Hello, it’s time for a writing tag! My writing lately has been, uh, very inconsistent, so there’s not much to update on that front. But this tag looks fun and still gives me an excuse to talk about writing a bit.
Also, WordPress finally forced me to switch to the block editor and I’m annoyed because I liked the classic editor, dang it, and I want to have the option. And now I have to relearn how to format everything and I hate it.
Anyways. I was tagged twice for this and I figured I should probably get around to it! So thank you to Mary @ Mary and the Words (who tagged me in FEBRUARY — I didn’t realize it was that long ago, yikes) and Sophie @ Sophie’s Corner.
The tag was originally created by The Long Voyage, so thank you as well!
Now without further ado, let’s get into these questions!
Never Have I Ever…
…started a novel that I didn’t finish.
Of COURSE I have! I’ve been writing for most of my life but I didn’t finish a full-length novel until my freshman year of college, so I probably have dozens of first chapters or random scenes or half-complete ideas saved across various devices and USBs and Google Drives. It’s fine.
…written a story completely by hand.
Not since elementary school. There’s definitely something romantic and charmingly old-fashioned about writing by hand, but…my hand cramps up and my handwriting is messy and it’s harder to edit and share. I’ll stick with typing.
…changed tenses midway through a story.
Not that I can recall! I tend to go with my first instinct when it comes to tenses and stick with that.
…not researched anything before starting a story.
Definitely. These days, I try to do at least some research before getting started, but old me used to just dive into stories with no background information at all. Ah, the arrogance of youth.
…changed my protagonist’s name halfway through a draft.
SO often. In my current WIP, only one of my four main character has the name she originally started out with. I probably change more names over the course of drafting than I keep the same.
…written a story in a month or less.
Yes, thanks to NaNoWriMo! To be fair, though I’ve participated in NaNoWriMo many times, I’ve only written a full novel, start to finish, one time (last year). And it was pretty short by novel standards. But that still counts!
…fallen asleep while writing.
Nope! I have to be seriously tired to fall asleep in the middle of doing something, and if I’m that tired, I’m probably not even going to attempt writing lol.
…corrected someone’s grammar IRL/online?
Mentally? Yes, absolutely. Actually done it? No, I would feel like a jerk.
…yelled in all caps at myself in the middle of my novel.
You mean some people DON’T do this?? How do they deal with the frustration of their words not coming out the way they’re supposed to?
…used “I’m writing” as an excuse.
Probably. When I was in college, it worked a lot better, since I was literally a creative writing major. These days, not quite as effective.
…killed a character that was based on someone I know in real life.
No, of course not!
…not yet.
…used pop culture references in a story.
I have, but not often! Mostly I worry about the references being out of date or irrelevant by the time people actually read it, so I try to keep the pop culture to the minimum.
…written between the hours of 1 a.m. and 6 a.m.
Uh, yes. I did this a lot more when I was younger, since I’m now an old lady at the age of 23. Apologies to my college roommates for the glare of my screen and the sound of a tapping keyboard late at night.
…drank an entire pot of coffee while writing.
This would be incredibly counterproductive for me, since too much coffee makes me jittery and scatterbrained. If I need something to drink in large quantities while writing, I’ll turn to tea.
…written down dreams to use in potential novels.
You know, I don’t think I’ve ever done this. Granted, my dreams tend to be weird and incoherent and no one wants to read about that. So maybe this is a good thing.
…published an unedited story on the internet/blog/Wattpad.
You mean, have I ever posted fanfiction that will never be shown to another living human if I can avoid it?
…procrastinated homework because I wanted to write.
Ahh, yes. Throwback to college when I’d get sick of doing homework and escape to my writing spot on the top floor of the science center and just work on that instead. I probably did this way too often.
…typed so long that my wrists hurt.
This has only happened to me a few times, and it always feels like an accomplishment…but, you know, at what cost? It takes hours of nonstop writing to get to this point, so it’s pretty rare.
