#WritersCoffeeClub (Sep) 1: Intro: Shameless Self Promotion.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 15: What’s the easiest emotion to write?

I don't see how any of them are any easier or harder than the others.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 16: Is there a writer who surprised you recently?

I can't think of any, no. (One very famous writer recently _disappointed_ me greatly, and I'm not remotely alone in that. But "surprised"? No, I can't say I was.)

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 17: How do you get proofreaders/editors if you don’t pay them?

If I were to be published by an existing publishing house (whether Big 5 or not), I assume the editors, proofreaders, and everyone else would be paid by the house, not by me. But they're still getting paid, and good! Their skills, experience, and labor are worth paying for! 1/2

[kagan@wandering.shop]

If I self-publish, I'll pay for proofreaders and editors myself. (I know how to proofread, and I'm decent at higher-level editing, though not up to professional spec. Either way, though, I know better than to proof *or* edit my own work. Not if I want it to be at the level of quality I want for a book published with my name on the cover. Cf. the adage about a lawyer who represents themself in court.)

Either way, that "if" is entirely, 100% counterfactual. Not gonna happen. 2/2

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 18: Do you agree with Flannery O’Connor, who said, “I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say.”

Well, *that* line raised my eyebrows. I think I may actually agree with it, at least sometimes. Definitely not all the time! Lots of times, I write to *express* what I already know I think. But there are lots of times when I'm wrestling with a problem of how to handle something, and... 1/2

[kagan@wandering.shop]

...as much as I ponder on it in my head, I seem to get nowhere until I sit down and start typing out my thoughts. Sometimes the writing helps me *focus* on what it is I'm thinking, so I can follow the flow instead of just spinning around in a tizzy. 2/2

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 19: Do some stories resonate as a call to action, like “do something like this, but in a different way” or “adapt this for the screen”?

I haven't had that happen yet, no. Not going to rule it out, but it seems unlikely.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 20: How commercially minded are you? Would you object to selling a hundred thousand books?

No, I would not object at all! 🤣 I'd be delighted! (Also, very surprised.)

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 21: Did you grow up with creative people? Artistic, crafts, writing etc?

My mother was, and still is, a painter and photographer. I remember her painting still lifes and things when I was in grade school. Now she has a serious, professional art career and some of her stuff hangs in galleries and gets bought.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 22: Is there a book you wish you’d written?

The one I'm working on. And the ones I have ideas for.

I don't want to write anyone else's books. I want to write *my* books.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 23: What is your favourite mistake encountered when editing?

I guess "the kind that's easy to fix"? Simple typos or the occasional dropped word.

I mean, I guess. 🤷🏻 I haven't done a whole lot of editing yet (though it's more than zero! A couple of vignettes, totaling just shy of 10,000 words, are at second-draft stage!), so maybe as I do more, I'll find more types of mistakes that I like better.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 24: Do you avoid specific genres or styles?

I have no interest in Westerns or Christian works, and I don't care whether the question meant this as a writer or a reader.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 25: Do you read outside your era, country or language?

I read a lot of science fiction, much of which is set in the future. Is that "outside [my] era?" Or my country, especially if it's set among the stars?

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 26: Did your childhood affect the way you write / what you write?

If it did, I can't see how. I suspect probably that means it didn't.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 27: Post an image which reflects the tone of your WIP.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 28: Has a Writer’s Club prompt / prompt response affected how you write or inspired you?

Absolutely. More than one. I can't recall the specific ones right now, but I know there have been a bunch that got me thinking about things, and even helped me resolve problems or flesh out characters in ways that I know will make it onto the page and into the book.

And for that, big thank-yous to @johnhowesauthor for starting this and running it for so long! We'll miss you, John!

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 1: How did your WIP’s premise take shape?

It was a long, gradual process. It started with me loving cities, and how magical and alive they are. And then I started thinking about what it would be like of people could hear the City's voice.

And then I had to start coming up with those people, and the things they wanted, and the ways they might have different ideas about what the City's future should be.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 2: How accurately does the first line represent your style and voice?

I haven't actually written the first line yet. But I do know what the first phrase, at least, will be. I'm going to try to make it a good introduction to the novel and the world it portrays.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 3: How can your current writing routine be improved?

If I knew that, I'd already have done it.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 4: Do your projects start with a sense of new life or new beginnings?

Don't all projects? Isn't it pretty standard that when someone starts something new — practically anything — they have a sense of new life and new beginnings about it?