#amWriting
I have been finding all sorts of ways to avoid the last round of revisions on a short story. It sat there for two weeks, me thinking it needed just a few tweaks.
Just finished an hours' worth of major rewriting. Oh man--so glad I didn't send this out! It was NOT done. #amwriting
dangit I do NOT need another story idea right now! in the bin with ye until I've finished the other four that have made past the 10k larval stage.
See you in six to eight hours
🦇
This bloody assassination has taken me DAYS to write, but I think I have it now. I *knew* there was another crossbow involved. #amwriting
'I say' is a clause (subject + verb), so a comma follows.
My 2c inanyways.
The evil baron living in his mansion up on the hill done pissed off the townsfolk.
I ended my week with a big pitch for a dream market I've been working on for a while. I will now glance at my email every 45 seconds for the next week. Now is the time on Sprockets when we anxiety pace.
Hello everyone! I'm looking forward to sharing posts about my books, current and upcoming. #amWriting ✍️
My weekly roundup of #publishing news #writingtips and #bookmarketing links is up.
Where Are You Going To Find Your Next Read?😀
https://buff.ly/3NlLuSk
#writingcommunity #selfpublishing #indieauthors #amwriting #writing
Okay, creative writing brains of the Fediverse:
You know the expression about having your cake and eating it, too?
How could we modify that to talk about characterizing a remedy as equitable in one circumstance and legal in another? Or at least, trying to get the benefits of both.
I'm thinking something like: "Having your equitable cake and....." not sure on the legal part.
Any thoughts (including brainstorming) appreciated!
fringe of cloud cover
bordering the horizon
... my father's hairline
#amwriting #observations #haiku #senryu #3lines #mpy #10WordJournal
Mom's doing more of the stuff, Dad and I are working and the dog is of the utmost belief we should all be worshipping her. For Science.
YORK FACTORY EXPRESS JOURNAL, 1828:
"Fine weather. Continue our voyage at daylight. Put ashore to breakfast at half past 6 am and people go off hunting but fall in with no animals. Start again about 11 are are only able to proceed about 2 miles when the wind being too strong ahead we put ashore where some fresh tracks being observed another party are sent off hunting, but return unsuccessful -- toward evening two young moose take the River just above our camp... #Canada #History #AmWriting
I haven't updated in a while, but I just reached 42000 words today.
Call me a junky, but I swear #cannabis helps me get out of certain analytical ruts in my writing. I think it does this by causing me to make connections that I normally wouldn’t, and sometimes those shifts get me saying what I wanted to say in the first place. #marijuana #amwriting #amwritinghistory
I love the encouraging energy within these words. ❤️ Its motivation is wonderfully reassuring and provides the perfect environment to create. 💜 🌷 💜
#writer #writing #writersofmastodon #MastoWriters #writingcommunity #writerslife #amwriting #amwritingfiction #amwritingmystery
New #StoryChat episode is live! This structure is the underpinning of most stories. We dig into this story structure and how to apply it! There's minimal math, I promise.
Greetings guys and gals and nonbinary pals, I have some fun news to share. In addition to the production of the audiobook for my first novel Charlie being almost finished, I also will be republishing my long out of print novella The Death Game, which is a 44k word supplementary story to Charlie, and will also get its own audiobook and I couldn’t be more excited. I’m almost done rereading/touching up the manuscript and should be submitting it today or tomorrow. I really love that story and consider it my most personal and vulnerable writing to date. I’m nervous about putting it out but also very excited. Listening to the Charlie audiobook has me really motivated to keep writing and doing my thing. In a lot of ways, I feel like it’s my real life’s work. The drawing I do is fun and it makes me money, but I don’t get the same level of personal satisfaction that I get from writing. I really hope this audiobook finds an audience because I’m ready to get these stories out there.
#WritingWonders June 9: “Do natural calamities play a role in your story?”
That depends on what we mean by nature! The mechanics of advanced systems are known so far in advance, not even volcanoes or asteroids are surprising.
On the other hand, the Known Universes are home to beings with the power to control spacetime itself around them. Even in a “normal” conflict, Superheavy combatants can trigger storms, quakes, or avalanches just by moving… and often do.
