#writephant
Q1 Do you own a paper dictionary and thesaurus, or do you prefer digital?
I use dictionaries written on paper, vellum, or parchment, or etched in stone.
But I prefer to conjure word associations out of the aether.
#writephant
Q2. How often do you refer to a dictionary and/or thesaurus while writing?
I am a #writing sprinter, so I save the reference works for #editing.
Oct 16, 2023, 11:23:12 PM [original]
#writephant
Q3. Have you made up words for your books? If you have, what’s your favorite one?
My MC often unwittingly coins neologisms. A recent favorite is "satisfactorized".
Oct 16, 2023, 11:56:39 PM [original]
#writephant
Q4. Do you speak a language other than English?
I can't even speak English without the aid of a magic spell!
#WizardLife
#WritingFantasy
#writing
#wordweavers
11. What tools can your MC use?
Pruning shears, trowels, hoes. Anything for gardening. She grew up on a farm.
Nov 10, 2023, 8:27:55 PM [original]
#writerscoffeeclub
11. Does your writing include comedy? How do you add comedic moments?
Some would consider it comedy. It arises completely out of the interactions of the characters and the situations they get into. So it isn't extra work to put it in. I just tell the story, and hope it is entertaining in some way.
#WritingCommunity
#fantasy
#writing
#wordweavers
16. Do you make up words for your books? If so, any tricks you’d care to share?
I don't have to. My MC does that all on her own.
Nov 16, 2023, 6:03:40 PM [original]
#wordweavers
27. At what point during the writing of your WIP do you know what the last line is going to be?
I tend to do the no-no of having an epilogue at the end of my books. Since this is generally written much later than the rest of the book, and technically contains the last line, it usually doesn't get revised much in the editing process.
So, I generally know the last line as soon as I write it, but not before then.
#writerscoffeeclub
28. How do you approach a fight scene or other high-action scenes?
I always prepare a high-level area-of-effect or damage spell, and make sure I'm using Mage Armor.
Oh, this prompt is probably about #writing.
In that case, I try to make sure I have a very good picture in my head of what the "battlefield" looks like and where the participants are in relation to each other.
In revisions, I look for opportunities to increase the danger and tension.
Nov 28, 2023, 3:21:16 AM [original]
#writerscoffeeclub
29. Some writers hate exclamation marks! How do you feel about them? What about interobangs!?
I am a big fan of punctuation. I'm still searching for a way to tell a whole story with only punctuation.
Exclamation marks are certainly effective, but so far I have only used them in dialog. I have used exactly one interrobang in my published works.
Nov 29, 2023, 3:04:56 AM [original]
#PennedPossibilities
151. Are you proud of your MC? Have they accomplished anything worthy of that pride and satisfaction?
I think saving the world from being turned into chaotic sludge is plenty to be proud of.
#fantasy
#writingcommunity
#writing
#writerscoffeeclub
14. What's the biggest edit You've ever needed to make to your work?
I've shifted POV for whole chapters. But I think the biggest was a detailed description of the MC participating in a battle tournament that I cut out completely because it slowed the pace and didn't add much.
I still have the cut material around. I might share it in a future newsletter (hint — subscribe now if you don't want to miss it).
Dec 14, 2023, 4:58:27 AM [original]
Sometimes I get writer's block trying to compose Alt-text for my shared images.
Dec 15, 2023, 4:13:27 AM [original]
#writerscoffeeclub
17. What aspects of your life do you bring into your writing?
I'd like to think that my deep knowledge of magic informs my writing significantly.
But it's probably my intimate familiarity with livestock that shows through the most.
Maybe I should rephrase that...
#WizardLife
#writing
#NotThatKindOfFamiliarity
#writerscoffeeclub
30. What POV do you mostly write in? Why?
I tend to write in a slightly deep third person POV. I think it is the strongest story telling method. First person allows more of the character voice to emerge, but to me it seems like a lazy way to get the reader intimate with the character. OTOH, maybe I'm just too lazy to develop good character voices.
Anyhow, there are exceptions. You can see a few in The Amulet and the Dragon.
