[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 30: As of now, how many stories have you written? How many more do you have planned?
So far? Something like 0.01.
Taking the loosest possible interpretation of "planned"... 5 for sure (well, 4.99), and some of those might grow into more, and also I might get more ideas somewhere along the way.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 1: Does your work make you laugh when you read it back?
Only the funny bits.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 2: From all your work, who's your favourite character?
I don't really "do" single favorite things.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 3: Do you agree with Tolstoy, who said, "The best stories come not from the conflict between good and evil, but from the conflict between good and good."
I've learned to be very wary of these quotes, but this one seems straightforward enough, regardless of context.
Anyway, I disagree with it regardless. 1/4
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
Sure, Casablanca had an element of good-vs-good (although it sure as hell also had good-vs-evil, and that was the underpinning of one of its most powerful and iconic scenes — the Marseillaise overcoming the Nazis' singing).
But how about some other timeless and highly-regarded tales?
No matter what you think of the rest of the series, Star Wars episodes 4 and 5 are epic and excellent, and they're both straightforward good-vs-evil stories. 2/4
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
The Lord of the Rings has some complexities and sub-conflicts on both the good and evil sides, but overall, it's another good-vs-evil tale.
How about the Iliad? It's difficult to identify a real "good" (or "evil") side there, but it'd be almost impossible to call it "good versus good". The Epic of Gilgamesh has stood the test of time even more than Homer's work, and it's not really good-vs-good, either. 3/4
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
How about Shakespeare? A couple of his most highly-esteemed plays are Hamlet and Macbeth. Neither of those could remotely be considered good-vs-good.
Basically, Tolstoy sounds pretty full of shit there. I'm honestly curious what stories he had in mind. 4/4
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 4: Have you ever written anything you thought was terrible and saved it in the edit?
Not yet. I'm sure it'll happen at some point.
[Edit: Actually, after seeing many other, more experienced writers' responses to this question, I'm no longer sure it'll ever happen. It seems to be a rare thing!]
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 5: Add one word to the name of a famous novel to completely change the meaning.
The Lord of the Onion Rings
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 6: Sentence fragments? Punchy? Cliché? Essential? Wrong? What's a sentence fragment?
Fine. Useful, oftentimes! But not a thing that should be overused.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 7: What do you think is the most critical element in storytelling?
Having a story? And telling it?
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 8: Are you inspired by the state of current world politics, or is your writing an escape from dark reality? A bit of both?
Definitely a bit of both.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 9: Is it like slay to use sick street talk like in your lit literature, or is that just gonna give you salty vibes?
Ye Gods. If you're gonna do that, get it right, already!
Obvi, it can make sense, or even be indispensable, in dialogue, especially if said dialogue is set in the here-and-now. (Which my WIP is.) But it's easy to overdo, so be careful. 1/2
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
In other settings? If you can accurately depict the slang of the time, it can be a powerful addition to your work's feel and verisimilitude. (Georgette Heyer was such a master at this!) This can also work in future or fictional times; John Brunner did this well in The Shockwave Rider. But again, don't overuse it, and also in these cases, it needs to be understandable by the reader. 2/2
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 10: Do you set out to write a series of a certain number of books, or does it evolve into a series?
It's too early in my writing career for me to tell yet.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 11: When did you first start reading? How enthusiastically (or not!) did you take to it?
I don't recall how young I was. Something like 3 or 4? Anyway, I was definitely a voracious, enthusiastic reader through my school years; I can recall sneaking my books under my desk and reading in class as early as 3rd grade, and might have been doing so earlier.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 12: Do you have a favourite author? Is your style influenced by them?
As per day 2 (https://wandering.shop/@kagan/113583965132146765), I don't really do single favorites of anything. I have various things that I like a lot for different reasons and in different ways.
I will note that... 1/2
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
...I found some of my early vignettes were influenced a bit by one of my favorite authors, Dashiell Hammett: I was too reticent to dive into characters' minds, being unconsciously influenced by The Maltese Falcon's absolute refusal to explore the thoughts of any character, even Sam Spade. But I shook that off after a bit. 2/2
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 13: Which novel to TV or movie adaptation was the most disappointing and why?
The movie that I could best describe as "loosely inspired by Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising". It was absolutely awful. Why? The movie-makers failed to understand nearly anything that had made Cooper's book a beloved classic.