Last night just before bed my brain dropped the button for the teaser: "I think I love you too."
This morning they are still the right words.
Storytime! Last time you met Dylan and her unexpected new Skill. Now it's time for her first time out. Gonna be a nice peaceful night, no trouble at all
🤣🤣🤣
A Writer's Diary, daily.
Often around the time that everything stops.
Signup still free.
#awritersdiary #amwriting
@SubstackInc
Was listening to a guided #meditation that mentioned Joseph Campbell & #myth: "The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure that you seek." My mind immediately went to my characters in my #WIP, so I'm not sure I got any meditating done but it might be the key to getting unstuck w/ my #writing! Another way of framing what is your character's weakness/flaw & how will they overcome it (change)? (And what hell will we writers put them through to get there...)
#WritingCommunity #AmWriting
Hi friends! Happy Pride. To celebrate, I released my new novella Starborn today. It's a queer sci-fi epic adventure romance, full of alien psychic cults, queer space vampires, and single moms saving the world.
#amWriting
#pride
We often think about our relationship with people and things like food or money. But have you considered your relationship with your creative self?
By engaging in a candid conversation with our creative self, we can unlock patterns which are holding us back.
In this week's blog I share the tools I use to check in with my creativity and what I have learned.
#creativity #WritingCommunity #Artists #Writers #Photographer #AmWriting #Blog #Relationships
http://emcox.co.uk/the-creative-chair-boost-your-creativity-with-this-one-simple-tool
Thinking about doubling down on the fantasy world I've created (and love!) and writing only within that world. Fantasy. Fantasy romance. Fantasy with romantic elements. I'm here for ALL OF IT.
hazy june morning,
humid tendrils slowly creep,
spring lazily melts.
#haiku #poetry #amwriting #writingcommunity #spring #photpgraphy
#WritingWonders 9: Do natural calamities play a role in your story?
Well, my #historicalfiction #workinprogress is set in Pompeii, so ...
“Um,” said Bella. “So, where did you find it in the end? Was it stuck in a stone, or being held up out of a lake by an arm clothed in white, or… or what?”
“It was in the cellar of an ancient inn,” Merlin replied. “They didn’t know what they had. I had to summon one of the spirits to appear in human form before they would believe that it really was the famed sword of King Arthur.”
“Oh wow. And… where was this ancient inn, exactly?”
“Shepherds Bush.”
If These Walls Could Talk
https://medium.com/@Pen_and_Pixel/if-these-walls-could-talk-ce5e1cb4d910 #AmWriting #Medium
Bella peered into the case. “Oh, that’s nice,” she said. “You’ve bought some jeans. Now that awful pair you’re wearing can go in the wash, and when it’s dry I’m going to fix it.”
“The jeans,” said Merlin, with consummate dignity, “are not the point.” He reached into the case, fumbled for a moment among the denim, and triumphantly extracted an impressive-looking sword, which he held aloft.
“Behold Excalibur!” he intoned.
This text was originally written in Russian 8 years ago. Recently, I translated/reconstructed it into English.
#poetry #poet #poetrycommunity #writing #writingcommunity #amwriting #ExperimentationsInSelftranslation
@gg Sorry for disappearing for a while! I've dropped a mystery story into the Discord thread and very happy to return the favour by looking at someone else's WiP #feedbackfriday #amwriting #amediting #writingcommunity
That feeling when you look over your edited work from the day before and realize you basically put back in all the stuff you had taken out two days ago.😭😂
#amwriting
#writingWonders 9/6 do natural calamities play a role in your story?
They will. But not in this #WIP yet.
Today's #MicroPrompt: Scribble
Reply with:
+ A story that contains the prompt word (derivations and tense changes ok), or
+ An excerpt from your current WIP that contains the prompt word, or
+ A poem!
The only rules: keep it to a single toot and be sure to check out the other replies!
Do reply, not just tag, if you want to make sure it gets seen!
It can be helpful to hear about other people's declines, so every Friday in 2023 I'm posting my submission statistics.
December 31 - June 9
Submissions: 81 (+4) (week goal: +7)
Personal Declines: 26 (+3)
Form Declines: 32 (+1)
Acceptances: 4 (-)
Total Fees: 0 (-)
#WritingCommunity #LitMags #Writing #Writer #AmWriting
Read the replies for the full thread.
