#WritersCoffeeClub (Sep) 1: Intro: Shameless Self Promotion.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 27: How consistent are you with your writing? Daily? Weekly? Whenever you get the chance in your already overloaded life?
Pretty much daily, although I occasionally skip a day. According to my progress logs, that's happened 14 times in the past six months: on July 17th, 18th, and 22nd; August 28th; September 4th and the 18th through 21st (when I'd just started my new job and my whole routine was disrupted); October 3rd and 18th; and November 2nd, 26th and 27th. 1/3
All other days (since June 27th), I've spent at least 10 minutes writing per day, and my average... well, it's one thing if I take the average over that whole time, another if I just look at "since I got employed again". It dropped for a while when I had less time and mental energy left after working. 2/3
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All other days (since June 27th), I've spent at least 10 minutes writing per day, and my average... well, it's one thing if I take the average over that whole time, another if I just look at "since I got employed again". It dropped for a while when I had less time and mental energy left after working. 2/3
So currently (over the past 90 days) I spend an average of 55 minutes on weekdays and 1:29 on weekends and holidays.
(But the last 30 days, it's 1:04 on weekdays and 1:44 on weekends. I am bringing it up again, now that I've got my routine back together. Just slowly.) 3/3
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So currently (over the past 90 days) I spend an average of 55 minutes on weekdays and 1:29 on weekends and holidays.
(But the last 30 days, it's 1:04 on weekdays and 1:44 on weekends. I am bringing it up again, now that I've got my routine back together. Just slowly.) 3/3
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 28: Have any resources improved your storytelling skills?
I think the thing that's improved them the most, if anything has, has just been paying attention to stories as I read or watch them, and seeing how they do it. What works, what doesn't... what affects me and gets me caring about the stories and the people.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 28: Have any resources improved your storytelling skills?
I think the thing that's improved them the most, if anything has, has just been paying attention to stories as I read or watch them, and seeing how they do it. What works, what doesn't... what affects me and gets me caring about the stories and the people.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 29: What are your feelings towards readers?
I've always loved people who read a lot, even before I started trying to become a writer. But I guess that's my feelings toward *bibliophiles*, as a random person. My feelings toward readers, as a writer? 1/3
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 29: What are your feelings towards readers?
I've always loved people who read a lot, even before I started trying to become a writer. But I guess that's my feelings toward *bibliophiles*, as a random person. My feelings toward readers, as a writer? 1/3
I love 'em even more! I know some people are writing just for themselves, and to be honest, yes, I am doing that to some extent... but I am definitely *also* writing in the hope that people will read my stories and enjoy them. I am not writing in a vacuum; I'm writing as an act of communication. 2/3
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I love 'em even more! I know some people are writing just for themselves, and to be honest, yes, I am doing that to some extent... but I am definitely *also* writing in the hope that people will read my stories and enjoy them. I am not writing in a vacuum; I'm writing as an act of communication. 2/3
Without readers, I could complete my story and feel proud of what I'd done, but it would also still feel like the loop hadn't really been closed, like a part of the thing was still slightly incomplete.
It'd feel *lonely*. 3/3
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Without readers, I could complete my story and feel proud of what I'd done, but it would also still feel like the loop hadn't really been closed, like a part of the thing was still slightly incomplete.
It'd feel *lonely*. 3/3
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 30: Do you like a book that is challenging or just carries you along?
I'm okay either way; they both have their places.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 30: Do you like a book that is challenging or just carries you along?
I'm okay either way; they both have their places.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 31: What were the big writing moments for you in 2024?
I don't think there have really been any. I've just been plugging away, keeping on going, but I haven't had any big milestones with it this year.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 31: What were the big writing moments for you in 2024?
I don't think there have really been any. I've just been plugging away, keeping on going, but I haven't had any big milestones with it this year.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 1: What are your writing goals for 2025?
Number one: finish my first draft! Good grief, I've been working on background and supporting material for so long...
So, yeah. Finish the first draft. Hopefully in time to be able to let it rest for a month or two and then do at least one editing pass on it. 1/2
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 1: What are your writing goals for 2025?
Number one: finish my first draft! Good grief, I've been working on background and supporting material for so long...