Thread/rant incoming... I'll talk a lot about the setting, tone, and themes of the book, but will try not to spoil the plot. The movie, I will rip to shreds. 🧵 1/7
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
In the book, Will Stanton is a British boy who comes from a loving family. He discovers, on his 11th birthday, that he is one of the Old Ones, servants of the Light, sworn to protect humanity from the Dark. He's inducted into a secret world of magic, steeped in ancient British lore.
As he's drawn deeper into the conflict between the Light and the Dark, his family life starts to form a sort of counterpoint to the magical world, and occasionally almost an anchor. 2/7
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
There's one (non-spoilery) scene in particular that's always stuck with me, and that I'm sure was entirely intentional on Cooper's part. Will's learned that a magical artifact he has with him reacts to evil influences in the vicinity by growing cold, and if it feels warm, that's a good sign. One evening in his family's living room, as people prep for Christmas and enjoy each other's company, it winds up feeling actually hot. 3/7
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
His parents explain that away as being from him having been near the fireplace, but the import is clear: the loving environment of his family is a good one.
The movie throws that all away.
I understand the movie makers said they wanted to give Will more of an "outsider" feel. They say that's why they made him and his family Americans living in England for some reason. (Dad's job? I forget.) Anyway... suuuuure, we all believe that load of shit. 🙄 4/7
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
But that's nothing compared to what they did to his family life. There's no warmth. His older brothers range from dismissing and ostracizing him to outright bullying him. It's a stark and disgusting contrast to the way his brother Paul treats him kindly in the book when he's terrified by a Dark attack.
Aside from that, the magic in the book feels mystical, special, and numinous. In the movie? It's just random comic-book superpowers. The sense of connection to English mythos is totally lost. 5/7
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
The movie had not the ghost of an idea of what made the book so special and beloved. It trampled on many things that were at the heart of the story.
It was awful in every way, and not even "so bad it's good"; it was just bad. Honestly, even if you don't know the book, I think it would just feel like a lackluster, formulaic modern fantasy movie with nothing special about it.
But if you do know the book, you can see just how awful a travesty it is. 6/7
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
I whole-heartedly recommend the book¹. The movie deserves to be consigned to the pits of anonymity and utterly forgotten.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 14: Is it OK for a book to be purely entertainment, or must it have meaning or a lesson?
I personally like my own works to have some kind of meaning, but I adamantly defend the rights of stories to exist purely for entertainment. Hell, I'll even enjoy reading them! Just because I want to write Thing X doesn't mean I want everything to be like that, and I enjoy reading Things Y and Z.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 15: Do some readers over-interpret your work? Do they get messages you weren't sending?
Nobody's had the chance to yet! 🤣
(Okay, my alpha reader conceivably could've with the few vignettes and the one scene they've read. But if they were inclined to do that kind of thing, I wouldn't trust them as my alpha reader.)
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 16: What would be the best writing-related Solstice present someone could give you?
I haven't the faintest clue.
I don't use things like Scrivener or Grammarly, so a subscription to them wouldn't help me any. Ditto for pens or notebooks; I'm digital-only, as writing by hand makes my hand cramp very quickly and my handwriting is atrocious.
I suppose maybe a good book on writing? But I never seem to finish reading those; I always wind up writing instead…
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 17: Which writing conventions do you ignore, if any?
I've written before in this hashtag (and WordWeavers) about my utter contempt for prescriptive "grammar rules" based on Latin, but I don't think most other writers follow those, either, so I wouldn't grant them the status of "writing conventions" at all.
In that case, I think I'm mostly following conventions. No real boundary-breaking, convention-defying stuff going on in my work. And that's okay.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 18: What are your biggest turnoffs or turn-ons when reading?
One huge turn-off for me is exclamatory comments in the narrative voice. (Of the myriad things that were horrible about Piers Anthony's writing, those were the first one I picked up on.)
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 19: Do any of your stories occur in Winter? What do you take from the season?
My WIP is my first work, and it runs from early spring to mid-autumn. Just to contrast with that, I plan to make sure to have the next one cover winter for at least part of its duration, but I have no idea when it'll start or end, or what will happen.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 20: Is anyone getting a copy of your latest book for Solstice?
No, there's nothing ready to give as a gift.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 21: Disney is making a musical animation of one of your stories. How well does that go?