Aber wisst ihr, was für mich wirklich unglaublich ist? Dass ich jeden Morgen aufwache und mich auf den Tag freue und abends lächelnd einschlafe - nur, weil ich endlich einen Roman schreibe und mich das so, so glücklich macht.
@Curator @bookstodon Hello friends, happy #pride !
Tell me about your #lgbtq+ #originalcharacters !
Calling all #writers and #artists !
#WritingCommunity #MastoArt #art #amwriting
I'm bad at hashtagging lmao
Let's spread the love and visibility!
When my #AudioDrama editor says I'll have this script edit to you next friday because I'm on Crip Time too, I swoon because I can bond instantly with people that know what Crip Time is. :) #AmWriting
Y'all, I have a cover reveal booked for July 6th! No going back now. 😱
#WritingCommunity #AmWriting #Romance #Fantasy #FantasyRomance
Anyone want feedback on their work? Free. Sincere. Non-judgmental. Published (post a link) or not (DM me and I'll give you my email, or hook you up on our Discord or have you send me a link). <2,500 words please.
Just reply to this thread.
This is advance notice for #FeedbackFriday
#photography
#WritingCommunity
#writer #writing #amwriting #WIP
The nights i spend without you… a #TinyLittlePoem. https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSL2jFfdR/
#Writing #AmWriting #WritingLife #AmWritingPoetry #AustralianPoetry #AustralianPoet #AussiePoet #Poetry #AWW2023 #KateLarsen
"The immediate task of philosophy,” says Karl Marx, “is to unmask human self-alienation in its unholy shape". To uncover the points of severance and disconnect. To find the gaps forced between things. To show how and where they meet...
https://duanetoops.substack.com/p/apocalypsis
#reading #writing #art #poetry #read #write #amwriting #amwritingnonfiction #books @bookstodon #thursday
Some of my writing community asked if they could read a sample, so I put the first chapter on my blog. http://blog.ljcohen.net/2023/06/litany-for-broken-world.html
“The summit of happiness is reached when a person is ready to be what he is.” ― Desiderius Erasmus
"Will the Real "Me" Please Stand Up - Truth or Consequences .. new blog post:
https://livingtheemersonrule.com/will-the-real-me-please-stand-up-truth-or-consequences/
#knowthyself #courage #readytobeready #learner #searcher #amwriting
Today's #MicroPrompt: Trance
Reply with:
+ A story that contains the prompt word (derivations and tense changes ok), or
+ An excerpt from your current WIP that contains the prompt word, or
+ A poem!
The only rules: keep it to a single toot and be sure to check out the other replies!
Do reply, not just tag, if you want to make sure it gets seen!
Goodreads has suggested that the authors most similar to me are David Walliams and Charles Bukowski so I'm going to have to go away and rethink my life. 😬 #amWriting #bookstodon
Get lonely enough for long enough you start to talk to books. You try on their words to see how they feel. You spin them around yourself and start to shed your skin. You wonder what it might be like to have something to say. You under go a change. "All eloquence is borrowed", David Dark says, until it becomes something new, something different, something all your own...
#reading #writing #art #poetry #amwriting #amwritingnonfiction #books @bookstodon #read #write #wednesday
Writing day today. Send me some random words for me to base the story on!
How do you feel about the "rule" that "only" should go right before the thing it modifies?
For example, the rule would say this is wrong:
➡️ The words are only capitalized if they are part of a name.
The rule says it should be written like this:
➡️ The words are capitalized only if they are part of a name.
Doors are places of doubt and belief. Where the tricksters linger. Where the deep-seated shifts of calamity and serendipity occur. Places of faith and trust and yearning. Places of disillusionment and discontent. A longing for somewhere else, for some place else, for something more...
https://duanetoops.substack.com/p/a-passage-a-presence-a-door
#reading #writing #read #write #art #poetry #amwriting #amwritingnonfiction #books @bookstodon #wednesday
Today's #MicroPrompt: Glass
Reply with:
+ A story that contains the prompt word (derivations and tense changes ok), or
+ An excerpt from your current WIP that contains the prompt word, or
+ A poem!
