#WritersCoffeeClub (Sep) 1: Intro: Shameless Self Promotion.
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#WritersCoffeeClub day 29: Do you set rules for yourself while writing? What are they?
Not particularly. The closest I can think of is that when I record my "time spent writing", it has to be time when I was actually writing, not doing random other stuff. But that doesn't have to mean *typing*; research qualifies, and so does pondering what to have happen next. 1/3
But that's not so much "a rule" as recognition that if I want my records to have any value, they need to be an accurate reflection of what I was doing, not a fantasy.
Similarly, one could say I've "made a rule for myself" that when I start a chapter or scene with a new POV, I name the character whose POV it is within the first sentence. 2/3
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But that's not so much "a rule" as recognition that if I want my records to have any value, they need to be an accurate reflection of what I was doing, not a fantasy.
Similarly, one could say I've "made a rule for myself" that when I start a chapter or scene with a new POV, I name the character whose POV it is within the first sentence. 2/3
But again, I don't think of that as "a rule" so much as a recognition of the fact that if I don't do that, I'll confuse my readers. Which is a stupid thing to do.
I don't think "don't do stuff that's completely counter-functional" is really a rule, so much as... not being an idiot? 3/3
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But again, I don't think of that as "a rule" so much as a recognition of the fact that if I don't do that, I'll confuse my readers. Which is a stupid thing to do.
I don't think "don't do stuff that's completely counter-functional" is really a rule, so much as... not being an idiot? 3/3
#WritersCoffeeClub day 30: When is a piece of writing done?
I've done a fair bit of pondering on this, and not come to any good answer that I truly agree with. "When the author says it is" is *not* the answer, no matter what Neal Stephenson might want.
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#WritersCoffeeClub day 30: When is a piece of writing done?
I've done a fair bit of pondering on this, and not come to any good answer that I truly agree with. "When the author says it is" is *not* the answer, no matter what Neal Stephenson might want.
#WritersCoffeeClub day 1: What's your greatest weakness as a writer?
Damn if I know. It's too early in the game for me to tell. At this point, I'll say "overwriting".
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#WritersCoffeeClub day 1: What's your greatest weakness as a writer?
Damn if I know. It's too early in the game for me to tell. At this point, I'll say "overwriting".
#WritersCoffeeClub day 2: From where did your last idea come?
The same place all my ideas come from: the inexhaustible well of human creativity that all of us have access to.
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#WritersCoffeeClub day 2: From where did your last idea come?
The same place all my ideas come from: the inexhaustible well of human creativity that all of us have access to.
#WritersCoffeeClub day 3: How much do doubt or guilt feature in your work?
Not much, despite the fact that two of my five MCs were raised Catholic (one is very lapsed, the other is still devout) and another is Jewish.
Now that I think about it, maybe I should have at least a little guilt in there... but really, it's not a major factor in my own life (despite being raised by a *very* lapsed Catholic and a secular Jew...), so I don't really feel motivated to do much with it, artistically. 1/2
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#WritersCoffeeClub day 3: How much do doubt or guilt feature in your work?
Not much, despite the fact that two of my five MCs were raised Catholic (one is very lapsed, the other is still devout) and another is Jewish.
Now that I think about it, maybe I should have at least a little guilt in there... but really, it's not a major factor in my own life (despite being raised by a *very* lapsed Catholic and a secular Jew...), so I don't really feel motivated to do much with it, artistically. 1/2
Doubt could feature in some other works, I suppose, but this one hasn't got much of a place for it. My characters have no doubt that the City is alive and magic exists, because they can see real-world effects from both of those things. Any "doubt" about magic in this WIP goes out the window midway through the first chapter. 2/2
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Doubt could feature in some other works, I suppose, but this one hasn't got much of a place for it. My characters have no doubt that the City is alive and magic exists, because they can see real-world effects from both of those things. Any "doubt" about magic in this WIP goes out the window midway through the first chapter. 2/2
#WritersCoffeeClub day 4: Talk about how the conceit for a work changed as you wrote it.
