#WritersCoffeeClub day 29: Which phrase, paragraph, or page are you most proud of writing this month?

I can't think of anything in particular. I might find something if I took the time to go back and re-read everything I've written this month, but I'm trying not to do that kind of thing, and also I don't have the spare time for that right now.

#WritersCoffeeClub day 30: This month, how did you successfully navigate a challenge or a sticky point in your writing?

There's one scene I'm working on where a main character and his best friend have nicknames for each other that are based on stuff from a book series they both enjoy. I decided to simply tell, not try to show, all the back-story that involved. (I am coming more and more to the conclusion that "show, don't tell" is... 1/2

...much better advice for screenwriters than novelists. And a little research bears that out; it was originally promulgated by playwrights! While there are times when we novelists should use it, there are many other times when trying to show would take far too many words and/or be way too awkward, and we should just through the bullshit and tell our readers what's up.) 2/2

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#WritersCoffeeClub day 31: What did you learn this month about your writing process or habits that you want to carry forward?

Well, there was yesterday's thing about telling instead of showing... but that's more about writing itself, not about *my process or habits*. So, how about:

I learned not to fear re-ordering and re-numbering scenes. It's not as much of a hassle as I thought it would be.

#WritersCoffeeClub day 1: How satisfied are you with your current writerly ‘voice’?

Reasonably so. I expect it'll grow a little and firm up some, but I think it's okay as‑is for now.

#WritersCoffeeClub day 2: How satisfied are you with the rhythm of your works?

I guess it's okay? Rhythm isn't the same thing as pacing, so I think it's probably okay. (The pacing *definitely* needs work, at least when measured in terms of words rather than chapters or percentage-of-the story; I'm overwriting like crazy.)

#WritersCoffeeClub day 3: What signature marks your work as definitively and effectively yours?

I can't think of anything. It may well be something that I'll never notice on my own unless and until someone points it out to me (or mentions it in a review, or something).

#WritersCoffeeClub day 4: How much detail do you use to describe your settings?

It varies depending on how important the setting is, and whether I expect there to be any action in it that requires the reader to really understand things about the setting that'll be relevant (layout, items available, whatever).

#WritersCoffeeClub day 5: What’s a trait of other written works you admire, but don’t seek to incorporate in your own works?

I highly respect when a horror writer can put an image in my head that lives there, rent-free, still giving me the creeps from time to time even decades later.* But that's not what I want to do to my readers. (If it were, I'd be writing horror, not urban fantasy.)

* For example, Clive Barker's short story "The Body Politic", which I read sometime around 1990.

#WritersCoffeeClub day 6: From start to finish, how much time elapses in your current WIP?

Just over 7½ months.

#WritersCoffeeClub day 7: Share a pair of consecutive lines of a current or recent project. Everyone: What does the first line promise? Does the second line fulfil that promise?

The dreams had been going on for a few months before things came to a head. They had crept into the waking world, and they’d gotten stronger, until David Hartmann could no longer deny that he was hearing voices.

#WritersCoffeeClub day 8: How imperfect is your pacing? Do you consider imperfection a sign of your humanity?

To the extent that pacing could mean "how many words does it take me to get X percent of the way through the story", my pacing is so far from perfection, they're on different continents.

And yes, I think it's very human to ramble and take too long to tell something. That still doesn't mean I don't need to rein it in.

#WritersCoffeeClub day 9: Do you subscribe to ‘show, don’t tell’? Why, or why not?

I'm learning more and more that I should subscribe to it far less than I've been doing.

#WritersCoffeeClub day 10: Talk about a work which subverted your expectations, in a good way.

I know I've said a few times before that Rosemary Kirstein's _The Steerswoman_ is really good, and I keep on not being able to say why, because it would be a massive spoiler. Well, part of that spoiler (and part of what makes it so good) is the way it subverts the reader's expectations.

Really, just go read it!

#WritersCoffeeClub day 11: What time of day is most productive for you? Why?

Evening, because I'm a definite night owl.

#WritersCoffeeClub day 12: How unique is the setting of your current WIP?

San Francisco? Loads of people have set stories there!

A magical San Francisco that speaks to people? Hmmm, I haven't heard of *that* one being done before.

#WritersCoffeeClub day 13: Do you use maps as reference materials as you write?

I use Google Maps and especially street view *extensively*. Also the SF Muni system map (many of my characters take the bus instead of having their own vehicles).

#WritersCoffeeClub day 14: Share a short paragraph (3-5 sentences) of raw prose: the more unpolished, the better. Everyone: What’s the most prominent signature in this draft?

"Totally raw" means I'm pulling it from from my current efforts, in chapter 10. So, things previously established:

* this apartment's layout
* the fact Jessie's been avoiding calling her mother because she doesn't want to tell her she's lost her job
* Jessie's 29 years old
* she drinks a lot

#WritersCoffeeClub day 15: How big are your settings?

My current setting is city-sized. Specifically, the city has around 830,000 people, and occupies roughly a 7×7-mile (just over 11 km) square.

#WritersCoffeeClub day 16: What’s the most ridiculous place you’ve tried to sneak in some writing?

Not sure. Some people would say that my habit of writing in bars is kind of ridiculous. Other than that... I've done a little bit on the subway, but that's kind of rare; I don't often take uninterrupted trips long enough to really get much done. Or there was the time an idea hit me while I was walking from I-forget-where to I-forget-the-other-place-too, and so I had to just... 1/2

...dictate some stuff into a voice memo on my phone. But I feel like even that is something most writers have done... right?

I think maybe I just don't have much for ridiculosity in this field, but I'm looking forward to seeing other people's answers. 2/2

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#WritersCoffeeClub day 17: How do you write about ecstasy, in a spiritual, artistic, or sensual context?

