#WritersCoffeeClub (Sep) 1: Intro: Shameless Self Promotion.
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I think the line, for me, is: does it feel like the writer is spicing things up to make the story more interesting, more fun for the audience? Or does it feel like the writer is just playing with us, deliberately making it impossible to predict where they're going, making it so they can say, "Ha! Fooled you!"?
In other words, is the writer _on the audience's side_, or are they in an adversarial relationship with us? 3/3
#WritersCoffeeClub day 6: When is _deus ex machina_ warranted?
Almost never, IMO. Basically only if it's there to make a meta point, or for humor or suchlike. I can't think of any satisfying examples where I've seen it used seriously.
And it's often easy to fix! Just put in something earlier on that sets up whatever your eventual solution is!
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#WritersCoffeeClub day 6: When is _deus ex machina_ warranted?
Almost never, IMO. Basically only if it's there to make a meta point, or for humor or suchlike. I can't think of any satisfying examples where I've seen it used seriously.
And it's often easy to fix! Just put in something earlier on that sets up whatever your eventual solution is!
#WritersCoffeeClub day 7: Have you always written, or was there a tipping point to get you to start?
I definitely had a tipping point, and it was only a few years ago. It was two things at the same time:
1) I'd been kicking around some ideas about magic and cities, and those ideas finally hit a critical point;
2) I left a job that had been draining my soul. -
#WritersCoffeeClub day 7: Have you always written, or was there a tipping point to get you to start?
I definitely had a tipping point, and it was only a few years ago. It was two things at the same time:
1) I'd been kicking around some ideas about magic and cities, and those ideas finally hit a critical point;
2) I left a job that had been draining my soul.#WritersCoffeeClub day 9: Have you ever encountered a work uncomfortably similar to one of your own?
I'm not sure. I get the feeling N.K. Jemisin's _The City We Became_ is the closest anything else gets to what I'm working on, but I've deliberately avoided looking at it until I get my first draft done, so I don't yet know if it's "uncomfortably similar" or just "closer than anything else gets, but not really that close". (I hope to Goddess it's the latter.)
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#WritersCoffeeClub day 9: Have you ever encountered a work uncomfortably similar to one of your own?
I'm not sure. I get the feeling N.K. Jemisin's _The City We Became_ is the closest anything else gets to what I'm working on, but I've deliberately avoided looking at it until I get my first draft done, so I don't yet know if it's "uncomfortably similar" or just "closer than anything else gets, but not really that close". (I hope to Goddess it's the latter.)
#WritersCoffeeClub day 10: How much of your worldbuilding extends beyond what's shown in the text?
I'm not yet sure just how much will make it into the text, but I suspect the answer is "shit-tons". I'm taking Larry Niven's "Building _The Mote in God's Eye_" as my guide, where he says that he and Jerry Pournelle wrote a quantity of background material roughly equal to the size of the novel itself (135,000 words, IIRC), and that while only about 10% of it actually... 1/2
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#WritersCoffeeClub day 10: How much of your worldbuilding extends beyond what's shown in the text?
I'm not yet sure just how much will make it into the text, but I suspect the answer is "shit-tons". I'm taking Larry Niven's "Building _The Mote in God's Eye_" as my guide, where he says that he and Jerry Pournelle wrote a quantity of background material roughly equal to the size of the novel itself (135,000 words, IIRC), and that while only about 10% of it actually... 1/2
...made it onto the page, _every bit of it_ underlaid and informed the text, serving as a foundation that every piece of description, dialogue, and action rested on. 2/2
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...made it onto the page, _every bit of it_ underlaid and informed the text, serving as a foundation that every piece of description, dialogue, and action rested on. 2/2
#WritersCoffeeClub day 12: How does the morality of the characters you write differ from your own?
My protagonists' morality doesn't differ notably from my own.
My villains' morality, OTOH... they feel that it's not just acceptable, but desirable, to do things like throw people in jail for being homeless. One is even a cop, and isn't averse to using her police powers for her own self-enrichment or other personal ends.
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#WritersCoffeeClub day 12: How does the morality of the characters you write differ from your own?
My protagonists' morality doesn't differ notably from my own.
