#no. 14... god sionri is. he's got his eggs in so many baskets

[pumpkincentaur]

would you rather: writing edition

Thank you to @seas-dubh for the tag! I love would you rather tag games so this is going to be a lot of fun!

1. historical or futuristic

I almost always end up leaning towards the past, even when I’m writing off-earth fantasy... I never end up doing futuristic tech levels. A future project is definitely going to change that, but it’s an outlier.

2. the opening or closing chapter

Endings are one of the first things I come up with when I’m outlining, and I’m always absolutely ecstatic to get to my endings. I even know how the sequel to my current project is going to end.

3. light+fluffy or dark+gritty

I lean towards darker plots. I just do. I don’t consider myself a grimdark author by any sense of the word, and all my work has lighter moments mixed in, but the overall tone of my projects usually leans towards darker territory, or at most the middle of the road.

4. animal companion or found family

I don’t usually go super hard for found families (I have a couple hypothetical projects that have them that I have not written yet), but I go hard away from animal companions. Not even on purpose. Somehow, despite growing up with animals my whole life, I have never actually written a character with a pet that’s, like, actually around. I think maybe a family in an old WIP maybe had a couple of dogs who barked in like one scene? Somehow I just forget that animals exist.

5. horror or romance

I legit can’t choose with this one.

6. hard or soft magic system

Unfortunately, I enjoy rules too much. I am not a Brandon Sanderson level hard magic builder, but I find systems with clear consequences easier to write about... however, I enjoy a combination as well! UHT has some elements of this, with Godsblood being a hard magic system and another magical element being much softer due to the fact that nobody knows what the heck they’re doing with it at any given time.

7. standalone or series

I am terrible at NOT writing series. UHT is the first book in a duology, and that is the smallest thing I have ever plotted out for myself.

8. one project at a time or always juggling

Laser focus or bust, baby

9. one award winner or one bestseller

I like money. The only book award I really know about is the Hugo, but I would rather have money.

10. fantasy or sci-fi

I really like sci-fi, but my tastes in that genre are more specific compared to fantasy, where I will just eat almost everything I can get my hands on. I love big sprawling epics, I love fantasy romance, I love horror/dark fantasy, I love more contemporary deconstructions of the genre...

11. character or setting description

A problem I have had in early drafts for YEARS is forgetting to tell the reader what my characters look like until it’s awkwardly late. I don’t forget setting descriptions when they’re relevant, but I still haven’t given Hadriel a single character trait beyond ‘blue eyes’ in UHT draft 3 and I am more than 20k in, so...

12. first or final draft

I’m a weirdo. Revising makes me happy. I love editing and rewriting, and find finishing first drafts to be the hardest part of the process.

13. literary or ‘commercial’ genre

I really like reading literary fiction, because I love literary prose... but I am not a literary writer.

14. love triangle in everything or no romantic arcs

When I say I prefer love triangles, I don’t mean, like, literally... I just love really complicated character dynamics, and relationships are 100% part of that! Stringshatter features a love triangle that eventually becomes a polyamorous relationship, UHT features... well, a lot of people have a lot of feelings and Sionri is manipulating ALL OF IT. And also deeply involved in it. However, UHT has a lot of political elements and sometimes you have to seduce someone for political benefit. It happens.

15. constant sandstorm or rainstorm

Rain for the aesthetic, 100%.

Tagging anyone who sees this and wants to do it. Yes, that can mean you!

#long post #tag games #no. 14... god sionri is. he's got his eggs in so many baskets