Would You Rather Wednesday - Characters

I just finished up a revision, and so I'm doing what I often do during mini-breaks between revisions: letting my mind dwell on the characterization of my characters. What's working, what's not. What kind of strange or offensive or unlikable qualities I've unknowingly woven into my manuscript.

So this week I thought I'd focus my WYR questions on characters. No rules here, except you must pick one or the other, even if your answer lies somewhere in between.

1. Would you rather read about a character who is too perfect or too flawed?

2. Would you rather read about a character who is too brash or too nice?

3. Would you rather read about a character who is smart and knows it or who is dumb and doesn't know it?

Have fun! And feel free to give examples if they come to you off the top of your head. I'll be back with my answers soon...

Would You Rather Wednesday...

It's nearing the end of the school year, so I thought this week I'd focus on a few school questions. Even if you're not in school, try to remember what you were like when you were. Or maybe you have kids in school and you can put yourself in their shoes for a moment.

Remember you have to choose one or the other, even if the answer falls somewhere in between.

1. Would you rather be an A student with very little free time, or a C+ student with lots of free time?

2. Would you rather be known as the teacher's pet or the class clown?

3. Would you rather go to school year-round with shorter school days (4 hours) or have long summer, spring, and Christmas breaks, but go to school for a long time each day (8 hours)?

I look forward to your answers, and I'll be back with mine soon...

Would You Rather Wednesday!

I totally did not realize it was Wednesday until just this second! (This is what happens when you homeschool with a flexible schedule). Three quick questions for today. I look forward to your answers, and will be back with mine later...

1. Would you rather read a book that is extremely funny or one that is achingly good but sad?

2. Would you rather read a book that scares the pants off of you or watch a movie that scares the pants off of you? (remember, you must pick one or the other!)

3. Would you rather read a book that keeps you entertained from start to finish, or read one that has dull spots, but also has some extremely insightful moments?

Would You Rather Wednesday! - Writing and Publishing

In the interest of getting to know you, here is another edition of Would You Rather Wednesday!

The only rule is that you have to answer one or the other of the choices below, even if your answer lies somewhere in between (or even if you want to say "neither") If you're not a writer, feel free to speculate on how you think you would feel if you were a writer facing some of these choices.

1. Would you rather...write a first draft...or...revise a draft already written?

2. Would you rather...give a harsh critique...or...get a harsh critique?

3. Would you rather...receive a bunch of rejections at once...or...have your rejections trickle in one at a time over several months?

4. Would you rather...work with a publisher who will not help make your book better but will help you promote it...or...work with a publisher who will not promote your book but will help you make your book a lot better?

5. Would you rather...work with a small publisher with no advance but they think the world of you and your manuscripts...or...work with a big publisher with a big advance but your editor doesn't remember your name or what book you wrote?

I look forward to your answers and I'll be back later to add mine to the comments.

Would You Rather Wednesday - Goals!

We were playing a game of Scruples with our best friends over the weekend. If you've never played Scruples, it's a game where you ask each other deep ethical questions and try to predict the other's answers. Because we've known these friends for over twenty years, I admit, I thought the game would be fairly easy.

Not so! I was surprised by several answers, which got me to thinking about how little I know people and how much more I'd like to. I've always loved the study of human nature, looking for the ways we are the same, and also the ways we are all different, and so I thought it was due time for another round of Would You Rather. This one is focused on goals (more coming on that soon!)

There are no wrong answers! The only rule is, you have to choose one or the other, even if your actual answer would fall somewhere in between. So here are three Would You Rather questions for this week:

1. Would you rather... set small easy goals you know you will achieve...or...set challenging goals you probably will not achieve

2. Would you rather...tell everyone you know about your goals from when you first set them for accountability...or...keep your goals quiet until you achieve them.

3. Would you rather...conquer one goal and then move onto the next...or...have lots of goals on the go at once?

Let's play! I can't wait to hear your answers, and I'll be back to add mine to the comments later!

Would You Rather Wednesday: Goals

In light of March Madness, I thought I'd direct our game toward the area of goals this week.

Remember, the only rule here is you're not allowed to say either or neither. You must pick one! I'll be back later with my own answers. Have fun!!

1. Would you rather...set too-lofty goals and fall short or set too-meager goals and surpass them?

2. Would you rather...keep your goals private with low-pressure, telling only one or two people, or share them with the whole world, thereby adding strong accountability and humiliation factor?

3. Would you rather...set three goals for the year and achieve them all, or set twenty goals for the year and achieve five of them?

Would You Rather Wednesday: Rejection

First, don't forget to check in for March Madness! Today's check in is right here.

If you're a writer trying to get published, or even one who has been published, you've probably faced rejection. Even if you haven't pursued publishing, you've probably faced rejection in some area. It's one of those common denominator experiences of being human.

It's never pleasant. So none of these are particularly appealing options, but you have to pick the lesser evil:
1. Would you rather...be the reject-or or the reject-ee?

2. Would you rather...be rejected in a long, heartfelt way that you know you and your rejector will remember forever, or in a short, sweet way that you will both easily forget?

3. Would you rather...receive detailed but harsh reasons of why you're being rejected, or oodles of praise about your good points to soften the blow?

And one more bonus question...Would you rather be rejected by mail, email, phone, or in person?

Would You Rather Wednesday (The Business of Writing Edition)

Welcome back to another installment of Would You Rather Wednesday! The only rule is, you can't choose either or neither - you must choose one.

Some of these may seem easy for you, but they're not for me and I'd like to see if there's anyone else in the world who aligns with my thinking...

1. Would you rather...be a big fish in a small pond (i.e. small publisher that puts it's resources behind marketing you) or a small fish in a big pond (i.e. published with one of the big publishers, but getting lost in their swarm of new books)?

2. Would you rather...make a meager living by publishing articles for magazines, or publish a novel with a major publisher but not receive any payment for it?

3. Would you rather...sell a book on proposal (3 chapters and a synopsis) and have a one-month deadline to turn in a good draft of the whole thing, or sell a completed novel and have six months to work on revisions?

I'll be back with my answers later...

Would You Rather Wednesday (Reader's Edition)

It's been a while since we've played this game! The only rule is, you can't answer either or neither. You must pick one! Leave your answers in the comments and I'll be back later with mine.

Would you rather... Read a book set in an extremely historic time period, or one set in an extremely futuristic time period (1000 years or more)?

Would you rather... Read a novel where the main character is a bit too sweet, or a bit too mean?

Would you rather... Read a book that's very entertaining but poorly written, or one that's beautifully written but a bit on the boring side?

Would You Rather Wednesday

Because of the GREAT response to the contest for the FORGE ARC (thanks to Laurie and all those others who passed the word around), I'm still busy tabulating. I should be back with a winner tomorrow, and then another contest with more AWESOME prizes on Friday!

In the mean time, I'm going to throw three quick Would You Rather questions your way. Some of these are for readers, some are for writers, so feel free to answer one of them or all of them, as they apply to you.

1. If you had to choose, and if both books were good, would you rather read a book full of suspense, or a book full of humor?

2. Would you rather read the paper version, the electronic version, or the audio version of a book, if all three were available to you?

3. Would you rather talk through edits with your agent or editor on the phone or discuss through email?

Have fun, and I'll be back tomorrow with the FORGE winner!