THE RISING AUTHOR TAG//in which I steal a tag from my friends because I need a post

by - January 28, 2019


So apparently I'm a hardcore tag thief now. Whoops.

I have a giant list of ideas for things to blog about, but I don't really feel like writing about any of them at the moment. They're all big deep things that will require a bit more time than I have available (I'm writing this late Sunday night planing to put it up Monday morning...hee hee), and I just wrote a really deep post last week, so...for right now let's all enjoy a little tag (because it has genuinely been FOREVER since I've done a tag. Whoa. This is not okay.)

I stole this tag from Lila Kims (if you want, go check out her post HERE; her writing is always amazing).

Rising Author Tag

1. What is the weirdest thing someone has ever said to you about your writing?

Oh, sheesh. I don't even know. 

All I can say is, get you a best friend who will scream at you when you tell her the plot of your fourth book, calls your male lead "Fishy," and apparently finds one of your villains super hot. That was a pretty weird revelation xD 

2. What is the worst thing you ever wrote? 

I want to say my story "An Odd Emotion," which was a romance novel I wrote at the tender age of about 11, but I think it would be topped by a tie between these two stories: 

1. "Giraffe School," a story also by 11-year-old me about a giraffe who was afraid of heights and had to learn to overcome that fear by watching tons of Star Wars (with a (R) or (TM) after every usage of the name) and by kicking a lion in the head

2. "With this Sword," the earliest incarnation of "The King's Daughter" that was literally just a blatant ripoff of the Wingfeather Saga, featuring long-lost royalty, a crazy guy who turned out to be family, a hidden world in the nearby forest, a factory full of innocent slaves, and a break-everyone-out-of-the-fortress scene. 

Yeah, I've written some pretty bad things in my day. Good thing those days are long behind me. *laughs* *chokes* 

3. What is the most awkward scene you've ever written? 

Too many! *cringes just thinking about half the scenes in most of my writing* 

I know I wrote one scene where my male and female lead had the whole "only one blanket and so we have to sleep huddled together" thing, and that was pretty awkward. 

Also, in earlier versions of the Pentegreens, there was this relationship between two characters...actually, most of the "cut relationships" between characters were super awkward and need to get THROWN IN THE GARBAGE. But especially the one with my assassin chick and a spoiler character. And that's all I'll say about that. 

4. On a scale from 1 to 10, how often do you end up writing more than 3 chapters of the stories you start? 

Ummm....probably a 7? If I'm committed enough to a story that I actually start it, I'm usually going to get a little further in. If I quit, too, it usually happens further in than just 3 chapters. Unfortunately.

5. What is the hardest thing for you to write?

Torture scenes (and ugh, there's a lot of them in my current series.)
Any scene that involves my non-canon ship being together and not doing anything, erm, romantic 
Parts of Pentegreens Book 3 that involve unrequited love where I want to just scream at both characters to STOP BEING IDIOTS ALREADY
Scenes in Watched where there's lots of politics and/or family drama
Action scenes
...everything apparently? 

6. When you look back at your early writing pieces, what's one thing you can see you've improved in?

Plotting. And not as in outlining, but as in coming up with an actual plot. Realizing that I'm a character-driven author has really helped with this.

7. How do you name characters?

If there's a specific nationality I'm looking for, I'll look it up on BabyNames or something similar. But most of the time, the names just come to me. Coming up with names for my Venarian characters, an ethnicity in Pentegreens, is especially hard, because a rule of the language is that every male in their society has to have an "sh" somewhere in his name, and the girls' names, preferably, all start and end with "A". So that makes my life more difficult for sure. 

8. If you had to pick one genre to write in forever, what would it be?

*coughs* Imma cheat and say speculative.

Fantasy, dystopia, (not sci-fi because that's not my jam, but ya know), alternate history...all that stuff. I have a couple of ideas for contemporaries, but I don't think I'll ever get around to writing them. Give me alllll the lovely spec-fic.

9. Which of your characters do you feel most guilty about?

*coughs so hard she literally chokes* Ummm.....

My sons really should not make the decisions they make. That's about all I'll say. 

But...fine. Derek and Rish need to choose their life trajectories more carefully, and nothing that happened to Mel and her little brother Win is their fault. So...the four of them, especially. 

10. Which of your characters deserves everything you've given them? 

The good, the bad, or both? 

I mean, if we're talking good...it would have to be Lucas. Man, I love that car thief/spy/dyslexic heart-throb with a vengeance. 

But in terms of bad...

*rips everything out of my villain's hands and throws him in a corner* I want you to THINK about what you've done to my poor babies! 

Fine. Miss Anna Woods deserves everything she's got, both good and bad. She hasn't had the easiest life, but she's not the nicest person, either. And she gets a good balance of both good and bad out of it. 


I'm not tagging anybody, but if you'd like this tag, feel free to steal it! 

Which of your characters do you feel most guilty about the things you do to them? Should I ever share some of my old cringey writing? (I feel like that's a bad idea.) Do you feel like writing tags are sort of dead at the moment? Because that makes me sad (even if I don't have time for them most of the time.) Chat with me! 

