New addition: Having seen some posts with more info on the Hero's Journey that I didn't previously know... never mind, both the Hero's Journey and the idea that it's the best/only way to structure a story are garbage. Wow. It's just garbage all the way down. Hot garbage.
(Why is there no "flaming dumpster" emoji? We need one!) 2/3
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Something I just read points out that "On the very first page of the prologue of The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Campbell explicitly claims that all stories from all cultures follow the exact same outline", so I'll stop blaming HJ/Campbell fanboys, and just blame Joseph Campbell himself.
Fuck this garbage. 3/3
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 9: Do you go to book festivals?
No. (Not yet? Maybe I will when I'm published? What happens at them, anyway?)
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 10: Do your characters have birthdays or anniversaries during your story?"
One of my MCs, Jessie, has her 30th birthday near the end of the book. Her dread of it as it approaches is an important part of her plotline.
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 11: Do you write old-school or digital? A mix?
Digital. My handwriting sucks, and writing by hand makes my hand cramp within 5 minutes.
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 12: How do you visualise a scene when writing it?
By using my imagination?
A mix of "from the character's POV" and "as if it were a movie"?
I'm not sure I understand what this question is asking.
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 13: Do you reuse characters?
I haven't had the opportunity to yet.
If my WIP becomes a trilogy, does having a few characters from book 1 show up in book 3 count as "reuse", or is that just a completely expected thing?
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 14: Do you read non-fiction, and if so, for pleasure, research or both?
Not really.
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 15: Name-check any Writers' Coffee Club members who've inspired you or helped you in the last year.
@orionkidder gave me some good advice a few weeks back.
[Edited to add: I swear, I wrote this when I first saw the prompt, before I saw him name-checking me!]
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 16: Name-check your cover artist, even if it's yourself. Share your best cover.
I don't have a cover yet, that's way premature.
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 17: Do you agree with Somerset Maugham, who said, "There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are."
No. I think huge numbers of people "know" what the rules of writing are... and they disagree with each other on most of the particulars.
Luckily, there are lots of other people who realize that guidelines beat the heck out of rules.
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 18: Do you believe the magic happens in the edit, or do you have a different approach?
I think it can happen at many stages of the process.
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 19: Do you include bodily functions in your stories (do your characters poo)?
If they're relevant, sure. Otherwise? Skip 'em, just like you'd skip anything else that's extraneous.
(In most of what I'm writing, they're really not relevant. But I can imagine situations where they might be.)
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 20: how do you commemorate hitting a milestone?
I haven't yet hit any milestone that I felt was worth commemorating with more than just taking a moment or two to go, "Okay, cool, that's off my plate... now what?"
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 21: Do you ever get inspiration from dreams?
I rarely remember my dreams, except when they're particularly bizarre. I do sometimes think about my WIP and world in my sleep, though, and ISTR that I've once or twice made a little bit of progress that way.
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 22: Would you ever pay for a review? Or have you? Do you feel it's worth it?
Is this a thing that can be done in a way that isn't, for lack of a better term, sketchy or dubious? Is paying for reviews an accepted practice?
Maybe I'm betraying my lack of knowledge of the publishing field, but my initial thought was that that sounds incredibly unethical. But the matter-of-fact phrasing of the question suggests that it's standard. So, what am I missing here?
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 23: Ursula K Le Guin said that Earthsea began when she drew a map. What's your starting point?
For my WIP, it was loving cities and feeling them as alive, and wanting to do something with that.
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 24: How do you feel about fan fiction?
About reading it? About writing it? About other people writing it about other people's works? Or about other people writing it about my works?
I'm not too interested in writing it myself. I have hardly enough time to write "my own" stuff, in my own worlds; I can't spare any to write stuff set in other people's worlds. 1/3
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I'm rarely interested in reading it, either; again, my TBR list is far larger than I'll ever get through (insert that comic about the ghost whose tsundoku pile is still growing even after death) — though there are occasional exceptions!
I 100% support people who want to write fanfic doing so! It can be good practice before writing one's own worlds, or it can just be fun for its own sake, and I support both! Anyone trying to shame fanfic can just bugger off. 2/3
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As for people writing fanfic set in my world(s)? Wow, I would love to have fans! I'd love to have fans want to play in the worlds I'm creating!