It's still too early in the writing of my first WIP for the conceit (or anything else) to have changed significantly from what I'd planned. Maybe it'll happen as things progress, though.
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#WritersCoffeeClub day 4: Talk about how the conceit for a work changed as you wrote it.
It's still too early in the writing of my first WIP for the conceit (or anything else) to have changed significantly from what I'd planned. Maybe it'll happen as things progress, though.
#WritersCoffeeClub day 5: How unsympathetic are your protagonists?
My PROtagonists? Not unsympathetic at all, I hope!
I initially misread this questions as asking about how unsympathetic my ANTagonists are, and I wrote a bunch about that. I had some thoughts. Not sure if I should share them on this hashtag, or separately, or not at all.
What the heck, I'll do a second (much quicker) poll!
Votes say yes, so... 1/4
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#WritersCoffeeClub day 5: How unsympathetic are your protagonists?
My PROtagonists? Not unsympathetic at all, I hope!
I initially misread this questions as asking about how unsympathetic my ANTagonists are, and I wrote a bunch about that. I had some thoughts. Not sure if I should share them on this hashtag, or separately, or not at all.
What the heck, I'll do a second (much quicker) poll!
Votes say yes, so... 1/4
How unsympathetic are your ANTagonists?
Great question! I won't be able to tell until the thing's finished (and even then, I may need to see how people react; tropes like "Draco in Leather Pants" (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DracoInLeatherPants) and "The Scrappy" (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheScrappy) exist for a reason). (WARNING: TV Tropes links can eat your whole day.) 2/4
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How unsympathetic are your ANTagonists?
Great question! I won't be able to tell until the thing's finished (and even then, I may need to see how people react; tropes like "Draco in Leather Pants" (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DracoInLeatherPants) and "The Scrappy" (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheScrappy) exist for a reason). (WARNING: TV Tropes links can eat your whole day.) 2/4
(For those who don't want to follow links and try to learn to see how those relate to the topic, I'll summarize: those tropes, among many, have to do with audience reactions to characters, and particularly cases where the audience reacts to a character in a way that clearly wasn't what the writer(s) intended.)
Anyway, my *goal* is to have them be at least... 3/4
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(For those who don't want to follow links and try to learn to see how those relate to the topic, I'll summarize: those tropes, among many, have to do with audience reactions to characters, and particularly cases where the audience reacts to a character in a way that clearly wasn't what the writer(s) intended.)
Anyway, my *goal* is to have them be at least... 3/4
...somewhat sympathetic, in the sense of, "Crap, if not for X, Y, or Z, *I* could make the same mistakes that led these people to be villains!", in order to get my readers to examine their own actions and try to do good in the world. That's the sort of thing that could fail in either direction; I want to avoid making them too sympathetic, while also keeping them from coming across as completely evil.
I will eventually see how well I do at that. 4/4
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...somewhat sympathetic, in the sense of, "Crap, if not for X, Y, or Z, *I* could make the same mistakes that led these people to be villains!", in order to get my readers to examine their own actions and try to do good in the world. That's the sort of thing that could fail in either direction; I want to avoid making them too sympathetic, while also keeping them from coming across as completely evil.
I will eventually see how well I do at that. 4/4
#WritersCoffeeClub day 6: Talk about a character of yours who you love (or hate).
Honestly, I love most of my characters in one way or another. Yes, even the antagonists. For today, let me talk about Deonte King.
I love how he's just unapologetically living his life, a bisexual Black jazz sax player, with his boyfriend in a house in the Fillmore. He's got a quintet, and they make enough money to support themselves, and Deonte *could* get involved in SF magical politics... 1/2
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#WritersCoffeeClub day 6: Talk about a character of yours who you love (or hate).
Honestly, I love most of my characters in one way or another. Yes, even the antagonists. For today, let me talk about Deonte King.
