A Cool Writer's Meme!

BEX: Hey guys, this is a cool Meme (rhymes with cream) that I found on deviantART and decided to share!
1. Tell us about your favorite writing project/universe that you’ve worked with and why.
Oh goodness, well I bounce back and forth between projects quite alot! Currently I'm in the process of last year's NaNo novel, and writing/drawing a comic called MMOwned, and soon to be starting a new novel for this year's NaNo! But if I had to pick my favorite I'd say my MMOwned project is my favorite, because I get to draw my story and see it come alive =)
2. How many characters do you have? Do you prefer males or females?
In MMOwned? I have about three so far that are introduced, but I plan to add about three more for the first big story line and then another character as a villain for the next big story line! And I prefer females because I am female and it's easier to write what a female experiences seeing as I AM one xD

3. How do you come up with names, for characters (and for places if you’re writing about fictional places)?
Most of the time I just make them up. But if I'm stumped I'll go to SeventhSanctum.com, which is a database for a TON of cool name generators! If I still can't find anything good I look up baby names and their meanings.

4. Tell us about one of your first stories/characters!
The first completed one that I remember was called The Adventures of Zane and Riku, and it was about two fifteen-year olds (brother and sister apparently) who bought their own space ship (it had a name, but I can't remember anymore) and traveled the galaxy and went to all these different planets and got cool things for being heros (such as Riku weilded the power of fire, and Zane was given a hover board) and they picked up a friend named Antoni (who they just called Ant. And he looked like one too...) and then their other brother and sister (who were also fifteen apparently? Everyone's just fifteen I guess.. xD) came and challenged them to a dule type thing for their space ship and Zan, Riku and Ant lost and had to travel with the intergalactic bus-station type thing to go back to earth where their parents bought them another more better ship... In short it was just really weird and hilarious now that I think about it xDDD
5. By age, who is your youngest character? Oldest? How about “youngest” and “oldest” in terms of when you created them?
comparing my first story to MMOwned Lukas from MMOwned is oldest as she is 21, and Rikku/Zane would be the youngest, being fifteen. In terms of when I created them it would be vice versa!
6. Where are you most comfortable writing? At what time of day? Computer or good ol’ pen and paper?
Almost anywhere, as long as I'm not near a television, since I get distracted easily. I can write at any time of day, and I'm used to doing that now that I'm in college and sort of have to write all the time and in places I probably never really would have sought out... And I prefer to write on paper so that when i transfer it to the computer it can be corrected, but with NaNo I'll use the computer so I can get the word count and etc.
7. Do you listen to music while you write? What kind? Are there any songs you like to relate/apply to your characters?
Sure, I just listen to all kinds really, parodies, rap, rock, classical, japanese... it's all there!
8. What’s your favorite genre to write? To read?
Fantasy and fantasy =) Or sci-fi, but the kind of sci fi that's mostly fantasy xDDD
9. How do you get ideas for your characters? Describe the process of creating them.
Well I start drawing. usually if I can put an image on paper I can link a story or personality in my head to that character and then I put them somewhere. Then I find a good and sizable character application online somewhere and just fill it out!
10. What are some really weird situations your characters have been in? Every thing from serious canon scenes to meme questions counts!
Um... Lukas and Kell were both in rehab for gamers?
11. Who is your favorite character to write? Least favorite?
Garthan from my NaNo novel last year was fun to write for, and Jinx was the hardest (I won't say least favorite, because they're all my favorite xD) because I never felt like I was getting into her character enough. She was supposed to be mean and cold and then sometimes she would be downright nice. and I thought she was maybe a little schizo.

12. In what story did you feel you did the best job of world building? Any side-notes on it you’d like to share?
Ummm I think in Tales of Prosperoty (although it needs a lot of work still) I did the best. although I wasn't very creative with the names of places...
13. What’s your favorite culture to write, fictional or not?
Magic culture?
14. How do you map out locations, if needed? Do you have any to show us?
Oh, I don't. I just let things be vague or imagined.
15. Mid way question! Tell us about a writer you admire, whether professional or not!
Hmmm I admire Bryon Davis, from the Dragons in Our Midst series because he did such an excellent job blending king Arthur lore with dragon lore with modern day with the Bible!
16. Do you write romantic relationships? How do you do with those, and how “far” are you willing to go in your writing?
Yes, but I prefer to keep it PG-13 at the most. I mean, characters deserve privacy too!

