The Never Have I Ever Writing Tag

(Source)

So, you may or may not know that I am in the final chapters of revising One Bad Apple, my latest Once Upon a Western book.  It's been a long road, writing this book.  But I feel like it and I have finally made friends, and the last couple weeks of revision of been joyful ones.

Be that as it may... it's nice to take a break from writing once in a while and just chat about the writing process itself.  Which is why I'm so glad Eva tagged me for this over on Coffee, Classics, and Craziness!

Rules 
1. Link to and thank the blogger who tagged you. (Thanks, Eva!)
2. Include the graphic somewhere in your post (or make your own!)
3. Answer the questions truthfully and honestly.
4. Tag 3 bloggers.

(Pssssst, DKoren!  You're going to want to turn on GIFs for this post...)


Never Have I Ever… 

…started a novel that I did not finish. 

I can think of three actual novels I did not finish the first drafts of.  And many short stories.  So, yeah, guilty.

…written a story completely by hand. 

In high school, I did about half my story-writing by hand and half on typewriter (!) or computer.  In college, I wrote papers on the computer and stories by hand (the first draft, I mean).  It wasn't until I wrote my first novel after college that I started switching to mostly computer.  But I didn't give up doing at least some of my crafting by hand until I got my first laptop sometime around 2010.

…changed tenses midway through a story. 

I know it's happened.  I can't remember specific instances, but I know I've had to go back and make stuff match before.

…changed my protagonist’s name halfway through a draft. 

Totally guilty, though usually for side characters, not protagonists.  But I've changed names for main characters after the first or second draft lots of times, particularly the gunfighter in "The Man on the Buckskin Horse," who was originally Cole Palmer, then became Bret Palmer when I rewrote it, and finally became Luke Palmer when I revised it after winning the Five Magic Spindles contest.

…written a story in a month or less. 

Pssshsshhh.  Of course I have!  I've won Nanowrimo multiple times.  I've written whole first drafts of books in a month or less, much less some measly story.

…fallen asleep while writing. 

Nope.  Never.  No way.

…corrected someone’s grammar irl/online. 

In real life?  Yes.  Cuz hello?  I'm a homeschool mom.  It's in the job description.  Online?  Probably a few times.  But I tend to give most people a pass online.  Or else I'd go crazy correcting people constantly, and who needs that?

…yelled in all caps at myself in the middle of a novel. 

Oh, all the time.  So guilty.  I was just talking to a friend about how, when I'm writing romantic scenes, I'll put stuff like (GAG ME!) and (YARK!) and (MAKE IT STOP!) all through the first draft.

…killed a character who was based off someone I know in real life. 

I've based very few fictional characters on people I know in real life.  The only time I've consciously done so was for Dancing and Doughnuts, where the quilting circle ladies are named after the ladies in the book club at my home church.

…used pop culture references in a story. 

Guilty!  I do it all the time.  But it's usually subtle, like re-purposing a favorite line from a movie or book.  In my WWII stories, though, I'm all about popping in references to the pop culture of that day.

…not researched anything before starting a story. 

Not lately.  But in the past, yes.  And I generally do a lot of my researching as I write because I don't always know what it is I'm going to need to learn until I get to that part of the book or story!

…used “I’m writing” as an excuse. 

Probably?  I can't remember a specific instance.  I mean, as in like, "here's why I'm not doing such-and-such on Saturday," yeah.  As a reason to be excused.  Not like I've said, "I can't, cuz I'm writing," and then actually gone to a movie or something.

…written between the hours of 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. 

I worked third shift for four years straight.  I wrote in the middle of the night all the time!  For years!  But lately, no.

…drank an entire pot of coffee while writing. 

Technically, yes, because my coffee pot only holds two mugs-worth of coffee, which is about equal to a venti from Starbucks.

…laughed like an evil villain while writing a scene. 

Indubitably.

…written down dreams to use in potential novels.

Yes, totally.  They're usually utter rubbish upon further inspection, alas.

…published an unedited story on the internet/Wattpad/blog. 

I have not, I would not, and I loathe the very idea.  Everything gets edited!!!  Even my blog posts!!!

…procrastinated homework because I wanted to write. 

Definitely.  I used to pretend my schoolwork was taking a really long time during high school so that I'd have time to be alone at my desk, madly scribbling at some story or other.

…typed so long that my wrists hurt. 

Yeah.  Especially the year that I worked doing data entry 40+ hours a week, and then started writing my first novel in my spare time.  I didn't quite develop carpal tunnel, but I would have if I hadn't gotten a different job.

…spilled a drink on my laptop while writing. 

Nope, don't think so.

…forgotten to save my work/draft. 

I would like to say that this has never happened to me, but it totally has.  Ugh.  Not for a lot of years, though!

…finished a novel. 

I've written full first drafts for nine books, varying in length from 40K to 100K.

…cried while writing a scene. 

Yes, I have, and it's all Armie Hammer's fault.  I didn't realize a character I'd based on him was going to have to die until I hit that scene, and then he got shot, and it was really awful.  I cried.  In Starbucks, while writing it.

…created maps of my fictional worlds. 

I almost always end up making some kind of map using Paint or just scribbling it on a piece of paper.  I've got maps for houses so I know where stuff is so I don't say dumb things like mention a door that wasn't there before, and I've got maps of whole towns, or of where one place is in relation to another.  A lot of times, I make maps for action scenes so I can remember who is where at what time, and where they move around to.  I'm very visually oriented, so I find maps really helpful.

…researched something shady for a novel. 

Well, if by 'shady' you mean 'weird or suspicious or dangerous,' yes.  I've done a lot of researching into poisons and 19th-century drugs lately....

I tag…

DKoren at Sidewalk Crossings
Hayden at Leatherbound
Skye at Ink Castles

Play if you want to!