#WritersCoffeeClub (Sep) 1: Intro: Shameless Self Promotion.
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It's all part of creating this world and story. So if I just can't manage to bang out some words in the narrative today, I can always pick up one or another of the various background things that need doing. 2/2
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 19: Is there a creative habit-building method you swear by?
Honestly, the big thing for me has been putting a 7-day exponential moving average on my hand-rolled progress-graphing tool. Just having line graphs with daily points would mean that taking a day off just looks like a brief downward spike. But the EMA means there's a *seven-day gap* in the line, and it just looks awful, and then it takes 6 or 7 weeks to scroll off the left side... ugh! 1/2
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 19: Is there a creative habit-building method you swear by?
Honestly, the big thing for me has been putting a 7-day exponential moving average on my hand-rolled progress-graphing tool. Just having line graphs with daily points would mean that taking a day off just looks like a brief downward spike. But the EMA means there's a *seven-day gap* in the line, and it just looks awful, and then it takes 6 or 7 weeks to scroll off the left side... ugh! 1/2
That wasn't why I did it; it was just the obvious data-visualization move for dealing with the otherwise-far-too-jaggedy line of raw daily data. But it had this wonderful secondary effect. Seriously, nothing has made me grit my teeth and force myself to do "at least 10 or 15 minutes, just as a bare minimum" when I'm feeling crappy, tired, stupid, or whatever, more than that one small decision. 2/2
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That wasn't why I did it; it was just the obvious data-visualization move for dealing with the otherwise-far-too-jaggedy line of raw daily data. But it had this wonderful secondary effect. Seriously, nothing has made me grit my teeth and force myself to do "at least 10 or 15 minutes, just as a bare minimum" when I'm feeling crappy, tired, stupid, or whatever, more than that one small decision. 2/2
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 20: Pick two other writers’ works that would pair well with yours.
Fritz Leiber's _Our Lady of Darkness_ and Emma Bull's _The War for the Oaks_.
(Special bonus: Margot Chu wishes I'd picked John M. Ford's _The Last Hot Time_ instead of the Emma Bull.)
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 20: Pick two other writers’ works that would pair well with yours.
Fritz Leiber's _Our Lady of Darkness_ and Emma Bull's _The War for the Oaks_.
(Special bonus: Margot Chu wishes I'd picked John M. Ford's _The Last Hot Time_ instead of the Emma Bull.)
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 21: Are there facets of your work best understood in the context of when you wrote it?
Oh, very much yes. The whole plot strand about the villain trying to influence the upcoming San Francisco election, to get a mayor, half the Board of Supervisors, and a bunch of ballot propositions that he wants, with the future of the City hinging on it? It's extremely 2024.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 21: Are there facets of your work best understood in the context of when you wrote it?
Oh, very much yes. The whole plot strand about the villain trying to influence the upcoming San Francisco election, to get a mayor, half the Board of Supervisors, and a bunch of ballot propositions that he wants, with the future of the City hinging on it? It's extremely 2024.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 22: How do you make a location you’ve never visited feel ‘real’ for the reader?
Details. Especially ones that help them anchor themselves in the place, as if they could pick up and use objects there, or walk around in it.
(And yes, I *do* have some locations I've never visited: my characters' homes! Also one fictional bar-and-grill/restaurant/café that I'm inventing.)
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 22: How do you make a location you’ve never visited feel ‘real’ for the reader?
Details. Especially ones that help them anchor themselves in the place, as if they could pick up and use objects there, or walk around in it.
(And yes, I *do* have some locations I've never visited: my characters' homes! Also one fictional bar-and-grill/restaurant/café that I'm inventing.)
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 23: Do you prefer to write urban or rural settings? Why?
Urban, urban, absolutely urban all the way. Because they're what I know and love and live in (by very deliberate choice).
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 23: Do you prefer to write urban or rural settings? Why?
Urban, urban, absolutely urban all the way. Because they're what I know and love and live in (by very deliberate choice).
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 24: What in your writing ‘dates’ you?
Well, the whole WIP is set in 2024. I'll be putting in some details that make it clear that's when it is, so readers won't even need to do any detective work or any arithmetic based on internal references to ages or times.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 24: What in your writing ‘dates’ you?