So, yeah. Finish the first draft. Hopefully in time to be able to let it rest for a month or two and then do at least one editing pass on it. 1/2
I can't imagine that a mere two drafts would be enough to have it in submittable condition, so I guess setting "submit it for publication" as a goal for 2025 would probably be very foolish. Which truly sucks. I want this thing out there, in the world, so people can enjoy it! 2/2
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I can't imagine that a mere two drafts would be enough to have it in submittable condition, so I guess setting "submit it for publication" as a goal for 2025 would probably be very foolish. Which truly sucks. I want this thing out there, in the world, so people can enjoy it! 2/2
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 2: Have you ever made up something in a story which has come true in real life?
Not yet, no.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 2: Have you ever made up something in a story which has come true in real life?
Not yet, no.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 3: What form do your stories take? Flash, short, novella, novel or other?
Novels. I'm writing vignettes for practice, but they're not really "full stories" in my opinion, they're just snippets or scenes or suchlike.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 3: What form do your stories take? Flash, short, novella, novel or other?
Novels. I'm writing vignettes for practice, but they're not really "full stories" in my opinion, they're just snippets or scenes or suchlike.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 4: As a writer, what do you get from social media?
Conversation and maybe even a little bit of community with other writers.
Maybe someday it can also be a channel to advertise or promote myself, but that'd be way premature at this stage.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 4: As a writer, what do you get from social media?
Conversation and maybe even a little bit of community with other writers.
Maybe someday it can also be a channel to advertise or promote myself, but that'd be way premature at this stage.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 5: January can be a dull month (especially in the UK). What’s your worst writing month, and why?
I don't have a general month of the year that's bad. This particular year, November was kind of bad for my writing, but that's because it was a particularly bad month for my mental health in general, due to the awful US election results.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 5: January can be a dull month (especially in the UK). What’s your worst writing month, and why?
I don't have a general month of the year that's bad. This particular year, November was kind of bad for my writing, but that's because it was a particularly bad month for my mental health in general, due to the awful US election results.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 6: What’s your current writing project? How’s it going?
The urban fantasy novel about people who can talk to the spirit of the City and do magic as a result, the one I've been talking about since I got on Mastodon in the first place.
It's going... far more slowly than I'd like. But it is going.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 6: What’s your current writing project? How’s it going?
The urban fantasy novel about people who can talk to the spirit of the City and do magic as a result, the one I've been talking about since I got on Mastodon in the first place.
It's going... far more slowly than I'd like. But it is going.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 7: What are your biggest hopes for the writing world in 2025?
I have a fair amount of hope that it'll continue rejecting attempts to cram AI down everyone's throats. I also hope that smaller publishing houses thrive and prosper.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 7: What are your biggest hopes for the writing world in 2025?
I have a fair amount of hope that it'll continue rejecting attempts to cram AI down everyone's throats. I also hope that smaller publishing houses thrive and prosper.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 8: Do you agree with Samuel Johnson, who said, “No man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money”?
Regardless of who said that or what the context was, no. I disagree with the basic proposition. What kind of grind/hustle-culture bullshit is that? Not everything needs to be monetized.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 8: Do you agree with Samuel Johnson, who said, “No man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money”?
Regardless of who said that or what the context was, no. I disagree with the basic proposition. What kind of grind/hustle-culture bullshit is that? Not everything needs to be monetized.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 9: Do you borrow settings, plots or characters from other works (without plagiarism)?
I'm not borrowing any of those at the moment, but I *am* borrowing (and slightly tweaking) a particular book from another work. It'll be a noticeable homage to that work, which is set in San Francisco.
And that's all I'm saying about that until it's published.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 9: Do you borrow settings, plots or characters from other works (without plagiarism)?
I'm not borrowing any of those at the moment, but I *am* borrowing (and slightly tweaking) a particular book from another work. It'll be a noticeable homage to that work, which is set in San Francisco.
And that's all I'm saying about that until it's published.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 10: Do you use dream sequences in your work? How do you feel about them?
Curiously, I've wound up in a situation where, because of some stuff about how magic works, certain characters *must* be getting prophetic dreams. So I'll need to depict at least 1 or 2 of those on the page, although more can simply be described after the fact. 1/2
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 10: Do you use dream sequences in your work? How do you feel about them?
Curiously, I've wound up in a situation where, because of some stuff about how magic works, certain characters *must* be getting prophetic dreams. So I'll need to depict at least 1 or 2 of those on the page, although more can simply be described after the fact. 1/2
In general, I'm a little wary of dream sequences, as they're easy to do poorly — especially for beginning and less-skilled writers.
I plan to approach mine carefully, and with respect for their difficulties and the ramifications of getting them wrong. 2/2