#WritersCoffeeClub

#writerscoffeeclub What genre is your WIP?

Period Romantic Comedy

Makes a change from all the tragedy.

#writerscoffeeclub 04 - 4. Do you/will you write under your own name? Do you share a name with another writer?

Names seem fickle to me. Maybe that's because I have such a common one or have disassociated into various characters over the years, idk. I'm fairly shy and quiet. Fading into obscurity, desirable.

Yet in my world, I have a large network of people who have helped me and the kids. Advocacy requires truth. PTSD and disability issues are complicated.

#writerscoffeeclub 03 - What writing advice would you give your younger self?

This is so damn tough to answer. Writing has been such a destructive/healing force in my life. Both parts were necessary. I wouldn't have changed the journey. Only I know of that earned confidence battle.

If I could find a way to cheat code that intelligence to my younger self, I definitely would. 👍

Believe in yourself. Yet the truth is lived. Don't be a hypocrite.

#writerscoffeeclub Dec 5th Credit to; @johnhowesauthor

WHAT GENRE IS YOUR WORK IN PROGRESS?

Oh man, I really hate defining genre.

Officially, Darkling is a Contemporary Fantasy. But it also Venn-Diagrams into the genres of Reverse Portal Fantasy, Romantic Fantasy, Paranormal Fantasy, and Paranormal Romance.

There's a fey realm, and our world. There's vampires. There's a strong romance subplot. There's telepathy...

#Darkling #BookTwo #FeyTouchedTrilogy #Writing #MyWriting #WritingCommunity

#writerscoffeeclub 02 - Do you use ARC readers? Do they help your book sales? What's an ARC reader?

~ARC stands for Advanced Review Copy. An ARC reader is a person who receives a pre-published copy of a book, usually after final editing.

Not used. I'm not sure if it'd be a direction I'd choose to go down.

#writerscoffeeclub 01 - 1. Does your work include any poetry? Share a snippet.

It doesn't. But I adore poetry. I hope to one day add it to photos or other projects.

December prompt threads. 💖

I love these writers. So much inspiration. Thanks everyone!

#writerscoffeeclub
#PennedPossibilities
#Wordweavers

Link to prior month threads: https://toad.social/@chameleon_muse/111161695777699724

#writerscoffeeclub 4 Dec: Do you write under your own name?

I have many names.

I made the decision a long time back to publish as my wallet name. It's unusual enough that the only confounder is another geek who made some moderately successful shareware.

And that time a plumber skipped out on paying for some advertising and the lawyer called me instead because they were miserable at their job.

I may yet adopt a second pen name for strongly other-genre stuff, e.g., horror.

#WritersCoffeeClub 12-05: What genre is your WIP?
Noir fantasy, or maybe low fantasy. Or low noir fantasy.

#WritersCoffeeClub 12-05: What genre is your WIP?

Lovecraftian cosmic horror mashed up with Pratchettesque comedy.

It's more of a challenge to myself and an experiment in form than a serious attempt at a book. I have a prose draft written that I'm reworking as a novel in formal verse now that I've realized that's where my voice takes me, so playing a lot with form, including trochic octameter couplets (a la "Locksley Hall") which I'm having a hell of a time with, but have the right eerie tone.

Chapter 4-4: Do you/will you write under your own name? Do you share a name with another writer?

I did, then I didn't, then I did, but now I don't.

My film work was under my real name, but for my online and narrative fiction I've used skribe for thirty plus years. The reason I stopped using my real name was because of stalkers.

No writers, no.

#WritersCoffeeClub #Writing #WritingCommunity

#WritersCoffeeClub 12/5 #Writing
What genre is your WIP?

Primary Yuri / Romance
Secondary: Paranormal / horror
Josei - i.e. for adult women. If others like it that is great

Not your usual paranormal romance where one of the love interests is supernatural but romance between two women. I aim for a creepy backdrop, not a scary one, but that would depend on the reader.

(No one in their right mind would fall in love with one of my supernatural creatures.)

#ParanormalRomance #SapphicRomance

#writerscoffeeclub
4. Do you/will you write under your own name? Do you share a name with another writer?

