[#]WritersCoffeeClub 1: What are your writing goals for 2025?
Keep writing, keep publishing, don't be afraid to write something weird.
In more concrete terms, I'd like to publish at least 2 books this year and I don't have anything waiting so that's a lot of writing and editing to come!
I'd love to write more text adventures and similar. I struggled to find time for that in 2024.
And I definitely want to stop getting in my own way re: my weird ideas. Still progress to be made there!
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub 2: Have you ever made up something in a story which has come true in real life?
Nope! There are some things I'd love to see, though. Hexclimbers (wheelchairs but with legs that can handle most terrains), guidemechs (small robots that can assist with minor tasks and provide basic live audio description of the environment around you), and of course a society free of capitalism.
Oh and dragon-pulled spaceships, for sure. :dragon_coolmlem:
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub 3: What form do your stories take? Flash, short, novella, novel or other?
The bulk is novels! I trained myself to write longer stories very young and find short stories much more difficult.
I've done quite a bit of microfiction, though I've had a pause of that, and done some micro/flash fiction text games which I'd love to do more of.
Most recently, I wrote and published a novella. It was my first one and I really like the length, so I will certainly do more!
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Generally, I think I'm better at longer works than shorter. Folk who specialise in microfiction or short stories always blow me away with their work.
There is a conciseness to both the narrative and the prose which is captivating to me, and which I am not yet any good at, at all.
As generally, I am more focused on improving my novel-and-novella writing, I don't know how much better I will get at shorter works. But I'd like to!
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub 4: As a writer, what do you get from social media?
As a writer? I get to talk to other writers, find cool books through reviews from friends, and discuss publishing and the industry.
My publishing career is pretty much wholly thanks to fedi, too. If not for friends and readers sharing and recommending my books and Kickstarters here, my books would not exist.
I'm a small (tiny!) indie author. I have no discoverability. Every sale I get starts here.
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub 5: Whatβs your worst writing month, and why?
Hummm...well, I try to write well every month but in reality, big stressful life events can really knock me off track. Those aren't constrained to any particular months.
I guess December? Family and social events dominate December for me in a way that is very draining. And I often do a lot of very intense writing in November thanks to the comradery that month, so at the beginning of the month I can be a bit burnt-out.
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub 6: Whatβs your current writing project? Howβs it going?
I am currently focusing on Space Dragons 2. I'm still working through the first draft. It's still a slice-of-life story but touches on my feelings toward military, police, and systemic injustice (just a bit), which is taking some navigating to get right and not let my frustration take over what is meant to be a comforting story.
As with all first drafts, it is very, very tough to write.
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I'm also toying with continuing my Fallen London inspired Victorian Sapphic Mystery Comedy, likely to be a short story.
I need a clearer plot for the mystery, but the setting and characters are there and waiting. (Ko-Fi supporters have already read the first page or so of this!)
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub 7: What are your biggest hopes for the writing world in 2025?
I'd like to see more diverse voices unrestrained by what marketing teams think will have the widest appeal and unfiltered from awards.
I'd like authors to unite against the AI scammers trying to replace us (rather than rolling over in exchange for a few pennies, as we're seeing in some parts).
And I'd like a mass unchaining from Amazon exclusivity.
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub 8: Do you agree with Samuel Johnson, who said, βNo man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for moneyβ?
It would be hard to disagree more. As someone who must write for money to survive, I can tell you that writing for money is poison for creativity, and some of us are just forced to build up a tolerance for poison.
For me, writing is difficult, frustrating, and draining. It's also nourishing and deeply rewarding. If I didn't need to write for money, I'd write a lot more.
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub 9: Do you borrow settings, plots or characters from other works (without plagiarism)?
Overwhelmingly, I write original stories with no conscious inspirations. Sometimes I take a vague setting thought like 'what if Star Wars but dragons' but that fast becomes it's own thing.
Sometimes I re-read old favourites and discover influences I didn't realise I'd had.
I love the way that creativity feeds creativity feeds creativity.
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I'm not a big fanfiction writer (I've only written one thus far, though it was novel-length) but I think fanfiction is a big positive for the world.
And legally publishable fanfiction, like fairytale retellings or mythological character works, are a big staple of the fantasy genre. I am continually astounded by how different the same story can become when told by someone else.
So borrowing consciously is pretty great, as well.
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub 10: Do you use dream sequences in your work? How do you feel about them?
I'm not a big fan of dream sequences so I rarely use them. I comment on dreams in a sentence or two, if I feel like it's relevant, but it tends to be more vague impressions than a sequence. More about the emotion than the action.
I think dream sequences are hard to get right. So many are just filler, and extensive filler at that.
I much prefer surreal, dream-like sequences that are really happening.
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub 11: Do you write or imagine a backstory for your secondary characters, or do they pop into existence as required?
I tend to have some amount of history for characters before writing them because that helps make up who they are. But certainly, I discover a lot of it while I write.
I think knowing your characters' pasts can be very enriching to characterisation and character motivation, whether you plan it in advance or stumble upon it later.
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub 12: Do characters use words not in the language you write in? Italics for this, or not?
Yes, they do use words not in the language I write in, and it's complicated whether I use them or not.
I was trained to use italics for non-English words. However, this practice can be othering, so I make an effort to avoid it.
The exception for me is magical incantations and fantastical language translation, as that hurts no-one and signals 'I don't expect you to parse this.'
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub 13: What's your favorite trope? Do you lean into it for your work or shy away?
Well, this is an unbelievably broad category and I'm not good at ranking favourites. :dragon_sweats:
I write a lot of found family stories and I really love that trope. I love character archetypes that are prickly, withdrawn, or unpleasant, but turn out to be great friends, and I definitely write a lot of those.
I don't think there are many tropes I love that I would deliberately shy away from.
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[#]WritersCoffeeClub 14: Are you a pantser or a plotter? Have you always been this way? What brought you here?
I am in-between! I used to work very hard at plotting but got very mired in the details and restricted by my own plots. Since then, I plot light and mostly feel my way through the story.
I need some amount of planning to give me a vague direction to head for. I run out of steam without it. But if I plot too heavily, I might never make it out of the opening.
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It's important to remember that this is a false dichotomy and that, as with all writing advice, you should be suspicious of anyone claiming to have the one true path.
The right path for any writer is the one that works for them. The written telepathy business is far too arcane for hard rules.
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@vicorva @viennawriter crafted a very nice term for those of us who are somewhere in between plotting and pantsing: discovery writer. I like it a lot!
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@steinstory @vicorva Oh, Joanna Penn calls pantsers discovery writers.
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@viennawriter @vicorva Ah, sorry, then I got that one wrong ... anyway, I still like the term for being in between plotting and pantsing. I'm thinking of embarking on a journey, an adventure where you can't plan for everything in advance but you know where you want to start and where to end and have some rough ideas for the way - the rest will have to be discovered. ;)
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