#WritersCoffeeClub (Sep) 1: Intro: Shameless Self Promotion.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 6: Where is your book listed?
Nowehere, the first draft isn't written yet.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 7: What genre are you least likely to write? Why?
Westerns and military sci-fi both bore me to tears. Ergo, I wouldn't want to write either of them.
[Edited to Add: I have been reminded that there is at least one, and maybe multiple, genres of Christian... I dunno, stuff? Anyway, I'd be far less inclined to write that, having never been Christian.]
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 7: What genre are you least likely to write? Why?
Westerns and military sci-fi both bore me to tears. Ergo, I wouldn't want to write either of them.
[Edited to Add: I have been reminded that there is at least one, and maybe multiple, genres of Christian... I dunno, stuff? Anyway, I'd be far less inclined to write that, having never been Christian.]
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 8: The Hero's Journey is garbage. Discuss.
Nah, not the Hero's Journey itself. But the idea that it's the best or only way to structure a story? Yeah, that's garbage. So is the attempt to hammer stories that clearly don't fit it into that mold anyway (whether that be while writing, or while analyzing an existing work).
The HJ itself is kinda mid. Its fan club, though... they're the reason I generally hate the thing (and am restraining myself from an anti-HJ rant rn). 1/3
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 8: The Hero's Journey is garbage. Discuss.
Nah, not the Hero's Journey itself. But the idea that it's the best or only way to structure a story? Yeah, that's garbage. So is the attempt to hammer stories that clearly don't fit it into that mold anyway (whether that be while writing, or while analyzing an existing work).
The HJ itself is kinda mid. Its fan club, though... they're the reason I generally hate the thing (and am restraining myself from an anti-HJ rant rn). 1/3
New addition: Having seen some posts with more info on the Hero's Journey that I didn't previously know... never mind, both the Hero's Journey *and* the idea that it's the best/only way to structure a story are garbage. Wow. It's just garbage all the way down. Hot garbage.
(Why is there no "flaming dumpster" emoji? We need one!) 2/3
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New addition: Having seen some posts with more info on the Hero's Journey that I didn't previously know... never mind, both the Hero's Journey *and* the idea that it's the best/only way to structure a story are garbage. Wow. It's just garbage all the way down. Hot garbage.
(Why is there no "flaming dumpster" emoji? We need one!) 2/3
Something I just read points out that "On the very first page of the prologue of The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Campbell explicitly claims that all stories from all cultures follow the exact same outline", so I'll stop blaming HJ/Campbell fanboys, and just blame Joseph Campbell himself.
Fuck this garbage. 3/3
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Something I just read points out that "On the very first page of the prologue of The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Campbell explicitly claims that all stories from all cultures follow the exact same outline", so I'll stop blaming HJ/Campbell fanboys, and just blame Joseph Campbell himself.
Fuck this garbage. 3/3
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 9: Do you go to book festivals?
No. (Not yet? Maybe I will when I'm published? What happens at them, anyway?)
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 9: Do you go to book festivals?
No. (Not yet? Maybe I will when I'm published? What happens at them, anyway?)
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 10: Do your characters have birthdays or anniversaries during your story?"
One of my MCs, Jessie, has her 30th birthday near the end of the book. Her dread of it as it approaches is an important part of her plotline.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 10: Do your characters have birthdays or anniversaries during your story?"
One of my MCs, Jessie, has her 30th birthday near the end of the book. Her dread of it as it approaches is an important part of her plotline.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 11: Do you write old-school or digital? A mix?
Digital. My handwriting sucks, and writing by hand makes my hand cramp within 5 minutes.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 11: Do you write old-school or digital? A mix?
Digital. My handwriting sucks, and writing by hand makes my hand cramp within 5 minutes.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 12: How do you visualise a scene when writing it?
By using my imagination?
A mix of "from the character's POV" and "as if it were a movie"?
I'm not sure I understand what this question is asking.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 12: How do you visualise a scene when writing it?
By using my imagination?
A mix of "from the character's POV" and "as if it were a movie"?
I'm not sure I understand what this question is asking.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 13: Do you reuse characters?
I haven't had the opportunity to yet.
If my WIP becomes a trilogy, does having a few characters from book 1 show up in book 3 count as "reuse", or is that just a completely expected thing?
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 13: Do you reuse characters?
I haven't had the opportunity to yet.
If my WIP becomes a trilogy, does having a few characters from book 1 show up in book 3 count as "reuse", or is that just a completely expected thing?
