#WritersCoffeeClub (Sep) 1: Intro: Shameless Self Promotion.
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JK Rowling has become a transphobic horror, but remember how much the popularity of the Harry Potter books drove interest in reading back in the early 2000s? Well, practically every writer is trying to do the same thing. We'd almost all love to get that popular, and have so many people clamoring to read our books! 2/4
Problems in the publishing industry? We're generally *aware of* them, and have strong opinions, and *would love* to have things be different... but how much power do we have to make those changes? They'd require changes in society as a whole — much like the problems of illiteracy and poverty and right-wing attacks on libraries (and bibliophilia and literacy). 3/4
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Problems in the publishing industry? We're generally *aware of* them, and have strong opinions, and *would love* to have things be different... but how much power do we have to make those changes? They'd require changes in society as a whole — much like the problems of illiteracy and poverty and right-wing attacks on libraries (and bibliophilia and literacy). 3/4
I don't know of any writers who wouldn't *love* a world where people are reading lots more, and books are more easily available, and where reading is held in higher regard than it is right now. But expecting us to fix the whole goddamn world is a helluva burden to place on shoulders that I don't think are the right ones to target with this. 4/4
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I don't know of any writers who wouldn't *love* a world where people are reading lots more, and books are more easily available, and where reading is held in higher regard than it is right now. But expecting us to fix the whole goddamn world is a helluva burden to place on shoulders that I don't think are the right ones to target with this. 4/4
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 24: What does your narrator sound like in your mind?
A "fairly neutral" voice, which I put in quotes for good reason: *to me*, that means one that speaks in General American English, in a baritone or tenor register (or possibly alto — but either way, with fairly few gender clues).
The fact that my own voice is baritone, and my dialect is GAE, is not coincidental here. I'm not saying my narrator voice is *my* voice specifically, but it's… close.
[Edit: nope; this is 1/3]
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 24: What does your narrator sound like in your mind?
A "fairly neutral" voice, which I put in quotes for good reason: *to me*, that means one that speaks in General American English, in a baritone or tenor register (or possibly alto — but either way, with fairly few gender clues).
The fact that my own voice is baritone, and my dialect is GAE, is not coincidental here. I'm not saying my narrator voice is *my* voice specifically, but it's… close.
[Edit: nope; this is 1/3]
Actually, hang on, that's not *entirely* true. A lot of my writing is close 3rd person. And one of the reasons why is that the "narration" can take on some of the POV character's voice.
So in the vignette I wrote last night, from the POV of Jessie Nakamura back when she was in college, there are some parts that are italicized, literally her thoughts... but there are also some that are roman/normal, but still using some her vocal rhythms and vocabulary. 2/3
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Actually, hang on, that's not *entirely* true. A lot of my writing is close 3rd person. And one of the reasons why is that the "narration" can take on some of the POV character's voice.
So in the vignette I wrote last night, from the POV of Jessie Nakamura back when she was in college, there are some parts that are italicized, literally her thoughts... but there are also some that are roman/normal, but still using some her vocal rhythms and vocabulary. 2/3
Naturally, that doesn't happen all the time. Scene-setting, for example, is generally in my "neutral" narrator voice. And I think one of the strengths of close 3rd is precisely its flexibility: you can back off and be "neutral", *3rd* person, not 1st, but if you want to, you can also get really close to 1st person, with its intimacy and personality.
So I like that best-of-both-worlds flexibility, but it does also mean that "my narrator's voice" is *highly variable*. 3/3
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Naturally, that doesn't happen all the time. Scene-setting, for example, is generally in my "neutral" narrator voice. And I think one of the strengths of close 3rd is precisely its flexibility: you can back off and be "neutral", *3rd* person, not 1st, but if you want to, you can also get really close to 1st person, with its intimacy and personality.
So I like that best-of-both-worlds flexibility, but it does also mean that "my narrator's voice" is *highly variable*. 3/3
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 25: What are the top five things people say when you tell them you're a writer?
Honestly, it's almost all some close variant on, "That's cool/interesting. Tell me something about (the kinds of stuff you usually write/the book you're writing now)." So far, nothing has really wandered very far from that basic idea.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 25: What are the top five things people say when you tell them you're a writer?
Honestly, it's almost all some close variant on, "That's cool/interesting. Tell me something about (the kinds of stuff you usually write/the book you're writing now)." So far, nothing has really wandered very far from that basic idea.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 26: How much time elapses between your WIP's first and last chapter?
About 7½ months. (Maybe closer to 7 months and 3 weeks?)
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 26: How much time elapses between your WIP's first and last chapter?
About 7½ months. (Maybe closer to 7 months and 3 weeks?)
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 27: What's the longest period of writer's block you've suffered, or do you not suffer?
I guess I'd have to say I don't suffer from it. I've had a few stretches of up to 3 or 4 days where I didn't work on the book because I was busy with other things, or tired, or sick, but I don't think of that as "writer's block". Just as being tired sometimes.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 27: What's the longest period of writer's block you've suffered, or do you not suffer?