That's a question I'll be able to answer better after I write an upcoming scene where an MC goes to a rave (and will probably take molly there, which will not be his first time doing that). But for now... I try to give the sense of it, both viscerally and psychologically.

#WritersCoffeeClub day 18: How balanced are your finished works? What do you do to achieve that balance?

I can't say right now; ask me once I've finished something.

#WritersCoffeeClub day 19: What’s your biggest challenge when crafting a satisfying ending?

So far? Getting through the beginning and middle so that I can even get to the ending.

#WritersCoffeeClub day 20: How has a setting surprised you?

By interjecting in a conversation two other people were having.

My setting can do that. It's sentient and can speak to other characters. I just wasn't expecting it to chime in on that particular convo.

#WritersCoffeeClub day 21: Share an unexpected critique you’ve received. Why did it surprise?

When my alpha reader told me one character trying to comfort another fell completely flat (and asked if I was intentionally trying to make a point that the comfort-giver was really bad at it). No, that hadn't been my intention at all! Oops.

#WritersCoffeeClub day 22: Are there types of settings you avoid writing? Why?

So far, I've only written one type of setting (a modern major city), but it's not like I've "avoided" writing others. I just... have been focusing on one thing. That's all.

Still, I don't feel any particular pull or desire to write about rural life. But is that "avoidance"? I think it's just apathy or disinterest.

#WritersCoffeeClub day 23: What techniques help you write a difficult second act?

Funny, I've just gotten into my second act. That means I'm still working on what my techniques are. Also, I'm not even sure if my second act is difficult or not. I think what difficulties I am encountering are just because I've run off the end of what I had outlined, and am now in very murky, uncharted territory. (Which is what I'd originally planned: I plotted the first 5 chapters pretty… 1/2

…tightly, had vaguer ideas up until the event that signals the end of the first act, and then I figured I'd be pantsing it from there on out. I didn't realize at the time how bad I am at pantsing.)

Anyway, my strategy has been to just keep on going forward. Write what I can, outline what needs it, and generally see what characters feel like doing in reaction to that first-act-ending event. Have the story continue growing from the ground I laid before. 2/2

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#WritersCoffeeClub day 24: What’s your greatest challenge in fleshing out your setting?

Ensuring that *every* *little* *detail* is right. Like, making sure not to have anyone go to a restaurant that didn't open until a couple of months later, or that did close a couple of months earlier. Making sure I don't accidentally say it was foggy on a night that historically was clear and warm. That sort of thing. 1/4

It's a challenge because it sometimes slows me down or even derails me in the middle of writing a scene, as I suddenly have to go and double-check that I'm not muffing a detail. It can break my flow, and I need to get better at remembering to check these things when I'm outlining, rather than when I'm writing. 2/4

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And yes, I know, I don't have to adhere to such a ridiculous level of detail! I choose to, because I like the idea that actual San Franciscans might read this and remember going to that very same restaurant, or enjoying that warm summer night, or whatever. And if I ever find that minor details like these are getting in the way of the plot, I'll discard them on a case-by-case basis — i.e., if it would really help... 3/4

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...to have Karl the Fog make an appearance on a night that was warm and clear in reality, I'll do it. But I want to only do so *knowingly*, deliberately, not by accident or through carelessness. 4/4

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#WritersCoffeeClub day 25: What’s a unique habit you have while writing?

I can't think of any. Usually having a drink conveniently set beside my keyboard? I can't imagine that I'm the only writer who does that. Liking to have music that fits the mood of the scene I'm writing? I'm almost _positive_ there are loads of other writers who do that.

Yeah, I can't think of anything.

#WritersCoffeeClub day 26: Does your current WIP have an antagonist? Why or why not?

Yeah, it's got 5 of them. As well as 5 heroes. There are 5 heroes because I like the Five-Man Band trope, and the 5 villains just happened to work out to the same number — really, I just thought of villainous types of people I wanted, people who would make sense to be the villains of this story.

And all of that is because I like ensemble casts, not singular heroes and villains.

#WritersCoffeeClub day 27: Do you edit while you write? What are the pros and cons?

At least a little, yes. I'm constantly testing and reëvaluating as I write, and I often back up and change things. I can't just spew words onto the page willy-nilly; I need to try to make them at least _somewhat_ decent. (Although if something's really becoming a sticking point, I'll just put a note for myself like FIX_THIS_LATER and move on.) 1/3

The pros are, I sincerely hope, that it gets me a reasonably polished first draft, not an awful mess.

The cons are that I write slowly. And that annoys the hell out of me.

Anyway, I said that I edit "a little" as I write, because I simply can't stop myself. But OTOH, I'm also being as firm as I can about not doing a full editing pass until I'm done with the first draft. I'm sincerely *trying* to "write first, edit later", I'm just fairly bad at it. 2/3

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Also, there are times when I need to re-read a prior scene before writing a new one that it sets up, and I want to maintain continuity. When I re-read, I inevitably notice things that could use improvement. I've settled on allowing myself to fix typos, but nothing bigger; otherwise, I know it'd open the door to "real" editing, and then I'd wind up honing and re-honing the first quarter or third of my draft and never getting further. 3/3

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#WritersCoffeeClub day 28: How well did this (short!) month go for you, in terms of writing?

Not too bad. I spent an average of 1:22 writing on work days and 1:30 on weekend days, and produced 16,254 words (plus however many I'll manage today), which is a nice climb from the past few months. Completed 6 scenes (which roughly equals two-thirds of a chapter, I guess). And you never know, I might finish a 7th today!

#WritersCoffeeClub day 1: What is the fundamental goal you seek to achieve with your current WIP?

To tell a good story.