I love how he's just unapologetically living his life, a bisexual Black jazz sax player, with his boyfriend in a house in the Fillmore. He's got a quintet, and they make enough money to support themselves, and Deonte *could* get involved in SF magical politics... 1/2
...but instead, he just lets one magical group that he cares about have meetings in his house, and otherwise mostly spends his time making himself, his boyfriend, and his listeners happy. 2/2
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...but instead, he just lets one magical group that he cares about have meetings in his house, and otherwise mostly spends his time making himself, his boyfriend, and his listeners happy. 2/2
#WritersCoffeeClub day 7: Show off a bit of text describing a meal.
I thought I had one, in a scene from the first chapter. But no, it's too interspersed with other stuff, and I can't see a good way to edit it together cohesively for just the meal. 1/2
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#WritersCoffeeClub day 7: Show off a bit of text describing a meal.
I thought I had one, in a scene from the first chapter. But no, it's too interspersed with other stuff, and I can't see a good way to edit it together cohesively for just the meal. 1/2
There's another one coming up, in a scene I've just started writing. Angel goes to dinner at Margot's parents' house. Margot's father loves cooking, since he retired, but there's at least one dish of her mother's cooking for old times' sake and coziness. Sadly, all I've written so far is Margot and Angel getting to the front door and being greeted. So... I'm sorry, I haven't got what I need for this prompt yet. If only it came a couple of days later! 2/2
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There's another one coming up, in a scene I've just started writing. Angel goes to dinner at Margot's parents' house. Margot's father loves cooking, since he retired, but there's at least one dish of her mother's cooking for old times' sake and coziness. Sadly, all I've written so far is Margot and Angel getting to the front door and being greeted. So... I'm sorry, I haven't got what I need for this prompt yet. If only it came a couple of days later! 2/2
#WritersCoffeeClub day 8: Have you ever received feedback on a piece that completely missed the mark?
No. I've received fairly little feedback at all; I'm still early in my first draft and haven't shown stuff to beta readers. The major feedback from my alpha reader, on the couple of scenes I've shown them, has been, "Yes, more please!", although they did also point out a place where one character's attempt to console another's just landed completely wrong.
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#WritersCoffeeClub day 8: Have you ever received feedback on a piece that completely missed the mark?
No. I've received fairly little feedback at all; I'm still early in my first draft and haven't shown stuff to beta readers. The major feedback from my alpha reader, on the couple of scenes I've shown them, has been, "Yes, more please!", although they did also point out a place where one character's attempt to console another's just landed completely wrong.
#WritersCoffeeClub day 9: Are there "normal" words you avoid using? Why?
No, and I don't avoid using "normal" punctuation marks — like the em dash — either. I can't imagine why I would avoid using normal words. Or maybe a better way to put it would be: if I thought there were a reason to avoid a certain word, that would take it out of the realm of "normal" and into a "specially marked" category. (Slurs come to mind,)
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#WritersCoffeeClub day 9: Are there "normal" words you avoid using? Why?
No, and I don't avoid using "normal" punctuation marks — like the em dash — either. I can't imagine why I would avoid using normal words. Or maybe a better way to put it would be: if I thought there were a reason to avoid a certain word, that would take it out of the realm of "normal" and into a "specially marked" category. (Slurs come to mind,)
#WritersCoffeeClub day 11: Talk about a time you sat down to write and nothing came out.
Once upon a time, I sat down to write and nothing came out. (Okay, it's happened more than once, but I'm thinking of a particular time.) I looked at the place where I wanted to continue the narrative, and I just wasn't sure what to do.
So I went and looked for other parts of my WIP that I could work on, and wound up fixing this part that I'd previously noted with a "fix this" tag. 1/2
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#WritersCoffeeClub day 11: Talk about a time you sat down to write and nothing came out.
Once upon a time, I sat down to write and nothing came out. (Okay, it's happened more than once, but I'm thinking of a particular time.) I looked at the place where I wanted to continue the narrative, and I just wasn't sure what to do.
So I went and looked for other parts of my WIP that I could work on, and wound up fixing this part that I'd previously noted with a "fix this" tag. 1/2
And I guess the narrative must have percolated in the back of my brain for a while more, because the next time I sat down to write, I *did* find a way to continue. 2/2