Well, the whole WIP is set in 2024. I'll be putting in some details that make it clear that's when it is, so readers won't even need to do any detective work or any arithmetic based on internal references to ages or times.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 25: Tell us about a non-writer who has had the most influence on your writing.
All the musicians whose works are in my writing mix. High on the list of ones whose stuff really gets me going are: Paul Leonard-Morgan (specifically, a couple of his tracks for the _Limitless_ soundtrack), Agnes Obel, London Grammar, Lamb, Zero 7, and Carter Burwell's theme from _Blood Simple_.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 25: Tell us about a non-writer who has had the most influence on your writing.
All the musicians whose works are in my writing mix. High on the list of ones whose stuff really gets me going are: Paul Leonard-Morgan (specifically, a couple of his tracks for the _Limitless_ soundtrack), Agnes Obel, London Grammar, Lamb, Zero 7, and Carter Burwell's theme from _Blood Simple_.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 26: In your work, how much of an active character is your setting?
So much so that it has lines of dialogue and conversations with the human characters.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 26: In your work, how much of an active character is your setting?
So much so that it has lines of dialogue and conversations with the human characters.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 27: What is a ‘load-bearing’ part of your non-writerly life that makes writing possible for you?
I'm not sure I understand what counts as "load-bearing" and what doesn't, but I'm inclined to say: working. That gives me the money to keep myself fed, housed, and clothed, so that instead of having to worry about the basic necessities of life, I can instead devote my mental energy to writing.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 27: What is a ‘load-bearing’ part of your non-writerly life that makes writing possible for you?
I'm not sure I understand what counts as "load-bearing" and what doesn't, but I'm inclined to say: working. That gives me the money to keep myself fed, housed, and clothed, so that instead of having to worry about the basic necessities of life, I can instead devote my mental energy to writing.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 28: Have you ever done a writing mentorship? What was your takeaway?
I haven't, not on either side of the mentor-mentee relationship.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 28: Have you ever done a writing mentorship? What was your takeaway?
I haven't, not on either side of the mentor-mentee relationship.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 29: Tell us about an epiphany that changed your writing.
I haven't had one of those yet. A few ideas that helped with the world-building on this particular WIP, but nothing (yet) that's made a major change in _my writing_.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 29: Tell us about an epiphany that changed your writing.
I haven't had one of those yet. A few ideas that helped with the world-building on this particular WIP, but nothing (yet) that's made a major change in _my writing_.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 30: Who do you write for?
Anyone who will like the kind of thing I'm writing. Sorry if that sounds tautological, but...🤷🏻 it's true.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 30: Who do you write for?
Anyone who will like the kind of thing I'm writing. Sorry if that sounds tautological, but...🤷🏻 it's true.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 31: What fact of your life would give a reader a new appreciation for your work?
I've been having trouble with this question. "The fact that I lived in San Francisco for over 25 years?" I mused. "No, people would know that from the author bio. What sort of _extra_ thing would matter?"
And then I realized: nothing. Nothing extra _should_ make that kind of a difference. The book should stand on its own. 1/2
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 31: What fact of your life would give a reader a new appreciation for your work?
I've been having trouble with this question. "The fact that I lived in San Francisco for over 25 years?" I mused. "No, people would know that from the author bio. What sort of _extra_ thing would matter?"
And then I realized: nothing. Nothing extra _should_ make that kind of a difference. The book should stand on its own. 1/2
(And, TBH, even if I didn't include any author bio, or if I left out the fact that I'd lived there, I think any reader would easily be able to tell not only that I'd lived in San Francisco for a long time (and might assume I still did), but also that I *love* it very much.) 2/2
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(And, TBH, even if I didn't include any author bio, or if I left out the fact that I'd lived there, I think any reader would easily be able to tell not only that I'd lived in San Francisco for a long time (and might assume I still did), but also that I *love* it very much.) 2/2
#WritersCoffeeClub day 1: Are there ethical principles fiction must adhere to? What are they?
Fiction particularly? Like, in a way that other things (including non-fiction, or just living) don't have to? No, I don't think so.
[Edit: Having written that answer on my own when the questions first came out, I would like to co-sign @orionkidder's excellent answer: https://writing.exchange/@orionkidder/114608746597852518.]
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#WritersCoffeeClub day 1: Are there ethical principles fiction must adhere to? What are they?
Fiction particularly? Like, in a way that other things (including non-fiction, or just living) don't have to? No, I don't think so.