Dec 29, 2023, 7:41:22 PM [original]
#writerscoffeeclub
1. What are your writing related New Year Resolutions?
My plan for the immediate future is to assemble a more detailed plan for the sequel too The Amulet and the Dragon.
I also hope to pass along some more excerpts from Lair of Tellenioc, a prior work that I've lost control of in some planes. Publishing the full book in your world is a longer term project that I hope to complete someday.
Jan 2, 2024, 12:48:12 AM [original]
#writerscoffeeclub
2. Do you have other artistic leanings? How do these affect your writing?
I occasionally will compose a new spell, although I haven't done so in years. This only effects my writing because my unique spells sometimes get me raw material for new books. Such was the case with Water Against Chaos.
Jan 3, 2024, 3:24:20 AM [original]
#writerscoffeeclub
3. What's your writing routine? If you have one.
When I sit down to write, I typically have a glass of spirits and an hourglass. I'll write until the sand runs out, take a few sips, and flip the hourglass and start over.
Jan 3, 2024, 6:32:05 PM [original]
#writerscoffeeclub
7. Do you have an epilogue in any of your writing? How do you feel about them?
Most of my books have an epilogue (and a prologue). That is because they have a framing device or narrative that needs to be introduced and concluded separately from the main story.
Jan 8, 2024, 3:19:39 AM [original]
#writerscoffeeclub
10. Have you ever given a talk about your work?
Not unless you consider the discourse I gave to the guests who were here for tea (and who were eyeing the exit the whole time) a "talk."
Would you?
Certainly. Perhaps if I heavily edit it ahead of time, and manage to stay on script, people might actually enjoy it.
Jan 10, 2024, 3:42:55 AM [original]
#writerscoffeeclub
11. Do you use dream sequences in your work? How do you feel about them?
Cordela receives divine communications via her dreams. This is effective for storytelling, plot development, and character development.
Jan 11, 2024, 1:30:46 AM [original]
#PennedPossibilities
190. Write about something your SC frequently forgets.
Rizo tends to forget that he has the perfect solution RIGHT THERE to the problem he is currently facing.
Jan 12, 2024, 9:17:29 PM [original]
#writerscoffeeclub
14. Regardless of the genre you write in, do you bring in ideas from other genres?
At a certain point, all good genre ideas are just good story ideas.
Jan 14, 2024, 4:46:33 AM [original]
#pennedpossibilities
197. Do any of your characters have their very own "kryptonite" of sorts?
Cordela is sent on missions by her order without full details of what she is getting into. So, if she has any vulnerability, it is loyalty to her friends and her inner circle.
Jan 18, 2024, 10:58:12 PM [original]
#writerscoffeeclub
19. How do you decide on character names?
Most of my main characters come with names. When a side character that I haven't met personally appears in just a few scenes, I try not to use names of people I know. I find that I'm unconsciously drawn to certain initial letters, so I often have to fight that impulse or all the names will sound similar.
#writing
#WritingCommunity
#NamingThings
#writerscoffeeclub
21. Do you know the ending before you start writing?
I generally have a scene in mind, although I'm not always exactly sure how it will play out.
Jan 22, 2024, 11:35:45 AM [original]
#writerscoffeeclub
23. Who do you publish through or aim to publish with? How's it going?
I have used IngramSpark for two books now. It's been fairly easy to use, and customer service has been fairly responsive the few times I have called upon them.
My books are listed many places with one click. The only places I haven't seen them have been Apple and Google. I've acquired readers around the world.
#selfPublishing #indieAuthor #writing
Jan 24, 2024, 1:07:30 AM [original]
#writerscoffeeclub
24. How often do you ignore your editor/proofreader?
Proofreaders, when I can get them, I always pay attention to.
I don't have an editor. If I did, they would probably be insulted by how much I ignore them.
Jan 24, 2024, 7:28:55 PM [original]
#PennedPossibilities
203. How does your MC view the world: as a cruel and unforgiving place, a land full of wonders, or something in-between?
Cordela views the world as a place that has its problems, but on the whole is worth saving. Which is why she does so again and again.
Jan 25, 2024, 2:23:35 AM [original]
#writerscoffeeclub
28. How do you format a flashback so the reader knows what's going on?
Flashbacks are always clearly signposted in the text."It all started three years ago when..." Sometimes, in addition I'll use past perfect constructions: "had been", "had said", "had whipped out his dagger before determining that they were a serious threat".
