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

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 7: Write a poem in no more than 500 characters which describes you as a writer.

An aspiring writer named Kagan
is obsessed with cities, though Pagan.
He writes night and day,
though he doubts it'll pay,
but the story, his brain it is plaguein'.

(alternatively...)

Kagan, an aspiring writer,
hoped his tales could make spirits lighter.
Though it seems urban mages
are what fill up his pages,
his true aim's to make the world brighter.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 8: Do you think of your books as having a particular length?

I'm shooting for roughly 100,000 words for the current book, which will be a first-time novel in the urban fantasy genre. So, basically, "roughly mid- or average-length for my genre and fame level".

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 9: Do you use a dedicated proofreader, or is one provided by your publisher?

I'll find that out when I find a publisher.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 10: Do you have favourite words you like to use? What are they?

I specifically try to avoid over-using any particular word.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 11: How effective are your newsletters in creating sales?

I have neither newsletters nor sales nor anything *to* sell, as yet.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 12: Do you reread things you wrote some time ago? How do they stand up today?

How long is "some time"? All my old writings are lost to the mists of time. The oldest thing I've got is the first brief scene I wrote for the WIP, less than 2 years ago.

Okay, I just looked at it again. It stands up okay. I think. I hope. Parts certainly do. Others might need a little polishing.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 13: Which "unfilmable" novel do you think has worked best on screen?

Since you said "novel", I can't pick Ted Chiang's short story "Story of Your Life", which Denis Villeneuve brilliantly turned into _Arrival_. I'm going to go with either Terry Gilliam's adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's _Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas_, or else Peter Jackson's _Lord of the Rings_ (because Tolkien's story *was* one novel, and only released in 3 volumes due to post-WWII paper rationing).

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 14: Do you keep a log of incidental characters or forget them once they've featured?

I think if someone's *that* incidental, I will (hopefully) not create anything else about them that doesn't show up on the page, so therefore if I need to refer back to anything about them, I can just go look at what I've already written. It will be the source material.

But if I even mentally create anything else about them... boom, they get their own notes somewhere in my files.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 15: Describe your perfect writing conditions.

In my comfy chair, at nighttime, having already eaten, with a Manhattan and a shot of Tullamore Dew on the table next to me, and my "writerly mood" music mix playing.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 16: Have you ever started a chapter with a quote or poem? How do you feel about the idea?

Haven't started any chapters yet, so no. But... I suppose I might. I'm okay with the idea in general, but in implementation I wonder if it'd be weird to only put epigraphs like that on some chapters, and then if it'd get to be a super hassle to find epigraphs for *every* chapter just to maintain consistency.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 17: What genre(s) would you be terrible at writing?

I've said before that I'm not really into Westerns as a genre, so I'd probably suck at writing them. I also don't have much taste for or desire to write historical-setting stuff.

I might have decent *ability* to write techno-thrillers, but the idea rubs me the wrong way, so that'd probably also make the final output sucky.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

Addendum: I see others mentioning military SF, which, yeah, I'd suck at (and had just plain forgotten about), and someone else mentioned that Christian stuff is a genre, and hoo boy! would I be awful at that! 😂

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 18: How important is social media in promoting your work?

I'm sure I'll promote my work through my own SM, but all I have is this. I ditched Facebook and Instagram shortly after FB bought IG, ditched Twitter shortly after Elon bought it, and have never been on TikTok.

If I manage to get traditionally published, maybe my publisher will promote it on their social media?

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 19: Does weather play an essential role in your writing? In what way?

Karl the Fog is practically a character. (A minor character, but definitely more than just a meteorological phenomenon.)

("Wait, 'Karl'? Huh?" See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_fog#In_popular_culture and https://karlthefog.com/.)

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 20: What genres would your work fall into if you could make up new genres? Fun answers only.

Dreampunk and Linguacore.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 21: Do you agree with Rose Tremain, who says you shouldn't plan a book's ending; it must be earned?

I'm not entirely sure what that means. I don't feel like a *writer* needs to "earn" their own book's ending (by anything other than the act of writing the book from beginning to end, at least). But I am somewhat a fan of the "Earn Your Happy Ending" trope, in which the *characters* must engage in some struggle to earn their desired ending: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EarnYourHappyEnding.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 22: Change one word in the first sentence of a famous novel to change its meaning.

"Where's Papa going with that telescope?" said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast.

(For those who remember _Charlotte's Web_, and would like a very different story.)

(No, I have no idea what happens next.)

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 24: When older novels use outdated or racist language, should they be edited for the modern world or left alone and viewed in context?

I think everyone can figure out that they're from another time. And while I wouldn't mind edited versions existing for those who just want to read the thing for the point it was trying to make and not be assaulted by some awful slur every other paragraph, I'm also glad the original versions still exist, and they're what I'd likely choose.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 25: Do you add a message from the author to your work?

Shouldn't the message be *in* the work itself? Seriously, if the work doesn't already transmit whatever message the author intends, then the work is not complete, or has failed. It's up to the author to fix that!

[kagan@wandering.shop]

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 26: Do you write stand-alone stories, series or both? Which do you prefer?

My WIP is a stand-alone story that could conceivably kick off a trilogy or series. (I like flexibility.) I haven't had enough experience to decide on a preference yet.