As a writer, I’m always looking for writing prompts to get inspiration before doing actual work. Almost exactly two years ago, I found these questions, and I decided to answer them to see what kind of writer I am, also, to just write something.
During my first year of college, I remember that, in MySpace, we used to call these types of questions “surveys,” and we would post them on the Bulletin Board. We would overshare information about us, and other people would copy and paste the same questions to change the answers.
What are some topics that interest you?
• When I’m looking for books, I always lean towards classic literature –the older, the better. Regarding topics in general, I’m highly interested in history, literature, grammar, music, movies, lifestyle, and finance.
What excites you? What are you passionate about?
• I’m intensely passionate about history, grammar, books, politics, and random facts.
What are you knowledgeable about? What are you an expert in?
• I would say that I’m pretty knowledgeable about Spanish grammar, and world view through literature.
What topics are you curious about? What do you want to learn more about?
• I’m curious about everything, but mainly I want to learn about the places I visit, and influential people in our history. I want to learn more about English writing. Spanish and English structures are very different. I’ve recently learned that Spanish is more demanding than English. I’ve heard that it’s like there are many rules, but you use them if you feel like it. People call this rebellion “descriptive grammar.”
What is something you believe that most people may not?
• I believe in conspiracy theories. Everything started when I was in 7th grade, right after the 9/11 event. At that age, I began to look for information about things that were happening, Nostradamus, and other weird stuff.
What do you want to write: a story, a novel, a poem, or a screenplay?
• I want to keep writing novels that will eventually get published. I wish that someone would adapt one of my books into a movie. That would be great! I think that is every writer’s dream.
What kind of genre do you want to write in?
• I like to write Modern literature, such as Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. These are two authors that shaped the way I write. Initially, I thought that my style was very similar to Edgar Allan Poe’s, but as I was writing, I noticed that my short stories were less romantic and more realistic.
What are the writers that inspire you?
• Some of the writers who inspire the most are Edgar Allan Poe, Guy de Maupassant, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Franz Kafka, Gabriel García Márquez, Ángeles Mastretta, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Julio Cortázar. They have a few classic short stories that everyone should read at some point in their lives.
What is your favorite piece of writing? Why?
• I have two favorite pieces of writing. My number forever will be “The Masque of the Red Death,” because Poe had the talent to paint all the colors in your head, and you were able to see and feel Prince Prospero’s fear. I read it over and over again. I even assign this story to my students because I love it too much.
My second favorite piece of writing is one short story from the book Women with Big Eyes by Ánegeles Mastretta. The story is about Aunt Daniela, who “fell in love the way intelligent women always fall in love, like an idiot.” This short story changed my life and taught me how to deal emotionally after having a breakup.
What kind of stories do you want to tell?
• I want to tell the truest stories, but with some fiction to disguise the reality. I want to say how bad a real place is, but with fictional characters living it. I did this with the last book that I wrote. I created my characters based on real people in my life, and I included actual events.
Why do you want to write? To tell your story? To make people laugh?
• When I began my journey, I wrote the lives I wanted to have, my “what-if’s” because I wanted to get out of my dull present. Now, I want to tell the world what I lived; I want to share my truth.
How do you want to make your audience feel?
• I want my audience to feel as if they were in the story living it with me and my characters.
When will you make the time to write? First thing in the morning? Just before bed?
• I can’t either write first thing in the morning or just before bed. I have to be very awake to write. I would say that the perfect time for me to write is Saturday at 2 PM after my second cup of coffee.
How long will you spend writing every day?
• I would say that I will spend around five hours of writing every day. However, the truth is that once I begin, I stop when I’m done or satisfied. If I feel like five pages are enough, then I’m done. If I feel like I need to have ten or twelve pages, I will spend as much time as I need.
Who can keep you accountable and make sure you stick to your daily ritual?
• My husband can help me achieve this daily ritual. He loves it when I write.
Who can read your work and give you feedback?
• Even though I give my work to close friends to provide me with feedback, I don’t really like it, because they’re friends. They would read it with their emotions attached. I would give my work to a professor or someone with more knowledge.
In the Creative Writing workshops, all of my classmates had to read my work, and they were harsh and brutally honest. At first, it was hard, and my self-esteem as a writer was profoundly affected, but I got used to this dynamic. I know that not everybody will like my work. If I can improve a sentence, if I can make it clearer for my reader to understand what I’m trying to say, I want people to tell me. If everything is always perfect, I won’t learn anything.
What about you? What kind of writer are you? Please, feel free to use these questions. You can even copy and paste them and answer this “survey” in the comment section.
