We're back to three questions time here on the good old RW blog hop. Thanks to Beth Carter for this week's gems. I think I'm most interested in seeing everyone's answer to the third question this week. If you've landed here from Collette Cameron's blog, you've seen hers and I wish I'd come up with that answer myself. Ah well. Let's get going, shall we, and see what I can come up with.
1. What’s your favorite aspect of novel writing? Dialogue? Setting? Conflict? Narration? Explain.
This is easy. Dialogue. I love the banter between characters. Maybe it's because I talk a lot myself, (and to myself!) but I think so much character is revealed through what they say. And what they choose not to say. So I suppose what I like writing best is dialogue both spoken and in the mind. Here's an example of what I mean from my current WIP, Geek God (available for pre-order I might add!)
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“Oh. What’s up tonight?” Please let that have sounded casual. Just because my head is screaming: What? You’re not staying?
“Dungeons & Dragons.”
You know when your face reacts before you have a chance to get your shit together? That’s what’s happening right now. I think my eyes might have even bulged. I want to sound cool, but I can’t help myself.
“Adults play D&D?”
“Plenty of us do. What do you think happens to the kids who played it in their parents’ basements when they grow up?”
“They grow up?” My cousin played that game when he was a teenager. He and a group of his nerdy friends all hanging around a table rolling dice and talking about orcs and not letting girls play. Nerds. Geeks. Whatever. I wondered now if he still played.
“And how is it any different than still playing video games?”
“It’s totally different.”
“It’s not. It’s way more social than hanging out home alone with just a TV and console. I’m hanging out with people, talking, eating, drinking and having fun.”
What’s curious in this discussion is that he’s not getting angry or embarrassed. He seems to have no problem with admitting that he does this.
“How does it work?”
“What do you mean?”
“Your game. How does it work?”
I don’t know if I’m asking because I want to know, or if I’m just trying to keep him here a bit longer. One thing is certain. It’s clear that he’s not interested in me that way. If going and playing a geek game with his geek friends seems better than hanging out with a woman who’d done her damnedest to look as sexy as she can, then I’ve already lost this battle.
He might look like God’s gift to women, but clearly there’s a very good reason why he’s single.
What if he’s gay? Maybe Dungeons & Dragons is code for an all-male orgy.
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2.How do you choose the setting for your plot? Are they always similar settings or does it vary? (i.e., small town, big city, castle, etc.)
There's no secret about my setting. It's always Newfoundland in some way. Even if I have my characters travel a lot (like Jack and Daphne in Hard As Ice) my books are Newfoundland stories. I mean, look at this. How can I NOT write about this setting?
3.I’m a big six-word memoir fan. (Hemingway even wrote one.) Describe your writing day using just six words.
“Moments of insanity. Hours of despair.”
And there you have it. Another week here and gone. Be sure to pop over and see Carolyn Spear's answers. Her six word answer is also very very true. Also, I think her website is beautiful! If you think so, you should tell her.