I do, I write in my real name. My given name, Taiyo sounds Sun and the letters mean the Pacific Ocean. Taiyo is not a usual name, so many readers think that Taiyo must be the pen name.

#WritersCoffeeClub 12-4 Do you write under your own name? Do you share a name with another writer?

Sort of. My pen name "M A Melby" includes parts of my legal name. My first name is "Marian" and my last name starts with "A" and my maiden last name is "Melby".

No. But I do share my name with a Norwegian sweater maker. I found out when I tried to change my Instagram name. And her name is Marianne!

Small world.

Time for #WritersCoffeeClub Day 5. Credit as always to @johnhowesauthor .

I've found it surprisingly difficult to explain the genre. It's kind of satirical, kind of comedic but also kind of violent and action packed.

It's framed like an urban fantasy but with no fantastical elements whatsoever.

#writerscoffeeclub
4. Do you/will you write under your own name? Do you share a name with another writer?

I do not write under my legal name, but I want to change my legal name to my pen name.

I've written under MANY pen names. Now, after I finish rebranding they will all be Kit (Something) b/c I want the same first name.

My old main pen name contains the first name of my dead name because I never wanted to ignore a fan on accident. (Not that I met any in person.)

#writerscoffeeclub
4. Do you/will you write under your own name? Do you share a name with another writer?

No, I don't want them to find me.

#writerscoffeeclub
4. Do you/will you write under your own name? Do you share a name with another writer?

I won't reveal what the R. and the A. stand for. In some of the worlds in which I operate, True Name magic is effective...

#WizardLife

NEW this fall from yours truly and Pink Narcissus Press: THE FINAL DAYS OF KOBOLD KODY'S FRONTIER EXPOSITION AND TONIC SHOW

Cursed with clairvoyance, only Andra knows that the end is near for her employer and his traveling show. Can she save her costars? Can she even save herself?

Only if she can learn in time that not everything is what it seems

Get your copy today! https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/book/1144378507

#writing #writingCommunity #fantasy #lgbtq #feminist #fiction #gifts #smallBusiness #writersCoffeeClub

#dailystory #writingcommunity #WritersCoffeeClub #photography

21. I've chosen this photograph as an antidote to the #Vermont slog - rain-snow-rain-snow-rain - outside.

I began my final revision of #HiramFalls today. It's a struggle: how to get deeper into the characters, which characters to go deep with, how to make the reader really care about them, where to pick up the pace, where to slow it down.

All while fighting the urge "to just get it done." Any suggestions out there? Techniques?

#WritersCoffeeClub for December 4: Do you / will you write under your own name? Do you share a name with another writer?

I publish under my own name. I'm pretty sure I'm the only living Andrea Monticue in the universe. At least, according to Google.

Dec 04 #WritersCoffeeClub—Do you / will you write under your own name? Do you share a name with another writer?

Technically no. My last name does not, legally, have an accent in it, but it's something I always ask to be put in. It's a pronunciation thing. People see the accent and assume French, which changes how they pronounce it. I don't use the pronunciation I grew up with, but one my grandmother discovered during her genealogy research.

I have a pretty unique name, despite the "Michael".

#WritersCoffeeClub 12.4 — Do you / will you write under your own name? Do you share a name with another writer?

fanfiction, fictionpress and AO3 I go by draconic_skysong. have since 2006. I don't know why I chose it it just sounded cool.

#WritersCoffeeClub 12.3 — What writing advice would you give your younger self?

write what you want, when you want and how you want. have fun with it all and don't put so much pressure on yourself or you'll end up hating what you write and writing in general. it's supposed to be fun, not a chore.

#WritersCoffeeClub 12.4 — Do you / will you write under your own name? Do you share a name with another writer?

Funny story here... My name is actually Corey Lynn Iwasczyszyn-Fedorko. The first surname is my mother's, the second is my father's. Iwasczyszyn is incredibly Ukrainian, yes. It's pronounced this way: Say "Superstition" but put an "Eva" in front of it. Eva-sti-shun. Fedorko is way easier. I'll probably publish as Corey Fedorko. I can guarantee that I don't share that name with ANYONE.