I understand why every IP lawyer ever advises authors to never ever read fanfic set in their worlds, and it makes me sad. I would so want to read fanfic of my works! (Okay, some of it would suck. That's the nature of everything; see Sturgeon's Law. But some would make my heart sing.) 3/3
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 25: Are there any celebrations or festivals in your writing?
Definitely! I'm just not sure which ones.
Frex, Jessie loves sakura matsuri (the cherry blossom festival). Unfortunately, I'm not sure if I can wrangle the narration in such a way as to be able to depict her attending it. It's a whole thing, about who's the POV character at what time, and while I may be able to make it work, I may not. 1/2
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But there's Pride, and Folsom, and I absolutely MUST work in the annual commemoration of the Great Quake and Fire (okay, maybe that's not a "celebration or festival", but it's a super-important observance for San Francisco city shamans). There's probably at least 1 or 2 things I'm forgetting. It's just a question of which ones will make it onto the page, and how.
(Lunar New Year will not; the action begins in mid-March and extends until early November.) 2/2
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 26: Did you come to writing from an avenue other than reading?
Mostly reading, but I have to admit, there is a definite strain of TTRPG in my WIP. Not so much in the written product; it is nothing like a LitRPG¹. I just mean that the initial world-building sprang from some stuff I recall from an RPG I used to play.
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 27: What's the elevator pitch for your current WIP?
It needs a lot of honing; it's not a very good one. But it's what I've got so far:
It's an urban fantasy about people who can hear the voice of the City, and it teaches them to do magic.
(See? I need to learn how to write elevator pitches, honestly. My forte is spec-fic, not sales copy, and the latter is what elevator pitches really are.)
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 28: When beginning a story, which do you have a clearer idea of first, the characters or the plot? Both?
With this one, the first idea was the world and the setting. I started getting ideas about plot and characters at roughly the same pace, and then deliberately focused on characters more.
I'm not sure how it will go with other stories.
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 29: Tell us about a writer's block you worked through. How did you pull it off?
I'm not sure that I've yet had "writer's block" in the usual sense. I've had a few times where a particular thing was giving me some trouble — like, I wasn't sure how to proceed, or I was just feeling a little burnt out on that particular thing for a bit — but I just shifted focus and worked on another thing for a bit, and then came back fresh to the original one. 1/2
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So far, I've been doing world-building, character creation, and now a bunch of vignettes, so it's always been easy to shift from one thing to another. Once I'm in the thick of it, writing actual text, I'm not sure if I'll be able to do that anymore. So that'll be interesting to find out. 2/2
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 30: What have you achieved in your writing this month? Or were you too busy eating cake?
Wrote roughly 18,600 words' worth of vignette material. Completed 3 vignettes. Got feedback from my alpha reader about 2 of those vignettes, and did a bunch of editing.
Curiously, I did also have cake; my partner, their other partner, and I celebrated their themaversary (anniversary of coming out as non-binary), and I baked a cake for them. Everyone said it was delicious!
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 1: What makes your WIP (or most recent work) stand out from the crowd? Don't be shy.
It's an urban fantasy with a unique magic system that requires being set in a city; it has no other supernatural races (just humans, and the living City itself); and it has an ensemble cast instead of the usual single MC.
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 2: Trauma? Can you write a traumatic, disturbing scene?
I suspect so and devoutly hope so, although I'm not sure if I plan to put any into my current WIP. But I'm sure that someday I'll want or even need to write a scene that disturbs the crap out of my readers.
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 3: Do you agree with Isaac Bashevis Singer, who said, "A good writer is basically a storyteller, not a scholar or a redeemer of mankind."
I feel like I should check to see what the context for the quote is, but...
Well, assuming Singer was talking only about fiction writers (which, y'know, non-fiction is completely legit), then I guess he's mostly right. The story is the important thing, sure.
Mostly. 1/3
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But even a fiction writer shouldn't be actively spreading misinformation, and while stories don't necessarily have to uplift, redeem, or try to make the world a better place, I think the least they can do is not make it worse.
