Never Have I Ever – Writing Tag!

One of my favourite blogger buddies, The Orang-utan Librarian, has tagged me for the Never Have I Ever Writing Tag. I read their answers and it was great to read and I implore you to check out the post yourself, that is, after you read mine, because this is going to be fun!

The original was created by the Long Voyage – so definitely check out that here!

NEVER HAVE I EVER …

. . . started a novel that I did not finish.

Ha! That’s a good one!! I started about 15 different stories and finished one of them. My track record in that department is abysmal.

. . . written a story completely by hand.

I … don’t think so? I think I started stories and maybe I’ve written a short story here or there by hand, but definitely not a full one. I already get annoyed with regular editing, I can’t imagine having to transfer everything to my laptop first.

. . . changed tenses midway through a story.

Not on purpose. I think, sometimes, when I return to a story after a long time, I have to get back into the tense maybe and mess it up a bit. But never on purpose.

. . . not researched anything before starting a story.

What is research? No, in all honesty, I probably should do research sometimes, but I love winging it and then despairing in the middle of the story because I have no clue what I am doing. I really do the bare minimum sometimes …

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

Nope, not the protagonist’s name, but definitely some side characters.

. . . written a story in a month or less.

YES! The one and only story I ever finished writing – Break Up Buddy – was one I did during NaNoWriMo. I was so proud to have finished it in a month and I still am. I admire people that just throw out stories in days or weeks (and there are more than you might think).

. . . fallen asleep while writing.

I don’t think so?

. . . corrected someone’s grammar irl / online.

Guilty as charged. I’m not running around correcting everyone all the time, but sometimes I just couldn’t not say anything? Most of the time I just keep it to myself, especially since I make plenty of mistakes myself.

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

Like … “started writing in all caps unrelated to the story, because I was frustrated with myself”-all caps? That’s not really something I do?

. . . used “I’m writing” as an excuse.

I just don’t think that people leave me alone or listen to me when I say that I am writing. At least I know a certain someone who will interrupt me like a thousand times, even if I have made it clear that I was trying to focus on writing. Guess that excuse doesn’t fly with people in my life?

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

I’m not even sure I’ve killed a character on page yet, so that’s a no? But also, no one is based on someone I personally know. On actors? That’s a whole different story … but not actual real life friends and/or enemies.

. . . used pop culture references in a story.

These questions should be so easy to answer, but I really have to think hard about them. I am pretty sure there must have been some kind of reference, right? Something to indicate a time period? I just literally can’t think of a single example …

. . . written between the hours of 1am and 6am.

100% YES!

. . . drank an entire pot of coffee while writing.

I don’t drink coffee ever, so that’s a clear no from my side. (Tea all the way!)

. . . written down dreams to use in potential novels.

I actually have a designated journal for my dreams. They are wild sometimes, people! I still like the timey-wimey one where Adam Driver turns out to be my son, but I am technically younger than him? We shall, however, never mention the dolphin story again. That was borderline body horror and that’s not my genre …

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

Yes, yes and yes? There used to be this website called figment, where I posted a lot of my really, really old stuff. But also recently, totally!

Arcadia is on wattpad. Click here to read it!
Dreamer was on wattpad, but is not published there anymore …
The witchy WIP is published on a private blog that’s password protected. However, friends can request the password and I’m pretty easygoing in sharing it.

. . . procrastinated homework because I wanted to write.

Absolutely! I have to agree with the Orang-utan Librarian here, I sometimes even spaced out in class to write my story. And honestly, even at work from time to time (imagine me doing retail work and there being zero customers for over an hour).

. . . typed so long that my wrists hurt.

That happens so easily, but also, I just don’t have the best set up for writing.

. . . spilled a drink on my laptop while writing.

Thank the heavens that never happened!!! THE HORROR!

. . . forgotten to save my work / draft.

No? I think I forgot to save something for school a couple times, but never the really important stuff aka my stuff.

. . . finished a novel.

As in, written a beginning, middle and end to a story? Yes. As in, edited the story to make it presentable and potentially marketable? No. no no no.

. . . laughed like an evil villain while writing a scene.

I WISH!

. . . cried while writing a scene.

I was close, but I don’t think so?

. . . created maps of my fictional worlds.

YES! But funny enough, not for a fantasy world, but rather a contemporary novel instead. I just printed out maps from Google maps from places that I’ve been to and liked/lived at. It was hilarious in hindsight.

. . . researched something shady for a novel.

I think I researched some illnesses and symptoms. Or “what to do when someone has a seizure”, but that’s not really all that shady, is it?

I TAG THEE

I would love for the sister-writer-duo Nyx and Marie to do this tag and also Caro!


I hope you enjoyed this tag and if you feel like doing it yourself, GO FOR IT! I’d love to chat some more in the comments and also feel free to ask me anything, if you want to know more!

20 thoughts on “Never Have I Ever – Writing Tag!

  1. Hahahah this is hilarious! I love hearing about the writing process of writers just to discover how different everyone is and how guilty many are of the same things! 😛 I like that you have a journal for dreams though, that sounds like a lot of fun! I don’t remember most of my dreams but I bet I could make a nice blockbuster movie out of some of them if I could remember them! 😀

    Liked by 1 person

  2. ooh this is such an interesting post! I’m personally not a writer, but I’ve definitely forgotten to save my work on many occasions and it feels horrible! It’s like “do I realllly have to do this all over again??” haha

    Liked by 1 person

    • I hate it so much when something doesn’t get saved for whatever reason. It’s worse when it’s some kind of research based thing and you now don’t remember all the necessary pages and links though. NIGHTMARE!

      Like

  3. I don’t think I could change the characters name. I feel like names carry such a weight that I’d want to get them right before anything haha. Your dreams are as wild as they get. Dream Kat lives the best life. You could easily write a book based on her life.

    Liked by 1 person

    • I often put actual research or meaning into the character names, so changing them is hard. However, sometimes, I notice that two names are too similar and then I can’t go on or I will get super annoyed haha
      DK is living the life!

      Like

  4. i love finding other fellow coffee-haters, we make up such a small part of the population 😌 i also am really terrible when it comes to researching before writing — i really just make some things up and hope it works lmao. and i love that you keep a dream journal! i have a lot of wild and weird dreams so i feel like i should keep one too, but i’m just so lazy 😭 loved reading this post, kat!!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Funny enough, I think I found more tea than coffee-friends among blogging than I ever thought possible. Must be something about us as a group that makes us gravitate away from coffee haha
      My journal is right next to my bed, so, when I wake up I can write in it right away. Full disclosure, sometimes it’s not very legible and I have no clue what I was trying to say. But it’s still funny.

      Liked by 1 person

  5. Love your answers! Really glad you enjoyed this tag too!! I totally get what you mean about liking to wing it for sure! And I hear you about grammar. I also agree that “I’m writing” doesn’t fly as an excuse with most people (annoyingly). And definitely tea all the way! haha your dreams do sound wild!

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Hi Kat!!
    I really enjoyed reading your answers for this tag! Hahaha research isn’t really my favourite part of writing either. I don’t mind googling something here and there while I’m writing (and sometimes it’s kind of fun to learn something new) but it always feels dry to do lots of research prior to starting a novel 😂

    Liked by 1 person

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