Happy Storyteller Saturday!

Happy Storyteller Saturday!

If you had to choose who your favorite character is from all of your works, who would it be? Why?

As a writer, what are the kinds of things that you find most easy to write about, and what are the things you avoid (+ Is there anything you'd like to improve)?

Let's say your main cast of characters find themselves trapped in a life-threatening situation. How would each one of them react? Who would be the most selfish and who would likely be the most selfless?

Happy Storyteller Saturday!

You are literally so mean lol... (jk. It's just that these are some IMPOSSIBLE questions)

I don't have any "favourite" characters. I love all of them. There's a special place in my heart for each one - even characters that aren't meant to be likeable. Like Bret, for example... in the beginning, you're not really supposed to like him. You start sympathising with him more when you find out more about his life and what he's been going through lately.

If we're talking about which character I'd most likely be friends with, then probably Elise. I've mentioned this a few times already, but she's the character I've given most of my personality to. She's super sweet and friendly, but also an introverted bookworm. It would be so cool to have a friend like that irl... we'd swap book recommendations all day long.

The others are more rebellious and extroverted, so they'd probably be too much for me lol. That being said, I like to give ALL my characters a little piece of me, and I take a lot of inspiration from my life and experiences. So I'd probably vibe with each of them to some level (e.g. Dylan with his family drama).

(More below)

I think the thing I find easiest to write is conflict. I just love creating chaos for some reason...

No, but really. It's something I've always been good at (well, being good at something is different from finding it easy/doing it all the time, but you get what I'm saying). I like throwing things off the rails. I like writing arguments. In Steph's Crew, there are like 5 main conflicts/arguments before we even get to the midpoint lol.

(It's a real problem of mine. When I was a kid, and I'd play dolls with my sister, I used to be the one to come up with all these random conflicts and plot twists for no apparent reason. It would seriously tick her off lol.)

Something I struggle more with is coming up with realistic dialogue. Which may sound weird, considering the fact that I'm literally posting a series of ONLY dialogue, but that is actually part of why I decided to do that! I like practicing writing conversations, it gives my mind a clear idea of what is going on, and planning out dialogue helps me practice more in that weaker area.

I'd also say writing romance of any kind is something I'm not 100% comfortable with, either (purely due to lack of experience lol). And I would avoid it in my own work... if I didn't love it so much. I need at least one love story in most of the stuff I write, I just love love too much! (Another serious problem of mine... )

Your third question is actually super interesting, and I'd actually like to tackle it in it's own separate post if that's ok. I just really need some more thinking time with that one!

Thanks for the ask!

Happy STS! A bit of a lighter question today! Let's pretend you're throwing a WIP-themed party. What sort of food would you serve? What would you put in the goody bags for your guests?

Happy Storyteller Saturday to you too! Thank you for the Ask, @writernopal! 💕

I never thought about something like this! It seems like such a cool thing to actually do though, lol.

If I were to throw a party inspired by my main WIP The Last Wrath - it would certainly be an incredible experience for me. Given that it is a dark/high medieval fantasy the decorations would be such a cool thing to do and have custom ordered so there is a whole aesthetic for the party! And of course, all the guests could dress as characters from the main cast, or even with clothes inspired by the fashion of the multiple kingdoms of Agrannor - it would be a cool "costume party", rather geeky, lol. It could also take inspiration from some of the best aspects of the actual Masquerades that happen in Agrannor!

As for the food, this is tricky, because most of the food in the story is made of fantasy ingredients lol (like, Vellamere is known for dishes made out of sea monsters like krakens and gigantic beasts). BUT... They would be very cool to adapt. So there would be richly flavored seafood dishes inspired by Vellamere's famous cuisine, exquisite fruit desserts for an Adrellios-inspired buffet, stews/soups/and all the kinds of warm food (as well as warm drinks - especially warm wine) for the Kestrall-inspired bits... Things like this!