And stories can do that. Stories have power. The power to shape the world. If we wield that power, I think it's okay if we use it simply to amuse or entertain, without delivering any uplift or redemption, but... 2/3
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...we'd damned well better not drag people down or make the world a worse place.
But if all we do is entertain... that's sufficient, IMO. 3/3
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 4: What was the first book you read that enormously impacted you?
Probably either A Wrinkle in Time or The Dark is Rising. I'm not sure which one of those I encountered first.
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 5: You're the Ruler of the Writing Universe for the day. What petty rule do you decree?
If my decree can have force after the day is over, I decree that nevermore shall anyone teach those bullshit, prescriptive "rules" based on trying to turn English into Latin.
If not, then I just decree that everyone shall have a good day of writing, and also some fun and enjoyment of whatever other type would please them.
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 6: Have you mixed genres in your work? Would you?
I'm putting a romance subplot into my urban fantasy WIP.
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 7: Tell me about something new you tried to do with a story. Did it stretch you?
Honestly, pretty much everything I'm doing is new, at least to me — I'm a new writer.
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 8: What's your favourite food and drink combo when writing?
A Manhattan with a shot of Tullamore Dew, and some kind of cheddar nibbles — possibly just small bites of cheddar cheese, possibly on crackers. There's this lovely spreadable pub cheese in a sharp cheddar flavor that I quite enjoy.
[Edit: Might've been unclear, that's a Manhattan, plus the Tully shot is a separate thing. Not a Manhattan made with Tully.]
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 9: What motivates you to keep going when sales are low?
🤣 I don't have any sales! All that motivates me is the desire to finish writing this thing. Then I'll worry about maybe trying to get some sales.
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 10: How do you research and plan your stories?
Research: basically, "on the internet". Since my WIP is set in the modern world, this includes lots of Google Maps and Street View, plus things like checking Yelp reviews to see when businesses opened (and verify they haven't closed!). Plus, of course, all the usual weird questions writers do research on.
Plan? I'll have to say "increasingly loosely as the story progresses." 1/2
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The first few chapters (and increasingly, some stuff that happened in the few months before them) are pretty tightly plotted. Chapters 4 and 5, more loosely so. And after that? I have a few ideas of, "Thing X should happen around ⅓ of the way through the book" or "Thing Y, some time as the climax is approaching," but I'm mostly going to set all these things in motion in the first 5 chapters and then see how they interact with each other. 2/2
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 11: Do you have a favourite phrase or word that crops up in most of your work? What is it?
Nothing I've discovered or noticed (or implemented) yet. Maybe once I've written more.
(I've noticed in "my non-'writing' writing", i.e., texts and emails, I tend to use "kind of", "actually", and "really" a lot, probably more than I should, but I don't think that's come up in "my writing writing"... yet. I'm keeping an eye out for them.)
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 12: Do you prefer euphemisms or technical terms to refer to genitalia in your writing? Why?
I haven't had to refer to any yet, but when it happens, it'll depend on the situation. Who's doing the referring, and in what context?
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 13: Has anything you've written made you cry, either when writing it or on a re-read?
Not yet. I truly hope something does at some point.
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 14: How does your plot structure grow? Linearly as you go? Or does it grow out from one or more ideas?
I'm afraid I don't understand this question. I feel like my answer is something like, "Yes, and..."
(I guess the "and" is that it grows out of the actions the characters take.)
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 15: Which of the different marketing tactics you may have tried has been the most successful?
I haven't tried any marketing tactics yet; it's way too early for me to try to market something that I haven't even started the first draft of yet.
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 16: Have you ever tried to write something set in a culture other than your own? How did it go?
Yes, I once wrote a sort of ongoing roman à clef about web development cast as a tale of ninja derring-do in feudal Japan, in the later part of the Sengoku Jidai.
I think it went pretty well, but I did eventually get tired of it and move on to other things.
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 17: What's the body count in your WIP? Is this typical for your work?
It will be at least 2, probably 3. Maybe a few more.
I'm a fan of the Anyone Can Die trope¹, as it keeps readers from getting complacent or figuring that main characters must have Plot Armor², so yeah, this will probably be a typical rate for my work, once I produce more of it.