#WritersCoffeeClub 12.3 — What writing advice would you give your younger self?

I would tell a younger me to believe in myself, to never give up, and to never listen to my awful friends who were telling me that I'd never succeed. I started writing in middle school, I was young, and I was so damn sensitive.

I would also say that should save my files everywhere that I possibly can, to save my notebooks, to never ever throw anything out, and to keep at it. It's just a given now. Save, save, save.

#WritersCoffeeClub 12.2 — Do you use ARC readers? Do they help your book sales? What's an ARC reader?

I've never used an ARC reader. I've never had the chance because I have WIP's going on for my original work. But my goodness, they're so important. We need them.

I found some information in case anyone is interested. The link below is to a fantastic article.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/nicoleyork.com/author-blog/arc-readers%3fformat=amp

#WritersCoffeeClub #Writing 03: Writing advice to your younger self?

Start sooner.
Those stories that you told classmates back in primary school, write them down and publish them.
Also, don't look to adults to help or notice you. They are mainly just clinging on or faking it, and don't have time to notice you.

I publish under my full name because it makes me easier to find online. If you Google "Laura Loomis," you get a photographer, a realtor, a Parks Department official, and a contestant on a competitive cooking show.

#WritersCoffeeClub #WritingCommunity

#WritersCoffeeClub 4: Do you/will you write under your own name? Do you share a name with another writer?

I write under my own name. As far as I know, no other authors use it.

#WritersCoffeeClub Dec4. Do you/will you write under your own name?

I do use a pen name. I always have. D. Harrigon. It's up there on my profile. Way back in the late 80s, early 90s, when I was still a teenager, I thought it would be cool to use a pen name, and I wanted to pick something gender neutral - there was a whole thing about using gender neutral terms in rulebooks in White Dwarf. Back when White Dwarf had articles.

#WritingCommunity #ttrpg #writing

#WritersCoffeeClub 12.4: Real name? Pen name? Whaddaya got, slugger?
So, Dan Burley—the name I will probably always write under—both is & isn’t my legal name. Burley is actually my middle name, & I chose to use it because people always pronounce my last name wrong, even if I spell it out, & even if I sound it out ('cause it's similar to a more widely-known name). I didn’t want to have to deal with that all the time. Plus, Burley looks better in print. Also, I like that tiny bit of anonymity.

Fun fact, I decided on my name based on how it would look on a book cover. Mostly in that the other options were a little too masc for me.

#WritersCoffeeClub #AmWriting #transwriters

Dec 4 #WritersCoffeeClub Do you/will you write under your own name?

I do write and publish under my own name. However, I had a contract for a smutty science fiction novel to be published, and that was going to be under the pseudonym Tessa Terranova. The publisher went under before it was published, though. (Looking into other publishers now.)

It’s not because I’m ashamed of writing smut; it would just be a metadata and organizational thing.

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 4: Do you/will you write under your own name? Do you share a name with another writer?

Yes, I'll be writing under my own name. And no, I don't share it with anyone else; I'm quite sure there is nobody else in the world with my name.

#WritersCoffeeClub 4: Do you/will you write under your own name? Do you share a name with another writer?

I use my real name for work and official paperwork only. I don't know if any other writers share it, but it's not an uncommon name.

Now, if any writers share THIS name, I will be a little concerned. 😂

Edit: Why use a pseudonym? Because I don't want my employers finding out my trans-non-binary-ness and what I write. 🤷

#WritersCoffeeClub Do you write under your own name? Do you share a name with another writer?

I write under my own name. It's as good as another.

It turns out there are a lot of biology professors named Steven Brewer (something like eight the last time I checked), but not many authors of science fiction. There is an author named "Steve Brewer" who writes mysteries. And a "Steven D. Brewer, Sr." who wrote a book of historical fiction.

I used a pen name only once and it was glorious.

#WritersCoffeeClub 4Dec- Do/will you write under your own name? Do you share a name with another writer?

I’ll publish under this name, which is my married name. It’s stronger, and much less common, than my maiden name.

As for sharing names with another writer - I don’t. Not fully, anyway. There’s another Sarah J out there, and while we write in the same genre, there’s enough of a difference in our stories and style. But if I snag a few readers because of the similarity, I’m okay with that. 😅

#WritersCoffeeClub Dec 4 Do you write under your own name?

I do write under my own name, and these days wish I’d gone for a pseudonym. Just because I don’t much like my name (first name dowdy/oldfashioned for my generation, second name from the side of my family that I have zero attachment to), and it was a squandered chance to pick another. I think it was just one decision too many back then 😊

There is another Jedi, ah, Wendy Palmer, who no longer appears active but who’s written a few sort of spiritual movement-based self-help books, about as far from my genre as you could get. I occasionally have to ask Good Reads etc to separate us, but it’s not too bad.

#WritersCoffeeClub 4/12. Do you write under your own name?
I’ve always written under my own name, on 60 non-fiction books and two novels so far. If I was straying into radically different territory I might consider a subtle variation (inspired by Iain Banks/Iain M Banks, because who better?). Or maybe not.
There’s at least one John Sparks out there in authorland, but no other Jon that I know of.
#writingCommunity #ThreeKindsofNorth #TheSunderingWall #writing #amwriting #mastobooks #books

#WritersCoffeeClub 4 Dec
Do you write under your own name?

Yes. Well, kind of. It's just about the only context where I get any use out of my middle name for anything.

Some writers use different names for different genres, for marketing reasons I suppose. But my story collections are all a mix of different things, and my novels are slightly off-centre for genre too, so there's no coherent marketing pitch to be made except: this is me, I write from whatever ideas come to me.

#WritersCoffeeClub 4. Do you/will you write under your own name? Do you share a name with another writer?

When I first went to write, there was another "James Milne" who was popular, so they put me under a pseudonym. "Shakna Israel".

But these days, with more control over my writing, I just use my name. And I've crowded out most of the others who share it.

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 3: What writing advice would you give your younger self?

Maybe to start writing sooner? But maybe not; maybe I started now because now is when I finally have something I want to write.

Friends!

I'm now looking for a few ARCs for The Way of the Wielder—book 1 of Jaslan & Jack's story.

I've been talking about this book on #WordWeavers & #WritersCoffeeClub all year long. Attached is a quick blurb, and some other details are below.

-Words: ~158k
-Genre: Romantic fantasy (dark)
-Antic. pub date: Feb 26, 2024
-CWs: swearing, sexual assault (close to, but not r*pe), sex, mental health (depression/PTSD), violence

There's lots of love, too—I promise! 🥰

Interested? Let me know!

#WritersCoffeeClub 12/3: What writing advice would you give your younger self?

There's a vast writing community right outside your door. Go find them much sooner than I did.

#WritersCoffeeClub 3 Dec
What writing advice would you give your younger self? (Or since time travel is a stupid idea, some younger writer who might benefit from it.)

Write what you can finish. It's much better to have 5 finished short stories than 1 unfinished novel. Short stories are severely underrated, they are an amazing way to practise your chops.

Also: just because you may think "this is BS" doesn't mean your readers will think so. We're often our own worst critics.

#WritersCoffeeClub 3 Dec
What writing advice would you give your younger self? (Or since time travel is a stupid idea, some younger writer who might benefit from it.)

Writing is a skill, and so it's learnable and teachable, and there's a lot of information out there on ways to learn different kinds of writing and ways to get better at them. Seek that out.

(An example is the Writing Excuses podcast)

Also: reading aloud when editing is an almost magical way to rub away rough edges on prose.

#WritersCoffeeClub Dec 3: What writing advice would you give your younger self?

When that Creative Writing Prof rips you to shreds, he'll have a novel in print, so you'll feel like he's got the weight of experience and knowledge behind him.

He'll still have that one novel in print when you're on short story number thirty-six, four novels, a collection, seven novellas, and three YAs.

So... don't let him derail you for those years, huh? Pretty sure he just didn't like you wrote queer stories.

I think I'd be beyond words if I could finagle a couple words from some folks that I've met from mastodon on my book.