I guess I'd have to say I don't suffer from it. I've had a few stretches of up to 3 or 4 days where I didn't work on the book because I was busy with other things, or tired, or sick, but I don't think of that as "writer's block". Just as being tired sometimes.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 28: What audio/visual artistic work (TV, movie, play, painting etc.) has been the biggest influence on your writing?
I think it'd have to be noir and neo-noir cinema in general. Not any particular film, but the genre and its conventions and style as a whole.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 28: What audio/visual artistic work (TV, movie, play, painting etc.) has been the biggest influence on your writing?
I think it'd have to be noir and neo-noir cinema in general. Not any particular film, but the genre and its conventions and style as a whole.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 29: If a video streaming platform were to make your WIP into a series, what would the soundtrack sound like?
It'd range widely, depending on the particular characters and scene. Prominent features, though, would be: hard rock; techno and minimalism; cool jazz, à la film noir; and hip-hop.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 29: If a video streaming platform were to make your WIP into a series, what would the soundtrack sound like?
It'd range widely, depending on the particular characters and scene. Prominent features, though, would be: hard rock; techno and minimalism; cool jazz, à la film noir; and hip-hop.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 30: If you're a pantser, have you tried plotting and vice versa?
I *think* I'm kind of in the middle? I've definitely done a fair amount of plotting, and a fair amount of pantsing.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 30: If you're a pantser, have you tried plotting and vice versa?
I *think* I'm kind of in the middle? I've definitely done a fair amount of plotting, and a fair amount of pantsing.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 1. Front Cover> Do you know what kind of cover you'd like for your WIP, or do you only know when it's finished? Share an example if you have one.
There was a question about how you envision your book's cover in WritingWonders, back before it was renamed. I said (at https://wandering.shop/@kagan/110107052596945004) that mine definitely needed some recognizable San Francisco skyline or setting, but I wasn't sure beyond that. That answer hasn't changed in the intervening 15 months. 1/2
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 1. Front Cover> Do you know what kind of cover you'd like for your WIP, or do you only know when it's finished? Share an example if you have one.
There was a question about how you envision your book's cover in WritingWonders, back before it was renamed. I said (at https://wandering.shop/@kagan/110107052596945004) that mine definitely needed some recognizable San Francisco skyline or setting, but I wasn't sure beyond that. That answer hasn't changed in the intervening 15 months. 1/2
It's gotta have San Francisco. Aside from that, I don't know if it needs any of the human characters or not — my assumption is that people respond better to covers that have human figures and particularly faces on them, but I'm not positive whether market research bears that out, and I've seen some book covers with really good designs that had no people in them.
Anyway, creating the cover design is something I mostly plan to leave to someone else — someone who's better at it than I am. 2/2
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It's gotta have San Francisco. Aside from that, I don't know if it needs any of the human characters or not — my assumption is that people respond better to covers that have human figures and particularly faces on them, but I'm not positive whether market research bears that out, and I've seen some book covers with really good designs that had no people in them.
Anyway, creating the cover design is something I mostly plan to leave to someone else — someone who's better at it than I am. 2/2
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 2. Half Title> When you complete your WIP, do you intend to have a Half Title (Bastard Page)? How do you feel about them?
I never heard of them before. I just looked up what they are, and I honestly don't give a damn. (Some sources speculate they're used to get the total number of pages to be a multiple of 16 when needed, for the binding process; if so, then I don't mind having or not having one based on my page count.)
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 2. Half Title> When you complete your WIP, do you intend to have a Half Title (Bastard Page)? How do you feel about them?
I never heard of them before. I just looked up what they are, and I honestly don't give a damn. (Some sources speculate they're used to get the total number of pages to be a multiple of 16 when needed, for the binding process; if so, then I don't mind having or not having one based on my page count.)
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 3. Title> Do you have a title for your WIP or just a working title. Please share. How do you decide on a title?
I don't even have a working title. It's really just "the book", "the San Francisco book" or "the city shamans book" in my head.
A couple of days ago in WordWeavers, I called it TITLE_TK. (https://wandering.shop/@kagan/112712428429386445) I really don't have anything else to call it. The one thing I did come up with once, I immediately rejected as wrong.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 3. Title> Do you have a title for your WIP or just a working title. Please share. How do you decide on a title?
I don't even have a working title. It's really just "the book", "the San Francisco book" or "the city shamans book" in my head.
A couple of days ago in WordWeavers, I called it TITLE_TK. (https://wandering.shop/@kagan/112712428429386445) I really don't have anything else to call it. The one thing I did come up with once, I immediately rejected as wrong.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 4. Front Matter> Do you have standard front matter (copyright, TOC, promotion, etc.) that you'll apply to this WIP, or does it vary between projects? Share your design.
I'll leave that up to the publisher. I hope* to title the chapters, and if so, I'll recommend that there be a TOC (as long as none of the chapter titles turn out to be spoilers!). Otherwise, I'm fairly apathetic.
* Hope to. Might not be able to. Titles are tough for me. See yesterday's post.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 4. Front Matter> Do you have standard front matter (copyright, TOC, promotion, etc.) that you'll apply to this WIP, or does it vary between projects? Share your design.