17. Favorite protagonist and why!
Garthan! The Magik Man with the magik of Summer! Um because he's like the coolest guy ever, and he was the guy my first NaNo novel was about!
18. Favorite antagonist and why!
Vernacious, the evil Head Mage!! Because he's fun to write, even though he's a little scary 0.0
19. Favorite minor that decided to shove himself into the spotlight and why!
Jinx, because I let her xD like I didn't mean for her to even get in the story but she just sort of jumped in and start helping the main character out and then suddenly it turned out she has to do with a major part of the plot!
20. What are your favorite character interactions to write?
The ones between Jinx and Garthan, they argue a lot lol.
21. Do any of your characters have children? How well do you write them?
Ummm no. They're all usually single and a little older than me at the time that I write them xD
22. How long does it usually take you to complete an entire story—from planning to writing to posting (if you post your work)?
oh gosh. Forever. If I even get it finished at all!! I'm not even halfway to the middle yet in my last NaNo story!
23. How willing are you to kill your characters if the plot so demands it? What’s the most interesting way you’ve killed someone?
it's HARD to kill characters... but... I'll do it if the plot needs it... and I killed two secondary characters in a house fire. Garthan's parents.
24. Do any of your characters have pets? Tell us about them.
um... nope. not really.
25. Let’s talk art! Do you draw your characters? Do others draw them? Pick one of your OCs and post your favorite picture of him!
I don't have any of my character art really scanned in!! You can find MMOwned to at smackjeeves.com
at www.mmowned.smackjeeves.com !

26. Along similar lines, do appearances play a big role in your stories? Tell us about them, or if not, how you go about designing your characters.
oh yes, especially when your character's hair is a shocking neon green with purple eyes! (Jinx)
27. Have you ever written a character with physical or mental disabilities? Describe them, and if there’s nothing major to speak of, tell us a few smaller ones.
most of my characters have psychological problems/trauma if that counts....
28. Final question! Tag some one! And tell us what you like about that person as a writer and/or about one of his/her characters!
I tag.... NAO! =) and I like her because she's my sister, she write cute fluffy romances and I'm excited to see what she has this year for NaNo!!
And I tag... ANYONE who would like to do this!