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 14: Do you read non-fiction, and if so, for pleasure, research or both?
Not really.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 14: Do you read non-fiction, and if so, for pleasure, research or both?
Not really.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 15: Name-check any Writers' Coffee Club members who've inspired you or helped you in the last year.
@orionkidder gave me some good advice a few weeks back.
[Edited to add: I swear, I wrote this when I first saw the prompt, *before* I saw him name-checking me!]
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 15: Name-check any Writers' Coffee Club members who've inspired you or helped you in the last year.
@orionkidder gave me some good advice a few weeks back.
[Edited to add: I swear, I wrote this when I first saw the prompt, *before* I saw him name-checking me!]
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 16: Name-check your cover artist, even if it's yourself. Share your best cover.
I don't have a cover yet, that's way premature.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 16: Name-check your cover artist, even if it's yourself. Share your best cover.
I don't have a cover yet, that's way premature.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 17: Do you agree with Somerset Maugham, who said, "There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are."
No. I think huge numbers of people "know" what the rules of writing are... and they disagree with each other on most of the particulars.
Luckily, there are lots of other people who realize that guidelines beat the heck out of rules.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 17: Do you agree with Somerset Maugham, who said, "There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are."
No. I think huge numbers of people "know" what the rules of writing are... and they disagree with each other on most of the particulars.
Luckily, there are lots of other people who realize that guidelines beat the heck out of rules.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 18: Do you believe the magic happens in the edit, or do you have a different approach?
I think it can happen at many stages of the process.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 18: Do you believe the magic happens in the edit, or do you have a different approach?
I think it can happen at many stages of the process.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 19: Do you include bodily functions in your stories (do your characters poo)?
If they're relevant, sure. Otherwise? Skip 'em, just like you'd skip anything else that's extraneous.
(In most of what I'm writing, they're really not relevant. But I can imagine situations where they might be.)
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 19: Do you include bodily functions in your stories (do your characters poo)?
If they're relevant, sure. Otherwise? Skip 'em, just like you'd skip anything else that's extraneous.
(In most of what I'm writing, they're really not relevant. But I can imagine situations where they might be.)
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 20: how do you commemorate hitting a milestone?
I haven't yet hit any milestone that I felt was worth commemorating with more than just taking a moment or two to go, "Okay, cool, *that's* off my plate... now what?"
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 20: how do you commemorate hitting a milestone?
I haven't yet hit any milestone that I felt was worth commemorating with more than just taking a moment or two to go, "Okay, cool, *that's* off my plate... now what?"
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 21: Do you ever get inspiration from dreams?
I rarely remember my dreams, except when they're particularly bizarre. I do sometimes think about my WIP and world in my sleep, though, and ISTR that I've once or twice made a little bit of progress that way.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 21: Do you ever get inspiration from dreams?
I rarely remember my dreams, except when they're particularly bizarre. I do sometimes think about my WIP and world in my sleep, though, and ISTR that I've once or twice made a little bit of progress that way.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 22: Would you ever pay for a review? Or have you? Do you feel it's worth it?
Is this a thing that can be done in a way that isn't, for lack of a better term, sketchy or dubious? Is paying for reviews an accepted practice?
Maybe I'm betraying my lack of knowledge of the publishing field, but my initial thought was that that sounds incredibly unethical. But the matter-of-fact phrasing of the question suggests that it's standard. So, what am I missing here?
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 22: Would you ever pay for a review? Or have you? Do you feel it's worth it?
Is this a thing that can be done in a way that isn't, for lack of a better term, sketchy or dubious? Is paying for reviews an accepted practice?
Maybe I'm betraying my lack of knowledge of the publishing field, but my initial thought was that that sounds incredibly unethical. But the matter-of-fact phrasing of the question suggests that it's standard. So, what am I missing here?
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 23: Ursula K Le Guin said that Earthsea began when she drew a map. What's your starting point?
For my WIP, it was loving cities and feeling them as alive, and wanting to do something with that.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 23: Ursula K Le Guin said that Earthsea began when she drew a map. What's your starting point?
For my WIP, it was loving cities and feeling them as alive, and wanting to do something with that.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 24: How do you feel about fan fiction?
About reading it? About writing it? About other people writing it about other people's works? Or about other people writing it about *my* works?
I'm not too interested in writing it myself. I have hardly enough time to write "my own" stuff, in my own worlds; I can't spare any to write stuff set in other people's worlds. 1/3