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

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 16: How do you feel about an ISBN? Is it important to have them?

Do I have the option not to? I haven't even thought about this before. I have to admit, my immediate thought is that it wouldn't feel like "a real book" without one.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 17: Do you think about your WIP every waking moment?

No. When I'm working, I'm concentrating on work. When I'm hanging out with my partner or friends, I'm trying to be present with them.

But I'll admit, it does creep in *a lot* if I have any time where there's nothing specifically using my focus!

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 18: Does your work feature on BookTok? How do you feel about the platform?

I am not on TikTok, and have no desire to be. The things I've heard about its algorithm, and who it favors (conventionally pretty people) and disfavors (people with disabilities, overweight people, etc.) turned me off to it even before I heard about how it's a surveillance app.

No. Thank. You.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 19: How do you decide on character names?

I go by a combination of sound/feel, meaning, and if it's a given name rather than surname, I also look at how common it was in the year the character was born.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 20: Do you have a blog? Tell us about it and share a link.

I used to have one for technical stuff (software development, tech policy, stuff like that). Near the end, it branched out a little into plain old politics and geek stuff, but then I dropped it entirely because nobody read blogs anymore, they just posted long threads on Twitter.

I've been thinking of reviving it, but am not sure how I'll balance the software professional vs. writer vs. "all the other stuff".

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 21: Do you know the ending before you start writing?

I only know a few small things about the ending yet. The amount of stuff I don't know far outweighs the bits that I do.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 22: Have you ever used storyboarding? When and how?

Certainly not yet, and I'm unsure how useful storyboarding would be to a novel. If I were writing a screenplay, maybe, but I'm not.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 23: Who do you publish through or aim to publish with? How's it going?

It's far too early for me to look at stuff like that; right now, I need to concentrate on the manuscript, not what comes after.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 24: How often do you ignore your editor/proofreader?

Haven't gotten to that point yet. We'll see... someday.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 25: How do you feel about writers who write outside their gender/sexuality/race etc?

I think it's *necessary*, unless you have a reason why all your characters can be the same gender/race/etc. as you are. Like, back in the '50s, setting _Twelve Angry Men_ in a jury room meant it made sense for all characters to male, and white, and presumed-straight — but that was gross and wrong (of society), and it's good that modern productions include women and people of color. 1/2

[kagan@wandering.shop]

Most settings are too diverse to allow a writer to make everyone match their own demographics.

And isn't this part of why writers are supposed to observe people? To learn about people who aren't like themselves, so that we can be sure to depict them accurately? 2/2

(Note: This post has been edited to add the final clause, starting from the comma.)

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 26: How do you ensure that you don't infringe copyright in your work?

Mostly by writing it myself? I'm not sure how I'd infringe someone's copyright, except for by having a character quote something.

And that's a bit of a problem, because I do want my characters to reference things, particularly certain songs. I expect I'll have to seek permissions before I try to get published, or else rewrite to carefully avoid the issue while still making the idea clear.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 27: Hollywood is filming one of your works. Which actors are playing the main roles?

I think Sara Ramírez might be a really good choice for Ángel Castillo. Not sure about the others.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 28: How do you format a flashback so the reader knows what's going on?

I'm not sure yet, and it's something I'll *need* to do for the opening few pages of chapter 5, as it's going to go back to the end of chapter 2 and pick up on that moment from a different character's POV, moving quickly forward to meet up with the way things stand at the end of chapter 4. (That sounds awkward and confusing here, but I think it'll make sense and work well in the actual book.) 1/2

[kagan@wandering.shop]

My plan right now is to write that flashbacky part in the past perfect tense until it catches up to the main action's simple past tense. I hope that'll work; if not, I'll have to try something else. 2/2

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 29: Describe the saddest moment you’ve written. Share an excerpt.

This is a little weird, because # WordWeavers this month has asked about the scene I'm proudest of, and the hardest one to write, and I answered both of those with *the only* scene I've written so far — by default, it *must* be "the most" anything.

But that scene isn't remotely sad, so I can't use it for this prompt. I haven't written anything sad yet.

Yet. I have some plans for some sad things in my WIP.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 30: What genre(s) are not your thing (without insulting other club members)?

I've never been a fan of Westerns or sports stories.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 31: Where do you write?

Mostly at home in a nice, comfy chair. Sometimes in bars, or occasionally at the nearby Center for Fiction.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 1: Intro: Tell us about yourself, WIP, etc.

I'm Kagan, a web developer working on my 1st novel: an ensemble (multi-MC and -villain) #UrbanFantasy set in #SanFrancisco, about people who can talk to the City. It teaches them to do magic, and they're trying to change the world for the better. But different people have different ideas about what "better" means.

I'm still working on background (magic system, character backgrounds, etc.) and hope to start "real" writing soon.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 2: Do you agree with Jodi Picoult who says you should finish writing a book even if you think it might be garbage?

Yes, for 2 reasons:

1) You might be being too hard on yourself.

2) Like Mr. Rogers says at https://wandering.shop/@sarahijackson/110601308851114103, "It feels good to *have made* something" (emphasis added). Even if it does turn out to be garbage, you'll have *fully* accomplished a written book🏆🏅, not "well, I wrote half a book once but stopped midway through.🙁😞"