NAO: 1. Tell us about your favorite writing project/universe that you’ve worked with and why.
My favorite would have to be when I did NaNoWriMo last year, because it was one of the most detailed stories I'd ever done. I put a lot of thought into the characters, I did research, I made sketches of the houses and a map of one of the lakes...good times.
2. How many characters do you have? Do you prefer males or females?
There are FAR too many to count. I have at least 10 different stories that are unfinished, all with different kinds of personalities. The majority of my characters are female, because it's easier to relate to them, me being a girl.
3. How do you come up with names, for characters (and for places if you’re writing about fictional places)?
Usually I give characters names based on their personality. for example, if they're a tomboy, I give them a girly name but one that can be substituted with a nickname like Alex. And if I'm writing fictional places, I find a letter that happens to sound good with my character in mind, and then I come up with a strew of words at the end, like Faron or Raelow.
4. Tell us about one of your first stories/characters!
One of my first characters was a girl whom I can't remember the name of. She went to stay at her grandparents' house and she made friends with a beautiful horse and was going to enter a horse-racing competition to earn money for her parents to get a new house. She was...an interesting character in that she was very flat and boring.
The only story that I've actually COMPLETED is about a tomboy that has a reputation at her school for beating up boys because the boy that she liked made fun of her when she confessed to him that she liked him and punched him in the face.
5. By age, who is your youngest character? Oldest? How about “youngest” and “oldest” in terms of when you created them?
By age, Cora from "Mirror Glass Lake", my NaNoWriMo story was the youngest. She was supposedly 12 or 13 when the book started, but around the middle I changed her age to 15 because fifteen-year-olds are easier to handle XD
My oldest character would be Alex, from my book trilogy, The trouble with Boys. At the end, her birthday is before all of her friends, who are all the same age anyway. She's 18 and a Senior in High school.
The oldest character I've created would be a girl who has a dog that turns into a human after he wishes on a star. I made a story similar to that when I was little, and once I grew older I wanted to turn it into a novel, and so Sam and Kyle (The dog) were born. Again. The youngest character I've created would be Belle from my version of Beauty and the Beast. THe story is still a work in progress.
6. Where are you most comfortable writing? At what time of day? Computer or good ol’ pen and paper?
I'm most comfortable writing on my bed at night on a nice sheet of paper and a pen. But most of the time, I take my stories with me and write whenever and wherever I feel like it.
7. Do you listen to music while you write? What kind? Are there any songs you like to relate/apply to your characters?
I do listen to music, and I listen to all kinds but when I'm writing a story I tend to listen to inspirational Orchestral music. I even have a playlist named like that specifically for writing purposes. I don't generally apply songs to my characters because I don't listen to lyrics when I write, I listen to tunes because I'm a music person and I love orchestral works.
8. What’s your favorite genre to write? To read?
My favorite would have to be Modern Day Teen Romantic-Comedy Fiction. My favorite to read is fantasy and Modern Day Teen Romantic-Comedy Fiction XD As well as British Romantic Comedy.
9. How do you get ideas for your characters? Describe the process of creating them.
First I think about what genre I want to write. Then I think of a name, and once I have the name, the character kinda starts to have a mind of their own.
10. What are some really weird situations your characters have been in? Every thing from serious canon scenes to meme questions counts!
...it's a tie between when one of my characters found her father dead on the floor and when one of my other characters got lost in the woods, barefoot and in her swimming suit, and tried to climb a tree when she thought a bear was coming but it turned out to be her 'not' friend who happens to be over 167 years old, but she doesn't know that at the time.
11. Who is your favorite character to write? Least favorite?
My favorite character to write was Feyan from "Mirror Glass Lake", because he was an 167 year old 'boy' with naturally blue hair and he turned into a golden bird. The other character I absolutely adored was a secondary character from my first novel in my trilogy, 'The Trouble with Boys' who's name was Ben. He was a cute little boy that you couldn't help but love, and in my imagination he had an adorable face. I like all my characters, so I don't have a 'least favorite'.
12. In what story did you feel you did the best job of world building? Any side-notes on it you’d like to share?
The most worked-on story I've ever done would be "Mirror Glass Lake". It was an incredible story full of adventure and fantasy (My first full-fledged fantasy/Sci-fi) and possibly a little childish, one-side romance. It had the most detail, the most background, the most plot and the most depth in any story that I've written so far, and it involved more than just one world.
13. What’s your favorite culture to write, fictional or not?
My favorite culture to write is the fictional kind, and it tends to be either high-tech or just modern.
14. How do you map out locations, if needed? Do you have any to show us?
I usually don't map out locations, but if I feel like my story needs a definite location I only write about places I've been or lived before so I don't have to do any sort of weather research, etc.
15. Mid way question! Tell us about a writer you admire, whether professional or not!
I admire E.D. Baker for her amazing Romantic-Comedy Fantasy series, "The Frog Princess" and I admire a lot of Meg Cabot's works. I also really appreciate Jane Austen.
16. Do you write romantic relationships? How do you do with those, and how “far” are you willing to go in your writing?
Romance is practically my genre, I write so much of it. So far, I've decided to go only as far as kissing because I write nothing but sappy romances but in the future there may be some heat. But I will most definitely stop at passionate kissing ;)
17. Favorite protagonist and why!
My favorite protagonist would have to be Alex from my third novel in my trilogy because as my trilogy progresses, the books get a little bit darker and more realistic as these three groups of friends get ready to face college and life away from home and boyfriends, not to mention that the main character was raped and must face life-altering decisions in the face of her trauma, and there may be a few proposals near the end of the last book. All in all, she was the main character that I enjoyed writing about because of her angst and conflict and emotional scarring and the point at which all of her past afflictions are resolved.
18. Favorite antagonist and why!
My favorite antagonist is...oh wait, I don't have one! None of my characters ever faced a fictional antagonist, unless you count themselves being their own obstacle in life. "Mirror Glass Lake" was supposed to have one, but I never got far enough in that story to introduce them.
19. Favorite minor that decided to shove himself into the spotlight and why!
Ben, definitely. He wasn't even supposed to be in book one of the trilogy "The Trouble With Boys" but I noticed that my stories had to many 'only-children', so I added an entire scene to my story and a little extra; cue the cute little brother of your best friend that you can't help but adore.
20. What are your favorite character interactions to write?
That would be the romantic ones. I tend to write cheesy ones, but I make them as realistic as possible, which makes them 'nerdy', but that's what makes them funny and down-to-earth. Plus, I love torturing my characters with cheesy romantic lines.
21. Do any of your characters have children? How well do you write them?
Nope. I haven't written from an adult's point of view because I'm not an adult and I don't think I could pull it off.
22. How long does it usually take you to complete an entire story—from planning to writing to posting (if you post your work)?
I've only completed one novel in my life, and I haven't even typed it out on the computer yet. I have MULTIPLE stories, so it can take me anywhere between 1 to however many year. It took me at least 2 years to complete the first one.
23. How willing are you to kill your characters if the plot so demands it? What’s the most interesting way you’ve killed someone?
I always keep the option open to kill off a character. In fact, I think of death scenes for almost all of my main and secondary characters, because I actually enjoy killing them. If the plot get's boring, I like to think of dramatic ways to make it more interesting, and what's more interesting than a death scene? I usually stop reading books if a main character is killed off because I hate the author from then on, but from an author's perspective, it makes it so much more entertaining to kill them then resurrect them in the end.
I haven't officially killed a character off (Only in my mind) but if I were, my most interesting death scene would be when Feyan (Mirror Glass Lake) is knifed in the chest or gut and dies, but in the end sacrifices his magic and heritage in order to take on a human life as a normal 16 year old in our world.
24. Do any of your characters have pets? Tell us about them.
One of my characters had a pet fox, and his name was Neko, which makes no sense because 'Neko' in Japanese means cat.
25. Let’s talk art! Do you draw your characters? Do others draw them? Pick one of your OCs and post your favorite picture of him!
I tried to draw a character once, but she ended up a stick figure, and it still remains to this day in my notebook. I tried to draw her because I picture things in my head, and sometimes it's hard to describe so I would draw it out in order to help describe a scene. It never turned out how I planned.
26. Along similar lines, do appearances play a big role in your stories? Tell us about them, or if not, how you go about designing your characters.
If a character appears, it means that they appeared for a reason because I don't like to create useless characters, so almost all of the characters (Almost all!) that come in contact with the main character(s) play a big role, unless they're adults like parents. I don't technically design characters, I just put them in if it fits the story. I'm the type of person to just write and add things as I go along.
27. Have you ever written a character with physical or mental disabilities? Describe them, and if there’s nothing major to speak of, tell us a few smaller ones.
One of my main characters from "Mirror Glass Lake" is an old woman whom the main character calls "Old Fuzz". She was recovering from a surgery not long after the main character entered and was starting to become senile, which turns into the story plot little by little. The only other things I've written about are trauma, because I love it when a character is messed up.
28. Final question! Tag some one! And tell us what you like about that person as a writer and/or about one of his/her characters!
I really don't have anyone to tag, but I guess I'll put this on FB.