#WritersCoffeeClub #AmWriting

Le salon divinatoire ouvre sa première séance de club de lecture sur le thème du thé : découvrez tout sur le site https://lesalondivinatoire.fr !

Vraiment même si vous n'êtes pas sûrs de rejoindre venez, il y a du thé, des livres et des gens cools 🌸✨

Books and spaces in Fr/En📚

#bookstodon #readingcommunity #lecture #clubdelecture #tealovers #bookclub #bookclubradio #BooksWorthReading #BooksofMastodon #livres #livre #writerscoffeeclub #bookworm #tea #blacktea #folklore #fiction #nonfiction

#WritersCoffeeClub 3 DEC - What writing advice would you give your younger self?

Trust the process. Also, use OneNote.

I try to only two one or two descriptive things in a character per scene. I assume people don't want to read a paragraph of description of each character, but I THINK I can make the descriptions more compelling by only do a couple of them at a time. Also I have prosopagnosia and I'm pretty sure I picture things differently in my mind than other people. So descriptions may be a weak point 😓

#WritersCoffeeClub

I think exclamation points are seasoning. You can't use them super-often or they lose their punch, but I wouldn't say, ban them.

I have never used an interobang.

#WritersCoffeeClub

Fuck AI.
I am a Luddite in the True Sense of the term that if I could destroy these AI writer computers I WOULD.

#WritersCoffeeClub

There's things I've wanted to change about Remnants, or augment, if nothing else there are things I'd do differently.

I think it's okay to retcon (if we mean "making changes to a story after it's published") but it's also not common, so you have to keep that in mind.

#WritersCoffeeClub

It's complicated by Covid and a small house.
Basically-- I used to be a morning writer. That's probably not strictly true anymore (if nothing else I need time to prep / psych myself up)

but because of the small house and my brother's (until now) orders to work from home, I usually only write with some alone time once he's off work.

He IS supposed to go fully back into the office next year though, so who knows 👀

#WritersCoffeeClub

Yes, it feels realistic to me that way (though to be clear I haven't written any work targeting children)

I have had a foul mouth going back to at least Middle School. It was gender expression before I knew I was nonbinary. It's not like all my characters cuss, and I try to have setting-appropriate cussing, but I think people have been cussing for ages upon ages so 🤷

#WritersCoffeeClub

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 2: Do you use ARC readers? Do they help your book sales? What's an ARC reader?

I'm not at that point yet. I haven't even really thought about it.

#WritersCoffeeClub Do you use ARC readers?

I had developed a list of people to receive ARCs while I was writing Revin's Heart. It was helpful to get copies out to a few people who could get a jump getting reviews written.

I don't yet have anyone lined up to read Better Angels, tho. Anyone interested?

#WritersCoffeeClub 2: Do you use ARC readers? Do they help your book sales?

No. You have to pay to submit to most ARC sites and it'd be useless considering I don't sell anywhere near enough to ever recoup the cost. And I feel like those sites only really work for people who already have a big readership anyway. 🤷

#WritersCoffeeClub 2Dec- Do you use ARC (advanced reader copy) readers? Do they help book sales?

It's funny you should ask...

I've never used ARCs before, but now that I'm working through my editor's feedback, I'll be looking for a few for The Way of the Wielder soon!

As to if they help book sales, I don't know. Frankly, I didn't think that was the purpose. I assumed that ARCs provided feedback so that a book wasn't an unrated one on release day.

Shows what I know. 🤷‍♀️

#WritersCoffeeClub Dec 2: Do you use ARC readers?

I plan to.

#WritingCommunity #writing #authodons

#WritersCoffeeClub 12/2 Do you use ARC readers?

I do; or rather, my publisher does. My traditionally published books go up on NetGalley.

The few I've released myself when I've gotten rights back I've also given out e-ARCs, though nowhere near as freely, given I'm a small fry.

ARCs tend to do their job of creating some initial noise, but I find NetGalley can suffer from "Boo! This non-romance wasn't romantic!" syndrome because they quantify queer titles as "LGBTQ+" and nothing else.

#WritersCoffeeClub 12/2 Do you use ARC readers? Do they help your book sales? What's an ARC reader?