…spilled a drink on my laptop while writing.
THANK GOODNESS I HAVE NOT. Please, writer gods, let this never happen to me.
…forgotten to save my work/draft.
This might have happened in the past, though luckily I’ve never lost anything huge. The worst, though, was when I broke the USB with my entire WIP at the time (back in high school). I managed to salvage most of it, but it was scary.
…finished a novel.
I have! Multiple times!
Well, I’ve finished first drafts. I’ve never held an actual, complete novel that I’m totally satisfied with. Is that even possible??
…laughed like an evil villain while writing a scene.
No….
….Maybe.
…cried while writing a scene.
Once. It was while rewriting the ending of my current WIP, and it still makes me emotional just to think about it. (Is that conceited?)
I’m actually surprised this hasn’t happened to me more often, since I’m such an emotional reader. We’ll see if I do it ever again, I guess!
…created maps of my fictional worlds.
Oh goodness, yes. I don’t think I’ve ever NOT. Even if a story takes place in the real world, I still need a visualization of where the characters are going. I use a free online mapmaker called Inkarnate, which is really easy and helpful!
…researched something shady for a novel.
Do NOT judge my browser history while I’m writing. I just need to know weird things sometimes. It’s fine.
I feel like all my writer friends have already done this or been tagged, but if you haven’t and this looks fun, then go for it!
Do you create maps for your stories? Do you tend to plan and research before you start writing or do you just dive in? What’s the weirdest thing you’ve had to Google for research?
x Margaret
These are awesome questions! I’m totally aching to give it a try when I get home from work today.
Side note about the Classic Editor: It is still an option. If you click on the blue + sign on the far left side of your new post document, there is a search bar. You don’t even have to type in the whole word. Just the first three letters and the icon will automatically appear. Click on the icon and you’re all good to go.
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Ahhh I hope have fun if you decide to do the tag too! 😊
And yep, I managed to do the classic editor blocks…but I just don’t like how the block editor is formatted and how it messed up the formatting of all my drafts 😭
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This looks like such a fun tag 😀 I can definitely relate to a lot of these, especially with my current WIP
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It is a fun tag! 😊 Ahaha glad it’s relatable to you too…and good luck with your WIP!
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Thank you 🙂
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Hahahaha I love those shady searches at the end. I’ve definitely done some of the more fun things like write between 1am and 6am, kill a character based very heavily off someone I know irl, and change tenses and character names in the middle…
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I think shady google searches are a universal truth for writers 😉 Ahaha I appreciate that you consider those the fun things!
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Yay this looks like so much fun! Loved reading your answers, I can definitely relate to so many of them. One of my characters I changed his name probably 3 times, I actually have used a dream as a story (though I never finished it lol) and I also don’t correct people’s grammar for the exact same reason. Nice GIF with Michael’s evil laugh by the way 😂
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Thanks so much! 😊 YES characters never seem to stick with their original names in my stories. Ahaha I’m impressed that you managed to turn a dream into a story! And any excuse to use that evil Michael gif, right? 😄
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Lol they’re just constantly getting renamed, aw thank you, the story’s not that good, I wrote a little for it a few years ago 😂 Exactly, huh was that when Eleanor figured out that…The Good Place wasn’t what it seemed? I can’t remember anymore, Michael laughs like that A LOT.
And…I just realized that you provided comment invite questions so now I’m going to be annoying and answer them. I mean, with maps, it really just depends, I think I just did some sketches. Full on maps would be hard to do, and I’m too lazy. I’m not the planning/researching type of writer — I just dive in, and plan and research along the way. Doesn’t sound very organized, but it actually works great for me. Something I’ve had to Google that might sound odd…probably if Harvard offered a house-scouting team, I needed it for my second book 😂
Hope I’m not bothering you, will definitely do this tag though at some point and let you know!
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I think it was from that moment in The Good Place! What an iconic evil laugh 😂
That’s great that your planning method – or lack of planning – works so well for you! Ahaha full maps do take a lot of time 😅 Ooh that’s an interesting thing to Google!
