Chapter 76 – The Confessions of a Writer

Nicolette over at A Little Bookish, A Little Writerly was kind enough to tag me for her new feature, so here are my answers!

Picture by Johann Dréo

Rules of the tag:

• Please link back to A Little Bookish, A Little Writerly’s post, so that the original rules are always accessible to anyone who is curious and wants to participate!
• Acknowledge the person who tagged you in your post.
• Tag your friends and fellow writers – it’s up to you how many!

The Confessions of a Writer Tag was created by Nicolette at A Little Bookish, A Little Writerly. It is a ‘get-to-know’ the writer interview tag, dedicated to spotlighting the creative process, works in progress, and connecting to other writers.

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1. When did you first start writing? Was being a writer something you always aspired to be?
   I don’t remember a specific “when” but I’ve always been writing. I wrote lots of stories as a kid and I loved books, and becoming a writer was definitely one of my childhood dreams.
2. What genre do you write?
   Fantasy and sci-fi are my main genres, but I also like writing realistic, contemporary pieces.
3. Can you tell us a little about your current work in progress? When did you start working on this project?
   My current work in progress is the sequel for Awoken Dragon. I started writing it in either January or February this year, so I’ve been working on it for about ten months now. Interesting news related to this sequel will follow this Sunday (October 11th) so stay tuned!
4. What was your first piece that you can remember writing? What was it about?
   My memory fails me again but I could safely assume the piece involved dogs. Probably a little girl getting a dog.
5. What’s the best part about writing?
   Creating something new and shaping my ideas into something others can enjoy too.
6. What’s the worst part about writing?
   Sometimes I just can’t find the right words and nothing I produce is what I wanted it to be, so writing can also be a huge struggle for me.
7. What’s the name of your favorite character and why? (This can be from a book by another author or from your own work. Book crushes are perfectly acceptable here as well.)
   Too many to choose! I did a post about seven of my favorite female characters, so those will give you some idea but I can’t pick one.
8. How much time a day/week do you get to write? When is the best time for you to write (morning or night)?
   This varies a lot. On good days I can write for hours. On bad weeks I might only manage a sentence. The best time for me is usually from 9AM to around 2PM, because it’s more peaceful then. If I have the evening to myself, I can also get a lot done then.
9. Did you go to college for writing? Or if you haven’t been to college yet, do you plan to?
   I didn’t and probably won’t. I’m going to graduate from a university of applied sciences this year and if I go back for more studies, they’ll probably relate to my earlier studies (business IT). While I love writing, it’s not an active career-goal for me at the moment.
10. What bothers you more: spelling errors, punctuation errors, or grammar errors?
    Depends on the language. If I’m reading something in Finnish, I’m more bothered by spelling errors. If it’s English, grammar and punctuation are more likely to annoy me (which is slightly funny because I’m not a native English speaker).
11. What is the best writing advice that anyone has given you?
    Just something along the lines of “keep writing.” Even if I don’t like what I’m currently writing, I’ll keep doing it. It’s important not to give up.
12. What advice would you give to another writer?
    To steal from my previous answer, don’t give up. Writing is hard and at times makes you want to pull your hair out (…it’s not just me, right?), but if you stick with it, you can create amazing things. Every time you write a word, you’re practicing and getting better.
13. What are your favorite writing sites or blogs that you turn to for help, tips or encouragement?
    I follow tons of writer blogs so I gather tips and soak inspiration from many sources, but the ones I use the most are probably The Write Practice, Kristen Lamb’s Blog, Live to Write – Write to Live, and Fiction University.
14. Besides writing, what else do you enjoy doing? What are your hobbies?
    Reading and playing video games. I also color (yay for adult coloring books!) and occasionally paint miniatures.
15. What is the best book you’ve read this year?
    Baptism of Fire by Andrzej Sapkowski. Akarnae by Lynette Noni was also great.
16. What is the best movie you’ve seen this year?
    Avengers: Age of Ultron.
17. What is your favorite book or series of all time?
    My favorite series are The Witcher saga and Harry Potter. From individual books I really enjoyed Metro 2033 and Murphy’s Boy.
18. Who is your favorite author?
    Following my previous answer, Andrzej Sapkowski and J. K. Rowling.
19. What are your plans for the rest of the year in terms of your writing?
    I’ll publish my second novel soon and I’m also going to participate in NaNoWriMo again, so those are my biggest goals for the rest of the year.
20. Where else can we find you online?
    You can find me on NaNoWriMo, Goodreads and Twitter.

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I’ll tag the following people:

Alison @ Alison Williams Writing

Lynette @ Lynette Noni

Lucy @ Blondewritemore

Samantha @ SleepyBookDragon

Jon @ A Writer at Heart

And you! If you haven’t been tagged yet, you are now.