My villains' morality, OTOH... they feel that it's not just acceptable, but desirable, to do things like throw people in jail for being homeless. One is even a cop, and isn't averse to using her police powers for her own self-enrichment or other personal ends.
#WritersCoffeeClub day 13: What regrets do you have regarding your work?
That I haven't finished it and gotten it published yet.
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#WritersCoffeeClub day 13: What regrets do you have regarding your work?
That I haven't finished it and gotten it published yet.
#WritersCoffeeClub day 14: What causes distance between your characters?
In many cases, differing interests — some people just prefer to have fun, while others want to save the world (or just the City). Sometimes, differing ideals, in terms of contrasting or even conflicting ideas of what's right and wrong.
And sometimes, someone's just not ready to share a secret, and it keeps them from being as close with someone else as they'd like.
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#WritersCoffeeClub day 14: What causes distance between your characters?
In many cases, differing interests — some people just prefer to have fun, while others want to save the world (or just the City). Sometimes, differing ideals, in terms of contrasting or even conflicting ideas of what's right and wrong.
And sometimes, someone's just not ready to share a secret, and it keeps them from being as close with someone else as they'd like.
#WritersCoffeeClub day 15: From which real-world events have you taken inspiration?
Everything from the pair of recent Dot-Com Booms in San Francisco to Justin Herman's '50s/'60s urban renewal to the Covid Pandemic.
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#WritersCoffeeClub day 15: From which real-world events have you taken inspiration?
Everything from the pair of recent Dot-Com Booms in San Francisco to Justin Herman's '50s/'60s urban renewal to the Covid Pandemic.
#WritersCoffeeClub day 16: What's the most drastic alteration you've made to a work?
I'm too early in the process to have made much alteration at all; I'm still writing the first draft. 🤷🏻
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#WritersCoffeeClub day 16: What's the most drastic alteration you've made to a work?
I'm too early in the process to have made much alteration at all; I'm still writing the first draft. 🤷🏻
#WritersCoffeeClub day 17: What's changed for you from when you started writing to now?
The big thing that's changed for my WIP, at least, is that the November 2024 elections resulted in tragic outcomes for both the US and for San Francisco and my beloved District 5. That's forcibly colored my feelings about how the ending will work out, partly because I know it's changed how the ending — any ending — will land with readers.
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#WritersCoffeeClub day 17: What's changed for you from when you started writing to now?
The big thing that's changed for my WIP, at least, is that the November 2024 elections resulted in tragic outcomes for both the US and for San Francisco and my beloved District 5. That's forcibly colored my feelings about how the ending will work out, partly because I know it's changed how the ending — any ending — will land with readers.
#WritersCoffeeClub day 18: Have you ever hidden the fact that you're a writer? Why?
No, I haven't seen any reason to.
In fact, kind of the opposite: sometimes when I'm writing in bars, I can tell people think I'm working for an employer (and outside business hours!), so I'll make a point of letting them know I'm writing a novel. I want people to know they're seeing someone enjoying their own hobby, not being overworked for someone else's profit! (And yes, people do appreciate knowing that.)
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#WritersCoffeeClub day 18: Have you ever hidden the fact that you're a writer? Why?
No, I haven't seen any reason to.
In fact, kind of the opposite: sometimes when I'm writing in bars, I can tell people think I'm working for an employer (and outside business hours!), so I'll make a point of letting them know I'm writing a novel. I want people to know they're seeing someone enjoying their own hobby, not being overworked for someone else's profit! (And yes, people do appreciate knowing that.)
#WritersCoffeeClub day 19: Talk about the influence folklore has on your work.
Little to none, so far — which is a bit of a shame, since I do love faerie lore! But I'm not including non-human supernatural races in my urban wizards story, so there's no place for that lore in my WIP.
I might say I'm including "urban folklore", but that'd be inaccurate: I'm really hewing more toward urban *history*, as in stuff that's verifiably true, not possibly-false legend.
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#WritersCoffeeClub day 19: Talk about the influence folklore has on your work.
Little to none, so far — which is a bit of a shame, since I do love faerie lore! But I'm not including non-human supernatural races in my urban wizards story, so there's no place for that lore in my WIP.