For the goody bags, there would be custom-made knickknacks inspired by things that actually appear in the novel, such as earrings with a runic-amulet pattern, bracelets that look like armor braces, sea shell jewelry like the ones Nadinne wears, maybe even some fake daggers that have the Gilded Vipers' oath written on it.

It would certainly be a fun thing to plan and participate on!

Okay let's pretend this is an sts quetion even though I just want to hear people's answer to this: what wpuld your characters be in an au of your choosing?

Happy STS to you too! And thanks for the Ask, @repressed-and-depressed! 💕

"What would your characters be in an AU of your choosing?"

This is a cool question. I will use the characters from my main WIP - The Last Wrath - to answer this one! Since the story of TLW takes place in a medieval-inspired fantasy setting, it would be interesting to see my characters in a Modern Mystery AU (like Stranger Things vibes):

I would say that, in a Modern Mystery AU (I will have to adapt the story a lot, lol, since the characters live in a medieval high fantasy world and the events in their lives are fitting of such a setting, but I think I can make this work out for some of my characters):

Raelen would be: a teen who lives with her older brother and that finishing up high school, and who gets caught in a greater conspiracy happening in their city when her brother is kidnapped by an old family rival.

Azra would be a teen that lives with his adoptive mother - who is the godmother of Julyan and Raelen - and who spends most of his time at Raelen's house since his adoptive mother is often absent while traveling for work, and who helps Raelen figure out the mystery.

Julyan would be: A young man in his twenties working a rather underpaid job while trying to keep things afloat at home and raising his younger sister. He knows a dark secret about the truth of their parents' deaths and is eventually kidnapped by an old family rival that wants to ensure those secrets never come to light.

Vallerius would be: A troublemaking teen living in his car, who is avoiding the law after the strange death of his father. Vall knows that there are shady things happening around the city, and eventually becomes Raelen's friend after saving her from a mobster.

Nyx would be: A runaway teen that is living his dream life with his band, which he formed with his two best friends, and who is still trying to escape his bloody past. He becomes Raelen's friend after a show goes wrong.

And so on!

I think this was a really cool question to answer.

Happy STS! Here are your questions revealed:

Question 1:💜(Purple Heart)

What surprised you the most (either about your story, your characters, or yourself as a writer) in the course of working on your WIP?

Question 2: 💔 (Broken Heart) 

What’s a plot hole in your WIP you just can’t seem to fix? Do you plan to fix it? If you can’t fix it, would you consider just leaving it in and hoping nobody notices?

Happy Storyteller Saturday to you too! Thank you for the Ask, @clairelsonao3! 💕

Question 1:💜(Purple Heart)

This is intriguing. I never really thought about this before this question, but now, I would say that what surprised me the most about my book was the fact that I managed to somehow weave my characters' stories together by the end of the day, even though some of them don't meet for a long time in the actual story their fates and the events around them are intrinsically connected. I really like that I was able to do this, and just think that is quite neat!

Question 2: 💔 (Broken Heart) 

This is where things get complicated. You see, I am still in the process of making the first draft of all of my WIPs and am a strong plotter (which means I outline, brainstorm and plot the heck out of my works before I actually start the narrative part lol), and so far, I don't know if I have any plot holes in my main WIP (The Last Wrath), especially since my OCD wouldn't let me live in peace if I didn't fix every plot hole as soon as they popped into existence lol.

BUT...

I have another WIP that is still quite new and very early in the drafting stage - it is my grim dark cyberpunk superhero story, called Open Secret Files - and there is this moment in the story where (I don't want to give too many spoilers, lol) this young man, who is a rich kid that spends most of his time going to parties and stuff, finds himself trapped in a dangerous conspiracy which causes him to become estranged from his younger sister (who is later on going to find out the truth about all of this and discover the conspiracy too, as she is one of the MCs - not him - and what happens to him is the prompt for her to start investigating things). I still have yet to figure out how Everett, this rich kid who just wanted to spend his time partying, got caught up in a governmental scheme around the enhancement of superpeople. But I might figure that out soon enough tho, lol.

