I’ve been Tagged…

I’m still getting used to all this WordPress malarkey so I don’t really know what this tagging business is all about, but I’ll go with it…it can’t be that difficult!
So thanks to Mike at MikesFilmTalk  for chucking this ‘tag’ in my general direction 😉 even though it took me well over an hour before I realised that Films and Things is the name of my blog ( I very nearly wouldn’t have done this post had I not cottoned on!! ) It’s been a long day, ok?

So apparently the rules of this odd little game are simple; you have to first answer 11 questions posed to you, then nominate another 11 blogs with 11 questions of your own. (Why 11? Seems like a random number, but never mind!)

These are the questions I have to answer…

1. Have you ever been made redundant from your job and how did you feel about it? Using the term ‘made redundant’ loosely…kind of. I’ve only ever worked part time (on top of being a student) but having worked at a place that I won’t name just in case they find this and hunt me down for eleven months (HA! Eleven…fits with the theme of this ‘tag’!) I was called into the office and told my contract was being terminated. How did I feel? Royally f*cked over and very pissed off…for all of about a day until I remembered that I hated working there anyway. I actually threw my uniform in the bin, it remained there overnight until I decided to grow up and take it back! I wasn’t the only ‘young person’ (part time) that was sacked at that time…My guess was they just fancied a new set of staff…I wasn’t actually given a reason as to why they were ‘letting me go’.
2. If you were interviewing someone for a writing job, what 3 qualities would you look for and why? Assuming this is an article writing job and not non-fiction, I would say 1) a sense of humour; the best articles, blog posts, film reviews etc have an element of witty humour, unless its serious news like murders…there is a time and a place of course! 2) Someone who works quickly and can balance their workload and meet deadlines no matter what, for obvious reasons. And 3) A genuine, nice person. I’d sooner ’employ’ someone who’s perhaps not quite as good at what they do if they’re a genuine person than take on someone who’s brilliant but a complete arse.
   
3. What is your favourite board game and why? It’s not a board game in the conventional sense, but a game called Scattergories. You have a list of categories and a letter of the alphabet, and in a small amount of time you have to fill in as many of the categories with things beginning with that letter. It’s fun, it’s easy and if you’ve had a few to drink it can be hilarious. 
4. When you look at the stars, what do you see? Umm…stars
5. When you look at the ocean, what does it remind you of? Home…I live in Devon, which is coastal. Although the nearest beach from my home is a 20 minute drive it’s still pretty close to it in comparison with my other sort-of home in Coventry, where I live during term-time at university. 
6. How do you overcome writer’s block? I have a book called The Writers Block, you open it on a random page and it gives you something to write about..it might be a colour, an object or it might have a short description of a situation that you have to write about. I don’t write much non-fiction, only the odd script, so writer’s block isn’t something that affects me much.
7. If you could say 3 encouraging things to another person, what would they be? Those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind. You can overcome anything as long as you believe in yourself. Nothing is ever as bad as you think it is.
8. Do you prefer to write your stories/books/poetry/prose/articles on paper first, then type them up and edit them, or do you like to type them straight into your computer to edit? I just type, sometimes I edit after but most of the time I do it as I go. I type very quickly, I perfected touch typing during Alevel ICT because my teacher would tell me off for typing while he was talking (bear in mind he never STOPPED talking, so if I stopped to listen I’d never have got any work done) so I taught myself how to type whilst looking at him, and not at they keyboard or computer screen…so now I can do it pretty well without making mistakes, which fortunately means less editing! 
9. Do you like writing in one genre or more? I don’t do much fiction writing, but when I do I tend to write things in the horror/thriller genre…although I’ll give anything a go. The script I’m working on at the moment (I say working on, what I mean is I started it a while back, and then stopped and I’m yet to get around to continuing) is a sort of comedy drama.
10. As a writer, do you think actions speak louder than words? Well I’ve always been taught to show not tell…so yeah. I’ve quite recently got in to writing screenplays instead of short stories or poems like I used to, and because I generally write to direct I imagine directing it as a film while I write, and I find actions are more visually pleasing and make for a better film all round, rather than have everything spoken.
11. What is your favourite quote and why? There are so many and yet the moment someone asks, all the quotes I ever remembered just completely leave my memory!  So I’ll just go with a quote from one of my favourite films Kiss Kiss Bang Bang “(Harmony) ‘Well, for starters, she’s been fucked more times than she’s had a hot meals.’  (Harry) ‘Yeah, I heard about that. It was neck-and-neck and then she skipped lunch.”  – that quote cracked me up for some reason!

So, here’s my eleven questions for my eleven victims nominees. I’m going to keep it fun because I’m really not a serious person!

1. If you could be any animal, alive or extinct, what would you be and why?
2. What is one of the funniest things you said/did as a child?
3. If you won a million pounds on the lottery, what would you do with it?
4. Describe your personality in three words…
5. What is your dream career…if money and all other factors weren’t an issue?
6. If your house was burning down (and let’s assume all your family and pets are safe, and no one is stuck inside) what one thing would you go in and save?
7. If you could be a superhero for a day, what super power would you choose?
8. If you could move house to anywhere in the world, where would you choose and why?
9. What is/was your favourite school/college subject?
10. Where do you see yourself in ten years time?
11. And finally, why DID the chicken cross the road?

I told you I wasn’t a serious person!

So my eleven nominees are;

1. Katie-Marie Lynch 
2. Meera Darji
3. Fiona Lockwood
4. Laura Chambler
5. Nicole Basran
6. Parlour of Horror
7. Tranquil Dreams
8. Hard Ticket to Home Video
9. The IPC
10. Tim’s Film Reviews
11. Serendipity 

Answering these questions from the comfort of my bed, and managed to force a smile for a pic 😉 Otherwise I have a very grumpy face when I’m tired!