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Addendum: I think it's really cool that some folks have tried taking this as the sexy kind of body count instead of the murdery kind, but I'm like, how would one even begin to count that?
Do established liaisons count, or only new connections? Do the established ones only count if we see them having sex (or at least see them making overtures and then give them privacy), or... 1/2
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...can we just assume that over a 6-month time span (for my WIP), they obviously must find the time at least once or twice?
Depending on those criteria, and on how many side characters I depict in certain groups, my count could be anywhere from 1-2 all the way up to 3 digits. 2/2
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 18: Do you read scripts? Would you try writing a script or screenplay?
Do I habitually read scripts? No. Am I willing to read scripts, or things written in script form? Sure.
I actually have vague dreams of trying to write scripts or screenplays, but I know I should first work on the various novels that I have ideas for.
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 19: Do you go to fan conventions or similar?
I've been going to sci-fi cons since I was about 15 or so. I look forward to eventually going as a guest rather than fan, someday.
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 20: Do you agree with Terry Pratchett, who said, "There's no such thing as writer's block. That was invented by people in California who couldn't write."
WTF?
I generally have a good impression of Sir Pterry (despite not having read anything of his except whichever is the half of Good Omens that he wrote), so I'm wondering if maybe this was just a line that one of his character said, and he doesn't believe it himself? 1/2
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Or is it misleadingly out-of-context in some other way, as so many of these quotes have been?
Whatever. Basically, the slur against California isn't landing very well over here, in this San Franciscan's mind and heart. 2/2
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 21: If you write adult fiction, would you consider children's stories and vice versa? Do you write both? How's it going?
I don't have any real desire to write children's stories. I think I'd be okay at it if an idea hit me that would work well in that genre, but... that's not the kind of thing I usually think about and care about, so that seems unlikely.
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 22: What's your favourite writing convention to eschew?
"Writing convention" doesn't sound to me like "faux, overly-prescriptive grammar 'rule'", so I don't need to mention things like splitting infinitives or the fact that prepositions are perfectly legitimate things to end sentences with. So let me see, what are some writing conventions? 🤔 1/3
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To a fair degree, I'm not writing what I know. I am writing from the POVs of a lot of people who have lived experiences that are very different from my own. Women, enbies, Black people, Asian-Americans and Hispanics, people who grew up poor... Okay, also a few rich and powerful people.
I'm kind of diving into the deep end here, but there's no way I can tell the story without doing that. I'm being as careful and conscientious about it as I can. I'm doing my best. 2/3
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Additionally, I'm writing a multi-POV, ensemble story as my first book. I think most people would have advised me to start with a single MC. But again, this story requires multiple POVs and MCs.
A few months ago, I'd have added that I'm starting with a full novel, when there's lots of (good!) advice to write shorter things first. But I've recently realized that's what my vignettes are for. So, yay, I'm at least doing one thing that's not utterly foolish! 😄 3/3
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 23: How do you capture a character's unique voice in dialogue?
For the most part, things like word choice and tone. That tone might occasionally be indicated by dialogue tags, though I'm of the opinion that roughly 90% of dialogue tags should just be "said" (or "asked" if that's the case). The time to use variant ones is when it will give the reader extra information — such as a character's unique voice!
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 24: Do you criticize other writers? Who and in what way?
I mostly criticize things writers say, not the writers themselves. Like Stephen King's thing about not using adverbs, or Raymond Chandler's advice on having someone come through the door with a gun if you're not sure what to do next, which can easily result in a very tangled plotline full of threads with no clear antecedents. (In essence, a forest of diaboli ex machini.) 1/3
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A major exception is JK Rowling. Not only do I criticize her world-building (which falls apart the moment you give it more than a passing glance, and is a perfect example of the kind of shoddy world-building I'm determined to avoid), I also criticize her as a person. Calling her a TERF would be a misnomer, since the F stands for "feminist", and she doesn't stand up for women — not even herself, as exemplified by her bowing to pressure to use initials instead of her feminine given name. 2/3
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@kagan I haven't had to.
Narrative: I'd err on technical, to preserve the narrative voice, unless it's first person when the narrator has a character.
If it's dialog, then people will people, but that risks using non-universal terms.
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