perfect. I can’t remember the cost; they were cheap, though. They were 100 pages exactly. Not too thin, not too thick. I bought them like crazy, and filled them up with stories and stories. I had comments sections at the back, and people would write what they thought of my work.

Funnily, I am finding it easier to get raw ideas and things down in notebooks again. Give me a Sharpie pen, and I’m good to go. So I’ll stick with that method for now.