never have I ever: writer edition tag

It’s time to take a break from all the serious, writery stuff I’ve been posting lately. Today I’m doing something, well, still writery, I guess, but much lighter.

My bestie Mia over at Windows tagged me for two tags, and because I’ve already done one here on this blog, I figured I’d give the other one a go. So this is the Never Have I Ever: Writer Edition tag! Let’s jump right in.

the rules:

1. Link and thank the blogger who tagged you. (Thanks, Mia! Here’s her post for anyone who wants to read it.)
2. Include the graphic somewhere in the post (or make your own!) 
3. Answer the questions truthfully and honestly.  
4. Tag 3 bloggers. 

never have I ever…

started a novel I didn’t finish

Uh, yeah. All the time. The problem is middles. I get excited about the beginning of the story, and then when it comes time to write the middle of it, I fizzle out. It’s because I never outline, which is bad. I’m working on that, though.

written a story completely by hand

Actually, fun fact, Shadows of Dream‘s first draft was entirely handwritten! It was super short, though, and it caused a lot of trouble with lengthening. I also write a lot of short stories by hand in my various notebooks.

changed tenses midway through a story

I’ve never done this with a full-length novel, but–story time–I was on a FaceTime call once with my friend Lena and we were writing short stories together. I meant to write the story in past tense but kept slipping into present tense without even realizing it. Lena could tell you that there were a lot of agonized yells on my end when I figured it out.

not researched anything before starting a story

This goes back to the first question. I rarely research. I just kinda…jump straight in.

Technically, I did a lot of research for Shadows of Dreams about the Titanic, but I didn’t know that I was going to use it for a story. I was writing a research paper about the Titanic anyway for a school project, and I took a huge interest in the events and the overall story. When the research paper was done, I still wanted to spend time in that world, so I decided to write a story set on the ship. So, technically speaking, I didn’t do research for the story, but I did do research. I don’t know if that counts.

changed my protagonist’s name halfway through a draft

I don’t think I’ve ever done this. I’ve changed minor characters’ names, but since I’m a character-driven writer, I tend to have my MC fully fleshed out before I write, and that includes their name.

written a story in a month or less

I’ve written plenty of short stories in a month or less, but never anything above 10K words, I don’t think. I’ve attempted NaNoWriMo twice now but never finished it. Hopefully I fix that this year!

fallen asleep while writing

Who even does this?! Certainly not me.

corrected someone’s grammar irl/online

Oh, constantly. All my friends hate me for it. I try not to do it except when we’re already joking around and I know that they’ll take it as a joke and not as an insult, but there’s always that little part of me that cringes inside when someone uses the wrong their/there.

yelled in all-caps at myself in the middle of my novel

Hm…I don’t think so. I just yell at myself in real life. Because that’s healthy.

used “I’m writing” as an excuse

My mom reads my blog. I plead the Fifth.

In all seriousness, probably. Though my family is pretty good about not bothering me when I tell them that I’m writing, so I don’t have to use it very often.

killed a character that was based on someone I know in real life

I have one friend that always jokes with me that I’m going to make a character based off of him and then kill them off, but I’ve never done this. I don’t generally kill people, though, because I’m a contemporary writer, so reasons to kill characters don’t pop up as often in my writing.

used pop culture references in a story

I love doing this. Again, I write contemporary, so casually mentioning iPhones or Taylor Swift makes the world feel more like real life to me. One of my favorite contemporary authors, Emma Lord, does this a lot, and I really like it.

written between the hours of 1:00 am and 6:00 am

No????? I have a normal sleep schedule??????????????

drank an entire pot of coffee while writing

I’m not a coffee drinker, so no. Plus, caffeine messes with me. I have been known to down a few mugs of tea during a writing session, though.

written down dreams to use in a potential novel

Hm, not really. My dreams are usually wayyyyy too weird to use in a story, and I often forget them before I get the chance to write them down.

published an unedited story on the internet/blog/wattpad

Confession time: I actually do this a lot. Generally, with small snippets or short stories, I don’t edit them before I post them on YDubs or my blog. I don’t really know why.

procrastinated schoolwork because I wanted to write

Again, my mom reads my blog, and I don’t really feel like self-incriminating today.

But sometimes that PERFECT scene pops into your head and you just HAVE to write it down and then later your mom comes to you and tells you to hold off on the writing until you’re done with your schoolwork. *sigh*

typed so long my wrists hurt

I’m way too easily distracted for this. Next question.

spilled a drink on my laptop while writing

Not yet, but it’s only a matter of time. I write with tea too often for this to not be in my near future. Though I’m terrified of it happening, so I’m super careful.

forgotten to save my work/draft

Never happened to me. Praise God for auto-save on Google Docs.

finished a novel

I’ve never finished anything above 20K words, although I’ve finished a full-length story before. Again, I will be attempting NaNo this year, and I promise that this will be the year that I finish a novel in a month.

laughed like an evil villain while writing a scene

I’ve probably done this a few times when I was writing and sharing my cringey Minecraft fanfiction and wrote something I knew my readers would yell at me for, but I don’t explicitly remember.

cried while writing a scene

No, but I’ve wanted to.

created maps of my fictional world

I did this back when I still wrote fantasy. I’ve even got one still on my bulletin board in my room, ready and waiting for if I ever go back to the story. I also like to make maps just for no reason, or maybe just because I like using my brush pens.

researched something shady for a novel

My parents are probably really concerned about me because I’ve been researching a lot of stuff on Pinterest about running away. Mom and Dad, if you’re reading this, I promise that I don’t plan on running away. It’s for a potential story concept. I swear.

tags

I’m tagging you! If you’ve never done this tag and you want to, feel free to steal it from me. (I guess I’m breaking the fourth rule…but whatever.)

Here are the categories to copy and paste:

Never have I ever:
started a novel I didn’t finish
written a story completely by hand
changed tenses midway through a story
not researched anything before starting a story
changed my protagonist’s name halfway through a draft
written a story in a month or less
fallen asleep while writing
corrected someone’s grammar irl/online
yelled in all-caps at myself in the middle of my novel
used “I’m writing” as an excuse
killed a character that was based on someone I know in real life
used pop culture references in a story
written between the hours of 1:00 am and 6:00 am
drank an entire pot of coffee while writing
written down dreams to use in a potential novel
published an unedited story on the internet/blog/wattpad
procrastinated schoolwork because I wanted to write
typed so long my wrists hurt
spilled a drink on my laptop while writing
forgotten to save my work/draft
finished a novel
laughed like an evil villain while writing a scene
cried while writing a scene
created maps of my fictional world
researched something shady for a novel

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next Wednesday!

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