#WordWeavers Feb 2: Do you enjoy writing "good", "bad" or morally grey characters more? Why?

I get a thrill out of making it obvious that terrible people are terrible. I also get a thrill out of making people who are in the right look like they're in the right.

I loathe, "This person is obviously an asshole... but it's for a secret really good reason!" No. It's not. #RickAndMorty

#Writing #Writers #WritingCommunity #WritersOfMastodon #AmWriting #Scriberspace

#WordWeavers 5 Feb: If you found out that someone had to live your MC’s life ... would you change the story?

My god. Yes. JFC. The "inciting incident" is a fourteen-year-old girl getting abducted from her home. If I had the power to prevent that, I would. Then, I'd write a new story about how someone invented a time machine in order to prevent the cult she was going to dragged into from every forming in the first place.

#Writing #Writers #WritingCommunity #WritersOfMastodon #AmWriting

#WordWeavers Feb 9: "Have you ever talked to a reader of your story? How did it go?"

My mother-in-law had a lot of feedback. She was supportive. My wife and friends didn't have any feedback. I think they're a bit too close to me to not see me in the text. I have a writing group that's great. It's like having a writer's room. :)

#Writing #Writers #WritingCommunity #WritersOfMastodon #AmWriting #Scriberspace

#WordWeavers Feb 10: Have you ever dedicated your work to someone?

I dedicated my dissertation to my girlfriend (now wife and mother of my children). I dedicated my novella to my first son, because the secondary character is distantly related to him, and my one really solid short story is dedicated to my second son, because that one really is *him*. I will dedicate my novel in progress to my writing buddy who pushed me to turn a cycle of flash fics into a whole book. She was right.

#Writing

#WordWeavers Feb 11: MC POV: Sit down, close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. What do you see in your mind’s eye?

"No. I don't want to see what my mind shows me. Thanks."

#Writing #Writers #WritingCommunity #WritersOfMastodon #AmWriting #Scriberspace

#WordWeavers Feb 12: What would you tell a fellow writer who was struggling with self-doubt?

Write for yourself. Write for how much you enjoy the process. Write on the assumption that people who share your perspective will appreciate it.

#Writing #Writers #WritingCommunity #WritersOfMastodon #AmWriting #Scriberspace

#WordWeavers Feb 13: SC POV: You get an unlimited budget to buy one thing. The money can’t be used for other purposes. What will you get?

"Money?" He makes a teenager's incredulous face at you. "How *old* are you? That's not a thing...?" He can't even. He goes back to what he was doing.

#Writing #Writers #WritingCommunity #WritersOfMastodon #AmWriting #Scriberspace

#WordWeavers Feb 14. Who does your antagonist care about?

Control. Total control. Of everything. Everyone. She won't be "happy" until she has that. All of it.

She's not delusional enough to think she can actually achieve that, so she settles for controlling her cult.

#Writing #Writers #WritingCommunity #WritersOfMastodon #AmWriting #Scriberspace

#WordWeavers Feb 15: Describe your MC’s eyes.

Often squinted in suspicion.

#Writing #Writers #WritingCommunity #WritersOfMastodon #AmWriting #Scriberspace

#WordWeavers Feb 16: If your MC had a statue put up in their honour, what it be for?

Being the one to call out a cult leader's bullshit in front of the whole cult.

#Writing #Writers #WritingCommunity #WritersOfMastodon #AmWriting #Scriberspace

#WordWeavers Feb 17: Would you still write if you had to use a typewriter or pen and paper?

Sure. It would change the dynamic a lot, though. I might have to go back to writing *in* sequence.

#Writing #Writers #WritingCommunity #WritersOfMastodon #AmWriting #Scriberspace

#WordWeavers Feb. 18: Can your MC carry a tune?

No! Not even a little. She has done routines to music, so she has *some* rhythm, but "the arts" are not her thing.

#Writing #Writers #WritingCommunity #WritersOfMastodon #AmWriting #Scriberspace

#WordWeavers Feb 19: Do your antagonists believe in the supernatural?

No. I mean, they all have a demonstrably real super powers that are *essentially* the Force, but they do not treat it as mystical. It's just a tool.

#Writing #Writers #WritingCommunity #WritersOfMastodon #AmWriting #Scriberspace

#WordWeavers 20 Feb: What tropes are in your current project?

- boarding school adventure
- found family
- "the funny one"
- Mentor-as-villain
- reluctant hero
- city of the future
- adult oppressors
- children/youth heroes
- secret ally
- space station
- cosmic powers

Now ask me about inverted tropes. :)

#Writing #Writers #WritingCommunity #WritersOfMastodon #AmWriting #Scriberspace

#WordWeavers Feb 21: What part of editing is the hardest for you?

When I realize I have to rewrite something from scratch. The draft took *so* *much* *work*, and now I have to do it all again. I struggle with that.

#Writing #Writers #WritingCommunity #WritersOfMastodon #AmWriting #Scriberspace

#WordWeavers 22 Feb: Have you ever created a character that you really didn't enjoy writing?

Yes. I abandoned him pretty quickly, though. If it's no fun, why bother?

#Writing #Writers #WritingCommunity #WritersOfMastodon #AmWriting #Scriberspace

#WordWeavers Feb 23: What word/phrase do you use too much? Has it changed over time?

I'm using "just" less. Now I have to conquer "realize."

#Writing #Writers #WritingCommunity #WritersOfMastodon #AmWriting #Scriberspace