Call me silly, but I sometimes take quizzes or watch videos like this that tell me what my car color, sleep habits, or choice of donut allegedly says about me. (I’ll bet you thought I was kidding about the donut. Look here.) Do you look at quizzes or videos like these? I didn’t learn as much about myself as the above video promised I would learn. If you don’t care to watch the video or can’t for some reason, it’s all about sleep positions. In case you’re wondering, I start off on my side, but somehow wind up on my back when I wake up in the morning. I’m not sure what that says about me. That I have commitment issues?
This is my donut of choice: a chocolate cake donut.
Side sleeping is what the majority of people do (54%). At last I’m part of the in crowd. According to the doctor on the video, you can train yourself to sleep in a particular position. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like too much work. Yet I can see the benefits to it, especially if snoring is involved.
I’ve also seen videos and blog posts where experts state that you can train yourself to dream a certain way. My natural bent toward laziness rebels against that.
And then there are quizzes that tell you which fictional character you’re like or which fictional environment or faction best suits you. Like this or this. (No training is involved.) I don’t know about you, but I don’t always tell the complete truth when I take a quiz like this. If I know the desired person, environment, or group (Dauntless; Batman; Wolverine; Black Widow; Gryffindor; Aragorn; Rivendell; Harry Potter), I’ll tailor my answers to fit that person or group. Hey, I don’t want to end up in Slytherin. And I’m too selfish for Abnegation. But for some reason, no matter how many answers I fake, every time I take the superhero quiz, I wind up as Superman.
That’s me for both. (The fiery symbol is the symbol for Dauntless.) I’d better get used to the color yellow.
One test I’m tempted to lie on but don’t is the Mary Sue Litmus Test for fictional characters. You can find it here. Unsure what a Mary Sue or a Gary Stu is? Go here. The test is to help you gauge whether or not your character is too idealized. It also provides tips to help you develop stronger characters.
A Mary Sue. But if your characters are fairies or angels, don’t let this stop you. Just keep on truckin’.
My natural writing bent is toward the convenient, so making the effort to go beyond a Mary Sue has been challenging. It mainly involves letting my characters suffer instead of protecting them like a Mother Hen. That’s not pleasant. But I know that in the end, my novel will benefit from the effort I put into making my characters strong. Now if I can only figure out their sleep positions/Divergent factions/Hogwarts houses, my work would be complete.
Donut from Wikipedia. Woman asleep from theaustintimes.com. Gryffindor crest from zazzle.com.Dauntless symbol from first-jumperr.tumblr.com. Christian Bale as Batman from comicvine.com. Superman logo from thehummusoffensive.blogspot.com. Mary Sue image from lydiakang.blogspot.com.
El Space--The Blog of L. Marie 
I used to do the character/faction quizzes. There was always that one question where I couldn’t find a good answer, so picked one at random. So, what if one doesn’t have a favorite donut flavor?
Many of those quizzes have choices I wouldn’t make. Yet we’re forced to choose one of them, even though the answer is “none of the above.” I wish quiz makers would take that into consideration, at least for those of us who cheat regularly. Maybe we wouldn’t cheat so much. Oh who am I kidding? I plan to keep cheating on those quizzes.
I usually do it honestly the first time and then a second time to aim an option I may have wanted. Kind of takes the magic away.
I love the list of Mary Sue qualities, especially hidden secret underpants. I’m still puzzling out how those work. Also, I LOVE that you come out as Superman! That’s just too awesome.
I’m wondering that too. The pooping gold though could come in handy when one is broke.
I wanted to be Batman. He’s my favorite. 🙂 I guess I’m not brooding enough. I have too much of the Golden Retriever in me I guess.
I haven’t eaten a donut in years, but the chocolate cake donuts were definitely my favorite. I used to sleep on my stomach, but after two back surgeries, I’ve learned to sleep on my side. We all know you’re Superwoman!
Ha! Thanks, Jill. 🙂
I knew we were twins separated at birth! The chocolate cake donut rules!
I wish I could say that years have passed since I’ve eaten a donut. . . . Actually, come to think of it, I haven’t had one in over a month. That’s a new record for me. I used to bring donuts weekly at my last job.
Of course, you’re super!!
I used to take all kinds of quizzes online, until my inner-paranoid took over. The Mary Sue one is really interesting, though. I’ll definitely use it. Thanks for sharing, Linda.
Awww. 🙂
Yes, the Mary Sue test is a good one. I’m usually tempted to go the fancy-eyes route with characters. Then I look at the test and slap myself on the wrist. The hardest aspect to conquer, at least for me, is to allow my character to be disliked by others or thoroughly humiliated. I have a hard trouble with both myself!
Side sleeping is the how all the cool kids do it.
And I’m thankful to be one of them . . . at least part of the night. If I could stop flipping over like a pancake, I would be all the way cool.
Most people sleep on their sides?! *shocked face*
I would have thought stomach sleepers would be in the majority. Nope. That’s sooooo last season.
*laughs* I’m not sure which one I am. Maybe…all?
Fun Fact: 9 out of 10 Supermen (and Mother Hens) prefer chocolate cake donuts!
I knew I was on to something! 😀
I gave up on the quizzes because I always got the same answer no matter what I did. And now that I have to read 180 books by December 29, I don’t have time to do anything else but read.
Oh my word! Well, I’m rooting for you!
I must be a well-rounded individual (in more ways then one), because I choose ALL the donuts. 🙂 Never met a donut I didn’t like…
Thanks for the link on the Mary Sue quiz too. That will come in handy!
You’re welcome! The test is pretty thorough. Long after you’re tired of answering questions, you’ll discover yet another section of them waiting to be answered.
If push came to shove and there was an open box of donus nearby, I would choose most of them. I’m not a fan of the cream-filled or jelly-filled donuts. Blecch!
Great post, Superman! I do the quizzes sometimes, but not always. And I usually find questions I can’t answer and just have to choose something. I sleep on either my side or my back. A yoga instructor once told me that some yogi recommended lying on your back when you first go to bed, then shifting to your left side for the same length of time as you were on your back, then shifting to your right side to fall asleep. I started doing that a long time ago–although I don’t time myself–so it’s just habit now. I fall asleep on my right side, but, like you, I often wake up on my back.
So, we’re supposed to shift from side to side? I sometimes do that, but only when I’m having trouble falling asleep. But I seldom start on my back. It’s usually one side or the other.
That Mary Sue quiz looks super useful! Thanks for passing it along. Like Charles, I give up on these quizzes because I never seem to fit into their binary world of choices…it’s like being Two-Face instead of Superman. 😉
You’re welcome!
I should give up on the quizzes, because what’s the point if I refuse to be honest?
I also love taking quizzes – it always seems a bit silly to have a quiz tell you about yourself, but it’s so much fun.
The Mary Sue quiz is a great one, it’s so easy to wind up coddling characters. I read a book by Mieville recently (Perdido Street Station – fantastic book) and boy does he put his characters through the meat grinder! It works though, I was so tense, I was practically shouting at the book!
China Miéville is pretty awesome. I enjoyed his YA book Un Lun Dun. Did you read that one?
Yeah the Mary Sue quiz is great for keeping things real with characters.