Happy blursday! 💜💌 What are the fic-y tropes (generally romantic, but not necessarily) that your blorbo(s) would LEAST be able to stand being involved in, and what are they doing to tolerate or to get out of these situations? (e.g., who is sleeping on the floor when There's Only One Bed; who starts going to a different coffee shop to avoid The AU?; who digs their way out of the snowstorm to avoid being Snowed In? Who's out here crushing the would-be Enemy to Friend to Lover's dreams?)- @liv-is

Thank you for the Ask, @liv-is!

This is a very funny question LOL. I'll try to answer using the tropes you've given me here!

"who is sleeping on the floor when There's Only One Bed?"

This one would definitely be Bryn. He hates overt physical contact with others, much less when he is sleeping. There is no way he would let himself share a bed with anyone. The floor it is. (This is especially true since, according to him, most of his travel companions have a tendency to keep moving around while sleeping or snoring. He isn't getting any shut-eye with that beside him on the mattress). This, along with the fact that he feels literally zero romantic or sexual feelings for anyone, makes me sure that if he had to choose between the floor or sharing The Bed, the floor it is. lol

"who starts going to a different coffee shop to avoid The AU?"

This would definitely be Tanwin if he lived in modern times. My boi doesn't do emotions well, let alone the tooth-rotting fluff that accompanies the Coffee Shop AU, he would be running from it like the plague lol. As soon as he sensed The AU coming his way, he would be already going to a shop four blocks away - little does he know that The AU is following him (;

"who digs their way out of the snowstorm to avoid being Snowed In?"

100% Luciya. She hates being forced into being trapped anywhere, or restricted in any way, especially if it leads to a heart-to-heart or talking about Feelings tm while trapped. If her lover wants to talk Feelings, he'd better do so in a free and open meadow, because our claustrophobic girl is already trekking through 3ft of snow in order to not to be Snowed In anywhere. It's not that she doesn't love him, she loves him dearly, but being trapped anywhere is a huge NOPE, to her, in any situation lol.

"who's out here crushing the would-be Enemy to Friend to Lover's dreams? "

You got me there lol because there is actually a working Enemies to Friends to Lovers relationship in my TLW WIP - our lovely battle couple, Nethen and Ellinor. BUT... for the sake of this answer, someone who would be 1000% out here crushing dreams if they were in this trope would be, without a shadow of a doubt, our girl Sybil - because no one holds a grudge for longer than our little feral bard. She'd be crushing her would-be Enemy to Lover left and right without even realizing it, and then she'd want to go out for the medieval version of a strawberry smoothie.

All righty, let's try a storyteller... sunday? Can that be a thing? I want to know what your writing routine is! What do you do to make sure you have a productive, strong, and most importantly fun session?

Happy STS to you too!!! Thanks for the Ask, @lassiesandiego!

I had to think this through quite a bit. I don't know if I have a very specific set "writing routine", per se. But I do have a routine of sorts, so I will try to explain it lol.

I usually set writing time every day from 17:00 to 21:00 (give or take, it varies according to how creative I am feeling that day, the kinds of classes I have, or if I have to take more breaks), during the week. Before writing, I have a """self-care""" routine, which basically means that I spend five minutes making sure I am ready to write. It usually entails me washing my face and hands, using moisturizer, and washing off the moisturizer. I fix my hair - usually, I just brush it back, but sometimes I put on a tiara to hold it back. I make some black tea, which I bring with me to my writing face in my house's study.

Then I write. I might answer some Tumblr Asks first, or make some posts, but then I focus on what I feel like writing for the day. It can be actual parts of my WIPs, making character profiles, brainstorming or just writing down notes. I usually take a snack break around 19:00 and then come back to my writing.

When this session is done, I take a dinner break and either watch a movie with my family or come back for another, smaller writing session.

On the weekends, this routine varies. I have free weekends, and usually, because of this I write during the morning/afternoon as well, but I also maintain some of my nightly writing routine.

I hope this answers your Ask! (: