#WritersCoffeeClub (Sep) 1: Intro: Shameless Self Promotion.
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I can't imagine that a mere two drafts would be enough to have it in submittable condition, so I guess setting "submit it for publication" as a goal for 2025 would probably be very foolish. Which truly sucks. I want this thing out there, in the world, so people can enjoy it! 2/2
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 2: Have you ever made up something in a story which has come true in real life?
Not yet, no.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 2: Have you ever made up something in a story which has come true in real life?
Not yet, no.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 3: What form do your stories take? Flash, short, novella, novel or other?
Novels. I'm writing vignettes for practice, but they're not really "full stories" in my opinion, they're just snippets or scenes or suchlike.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 3: What form do your stories take? Flash, short, novella, novel or other?
Novels. I'm writing vignettes for practice, but they're not really "full stories" in my opinion, they're just snippets or scenes or suchlike.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 4: As a writer, what do you get from social media?
Conversation and maybe even a little bit of community with other writers.
Maybe someday it can also be a channel to advertise or promote myself, but that'd be way premature at this stage.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 4: As a writer, what do you get from social media?
Conversation and maybe even a little bit of community with other writers.
Maybe someday it can also be a channel to advertise or promote myself, but that'd be way premature at this stage.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 5: January can be a dull month (especially in the UK). What’s your worst writing month, and why?
I don't have a general month of the year that's bad. This particular year, November was kind of bad for my writing, but that's because it was a particularly bad month for my mental health in general, due to the awful US election results.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 5: January can be a dull month (especially in the UK). What’s your worst writing month, and why?
I don't have a general month of the year that's bad. This particular year, November was kind of bad for my writing, but that's because it was a particularly bad month for my mental health in general, due to the awful US election results.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 6: What’s your current writing project? How’s it going?
The urban fantasy novel about people who can talk to the spirit of the City and do magic as a result, the one I've been talking about since I got on Mastodon in the first place.
It's going... far more slowly than I'd like. But it is going.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 6: What’s your current writing project? How’s it going?
The urban fantasy novel about people who can talk to the spirit of the City and do magic as a result, the one I've been talking about since I got on Mastodon in the first place.
It's going... far more slowly than I'd like. But it is going.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 7: What are your biggest hopes for the writing world in 2025?
I have a fair amount of hope that it'll continue rejecting attempts to cram AI down everyone's throats. I also hope that smaller publishing houses thrive and prosper.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 7: What are your biggest hopes for the writing world in 2025?
I have a fair amount of hope that it'll continue rejecting attempts to cram AI down everyone's throats. I also hope that smaller publishing houses thrive and prosper.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 8: Do you agree with Samuel Johnson, who said, “No man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money”?
Regardless of who said that or what the context was, no. I disagree with the basic proposition. What kind of grind/hustle-culture bullshit is that? Not everything needs to be monetized.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 8: Do you agree with Samuel Johnson, who said, “No man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money”?
Regardless of who said that or what the context was, no. I disagree with the basic proposition. What kind of grind/hustle-culture bullshit is that? Not everything needs to be monetized.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 9: Do you borrow settings, plots or characters from other works (without plagiarism)?
I'm not borrowing any of those at the moment, but I *am* borrowing (and slightly tweaking) a particular book from another work. It'll be a noticeable homage to that work, which is set in San Francisco.
And that's all I'm saying about that until it's published.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 9: Do you borrow settings, plots or characters from other works (without plagiarism)?
I'm not borrowing any of those at the moment, but I *am* borrowing (and slightly tweaking) a particular book from another work. It'll be a noticeable homage to that work, which is set in San Francisco.
And that's all I'm saying about that until it's published.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 10: Do you use dream sequences in your work? How do you feel about them?
Curiously, I've wound up in a situation where, because of some stuff about how magic works, certain characters *must* be getting prophetic dreams. So I'll need to depict at least 1 or 2 of those on the page, although more can simply be described after the fact. 1/2
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 10: Do you use dream sequences in your work? How do you feel about them?
Curiously, I've wound up in a situation where, because of some stuff about how magic works, certain characters *must* be getting prophetic dreams. So I'll need to depict at least 1 or 2 of those on the page, although more can simply be described after the fact. 1/2
In general, I'm a little wary of dream sequences, as they're easy to do poorly — especially for beginning and less-skilled writers.
I plan to approach mine carefully, and with respect for their difficulties and the ramifications of getting them wrong. 2/2
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In general, I'm a little wary of dream sequences, as they're easy to do poorly — especially for beginning and less-skilled writers.
I plan to approach mine carefully, and with respect for their difficulties and the ramifications of getting them wrong. 2/2
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 11: Do you write or imagine a backstory for your secondary characters, or do they pop into existence as required?
Absolutely the former. I figure out how old they are, where they're from, what they like to do in their spare time, all that kind of thing.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 11: Do you write or imagine a backstory for your secondary characters, or do they pop into existence as required?
Absolutely the former. I figure out how old they are, where they're from, what they like to do in their spare time, all that kind of thing.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 12: Do characters use words not in the language you write in? Italics for this, or not?
Nearly all of my characters speak at least two languages. In fact, using a non-native language can be useful in spellcasting in my world, since it forces you to concentrate more on your words.
Also, 3 of my 5 MCs are *natively* bilingual. 1/2
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 12: Do characters use words not in the language you write in? Italics for this, or not?
Nearly all of my characters speak at least two languages. In fact, using a non-native language can be useful in spellcasting in my world, since it forces you to concentrate more on your words.
Also, 3 of my 5 MCs are *natively* bilingual. 1/2
My current plan is to use italics when a character speaks a language that is a "second" language for them, but if they speak a language that's native for them, I plan to keep it in Roman lettering. In a sense, italics will mean "a language unfamiliar enough to its speaker that they could use it for spellcasting." I realize the effects will be a bit non-standard, but I think it'll be worth it, and subtle enough not to be jarring for most people. (Editors, OTOH, are a rare and special breed…) 2/2
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My current plan is to use italics when a character speaks a language that is a "second" language for them, but if they speak a language that's native for them, I plan to keep it in Roman lettering. In a sense, italics will mean "a language unfamiliar enough to its speaker that they could use it for spellcasting." I realize the effects will be a bit non-standard, but I think it'll be worth it, and subtle enough not to be jarring for most people. (Editors, OTOH, are a rare and special breed…) 2/2
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 13: What’s your favourite trope? Do you lean into it for your work or shy away?
I don't have single favorite things. But I'll pick one from among the many tropes I like:
Five-Man Band. I'm very much leaning into it for this WIP. And also doing some non-standard things with it.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FiveManBand (Beware, TV Tropes links can eat your entire day!)
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 13: What’s your favourite trope? Do you lean into it for your work or shy away?
I don't have single favorite things. But I'll pick one from among the many tropes I like:
Five-Man Band. I'm very much leaning into it for this WIP. And also doing some non-standard things with it.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FiveManBand (Beware, TV Tropes links can eat your entire day!)
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 14: Are you a pantser or a plotter? Have you always been this way? What brought you here?
I seem to be way more of a plotter at this point, but I'm hoping (and planning, haha) to do some pantsing once I get six chapters into this book.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 14: Are you a pantser or a plotter? Have you always been this way? What brought you here?
I seem to be way more of a plotter at this point, but I'm hoping (and planning, haha) to do some pantsing once I get six chapters into this book.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 15: Would you ever hide your politics to avoid alienating some readers?
No.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 15: Would you ever hide your politics to avoid alienating some readers?
No.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 16: How would you describe the way you create your stories to a non-writer?
I sit down at the keyboard and I start telling myself a story. Except that instead of saying it out loud, I type it.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 16: How would you describe the way you create your stories to a non-writer?
I sit down at the keyboard and I start telling myself a story. Except that instead of saying it out loud, I type it.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 17: What are your biggest fears for the writing world in 2025?
That it'll get bamboozled into accepting gen AI, either as "this will help us out somehow" (no, it won't, I assure you) or as "well, it's inevitable, so we might as well surrender to it." Nothing's inevitable! At least, not on its own! But it sure *becomes* inevitable if you just shrug and give up.
I'm not *very* afraid of this, but... a little. It'd really suck.
[Edit: Added following post. 1/2]
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 17: What are your biggest fears for the writing world in 2025?
That it'll get bamboozled into accepting gen AI, either as "this will help us out somehow" (no, it won't, I assure you) or as "well, it's inevitable, so we might as well surrender to it." Nothing's inevitable! At least, not on its own! But it sure *becomes* inevitable if you just shrug and give up.
I'm not *very* afraid of this, but... a little. It'd really suck.
[Edit: Added following post. 1/2]
I see lots of other people are talking about censorship. Yes, I'm worried about that! But I guess I interpreted the question as being about things *within* the publishing world. Politically-motivated censorship is an external force, so it just didn't enter my thoughts.
But I'm *far* more worried about that than I am that the writing world will buy into AI.
Also, I'm just now noticing that I took it as "publishing" world, but the prompt clearly says "writing". Oops. 2/2
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I see lots of other people are talking about censorship. Yes, I'm worried about that! But I guess I interpreted the question as being about things *within* the publishing world. Politically-motivated censorship is an external force, so it just didn't enter my thoughts.
But I'm *far* more worried about that than I am that the writing world will buy into AI.
Also, I'm just now noticing that I took it as "publishing" world, but the prompt clearly says "writing". Oops. 2/2
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 18: Would you serve as a judge for a literary award?
I suspect that would require taking a lot of time to read all the entries. If the award were for novel-length works, I don't think I'd have the time.
[Edited to Add: Also, https://writing.exchange/@orionkidder/113847602997228638 makes a very good point that I wish I'd also thought of.]
Gli ultimi otto messaggi ricevuti dalla Federazione
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@gian_d_gian @cagliari Cosa? 😂
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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.
