#WritersCoffeeClub (Sep) 1: Intro: Shameless Self Promotion.
Senza categoria
885
Post
1
Autori
0
Visualizzazioni
-
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 20: Do you ever write in a café or bar? Give a shout out to your favourites.
Definitely more bars than cafés. My go-tos are:
Fritz in Fort Greene
Hollow Nickel in Boerum Hill
McMahon's Public House in Park Slope
And also the Center for Fiction, also in Fort Greene. (All of these are in #Brooklyn.)
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 21: Can one use arcane verbiage in one's prose, or must one's saga embody only elementary text?
Use the vocabulary you need to use.
Note: That doesn't mean "show off your vocabulary". Only use the words that are right for what you're trying to convey. But yes, sometimes the right word is a big one, or an obscure or archaic one. If it's right, use it. Readers know how to look up words if they don't know them.
-
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 21: Can one use arcane verbiage in one's prose, or must one's saga embody only elementary text?
Use the vocabulary you need to use.
Note: That doesn't mean "show off your vocabulary". Only use the words that are right for what you're trying to convey. But yes, sometimes the right word is a big one, or an obscure or archaic one. If it's right, use it. Readers know how to look up words if they don't know them.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 22: Do you have a writer's totem, such as an old toy or a certain cup?
No.
-
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 22: Do you have a writer's totem, such as an old toy or a certain cup?
No.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 23: Some people can't access literature due to social factors. Are we, as writers, doing anything to break down these barriers?
This is almost impossibly broad. "Social factors" could be anything from illiteracy to problems in the publishing industry to poverty combined with sustained right-wing attacks on public libraries.
Are writers doing anything to combat illiteracy? Honestly, *writing interesting literature* is one of the greatest things in that regard! 1/4
-
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 23: Some people can't access literature due to social factors. Are we, as writers, doing anything to break down these barriers?
This is almost impossibly broad. "Social factors" could be anything from illiteracy to problems in the publishing industry to poverty combined with sustained right-wing attacks on public libraries.
Are writers doing anything to combat illiteracy? Honestly, *writing interesting literature* is one of the greatest things in that regard! 1/4
JK Rowling has become a transphobic horror, but remember how much the popularity of the Harry Potter books drove interest in reading back in the early 2000s? Well, practically every writer is trying to do the same thing. We'd almost all love to get that popular, and have so many people clamoring to read our books! 2/4
-
JK Rowling has become a transphobic horror, but remember how much the popularity of the Harry Potter books drove interest in reading back in the early 2000s? Well, practically every writer is trying to do the same thing. We'd almost all love to get that popular, and have so many people clamoring to read our books! 2/4
Problems in the publishing industry? We're generally *aware of* them, and have strong opinions, and *would love* to have things be different... but how much power do we have to make those changes? They'd require changes in society as a whole — much like the problems of illiteracy and poverty and right-wing attacks on libraries (and bibliophilia and literacy). 3/4
-
Problems in the publishing industry? We're generally *aware of* them, and have strong opinions, and *would love* to have things be different... but how much power do we have to make those changes? They'd require changes in society as a whole — much like the problems of illiteracy and poverty and right-wing attacks on libraries (and bibliophilia and literacy). 3/4
I don't know of any writers who wouldn't *love* a world where people are reading lots more, and books are more easily available, and where reading is held in higher regard than it is right now. But expecting us to fix the whole goddamn world is a helluva burden to place on shoulders that I don't think are the right ones to target with this. 4/4
-
I don't know of any writers who wouldn't *love* a world where people are reading lots more, and books are more easily available, and where reading is held in higher regard than it is right now. But expecting us to fix the whole goddamn world is a helluva burden to place on shoulders that I don't think are the right ones to target with this. 4/4
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 24: What does your narrator sound like in your mind?
A "fairly neutral" voice, which I put in quotes for good reason: *to me*, that means one that speaks in General American English, in a baritone or tenor register (or possibly alto — but either way, with fairly few gender clues).
The fact that my own voice is baritone, and my dialect is GAE, is not coincidental here. I'm not saying my narrator voice is *my* voice specifically, but it's… close.
[Edit: nope; this is 1/3]
-
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 24: What does your narrator sound like in your mind?
A "fairly neutral" voice, which I put in quotes for good reason: *to me*, that means one that speaks in General American English, in a baritone or tenor register (or possibly alto — but either way, with fairly few gender clues).