Looking forward to seeing your answers! 😊
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A really fun tag, and I loved your answers! Margaret, you put me to shame. On this evidence, you are a much, much better writer than me!
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Thanks so much! 😊 Ahaha I don’t know if this is the best way to judge if you’re a good writer…but glad this makes me look legit 😉
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Your answers are the BEST!!! This sounds like such a fun tag too😂✨
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Thanks so much!! It is a fun tag 😄
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This tag is so fun ahh! Loved all your answers too. I,,, need to actually get back to my WIP so that I can experience these lmao
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Thanks so much!! Ahaha I can relate…I did this tag so that I could talk about writing without having to talk about my non-progress on my WIP 😅 Good much to us both!
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Oh this Tag sounds like so much fun, I definitely have to do it sometime 🥰 I remember that back in the day I not only didn’t do any research, I never had a plotline as well 😂 Now I’ve become a huge planner 😄
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I’m excited to see your responses! Haha isn’t it funny how writing habits change over time?? Now I can’t imagine going into a story with absolutely nothing researched or planned.
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And here are my responses!
https://ambroseandelsie.wordpress.com/2020/08/27/never-have-i-ever-writing-tag/
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I actually like the block editor, but I’ve been using it since it came out so I’ve had plenty of time to get used it to. I will say it makes using HTML quite difficult, but hopefully you’ll get used to it soon!
Oh my gosh those Google searches 😂 Not that I can judge, I once turned on an old phone and found a detailed description of how a dead body decays in the browser 😅
I recently found an old story I wrote when I must have been about 9 or 10 and oh god it was an embarrassing mess. So while I don’t have much recent experience, I’m am definitely not a planner or researcher. Much like your “nonexistent” fan fiction 😜 I hope no one ever reads it 😂
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Good to have a vote in favor of the block editor! I just hate having to get used to a whole new formatting style when the one before worked for me just fine 😭
Oh dear, that’s a disturbing thing to find on an old phone! And don’t worry, those Google searches were strictly for research purposes… 😉
Ahh I bet your old story was adorable, even if it was a mess! And yes, let’s hope no one ever reads that fanfic that definitely doesn’t exist 😬
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I might actually do a post about that old story for a laugh. My favourite thing about it is that it gives me Catradora-style vibes. I was such a baby gay 😂
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THAT SOUNDS ADORABLE omg anything with Catradora vibes sounds great to me 😀
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Gosh, I’m such a plotter usually, like just pages and pages of outline, and I haven’t strayed from that for YEARS. But the novel I’m working on right now is just pouring out of my faster than I can plot. I tried to sit down and outline the other day, and I must have gotten up seven different times to do something else before I finally gave up and went back to writing. Ah well, it might be a mess in the end, but at least it’s happening.
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That is very impressive, and amazing that you’ve found a method that works so well for you! But also, very cool that you’re writing faster than you can plot right now 😄 That’s a great feeling when you’re just overflowing with ideas!
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Hi Margaret!
Yay!! I’m so glad you did this tag! And I loved reading your answers hahaha. Your Google searches are fascinating! It makes me wonder what you were working on at the time (a murder mystery?? a horror novel??)
I write down my dreams all the time in hopes of writing them into a novel one day. But I never did for the same reason as you haha, because my dreams are too trippy and incoherent XD
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Thanks so much, Sophie! 😊 Ahaha those Google searches are definitely strange, though probably not as concerning as they seem out of context 😉
That’s cool that you write down all your dreams! Though definitely understandable that you haven’t used any of them in a story – dreams are weird 😂
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This seems like a fun tag! I mentally correct people too, incorrect grammar and typos drive me crazy 😂 I like researching too, I had the learn quite a bit about Autism to write a story but sadly I couldn’t complete it. Brilliant post!
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Thanks so much! Ahaha mentally correcting typos is the best way to go 😂 And I agree that research can be really cool!
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