as prompted by apiphile
I would say my major influences in terms of my writing style are Terry Pratchett and Erica Jong. Both of them, in their subsequent genres, write in a kind of jumpy, whimsical style while still having enough grounding in reality that their use of metaphor or humor doesn’t overshadow the general plot (or emotions, as it were for poetry.) I wouldn’t say I necessarily try and emulate either in my writing, rather, I try and capture the essence of what they strive for in all that I do. I'd love to claim Neil Gaiman as an inspiration but to be honest, my writing doesn't resemble his in any way shape or form other than we both have a penchant for shoving cats into everything we possibly can. I do so love cats.
When I am writing fiction, I always save chapters or story parts in pieces in various files. I don’t really have a good reason for doing this other than I am always afraid files will be damaged in some way, and also that I tend to write things in a wonky order. I’ll start in the middle and work backwards, or really want to do certain scenes first. Doing so in different files allows me to write them “in order” or “sequentially” even though the over all story may be jumpy. Before I was writing using computers, I’d write by hand and have things in separate folders, which is prettymuch the same thing as using different files. I rarely, rarely start writing a story from the “beginning.” One time I even wrote the ending first and kind of worked my way backwards. That was fun, but alas the story was never completed.
My characters come from who knows where. I'm not the type to wake up every day with a new character floating around my head. I tend to adopt some and let them linger for months, maybe even years, before really fleshing them out. If you ask me to, I can go on forever about Lucius, but couldn't at all tell you what happens to him. Same with my character Alpha from "Junk," my scifi story, which is one of my most fleshed-out worlds but most lacking in character development. I tend to focus too hard on one or the other, something that hinders me from writing novel-length stories.
Few people have even seen my stories. I've sent them out in attempts at publication before but realize they need a lot of work, and sadly a lot of them are trapped on dead computers. hopefully someday I can resurrect them. I've learned my lesson and now everything gets printed out in triplicate and emailed to myself.
I tend to write in a very vernacular, colloquial way, which is for better or worse depending on what I am going for. In terms of fiction this can be a bit detrimental as my writing veers towards scifi/fantasy and colloquial speech doesn’t always work well there. I sometimes have difficulty separating the way I speak from the way my characters speak. This is especially awkward when I am trying to write someone who is Verymuch Not Me and yet I am putting festive rad and awesome into their mouths when really they should be much more Not Me. I’ve gotten better with this recently, however. I admit a few years ago it was a real problem. Yes it means I tend to have a particular feel in all my writing but I’d much rather have range than any associative traits.
There is no rhyme nor reason for my poetry. One may be a villanelle, another crazy free verse, and still another a Petrarchan sonnet. Some are biographical, others whimsical and ridiculous, and still others pertain to works of literature. I have no idea how I write a poem, it changes every time.
I cannot force myself to write. I wish I could, I really do, but I can't. If I am not "ready" to write I cannot make myself crap out 1000 words even if I absolutely need to. This has lead to some issues with deadlines particularly during college, but I've managed.
My goals for this year is to try and overcome this and get into a frame of mind where I can write at any time. whether or not I want to keep such writings is another issue.
If you have any questions about my writing in any way, do ask!