The fact that my own voice is baritone, and my dialect is GAE, is not coincidental here. I'm not saying my narrator voice is *my* voice specifically, but it's… close.
[Edit: nope; this is 1/3]
Actually, hang on, that's not *entirely* true. A lot of my writing is close 3rd person. And one of the reasons why is that the "narration" can take on some of the POV character's voice.
So in the vignette I wrote last night, from the POV of Jessie Nakamura back when she was in college, there are some parts that are italicized, literally her thoughts... but there are also some that are roman/normal, but still using some her vocal rhythms and vocabulary. 2/3
-
Actually, hang on, that's not *entirely* true. A lot of my writing is close 3rd person. And one of the reasons why is that the "narration" can take on some of the POV character's voice.
So in the vignette I wrote last night, from the POV of Jessie Nakamura back when she was in college, there are some parts that are italicized, literally her thoughts... but there are also some that are roman/normal, but still using some her vocal rhythms and vocabulary. 2/3
Naturally, that doesn't happen all the time. Scene-setting, for example, is generally in my "neutral" narrator voice. And I think one of the strengths of close 3rd is precisely its flexibility: you can back off and be "neutral", *3rd* person, not 1st, but if you want to, you can also get really close to 1st person, with its intimacy and personality.
So I like that best-of-both-worlds flexibility, but it does also mean that "my narrator's voice" is *highly variable*. 3/3
-
Naturally, that doesn't happen all the time. Scene-setting, for example, is generally in my "neutral" narrator voice. And I think one of the strengths of close 3rd is precisely its flexibility: you can back off and be "neutral", *3rd* person, not 1st, but if you want to, you can also get really close to 1st person, with its intimacy and personality.
So I like that best-of-both-worlds flexibility, but it does also mean that "my narrator's voice" is *highly variable*. 3/3
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 25: What are the top five things people say when you tell them you're a writer?
Honestly, it's almost all some close variant on, "That's cool/interesting. Tell me something about (the kinds of stuff you usually write/the book you're writing now)." So far, nothing has really wandered very far from that basic idea.
-
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 25: What are the top five things people say when you tell them you're a writer?
Honestly, it's almost all some close variant on, "That's cool/interesting. Tell me something about (the kinds of stuff you usually write/the book you're writing now)." So far, nothing has really wandered very far from that basic idea.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 26: How much time elapses between your WIP's first and last chapter?
About 7½ months. (Maybe closer to 7 months and 3 weeks?)
-
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 26: How much time elapses between your WIP's first and last chapter?
About 7½ months. (Maybe closer to 7 months and 3 weeks?)
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 27: What's the longest period of writer's block you've suffered, or do you not suffer?
I guess I'd have to say I don't suffer from it. I've had a few stretches of up to 3 or 4 days where I didn't work on the book because I was busy with other things, or tired, or sick, but I don't think of that as "writer's block". Just as being tired sometimes.
-
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 27: What's the longest period of writer's block you've suffered, or do you not suffer?
I guess I'd have to say I don't suffer from it. I've had a few stretches of up to 3 or 4 days where I didn't work on the book because I was busy with other things, or tired, or sick, but I don't think of that as "writer's block". Just as being tired sometimes.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 28: What audio/visual artistic work (TV, movie, play, painting etc.) has been the biggest influence on your writing?
I think it'd have to be noir and neo-noir cinema in general. Not any particular film, but the genre and its conventions and style as a whole.
-
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 28: What audio/visual artistic work (TV, movie, play, painting etc.) has been the biggest influence on your writing?
I think it'd have to be noir and neo-noir cinema in general. Not any particular film, but the genre and its conventions and style as a whole.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 29: If a video streaming platform were to make your WIP into a series, what would the soundtrack sound like?
It'd range widely, depending on the particular characters and scene. Prominent features, though, would be: hard rock; techno and minimalism; cool jazz, à la film noir; and hip-hop.
-
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 29: If a video streaming platform were to make your WIP into a series, what would the soundtrack sound like?
It'd range widely, depending on the particular characters and scene. Prominent features, though, would be: hard rock; techno and minimalism; cool jazz, à la film noir; and hip-hop.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 30: If you're a pantser, have you tried plotting and vice versa?
I *think* I'm kind of in the middle? I've definitely done a fair amount of plotting, and a fair amount of pantsing.
