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1. Are you an ‘ideas person’? How easy do you find it to creatively tackle a problem?
a) Ideas from me come two a penny, take them or leave them.
b) I’ve got lots of ideas but try to filter out the unworkable ones before I go public.
c) I take my inspiration from all around me. My ideas are usually a development of something else I’ve seen.
2. What sort of writing experience do you have?
a) I write regularly for the local paper and get my articles published on all sorts of websites.
b) I write anywhere and anyhow I can: I take pleasure in crafting letters to my friends, and don’t often send text messages.
c) Writing is not my forte. I just don’t seem to get motivated.
3. How organised are you? Do you spend time planning or just launch straight in?
a) I just let the creative juices flow.
b) The hard work is all up front, in the planning. It’s tough, but creates the scaffold for building my writing around it.
c) I can see some sort of method to my thoughts and have a rough idea of how my work will end up.
4. What does a deadline mean to you?
a) What day is it? What time is it?
b) I’ve got so much on, it’s a difficult juggling act.
c) If I say I’ll do something by a particular date, I’ll do it.
5. When you spot an error in a book or on a website, what’s your reaction?
a) Torment – I want to get my red pen out. I apply the same rigour to my own writing, too.
b) I might notice it, but feel slightly irritated by the pedant who wants to point it out.
c) I never even check my own work, never mind someone else’s.
6. What about getting ‘out there’ and promoting your ideas on a bigger stage: are you any good at that?
a) I’m often asked to do presentations – and really enjoy it.
b) I go to lots of conferences and events and love talking about my work.
c) Meeting new people and talking to groups of people is not something I find easy.
7. Communication matters in publishing. Not only words on a page or on a screen, but listening to what others can bring to the team.
a) I’m always interested in what others have to say, and if I can learn, I will.
b) I’m often bored by what others have to say.
c) I’m usually working on my own and like it that way.
8. How visual are you? Can you see in your own mind what your reader will see?
a) I’ll focus on the words, someone else can think about the pictures.
b) I have a good image in my own mind of what the page will look like when I’m writing.
c) It’s just important for me to get everything on the page that’s inside my head.
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