The only rules: keep it to a single toot and be sure to check out the other replies!
Do reply, not just tag, if you want to make sure it gets seen!
Good morning.
The Three Laws of AI
AI doesn't do things. Corporations will use AI to make money for shareholders. That's how we need to frame it.
AI doesn't think or feel. It's a category error to anthromorphise.
On principle, automation should lift burdens and encourage human flourishing. Stripping joy from creation is a particularly toxic use of AI.
#AI #automation #BadServantWorseMaster #WritingCommunity #AmWriting
My writing is in small bursts. In fits and starts. In scraps and fragments. In the hope that it all amounts to something complete. In the hope that in the process maybe I will to. "The discipline of creation", Madeleine L'Engle says, "is an effort towards wholeness."
#reading #writing #read #write #amWriting #amwritingnonfiction #books @bookstodon #tuesday
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TVBHKYZ/
Slime monsters, voracious hamsters, cringe concerts, awful bards, and “hare-raising” spellbooks.
Thirteen strange and amusing stories. One Earth-shattering problem.
How did a donut destroy Earth anyhow?
#amwriting #indieauthors #kidlit #indieapril @bookstodon
After nearly 15 years in the making, I just sent my 98-year-old Nanna’s memoir off to print: back-to-back with a republished version of Pop’s. What a joy, what a privilege, what a responsibility - and what a couple of babes they were back in the day (and everyday).
#Writing #AmWriting #Memoir #FamilyMemoir #MemoirWriting #SelfPublishing
Finished writing that Jubilee short comic book story I mentioned the other day.
Conclusion: I love Jubilee.
Now for 30 minutes of blissful peace of mind and rest followed by attacking the next deadline.
I made so much progress on the novel over the last week. I still have no idea if what I'm writing is any good. But that's the joy and the fear of it, right? I'm enjoying my characters, having fun building the world they live in, and informing the whole thing with ideas I can't stop thinking about. #amwriting
Help me out here... If you have a single person hanging out with a couple, are they a third wheel or a fifth wheel?
I've always said fifth wheel because a fifth wheel is superfluous. A third wheel is a tricycle, which is a perfectly legitimate mode of transportation. But two critique partners, without talking to each other, just corrected me. Have I been wrong all this time?
cc/ @grammargirl
#amWritingHistory and realizing that half of my dissertation’s main text really belonged in footnotes. #amwriting
My name is Jackson Allen. My dream is to take care of myself and be nice to people - I'm doing that by practicing to be a self-sufficient science fiction author. I tell stories as a kind gesture in a cruel time. Science fiction is a weapon in the war against our dystopian reality. https://inkican.com/about/why-i-write/ #introduction #author #amwriting #author #writing
@bookstodon #amwriting #amreading
Hello friends! Day 2 of my new job. But writing, let's talk about that.
Specifically, what would you can this job:
A friend has written a rough draft, 40k words, of which you edit the first 5k. They like your edits so much they ask you to go over the entire book, as they aren't sure how to get rough draft to Printable. You've got total free reign, can rewrite entire scenes or paragraphs as you like, but you will hand it back to then after the work is done, they get final say/ final go over.
Is it editing? Is it ghost writing? Is it co-authoring?
This is an actual situation I'm in (long time friend, they've released a few books but really loved my edits n suggestions), a paid gig. I'm just unsure what you'd call it, and yes I want your personal opinion, more than a black and white "this is it" answer.
Ask me Qs if you want something clarified, and no I won't be credited alongside the author, it'll be totally their property once I'm done (and yes the pay is in advance, I'm never working without pay first and neither should you).
Have a nice day all!
Moriarty.
It's my #birthday. 🥳 There's nothing I'd like more than peace ☮️ and justice ⚖️ for all humankind. But I'll settle for everyone preordering my new #SciFi novel A SECOND CHANCE FOR YESTERDAY 📚
Hardcover:
https://geni.us/sC3vC05
eBook:
https://rebellionpublishing.com/product/a_second_chance_for_yesterday/
Please help spread the word!
@bookstodon #bookstodon #books #AmWriting
Like a miracle, like magic, like it's nothing.