I might say I'm including "urban folklore", but that'd be inaccurate: I'm really hewing more toward urban *history*, as in stuff that's verifiably true, not possibly-false legend.
#WritersCoffeeClub day 20: Name something unexpected you had to learn for a work.
I wasn't expecting to have to find out about small, indoor, movable hoists. But since a side character is a sculptor, it turned out she needs one of those in her workshop.
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#WritersCoffeeClub day 20: Name something unexpected you had to learn for a work.
I wasn't expecting to have to find out about small, indoor, movable hoists. But since a side character is a sculptor, it turned out she needs one of those in her workshop.
#WritersCoffeeClub day 21: What's something essential to your process you think other writers should try?
I can't imagine that anything I'm doing is so new and original that other writers haven't either already adopted it, or tried it and found it doesn't work for them. The closest I can think of is some of the ways I'm using Git in my workflow, and leveraging my commit comments — but I would *NEVER* recommend Git to anyone who isn't already a software developer; the UX is just too awful!
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#WritersCoffeeClub day 21: What's something essential to your process you think other writers should try?
I can't imagine that anything I'm doing is so new and original that other writers haven't either already adopted it, or tried it and found it doesn't work for them. The closest I can think of is some of the ways I'm using Git in my workflow, and leveraging my commit comments — but I would *NEVER* recommend Git to anyone who isn't already a software developer; the UX is just too awful!
#WritersCoffeeClub day 22: Talk about an affirming experience you've had amongst your writing peers.
I mostly haven't interacted with "my writing peers" much, except here. And some comments have been very encouraging.
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#WritersCoffeeClub day 22: Talk about an affirming experience you've had amongst your writing peers.
I mostly haven't interacted with "my writing peers" much, except here. And some comments have been very encouraging.
#WritersCoffeeClub day 23: Do you tend towards writing personal or universal cataclysms? Why?
More personal (or City-sized) ones. NGL, the MCU has burned me out on universe-level stakes. They just seem so tired and overdone at this point.
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#WritersCoffeeClub day 23: Do you tend towards writing personal or universal cataclysms? Why?
More personal (or City-sized) ones. NGL, the MCU has burned me out on universe-level stakes. They just seem so tired and overdone at this point.
#WritersCoffeeClub day 24: Have you ever written a work that was a retelling of another work?
No. I won't say I could never see myself doing that, but I do have a bunch of other things on my to‑write list, so if I got an idea along those lines, it would have to wait for a while.
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#WritersCoffeeClub day 24: Have you ever written a work that was a retelling of another work?
No. I won't say I could never see myself doing that, but I do have a bunch of other things on my to‑write list, so if I got an idea along those lines, it would have to wait for a while.
#WritersCoffeeClub day 25: Talk about a way you've described the indescribable. If you can!
I do what I can to describe the sensations of absorbing, or receiving, magical energy — a couple of different types, in fact, and received in different ways. I lean heavily on metaphorical language that evokes bodily sensations.
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#WritersCoffeeClub day 25: Talk about a way you've described the indescribable. If you can!
I do what I can to describe the sensations of absorbing, or receiving, magical energy — a couple of different types, in fact, and received in different ways. I lean heavily on metaphorical language that evokes bodily sensations.
#WritersCoffeeClub day 26: What conflicts have you experienced because of your writing?
None that I can think of.
Gli ultimi otto messaggi ricevuti dalla Federazione
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@BathysphereHat it says not to eat it! There are so many other things to eat!
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Have you ever eaten silica gel?
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Loops has recently increased the duration limit from 60 seconds to 3 minutes.
Looking at loops.video data, the average duration of a video from the past 2 weeks is 57 seconds!
The average duration of all videos is 30 seconds.
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Ladies and gentlemen... the weekend. (also: you are important and are not alone 🧡)
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@Ulrich (Hubzilla) also have a look here!
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@stefano Where is that hosted?
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Happy Birthday @stefano, thank you for the awesome community building work you keep doing, for all the technical and non technical notes you share, for the inspiration you are and because in a world full of tech bros you keep showing the gentle and smiling side of IT.
