The Liebster Award is running rampant in The Sims community! I love it.
I’ve been nominated again by lovesstorms who writes the Ramsey Wishacy and There Goes the Neighborhood! WOW! I had never heard of a wishacy (or whimacy as some call it) until I went to her page and read the rules. I’ve been curious to do one ever since. Lovesstorms may be newer to the Pruett and Juliana fan club, but please believe she is as in love with these stories as much as (or maybe more!) than the oldest members! I won’t through the whole nomination thing again, but I will definitely answer her questions. Thank you, lovesstorms, for the nomination but more importantly your enthusiastic support! I need it. Every. Single. Epic. Comment 😀
1. When you write, do you choose the computer or paper/pen?
Mostly the computer, but both. I definitely don’t hand write my stories, but my desk is littered with neon colored sticky notes with ideas and reminders.
2. Do you write your story ahead of time, then take photos (if you have any)? Or do you take photos, then write?
All of the above! For Pruett Family Legacy and F.I.S.H., I take the pictures and then I write because both of these stories are game driven. Well, F.I.S.H. is less game driven than PFL, but…yeah. Discovering Juliana, on the other hand, is a story that comes completely from my crazy head. It’s pretty much like writing a book! For the most part, I write it ahead of time and then take the pictures. But, there are some situations where I’ll take the pictures first to get the dialogue right.
3. What made you want to start writing? A book? Life? A person? Other?
I’ve always been a writer, but I didn’t recognize that until 10 years ago. It was just something I did because it was fun. I didn’t really think about it. As a child, I was always writing some little crazy story or a script for my family to act out. In my childhood and teenage years, I was more of a creative writer. In my adult years, I discovered my voice and began blogging about my thoughts, feelings, and beliefs. Now, with SimsLit, I’m circling back to creative writing.
4. What’s a country you’ve always wanted to visit?
Spain
5. Outside of the Sims, what’s another favorite game you play?
There are other games?!
🙂
I own Sim City, and I played it lot before TS4. Honestly, apart from games on my phone, I haven’t played another game since September! I am hooked on this thing, y’all lol.
6. When you become disinterested in your story/characters, what do you do?
Oy. Well…I’ll explain this one with PFL because it has happened a lot lol. I’m not in love with all of my characters, and you can probably tell. I started breaking the legacy gameplay rules to allow myself to fall in love with other characters because most of the time I get bored with the heirs. So, I think generation 6 happened around December. That was the first time the story shifted from the heir to another character. But, in that particular instance (speaking of Bianca and Giancarlo), it didn’t happen because I wasn’t interested in the heir, Brandon–although he was quite boring lol. It happened because I just really really really loved Bianca, and Giancarlo’s personality was just so huge! A classic example of my avoidance was the next generation with Melody and her drama. I didn’t realize I spent almost the entire month of January on her LOL. I was definitely avoiding the triplets, but now they are some of my most loved characters. Nowadays, when you see me spending loads of time in Alayna’s house, it’s not because I’m avoiding Brady and family. I just can’t get enough of her!
Oh, ummm…when I’m disinterested in the story, I just walk away for a while. That doesn’t happen much, though. It’s more like just needing a break than losing interest.
7. When you write, do you prefer quiet or noise in the background?
MUST. HAVE. QUIET!
8. If everyone stopped coming to your blog, would you continue to write and share?
I would keep writing! I only started writing the Pruetts because I needed a way to keep myself interested because I knew there was a high chance that I would quit the legacy when I got bored with it. So, it would be a bit hypocritical of me to stop writing because people aren’t reading, I think. I think I’d be slightly discouraged if people did stop reading though, but I wouldn’t stop writing. Can’t stop, won’t stop!
9. Do you have a routine for reading other blogs, like reading until your caught up on one, then moving to the next one? Or do you enjoy reading little bits of many stories?
O-M-Goodness, other blogs! Well, if you would have asked me this question months ago, I would have been frazzled because I was drowning in catching up. At the time, I had zero routine. I still don’t, but it’s more manageable now. I’m not really good at keeping up with multiple things at once, so I would catch up on one story at a time. I’d read a few chapters at lunch, and a few when I got home. But, when I started reading The Wolff Legacy…my goodness…I couldn’t stop reading! I read and read and read late into the night like every night! I remember making comments like, “Just one more before I go to sleep,” and then, “OK…this is the last one,” and then, “Seriously THIS is the last one!” LOL, it never worked. Most of the stories I’m reading now I’m caught up on so I just read updates as they come. But to answer your question properly, I prefer to catch up on one story at a time. Reading little bits of many stories makes me crazy and I get them mixed up. This is why my reading list is so short! I always feel bad when a new story comes out, and I’m like, “man…I should check that out, but…I can’t!” At least, not at the moment.
10. Do you keep a notepad & pen/phone/tablet by your bed for those late night ideas? If so, do you actually get up and write them down?
You know? I REALLY should do this! I actually get up and write them down. Well, I rarely actually wake up from sleep to do this lol. But, oftentimes I get ideas RIGHT before I go to sleep. I wake up with stuff too. In all fairness though, my doctor says I should only sleep in my bed to combat my sleep issues, so…I dunno. We’ll see if I “install” a pad of sticky notes on my nightstand lol.
11. When you write, do you just do a quick glance and post? Or do you take a day or two or more and proofread, move things around, delete, re-write, etc, etc?
Dude…if you guys could see what I put myself through lol.
When I have something, I have to write it out most of the time. There have been times when I get something at an inopportune time like when I’m busy at work. I’ll start a new post and jot down fragments of ideas and then go home and finish them. However, I’m single and my life is a bit boring right now, so (lol) I’ll spend hours on one post opposed to days. Depending on how long a chapter is, it’ll take me an hour or two to write it. Why so long? WELL…because my inner editor never sleeps! I WISH I could just write without thinking and go back and proofread and edit. But nooooooo, I do all that while I’m writing, and THEN I go back and do it again! Multiple times! Hi…my name is Jessica, and I am a perfectionist. So, yeah…a few hours sometimes turns into a couple days especially when it’s just not right. That happens a lot with Discovering Juliana. I can churn out several Pruett chapters in a day–well, like a Saturday lol. Those are easy as legacies kind of write themselves. I write those and then proofread them, and many times I get those right on the first try. But, even the ones that need work I don’t have to spend much time on them. I read aloud when I’m not sure I’ve gotten something right.