-
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 30: If you're a pantser, have you tried plotting and vice versa?
I *think* I'm kind of in the middle? I've definitely done a fair amount of plotting, and a fair amount of pantsing.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 1. Front Cover> Do you know what kind of cover you'd like for your WIP, or do you only know when it's finished? Share an example if you have one.
There was a question about how you envision your book's cover in WritingWonders, back before it was renamed. I said (at https://wandering.shop/@kagan/110107052596945004) that mine definitely needed some recognizable San Francisco skyline or setting, but I wasn't sure beyond that. That answer hasn't changed in the intervening 15 months. 1/2
-
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 1. Front Cover> Do you know what kind of cover you'd like for your WIP, or do you only know when it's finished? Share an example if you have one.
There was a question about how you envision your book's cover in WritingWonders, back before it was renamed. I said (at https://wandering.shop/@kagan/110107052596945004) that mine definitely needed some recognizable San Francisco skyline or setting, but I wasn't sure beyond that. That answer hasn't changed in the intervening 15 months. 1/2
It's gotta have San Francisco. Aside from that, I don't know if it needs any of the human characters or not — my assumption is that people respond better to covers that have human figures and particularly faces on them, but I'm not positive whether market research bears that out, and I've seen some book covers with really good designs that had no people in them.
Anyway, creating the cover design is something I mostly plan to leave to someone else — someone who's better at it than I am. 2/2
-
It's gotta have San Francisco. Aside from that, I don't know if it needs any of the human characters or not — my assumption is that people respond better to covers that have human figures and particularly faces on them, but I'm not positive whether market research bears that out, and I've seen some book covers with really good designs that had no people in them.
Anyway, creating the cover design is something I mostly plan to leave to someone else — someone who's better at it than I am. 2/2
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 2. Half Title> When you complete your WIP, do you intend to have a Half Title (Bastard Page)? How do you feel about them?
I never heard of them before. I just looked up what they are, and I honestly don't give a damn. (Some sources speculate they're used to get the total number of pages to be a multiple of 16 when needed, for the binding process; if so, then I don't mind having or not having one based on my page count.)
-
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 2. Half Title> When you complete your WIP, do you intend to have a Half Title (Bastard Page)? How do you feel about them?
I never heard of them before. I just looked up what they are, and I honestly don't give a damn. (Some sources speculate they're used to get the total number of pages to be a multiple of 16 when needed, for the binding process; if so, then I don't mind having or not having one based on my page count.)
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 3. Title> Do you have a title for your WIP or just a working title. Please share. How do you decide on a title?
I don't even have a working title. It's really just "the book", "the San Francisco book" or "the city shamans book" in my head.
A couple of days ago in WordWeavers, I called it TITLE_TK. (https://wandering.shop/@kagan/112712428429386445) I really don't have anything else to call it. The one thing I did come up with once, I immediately rejected as wrong.
-
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 3. Title> Do you have a title for your WIP or just a working title. Please share. How do you decide on a title?
I don't even have a working title. It's really just "the book", "the San Francisco book" or "the city shamans book" in my head.
A couple of days ago in WordWeavers, I called it TITLE_TK. (https://wandering.shop/@kagan/112712428429386445) I really don't have anything else to call it. The one thing I did come up with once, I immediately rejected as wrong.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 4. Front Matter> Do you have standard front matter (copyright, TOC, promotion, etc.) that you'll apply to this WIP, or does it vary between projects? Share your design.
I'll leave that up to the publisher. I hope* to title the chapters, and if so, I'll recommend that there be a TOC (as long as none of the chapter titles turn out to be spoilers!). Otherwise, I'm fairly apathetic.
* Hope to. Might not be able to. Titles are tough for me. See yesterday's post.
Gli ultimi otto messaggi ricevuti dalla Federazione
-
@memeorandum wtf
-
Trump Justice Dept. Closed Investigation Into Tom Homan for Accepting Bag of Cash (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/20/us/politics/tom-homan-fbi-trump.html
http://www.memeorandum.com/250920/p71#a250920p71
-
Even if the two of us are torn apart
I swear that I will change the world
-
E ricomincia l'attesa...
-
-
@kkarhan taste Is 9/10
-
@pertho It depends. In my years in the UK, I've eaten some good pizzas. Yes, they're different, but I've still had some good ones.
-
@stefano 7,5/10 looks delicious.