I'll leave that up to the publisher. I hope* to title the chapters, and if so, I'll recommend that there be a TOC (as long as none of the chapter titles turn out to be spoilers!). Otherwise, I'm fairly apathetic.
* Hope to. Might not be able to. Titles are tough for me. See yesterday's post.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 5. Font and Format> Do you have a favourite font you'll use for the WIP? How do you format the paragraphs, chapters, scene breaks, etc?
Again, I plan to have a publisher who isn't me (because publishers can do *marketing*, which I both hate doing *and* am bad at). I assume the publisher will have fonts and formats they prefer, and I don't have strong feelings about those. (Except that it should be easy to read. For Goddess' sake, serif fonts for long, printed passages!)
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 5. Font and Format> Do you have a favourite font you'll use for the WIP? How do you format the paragraphs, chapters, scene breaks, etc?
Again, I plan to have a publisher who isn't me (because publishers can do *marketing*, which I both hate doing *and* am bad at). I assume the publisher will have fonts and formats they prefer, and I don't have strong feelings about those. (Except that it should be easy to read. For Goddess' sake, serif fonts for long, printed passages!)
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 6. Prologue> Does/will your WIP have a prologue. Share a snippet if you've written one. How do you feel about prologues?
Nope, this one starts off by getting right into... well, not *action* exactly, it's more of an internal event. But the book plunges into that without any prologue.
I don't mind them on principle, but this book doesn't want or need one.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 6. Prologue> Does/will your WIP have a prologue. Share a snippet if you've written one. How do you feel about prologues?
Nope, this one starts off by getting right into... well, not *action* exactly, it's more of an internal event. But the book plunges into that without any prologue.
I don't mind them on principle, but this book doesn't want or need one.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 7. Structure> Do you structure your WIP into chapters/sections as you write? Do you use Epigraphs?
I'm not at the writing stage yet, more outlining, but yes, I'm already structuring the story/outline into chapters. Partly because I change character POVs from chapter to chapter, so knowing whose chapter it is determines what events I can and can't tell.
This book doesn't seem to want epigraphs. I might use them in a future project; I'll see.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 7. Structure> Do you structure your WIP into chapters/sections as you write? Do you use Epigraphs?
I'm not at the writing stage yet, more outlining, but yes, I'm already structuring the story/outline into chapters. Partly because I change character POVs from chapter to chapter, so knowing whose chapter it is determines what events I can and can't tell.
This book doesn't seem to want epigraphs. I might use them in a future project; I'll see.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 8. First Line> Share the opening of your work. First line or paragraph, Your choice.
I don't have the specific prose yet (still outlining, as per yesterday), but it will start with the bells of the San Francisco Ferry Building chiming the half-hour. The sound rolls over various Downtown landmarks, and also over Jessie Nakamura, one of my MCs.
Gli ultimi otto messaggi ricevuti dalla Federazione
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Un numero, a mio parere, spaventoso. E che io 56enne capisco solo superficialmente. In Italia 200mila #hikikomori, impatto maggiore su ragazze tra i 13-15 anni https://www.rainews.it/articoli/2026/03/in-italia-200mila-hikikomori-impatto-maggiore-su-ragazze-tra-i-13-15-anni-la-ricerca-e913dc31-50f6-4d0d-8f2d-46fdf36d91c2.html
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@timbray my previous job was building greenhouse gas inventories.
Data centres are responsible for about 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions. AI is responsible for about 15% of the data centre emissions, or about 0.15% of global emissions.
People who talk about AI burning up the planet don't spend a lot of time thinking about what's really burning up the planet: fossil fuels for transportation and heating, deforestation, and cattle.
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> do not take a lot of power
@raphael ... any more...
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@timbray When a new data centre is built it will take resources from the utility or add its own new generation. In the Bad Place (and many other places) this means it's likely adding new fossil fuel consumption infrastructure and increasing carbon emissions. Until recently that country was matching growth in utility generation with renewables: growth was 'green'. That has changed due to their stupidity and due to unregulated new generation like Musk's data centre(s) etc.
It's a bit dumb to say cars are worse because while yes they are, in sane countries we are starting to manage that problem well with electrification, changes to the fleet.
New data centres are generally bad, because they are designed to generate slop for the enrichment of the already very harmfully wealthy class and because they require new power generation that is almost certainly not coming from renewables.
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@timbray Is it just me, or do the guys doing the calculations on "entire energy consumption for an LLM programmer versus a human programmer" seem worryingly close to declaring that entire subsections of the population aren't worth the energy consumption, could be replaced by "AI", and would happily suggest culling them as if the only value of a person is lines of code generated 😐
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@timbray That number for LLM energy is bullshit, and the source in that thread appears to be something Sam Altman blogged, who as we know is someone who never just makes stuff up. (His post reads like ChatGPT voice, which of course it is) There is some severe weaseling be off by at least an order of magnitude—maybe the average query is "What day is it". Non-trivial queries light up 5-10kW of rack and that runs for significantly longer than seconds. This is roughly the same as a moving EV car.
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Nichilismo schizoide: quando politica e media cancellano la logica