With sanctity and certainty, the sun rises, because it can. Because it must. Because it will. There's nothing strong enough to stop it. It refuses to be subdued...
https://duanetoops.substack.com/p/the-sun-will-rise
#reading #writing #art #poetry #read #write #blog #newsletter #books #amwriting #amwritingnonfiction @bookstodon #tuesday
So when we study how to do that we're tempted to find simple solutions. I think the simplistic tricks and hacks and formulas are actually really useful to get things started--but hopefully it grows into something much more meaningful, that can't be pinned down so easily.
Take my new LinkedIn Learning writing course FREE through this link:
Once you start the course, you'll have 24 hours to complete it. It's broken up into short videos, so even if you only get partway through, you'll benefit.
It's called Grammar Foundations, but each part explains how understanding the specific grammar point can improve your writing (because I am all about practical tips).
Start today and tell a friend!
Does anyone know if “click” or “klick” can be used for vertical distance (say, to the top of a mountain) as well as horizontal (as in getting to the mountain)?
freedom of speech ends
where begin hatred, sedition,
discrimination
🏳️🌈
#MastoPrompt - #speech
#haiku
#senryu
#poetry
#poetrycommunity
#writing
#writingcommunity
#amwriting
#pride
#pridemonth
I just sold a signed book by carrying a few in my car. 😊
#author #authors #amwriting
Renewing my plea for @Obsidian to make “Auto pair brackets" and “Autopair quotation marks" two separate settings in the Editor preferences pane.
I love auto-paired brackets, which has to be turned on in order to highlight words, type brackets, and have them transform into links.
But when writing #fiction, auto-paired quotes make me crazy -- especially since apostrophes are also auto-paired.
I’d love to have auto-paired brackets without auto-paired quotes.
Ha. Love it. Applies to writers, musicians and any others in the battle with AI.
#AI #humor #artists #writers #amwriting #writingcommunity #artistsofmastodon
Looking at #SanFrancisco maps, and checking my old Dreamwidth stuff, looking for:
Where are the places my characters might hang out? Where are places I want to promote?
And seeing so many places that have gone out of business. It hurts.
I need to write about the place that *is*, not the place that was, the place that's in my memories. But remembering stuff that's gone hurts, and so does feeling how much I and SF are separating, and that separation just keeps growing. #writing #AmWriting
(Been writing all day so most of what I saw was words on a screen, but still, saw a few things)
Things I saw today:
A pied kingfisher doing a rapid grooming routine: Right wing, left wing, right side of head, left side of head, beak wipe right, beak wipe left, shake out the butt feathers. (The butt feather shake looked very satisfying)
A pied kingfisher (different one) jumping off a pole straight into the water, emerging with a small fish, dropping the fish very deliberately, immediately diving and catching it again, and dropping it back into the water again. Poor fish! Or lucky fish?
A caterpillar munching on an aloe flower, and a few florets down on the same flower, a bee, packing her pockets full of dark orange pollen.
A single goose keeping watch on the roof of the flats opposite my house. In the rain, all heroic and misty.
For the month of May I wrote a total of 14280 words out of 85479 total on the year so far plus spent 13 hours 44 minutes revising/editing #amwriting #amediting
Inviting all #writers to join us for the fun and friendship of #WritingWonders. You can participate with a WIP or an already published book. Alina, Amelia and I have come up with some hopefully intriguing questions for June. For added fun, several questions are for your characters to answer in their voice. 😊
As always, play the days you want, skip the ones you want. Looking forward to seeing all your answers, finding great books, and meeting new friends. Here you go!
#amwriting #author
ONE WEEK till my paperback pub day and my first LA book event! Come tweet at me verbally in real life.
I'll be at Stories Books in Echo Park on June 7, accepting your spoken tweets (or "questions" as we called them in the olden days).
My latest musings ✍️ ... "The trust that binds us"
#amwriting #fintech #financialservices #AI #Chatbot
https://www.fintechfutures.com/2023/05/the-trust-that-binds-us/
Today's #MicroPrompt: Velvet
Reply with:
+ A story that contains the prompt word (derivations and tense changes ok), or
+ An excerpt from your current WIP that contains the prompt word, or
+ A poem!