[Edit: Having written that answer on my own when the questions first came out, I would like to co-sign @orionkidder's excellent answer: https://writing.exchange/@orionkidder/114608746597852518.]
#WritersCoffeeClub day 2: Do you write linearly? Why or why not?
Mostly, yes. Everything that happens rests on what's gone before — both for characters and for readers. It's easier for me to determine what a character will do in a particular situation if I know what they've been dealing with before. And descriptions of things need to be based in what the reader has (and hasn't) already been told.
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#WritersCoffeeClub day 2: Do you write linearly? Why or why not?
Mostly, yes. Everything that happens rests on what's gone before — both for characters and for readers. It's easier for me to determine what a character will do in a particular situation if I know what they've been dealing with before. And descriptions of things need to be based in what the reader has (and hasn't) already been told.
#WritersCoffeeClub day 3: Have you ever done a writing challenge? How did it go?
I haven't.
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#WritersCoffeeClub day 3: Have you ever done a writing challenge? How did it go?
I haven't.
#WritersCoffeeClub day 4: Do you consider writing work? Would you say writing is your life’s work?
Well, it is labor, and requires energy. In that sense, yes. But it isn't drudgery, or a chore that I have to do. So in that sense, no.
I'm still not sure what "my life's work" is. I think my writing will turn out to have been part of it, but not the whole thing.
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#WritersCoffeeClub day 4: Do you consider writing work? Would you say writing is your life’s work?
Well, it is labor, and requires energy. In that sense, yes. But it isn't drudgery, or a chore that I have to do. So in that sense, no.
I'm still not sure what "my life's work" is. I think my writing will turn out to have been part of it, but not the whole thing.
#WritersCoffeeClub day 5: World Environment Day. Talk about something you’ve read that made you think, “I wish I wrote that.”
Honestly, "The Raven", by Edgar Allan Poe, is such a tour de force of rhythm and rhyme, it never fails to impress me. It's technically virtuosic, but you can almost miss that because of the emotion in it.
Gli ultimi otto messaggi ricevuti dalla Federazione
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I'm feeling FOMO for SFSCON this week and TPAC next week.
One thing about being part of the Fediverse movement is that I have a lot of confidence in friends and colleagues who will be on the ground doing good work.
Thanks for everything you do, ActivityPub allies.
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you, smug: "oh you like $thing? how cute! if you're lucky you'll realize $other_thing is better"
no one: "oh you sound like a pleasant person to be around! please tell me about $other_thing"
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wish more people realized that smugness makes for poor tech evangelism
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@alice thanks for making the Fediverse a better place.
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Current* conditions near Isle Royale NP, MI:
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I have an apology to issue. Yesterday, I called out a few large, open-registration instances (mastodon.social, vivaldi.net, and mas.to).
I was ticked off because (once again) a blatant Nazi troll account sent me (and several other folx) swastika photos and hate-speech.
I'm not apologizing for calling out large, open-signup instances. I stand by every word I said. But there's something I *didn't* say, and that's what I believe I owe an apology for.
When you have as many followers as I do, it's easy to start a dogpile—even unintentionally—and because of this, I always try to include a "be kind, don't attack folx" message when I rant about something. Yesterday I forgot to do that, and some mods and admins caught shit for it. It was my responsibility to anticipate my (sometimes overly) enthusiastic followers' reactions and head that off, and I failed to.
If you were one of the people yesterday who sent reports or messages that attacked *any* of the moderation team members of those servers, I would love it if you'd apologize to them. They're all volunteers, just like me, doing their best with what they've got. It's on all of us to make Fedi a safe space for each other.
To any of the wonderful volunteer moderators of Fedi who got nasty messages yesterday—or don't wake up every day feeling appreciated for their work—I'm sorry 🫂 you deserve better. I appreciate you 💞
Update: two of the three above instances' admin teams have personally reached out to me about my original post—and that's amazing! I hope we can work together to make Fedi a safer, more inclusive space for everyone (except Nazis).
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Avoid 2:00 and 3:00 am cron jobs! | End Point Dev (hint: they will clash twice a year with #daylight_savings_time )
https://www.endpointdev.com/blog/2013/04/avoid-200-and-300-am-cron-jobs/?utm_source=tldrwebdev
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Text editors for writers, and news products like..
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