It's Almost Here! NaNo 2010 and Intros

BEX: So, NaNo 2010 is almost upon us! It's NEXT WEEK! I'm super excited, even though I know that now that I'm a freshman in college I'm not going to have ANY time at all to really put time and thought into this, I'm still going to do it because it's my absolute FAVORITE! And the cool thing? My college is even going to have some events for it too- at least, I see flyers all around for it!
So this year it seems like it's just Nao and I for the blog, seeing as I haven't talked to Soul in longer than I can remember, and War is off at basic training! I might grab some new college friends to do this with me and get them to post on the blog, but I'm not too sure about them yet =P

Okay, well if you're new hear and just tuning in, this is where the introductions get done at the beginning of the year! So we'll start of with me!
I'm Bex, I'm 19 and a Freshman in college, I live at home and go to school every day and work on the weekends with Sunday being my biggest day off. I like to draw and make music, and my newest hobby is to SLEEP (Seriously, I sleep whenever I can now, it's not even funny!). Nao is my sister, but I'll let her tell about herself =)
So that's it for me, hope to be seeing you NaNo!




NAO: こんにちはとはじめまして！(<--Compliments of Google Translate) Hey guys, are you prepared for another year of NaNoWriMo? Well, I can certainly tell you that I am NOT. I'm not prepared in the slightest, and this bothers me quite a bit, so I'm not as excited this year as I was the last time I did this with my sisters. But I'll tell you this-I believe my next story will be based off of a dream I had, just like last years' story. Should be interesting, because it won't be a romance but a fantasy and the main character will be a boy, all of which I've never experienced when writing. So...

It seems it's time for an introduction. Hello, I'm Nao (My pen name for privacy reasons), I'm 17 and a Senior in High School. Homseschooled. I'm jobless (T-T), boyfriendless (T_T) and currently storyplotless (TT0TT). As you can see, I <3 emotes. Get used to seeing them. If you REALLY want a more detailed description of me, try clicking my name and reading my profile-I'm sure it's a lot easier for you and me XD. And, if you couldn't already tell from my blogpost, I like Japanese and the Asian culture in general. That's about it o.o.