Writing Meme Day 13 - Cultural
Jun. 15th, 2010 10:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
naomi_jay13. What’s your favorite culture to write, fictional or not?
Erm... I don't know. I suppose by default I tend to use a lot of Western mythology - lots of Norse, Greek, and Eastern European folklore, since I read so much of it growing up. I do slip in Asian myths where I can. I also lean towards a vaguely Christian/Jewish structure when writing about angels and demons, although my vision of Hell and demons takes a lot more from old occult theories than religious ones.
Since thus far my books are either set in America or the UK (or in the case of AFTERLIFE, wherever you think it's set), obviously I'm largely writing about Western culture, a world where most people work jobs they don't particularly care for, can afford decent houses and mobile phones, and have a social life if they want it, and don't go hungry. That's the kind of environment I grew up in, and although I don't shy away from portraying the rougher aspects of that society - violence, drug use, addiction, etc - my characters more or less always start there. Whether they stay there is another matter.
Is this my favourite culture? I can't really answer that. Like I said, it's the culture I know. Even when I was writing high fantasy, I stuck to a Westernised fantasy culture, again heavily influenced by Greek mythology in terms of religion, and Romany culture in terms of society. When my stock fantasy characters wandered off to the southern parts of my generic fantasy world, they found themselves in sprawling deserts populated by vaguely Arabic-esque nomads, and when they went north, they encountered vaguely Scandinavian-esque warriors. (Keep in mind that I was very young when I wrote this).
What I'm saying in a roundabout way is that I have no truly favourite culture to write, I suppose. I like to mash things up where I can, and I certainly enjoy the cultures I do write in or I wouldn't write them, but I've never made a conscious decision about it. I've very much written what I know and developed it from there.
14. How do you map out locations, if needed? Do you have any to show us?
15. Midway question! Tell us about a writer you admire, whether professional or not!
16. Do you write romantic relationships? How do you do with those, and how “far” are you willing to go in your writing?
17. Favorite protagonist and why!
18. Favorite antagonist and why!
19. Favorite minor that decided to shove himself into the spotlight and why!
20. What are your favorite character interactions to write?
21. Do any of your characters have children? How well do you write them?
22. Tell us about one scene between your characters that you’ve never written or told anyone about before! Serious or not.
23. How long does it usually take you to complete an entire story—from planning to writing to posting (if you post your work)?
24. How willing are you to kill your characters if the plot so demands it? What’s the most interesting way you’ve killed someone?
25. Do any of your characters have pets? Tell us about them.
26. Let’s talk art! Do you draw your characters? Do others draw them? Pick one of your OCs and post your favorite picture of him!
27. Along similar lines, do appearances play a big role in your stories? Tell us about them, or if not, how you go about designing your characters.
28. Have you ever written a character with physical or mental disabilities? Describe them, and if there’s nothing major to speak of, tell us a few smaller ones.
29. How often do you think about writing? Ever come across something IRL that reminds you of your story/characters?
30. Final question! Tag someone! And tell us what you like about that person as a writer and/or about one of his/her characters!
Erm... I don't know. I suppose by default I tend to use a lot of Western mythology - lots of Norse, Greek, and Eastern European folklore, since I read so much of it growing up. I do slip in Asian myths where I can. I also lean towards a vaguely Christian/Jewish structure when writing about angels and demons, although my vision of Hell and demons takes a lot more from old occult theories than religious ones.
Since thus far my books are either set in America or the UK (or in the case of AFTERLIFE, wherever you think it's set), obviously I'm largely writing about Western culture, a world where most people work jobs they don't particularly care for, can afford decent houses and mobile phones, and have a social life if they want it, and don't go hungry. That's the kind of environment I grew up in, and although I don't shy away from portraying the rougher aspects of that society - violence, drug use, addiction, etc - my characters more or less always start there. Whether they stay there is another matter.
Is this my favourite culture? I can't really answer that. Like I said, it's the culture I know. Even when I was writing high fantasy, I stuck to a Westernised fantasy culture, again heavily influenced by Greek mythology in terms of religion, and Romany culture in terms of society. When my stock fantasy characters wandered off to the southern parts of my generic fantasy world, they found themselves in sprawling deserts populated by vaguely Arabic-esque nomads, and when they went north, they encountered vaguely Scandinavian-esque warriors. (Keep in mind that I was very young when I wrote this).
What I'm saying in a roundabout way is that I have no truly favourite culture to write, I suppose. I like to mash things up where I can, and I certainly enjoy the cultures I do write in or I wouldn't write them, but I've never made a conscious decision about it. I've very much written what I know and developed it from there.
14. How do you map out locations, if needed? Do you have any to show us?
15. Midway question! Tell us about a writer you admire, whether professional or not!
16. Do you write romantic relationships? How do you do with those, and how “far” are you willing to go in your writing?
17. Favorite protagonist and why!
18. Favorite antagonist and why!
19. Favorite minor that decided to shove himself into the spotlight and why!
20. What are your favorite character interactions to write?
21. Do any of your characters have children? How well do you write them?
22. Tell us about one scene between your characters that you’ve never written or told anyone about before! Serious or not.
23. How long does it usually take you to complete an entire story—from planning to writing to posting (if you post your work)?
24. How willing are you to kill your characters if the plot so demands it? What’s the most interesting way you’ve killed someone?
25. Do any of your characters have pets? Tell us about them.
26. Let’s talk art! Do you draw your characters? Do others draw them? Pick one of your OCs and post your favorite picture of him!
27. Along similar lines, do appearances play a big role in your stories? Tell us about them, or if not, how you go about designing your characters.
28. Have you ever written a character with physical or mental disabilities? Describe them, and if there’s nothing major to speak of, tell us a few smaller ones.
29. How often do you think about writing? Ever come across something IRL that reminds you of your story/characters?
30. Final question! Tag someone! And tell us what you like about that person as a writer and/or about one of his/her characters!