ARC stands for advanced reader copy—a book sent out for free with the expectation that the reader will review or help promote it if they like it. I sent some out with book 1. I think a few of the recipients wrote reviews (and they were all positive). Most didn't read it. Don't think it made much difference either. I'll probably do some ARCs of book 2, but you have to have read book 1, so...

#WritersCoffeeClub Do you use ARC readers?

I've tried, three or four times. Last time, I gave out the book to about thirty people. And exactly none of them left a review. (It still made about a hundred sales).

So... Not really interested in doing that again.

#WritersCoffeeClub 12/1: Poetry in your prose

I wrote this with much groaning and gnashing of teeth, some of which is documented in a blog post too.

"The unwithering crown, it long awaits
Its seed returns from wounded flame
Hurt withheld, its roots unstained.
From renewal will bloom and free by flood
Our discontent, remade, unwalled
What spared it: mercy, kindled in all"

https://nebulos.space/blog_e&a_poem_revision.html

#AmWriting

#WritersCoffeeClub 12/1: Is there any poetry in your WIP? Share a snippet.

I hope there is. It’s my goal to capture some of the magic of the universe in my writing, and I think that is the very essence of poetry.

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 1: Does your work include any poetry? Share a snippet.

Some might pop up during the writing. I don't have any specific plans for it, but I can imagine a few places it might crop up.

#WritersCoffeeClub 1: Poetry
The outer text of lacework is usually benign, with the dirty, seditious or insulting bits happening by implication in the holes. One exception was a piece of weaponized ear-worm that had the refrain (loosely translated) 'Desi and Demi have made a whore of Justice' that had a tune that went very well with skipping rope or churning butter or hammering nails or many other tasks common in a pre-industrial city. Deeper levels were even harsher: the musici were ticked

#WritersCoffeeClub 1: Does your work include any poetry? Share a snippet.
The musici in Mistella have a form of poetry sometimes called Lacework, with some resemblance to a freestyle rap battle, British cryptic crosswords, and Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra. Adequate lacework has 2 levels of meaning, excellent lacework has 3, and there are rumors some masters achieve 4. I do not have the detailed cultural knowledge, and a reader certainly would not, so things get described rather than quoted. 1/2

#WritersCoffeeClub 1 Dec
Does your work include any poetry?

My fantasy novels begin with short poems, partly to get my head in the right space, also to echo a theme or foreshadow something.

A sub-plot of Miasma is Emi trying to translate the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam from Persian. I don't know Persian. I had to find a literal translation of some of them, pick one, re-express it as a tanka (5/7/5/7/7) and then use it in the story. insane linguistic overthinking, barely worth it.

1/2

Chapter 4 - 1: Does your work include any poetry? Share a snippet.

Yes. Some. Most are songs.

Here is a translation of a hymn called Escuses, which in the Old Language means You Stand Relieved.

Rest now
My friend
The journey is ended
Your duty is over

You stand relieved
You stand relieved
You stand relieved

I will stand your post
From this day
Until it is my turn
To stand relieved

You stand relieved
You stand relieved
You stand relieved

Don your armours
In the Hall of Heroes
Save a place for me
Beside you

You stand relieved
You stand relieved
You stand relieved

You stand relieved
You stand relieved
You stand relieved

#WritersCoffeeClub #Writing #WritingCommunity #Poetry #Song #Hymn

A reminder that the #WritersCoffeeClub December daily challenge starts today 🎅.

A text version can be found on my blog here:

https://johnahowes.blogspot.com/p/mastodon-writers-coffee-club-daily_13.html

As ever, if you have any prompt ideas for future months, please let me know.

Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays ☃️❄️

#writingcommunity #writer #author

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 30: How much detail do you put into character descriptions?

Enough to give the reader an idea of what they look like (hopefully including what race they are, like The Hunger Games' Rue), but not a lot beyond that; I go more for quick thumbnail and vibes than detailed portraiture... except for items the character chooses to express themself. Buttons, pins, statement/graphic tees, those all deliver messages. (And in Ángel's fashionista case, their whole wardrobe qualifies.)

#WritersCoffeeClub 30. How much detail do you put into character descriptions? Discuss?