Jan 28, 2024, 1:40:48 PM [original]
#writerscoffeeclub
4. What software do you use to write?
Haha. Well, I've been trying to get Scrivener to run properly on my arcana-powered computing machine, but neither the Mac or PC versions seems to be compatible. And I haven't met anyone from any material plane who understands the technology well enough to help.
So, for now I'm stuck with quill, ink, and paper. Or Google Docs.
Feb 4, 2024, 3:04:40 PM [original]
#writerscoffeeclub
8. Which words do you overuse? Be honest.
Comparing word frequency in my last publication to a generic English word frequency table, it seems like I use 'would' and 'could' much more frequently than average. Oddly enough, 'should' is just slightly less frequent in my writing than in the general corpus of works.
Feb 9, 2024, 1:18:41 AM [original]
#writerscoffeeclub
18. Do you suffer for your art? Backaches, headaches, writers' cramps, etc.?
I occasionally trudge through marshland, spelunk in dank caverns, or traverse parched desert while doing my location research.
I think that counts.
#writerscoffeeclub
22. Thoughts on chapter length. Long, short or mixed? What's a chapter?
Personal opinion time. For chapters to have any usefulness at all, they shouldn't be longer than 5000 words.
In my own works, I start a new chapter for every change of POV. That sometimes makes for very short chapters, but rarely for very long ones.
Feb 22, 2024, 9:48:32 PM [original]
#writerscoffeeclub
29. Pick one of the Writers' Coffee Club writers you follow and ask them anything about their work or process.
@elysegrasso Does Colorado make its way into your work? How so?
Mar 1, 2024, 2:25:14 AM [original]
#writerscoffeeclub
Welcome to March!
1. What inspired you to begin writing?
When I was young, I got to do a project with some other students where we actually made books — bound, felt-covered, solid books. Then we had to write something to go in them.
Having words you wrote in a physical form that you can pick up and hold is very inspiring and satisfying. That is what gets me to write.
(I don't denigrate eBooks or audio books. They just don't inspire me the same way.)
#writing
#books
#pennedpossibilities
251. What clothing materials or outfits feel the most comfortable to your MC?
Rizo commented that he had never seen Cordela in anything that was not emerald green.
Mar 12, 2024, 10:20:52 AM [original]
#writerscoffeeclub
16. How much do you edit as you write, and how much do you leave until the second draft?
I usually correct spelling errors as I go (using magic to erase the ink, of course). If I have ideas of how to do something better, I will scribble them down as marginalia. Major changes wait until later drafts.
Mar 15, 2024, 11:09:07 PM [original]
#writerscoffeeclub
17. Have you taken high school or college courses in Creative Writing? Were the classes useful?
No classes. When it comes to creative writing I'm a complete autodidact.
You could tell, couldn't you?
Mar 17, 2024, 5:59:19 AM [original]
@AuthorJMac Read your newsletter today. You asked a question therein. I mostly prefer stories in which the protagonist and their adversary both have access to the same power/tech/natural forces, but the hero wins by better understanding, being more in tune, purity of purpose, and such. So, cunning yes, but ALSO cool powers.
Keep up the good comms!
Mar 21, 2024, 2:26:07 AM [original]
#WritersCoffeeClub
#EpigraphCoffeeClub
"Where was I"? — Cordela
"Rizo was about to get you into trouble." — Willie
"That doesn't narrow it down." — Cordela
4. What's the worst thing about being a writer?
Having lots of great ideas but no time to write them.
Second worst is when you do write them and they aren't nearly as great on the page as they were in your head.
#amWriting
#Writing
#WritingCommunity
#WritersCoffeeClub
#EpigraphCoffeeClub
"There's nothing like asparagus when it's fresh from the garden." — The Elder Gods
5. Is there a certain kind of story or arc that is easier for you to write as a short story than others?
I find that limited scope settings fit short stories best. As soon as characters have to start traveling from location to location, things balloon up to novel (or at least novella) length.
May 5, 2024, 7:55:43 PM [original]