The only rules: keep it to a single toot and be sure to check out the other replies!
Do reply, not just tag, if you want to make sure it gets seen!
Since the weather is so beautiful and we've a long weekend in Ireland, I've made the #kindle edition of Elysian #free for the next few days. Normally it costs around $7 - for the seven years it took to write 😅.
This novel also takes place over a very long weekend in Cork city in 2016.
Support emerging Irish writing by grabbing a copy here for free: https://amzn.eu/d/euRxiLT
#mastodaoine #ireland #CorkCity #amreading #amwriting #bookstodon #writingcommunity
Fun with a nonsense word generator:
Have you pomposed the juddlegouges today?
Oh, no! I forgot, but I did fronize the whitchnils.
Hello. In a LibreOffice document, is there any way to go back and see when you first started writing it / when you first saved it?
Am working on a long project and would like to be able to see when I first started working on it, because like a fool I didn't note it down in a journal anywhere
#Writing #AmWriting #WritingCommunity #LibreOffice #Novelist
Good morning! Tuesday #WritingTreat is starting a bit late today (because I had a shower!!)
But room is open and you can come on in if you want some company while writing today. We try to do 20min focus sessions 1-2 times / hr.
@bookstodon #amwriting #amreading
Hullo friends, I got a job this last week! Thus ends 2 years of being a full time houseparent and an eager entry back into the work force for me.
I'll continue to write but I think a lot slower than presently, and I'm already slower than many other Indy writers (and not the ones putting out ai generated books).
Writers, how often do you start another project in the middle of 2 others? I have full life 3 I'm writing, and a ghost writing job, but having gotten the job I felt so excited I started a new fantasy story I've been trying (very hard) not to work on.
In regards to those titles you "won't work on", I personalty find it easier to slide only half way down a slippery dip.
Readers, how hard do you find it to read only 1 book at a time? I know for some (most?) that's the standard, but I just cannot. I'll keep it to 3ish (currently Dracula, Dragonlance 1 and Andujar, the Gentleman Robot), but I'm interested because I know I'm not the only one.
Love you all,
Moriarty.
I'm a pantser in the best of times, but ever since Ash decided to fall in love waaaaay too early into this manuscript I've just given up on planning ahead and am going to let her figure it out.
Are you aware of the misconceptions you are perpetuating in your writing?
'David Bowie on How to Create: "Never Play to the Gallery"'
In a soulful interview from 1997, the rock icon offered some brief, but essential advice about how to create great art
Read: https://medium.com/@cole.haddon/david-bowie-on-how-to-create-never-play-to-the-gallery-e958c9b5e3f7
#art #creativity #inspiration #writing #writingcommunity #screenwriting #creativewriting #amwriting #music
So, #writers and #writingCommunity ... can we chat a bit about traditional #publishing vs. #SelfPublishing?
Do you think non-fiction is a better fit than fiction for self-publishing?
Do you think pursuing agents, navigating contracts, and courting publishers is a waste of time in 2023?
Do you value self- and traditionally-published books differently? Do traditionally published books retain a kind of glamor over self-published books?
I'm working on my concept of time. Dealing with time travel, I'd like to say I have a sophisticated grasp of the mechanics and paradoxes of time. Yeah. Above my pay grade, boss.
In my world where the present and the near future are connected by a physical gateway, a basic question is: If I do X in the present does X manifest, having always existed, in the future?
My answer so far is: Sometimes? Not exactly. We don't quite know, really.
Time is hard.
Practicing my Canva/blurb writing skills. How does this work for ya'll?
—Yes?
—No?
—Terrible! What are you thinking, Izzy? Delete that at once before you embarrass yourself.
—She doesn't even go here.
Reading a little bit about butterfly collecting for my Big Bad villain, and some of the details are wonderfully gruesome! Seriously, how perfect-for-a-villain is a hobby in which one of the standard tools to have is called a killing jar, and that's just a literal description of what it is and what it's for? #writing #AmWriting
😶 I was wrote an article about the #writersstrike but the page is blank.
Perhaps I’ll craft one about a “site less proof reeder”.
#amwriting #writingcommunity