Beautiful People {2} Author Edition

Beautiful People is an AWESOME (monthly) tag hosted by Cait@Paper Fury and Sky@Further Up and Further In. You should definitely check it out. There's a page on Cait's blog that talks all about Beautiful People, and you can find that HERE.

Onwards!

1. How many years have you been writing? When did you officially consider yourself a ‘writer’?

I've been writing for almost eight years. (I started when I was 7, and, needless to say, my writing was horrible). I officially considered myself a "writer" after I finished my first book (which was still terrible) when I was... erm... probably eleven.

2. How/why did you start writing?

'Cause that's what all the cool kids were doing. ;)

I started writing because my sister started writing.

3. What’s your favorite part of writing?

Ooh, probably the same thing as my last favorite part. Discovering all the shiny ideas!!! I love having an idea and creating a world and then being able to put it all on paper. It's so much easier writing what I feel than saying it. 

4. What’s your biggest writing struggle?

Sticking with a project for more than a couple days. I always get super distracted or just stop having ideas. Ohhhh, and finding out when it's time for the ending. I can never force myself to think up an outline so, yeah. Endings are always super hard.

5. Do you write best at night or day?

Day. That being said, I've never really written at night. 

6. What does your writing space look like? (Feel free to show us pictures!)

I write wherever I've got my computer and a place to curl up, so my writing space is pretty much wherever I happen to be when I'm writing.

7. How long does it typically take you to write a complete draft?

Since the last time I completed a complete draft was over a year ago, I have no idea. Okay. It typically never happens. But the two books I have finished that I will actually acknowledge as books were completed (1) in over a year and (2) in eight days.

Yeah.

8. How many projects do you work on at once?

ALL THE PROJECTS ALL THE TIME. Who says you need your sanity?

Right now I'm narrowing down my projects but usually around three with a couple on the side.

9. Do you prefer writing happy endings, sad ones, or somewhere in between?

A little bit of both. I love writing bittersweet endings. 

10. List a few authors who’ve influenced your writing journey.

Erm. Well, Tahereh Mafi and Michelle Hodkin both helped me learn how to write better and more creepily. 

11. Do you let people read your writing? Why or why not?

Only one person ever reads my writing, and that is my sister. Mainly because we're best friends and I tell/show her everything.

12. What’s your ultimate writing goal or dream?

PUBLISH A NON-SUCKY BOOK. That's it. That's all I want.

13. If you didn’t write, what would you want to do?

I've never really thought about it. Writing's all I've ever wanted to do, but recently I've been looking into what I might want to do for a college degree (fascinating, I know) and I think maybe engineering, but I'm not sure.

14. Do you have a book you’d like to write one day but don’t feel you’re ready to attempt it yet?

Not really. I kind of dive into everything head-first so any idea I have that I'd like to write, I just try to write. I don't really think about whether or not I'll be able to attempt it.

15. Which story has your heart and won’t let go?

There's a book I started, like, five years ago, and it's still sitting unfinished in my documents file. It's called Beautiful Ashes (ashes as in burnt objects not burnt people, just in case you're as morbid as my dad) and is centered on four teenage mutant ninja turtles.

Sorry, no.

It is centered on four assassins, though. I've re-written the beginning a gazillion times and I've cut characters out and jammed new ones in and completely re-arranged the plot so many times that I honestly have forgotten the plot of the original one.

But I know the characters like the back of my hand and I love them too much to just not-write their stories.

'Til next time!