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18 comments

  1. Having a best friend that will react that way to your books is the best. XD

    Your Giraffe School story is hilarious and I love it. XDD But hey, a giraffe afraid of heights is a pretty unique idea! I'm just dying over the fact that watching Stars Wars was the cure. Bwahaha! That's too great! (Also, sharing some of your old stories would be really fun! Hehe.)

    *high-fives for spec-fic* Always spec-fic! Though I'm not super wild about sci-fi either. We're such twins!

    I loved getting a closer look at your writerly things! I LOVE writing tags and it does seem like they've been few and far between lately. I might have to steal this one too. *cackles*

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    1. Yes it is xD I'm so blessed to have her.

      It's unique and also weird...how in my right mind did I think it was even POSSIBLE?! I don't even know where I'd salvage up that old writing, but I think it might be cringey and hilarious to share some day.

      *high-five for sure* Yes we are!!!!

      Yes, yes, steal it! *applauds* I would love to see your answers!

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  2. A giraffe who watches Star Wars? Love it!!!!!! It sounds great! <3

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    1. Yeah...she also lived in a house and made crafts and did homework with a pencil. So...idek xD <3

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  3. Oh man, your early writings sound hilarious! At least they're better than what I started out with. The first book I remember ever trying to write was titled The Princess in the Sewer, it was supposed to be about a princess who lived in a sewer, but I had no plot, no characters, and no reason for a princess to be living in a sewer. That was when I decided that I couldn't write and actually gave up for several years.

    Oi, most of my earliest stories were blatant ripoffs too. The book that I got the farthest in before I finally started My Time in Amar (which was HEAVILY based off of Percy Jackson only with a female lead when I first started out) was actually a fanfiction.

    Don't share your cringey writing if you don't want to. I'm pretty sure that I would rather fight gladiator style to the death than share my horrible first writings so don't feel like you have to.

    Awesome tag! I might just steal it myself because now I'm curious about my own writings XD

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    1. Oh my word, you would die if I talked about my writing from when I was like eight. It was SO BAD. I remember when I was about five and tried to write a story based on my preschool teacher where I made her the villain from Annie, except I'd only seen one scene from Annie...send help xD Your story sounds HILARIOUS.

      Yes! I've always wanted to write fanfiction--I've started a couple, but never finished them. Mostly because my ideas just sort of fizzle out and I don't really know where to go with them :P

      I might have to anyway...I want to see if anyone else finds it hilarious xD It's so cringey it's good, if you know what I mean.

      YES DO IT! I would love to see your answers <3

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  4. I love this! I struggle with writing just about everything too.
    I find one of your villains hot too XD

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    1. It's such a problem...

      And yes, I know xD Apparently that's a penchant I have...

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  5. Lol that's what tags are for!

    "I'm scared of heights so I gotta watch some Star Wars and go kick a lion in the head." GOLDEN

    Sometimes I think some of the better stories start out as Fan-Fiction and then turn into their own book.

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    1. Exactly! I love them :D

      PRECISELY. WHY DID I THINK THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA.

      I agree! I know a TON of mine did <3

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  6. This tag is SO much fun!!

    A giraffe who watches Star Wars cracked me up. >.<

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    1. Isn't it?! I love it xD

      Yeah...I don't know what I was thinking...

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  7. I'm going to have to keep this tag in mind for the next time I have a blog schedule opening. These are some awesome questions.

    I literally laughed out loud at the giraffe conquering his fear of heights by watching Star Wars and kicking a lion in the head. That's GREAT. XD

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    1. I LOVE this tag! It's pretty great ^_^

      I KNOW! My middle-school mind was the most bizarre place *winces*

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  8. When it comes to tags... there's nothing wrong with stealing. :D

    I LOVE this post! It's the most fun thing ever, learning more about your writing. Your passion for the craft bleeds right through, which makes it THAT much cooler to read. <3

    Lila @ The Red-Hooded Writer

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    1. Haha, I agree xD Thanks for being gracious.

      Thank you!!! And aww, you're too nice. ^_^

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  9. heehe, welcome to the dark side of tag stealing, my friend :)

    And don't worry about it - I'm pretty sure all of us have written some really wacky stuff in our days. Your Giraffe story sounds really cute though :)

    How weird - I have a similar naming thing in Duventoliel where every single girl's name ends with "A"....EXCEPT ONE. It is now really irritating me because now I want to change it but my character doesn't like my new naming choices......

    I get you on the tag thing - there are so many great ones but everybody doesn't want them because they have a ton of them hiding about.....

    Awesome post, Faith!!!!

    Catherine

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    1. Yes *cackles evilly* I may never go back from it. Very empowering.

      Aww, well thanks. It was definitely one of the more interesting things I wrote at that age. *winces*

      That's so cool! And yeah, choosing characters' names after they've already been named is so HARD. I'm trying to do it right now, but the character I'm doing it on insists that he is NOT in need of a change.

      Yes! I definitely understand, but also it's SO ANNOYING XD

      Thank you!!!!

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