O_o Wow. That's an... interesting concept. I have no idea. I mean, they'd have to get over the queerness of my story and cast to even start on this, but if I assume they must have done so (according to the parameters of the question), then... I'd be incredibly curious to see what they did with it. 1/3
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
Like, could Idina Menzel sing Jessie Nakamura's magical awakening, à la "Let it Go" or "Into the Unknown"? That could be kind of mind-blowing.
Look, I'm a sucker for musicals. I looove the way music can convey emotion, and pairing that with storytelling just hits me in so many places in my psyche. Disney has so very many problems, but... 2/3
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
...they're also good at musical storytelling. IF they kept my stuff queer, and also didn't mess with the anti-cop parts, then I'd be willing to see what else they made out of it.
But we all know each of those "if"s is a complete non-starter on its own, and the pair together is beyond imagination. 3/3
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 22: How would you describe the tone of your WIP? Hopeful, dark, funny, emotional etc?
I think it's a juxtaposition of angry and bitter, wonder-filled, and hopeful.
(I was not planning to have anger or bitterness in it, but I'm afraid they will be unavoidable after both Trump's re-election and the past few years of response to Covid.)
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 23: What holiday treat will you enjoy while writing over the holidays?
I've been having sugar cookies as a wintertime treat, and had a little eggnog last night. With rum. (And sadly, just a teeny bit too much nutmeg. But it was seasonal!)
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 24: The elves have granted you one writing wish. What do you wish for?
For my first novel to be a smashing success.
Once that happens, I'm sure I can keep going on the momentum that will start me off with.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 25: Merry Christmas. Are you having a writing-free day or sneaking in a few paragraphs?
I celebrate the Winter Solstice, not Christmas.
Since I have Christmas as a work-free day, I'll be trying to get more writing done than I usually do on workdays (i.e., treating it as a regular weekend day).
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 26: Do real-life events inspire your writing? Share an example.
Not exactly "inspire", but since my WIP is set in the current day, I am keeping track of ways that current events might crop up in my characters' lives. One example is the solar eclipse that happened on April 8th of this year, although it wasn't very noticeable at all in San Francisco.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]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
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
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
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
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
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]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.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]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
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
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
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
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
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]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.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]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.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]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
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
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
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]WritersCoffeeClub Day 2: Have you ever made up something in a story which has come true in real life?
Not yet, no.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]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.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]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.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]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.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]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.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]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.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]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.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]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.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
[#]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
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
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
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
@kagan
Plugging away on something is great! Don't undersell it.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from JoeDunlavy@mstdn.ca
@JoeDunlavy Thanks! I don't mean to undersell it, but it is the kind of thing that's "just there", not something with any milestones or notable moments.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
@kagan Little milestones also get you where you’re going, don’t ignore their value. I celebrate mine and it has made a world of difference.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from CA_Hawthorne@writing.exchange
@CA_Hawthorne Thanks. I'm trying to think of what my little milestones are.
Passing 100K words definitely counts, and I have noticed it. (Hmmm, I suppose I could actually celebrate it somehow. Give myself a little treat.) But I'm trying to think of what else.
I'm open to suggestions! Including for things that might be coming up soon, rather than already passed; I'd love to use them as motivation.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
@kagan It’s rare that I actually gift myself anything. It’s more that I take the time to congratulate myself.
For me and my circumstances, I’ll take time to note writing/editing streaks, chapters done (especially if they were difficult), resource materials I create, anything new that I learn, etc..
Once you become more aware of what you do and how you do it, things will stand out. If time is scarce, but you make time by giving up something else, that’s a big deal.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from CA_Hawthorne@writing.exchange
@CA_Hawthorne Thanks!
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
@kagan I suspect many of us feel that way. I'm certainly one of them.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from ElisesWritings@wandering.shop
@kagan It might! I mean, it’s gonna be reshaped by an editor anyway, right?
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from rednikki@toot.boston
@rednikki I mean... yeah, I guess so, but I always get the impression people are doing at least 3-4 drafts before sending in. But maybe that's incorrect?
Also, I don't want to toot my own horn too much, but I think my early drafts are going to be a lot more polished than some people's. Partly the amount of planning and prep I'm doing, and partly all the editing/proofing I've done in the past, which has become part of my writing practice. So, maybe? 🤷🏻
Thanks for the encouragement!
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop
@kagan I appreciate that you are keeping your options open.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from LuciaG@wandering.shop
@LuciaG Thanks! I expect it will happen eventually, especially if I write enough stuff.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from kagan@wandering.shop This content has been proxied by September (3851b).Proxy Information
text/gemini