I have detailed setting in my writing plan with drawing. But I want reader to set protagonists as closer, I write description a little.

Sometime, I don’t even write which sex they are. Japanese allows it. Many readers read them as men cause writer is a male. When I find the review that the female reader reads as they are women, I feel happy.

Unfortunatery, translation set the sex for them.

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 29: Some writers hate exclamation marks! How do you feel about them? What about interrobangs!?

I absolutely hate exclamation points in narration. Even when I was a pimply-faced teen with bad enough taste to read Piers Anthony, I still (or already) squirmed and cringed at his use of them.

But they're totally fine in dialogue — at least, assuming a character is shouting, or excited, or whatever. Keep 'em between the quotation marks!

#WritersCoffeeClub Some writers hate exclamation marks! How do you feel about them? What about interobangs!?

"Bebe loves them!" Bebe said Then added, "But only in dialog."

The #WritersCoffeeClub prompts for December are ready, I hope you have fun with some of these. 🎅

A text version can be found on my blog here:

https://johnahowes.blogspot.com/p/mastodon-writers-coffee-club-daily_13.html

As ever, if you have any prompt ideas for future months, please let me know. I currently only have enough until March. ☃️❄️

#writingcommunity #writer #author #wordweavers #pennedpossibilities

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 28: How do you approach a fight scene or other high-action scenes?

I'm planning to write close 3rd person, so it will depend a lot on whose viewpoint we're in. Either of my martial artist characters, for example, will describe things in more detail, sometimes using specific terms for particular types of attacks and blocks. Other folks with less combat experience would have a much more chaotic impression of a fight, and that'll be reflected in the narration.

#WritersCoffeeClub Nov 28
How do you approach a fight scene or other high-action scenes?

I slow them down - like super slow motion in my head, thinking about each element, each person, the moves they would make, etc.

#WritersCoffeeClub 27: How do you feel about the use of AI in writing?

I refuse to set up an account to use ChatGPT even for my own amusement, because sooner or later their customer database will be leaked on the internet.

I'm trad published by Tor and Orbit. Author/publisher contracts include a clause asserting I am the sole author and have the right to license the work for publication. Any hint that I used an LLM for my writing without my publishers' knowledge could be fatal to my career!

#WritersCoffeeClub 27: How do you feel about the use of AI in writing?

Oh, yeah. There it is"

"Don't create anything, copy existing works from existing artists and alter it sufficiently to escape copyright laws. It's the largest theft of property ever-"

#WritingCommunity #writing

#WritersCoffeeClub How do you feel about the use of AI in writing?

No.

#writerscoffeeclub 27 Nov: How do you feel about the use of AI in writing?

I kind of feel like there are some use cases that are valid, such as editing and research, but they shouldn't be used to actually generate the work. It always makes me really steamed seeing those endless ads for ai tools that will 'write your book for you!' it's not even capable of producing coherent work. And I am not interested in reading something no one bothered to write.

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 27: Use of AI in writing?

First off, that should be LLMs, not "AI". There's no intelligence there; I don't want to help the hype merchants.

In my own writing? I'm very against it. On the one hand, I want to write. I don't want to have something else do the writing for me. And on the other hand, the question of what incorporating LLM output into my work would mean for my copyrights is one with no clear answer, and many bad possibilities.

Others' writing is up to them.

#WritersCoffeeClub 27Nov - How do you feel about the use of AI in writing?

In the creation of my stories, my own intelligence serves me just fine, thanks.

So far, I've only one use for the large language learning models people mistakenly call "AI.” I feed it the 1000-, 500-, and 100- word summaries and the loglines I've written for my books, and I request revisions in different voices and various grade levels. This occasionally uncovers a turn of phrase worth using in marketing materials.

#WritersCoffeeClub cont'd

20. Do you have an author's website specifically for promoting your writing?

I do! https://dawnrigger.com

Just in time for #CyberMonday, eh?
It started as my blog, then turned into a place I could post character art & stuff about works in progress, and now it's all that and my author website.

...I think I deactivated the character art pages because no one ever looked at them. Hm. I might re-open those. I do love my character art.