#WritersCoffeeClub Feb 9: Do you subscribe to 'show, don't tell?' Why, or why not?

Telling is actually a very important tool early in a book. It's much faster to tell in your establishing moments than it is to show, or pull an "as you already know." If there's anything you need to get out of the way, tell and move on. You can show in the present.

Like, think of the animated Beauty and the Beast for a second. That whole exposition sequence is straight up telling. It could have shown it just fine, but that would have distracted from the story at hand.

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

Rise of the Guardians. I never read the books, but it's a distant sequel to them and you really don't need to to enjoy it. But, like, Pitch is NOT a good person, full stop. Which makes it very interesting when you see hints of depth to him. Pay attention to what happens when he gets hit with dream sand.

In some sense, I think that on the surface, what he wants isn't even unreasonable, and he might even look sympathetic if you let him plead his case, which is what makes him so dangerous. Because it would be one thing if anyone could coexist, but he doesn't WANT that. He wants to return to total domination. And I think politically IRL we see how that inevitably turns out. Some things really do belong under the bed. There is no place for sympathy despite the things you see. This is how smart people get tricked into cults.

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

As a writer, by necessity, evenings, since I have a day job. But generally speaking I'm probably best from 10:00 a.m. to about 4:00 p.m. and then again from 7:00 p.m. to about 10:00 p.m. with an hour or so half a bell curve on either side. I usually have my crap together and backlog sorted by 9:00 a.m., but that does kind of make it "first thing" for me.

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

I want to say "not very," but TBQH, I think setting it in the next ~50 years and focusing on applications of existing tech, convenient wormholes, and just a little fairy dust to make railgun launches viable actually makes it a rather enticing mostly-hard sci-fi setting. The idea wormholes might just be small and therefore very hard to find sounds like a solvable problem; the mileage we could get out of existing tech makes it feel tantalizingly close. Frankly the aliens are probably the least interesting aspect of the whole thing.

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

That depends, heavily, on what counts as a map. I'll occasionally blueprint an interior just because you could literally build places from my imagination, but it helps to have reference if I take a break from a work for a bit. My games feature world maps, of course. Whenever I have a sprawling multiverse like Guiding Lights I'll map the universes using skeletal formula notation of all things from my chemistry days.

But for the most part, unless I'm going to be spending time going around a small area, it generally doesn't get mapped out; I'll just search back to find out where things are in relation to each other if I need to return to a spot. And it's not really worth it if I'm not returning to a spot.

#WritersCoffeeClub Feb. 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?

"Unpolished" is at a premium in my work since I edit as I go, as are paragraphs with so few sentences, but...

He got his phone back out and furiously started searching stuff. Not because it mattered, but because he could be "primitive" and expect to be given all the answers or he could be a modern human and look it up himself. He could be homesick all he wanted; home was not on the table. He could be homesick and mope around or he could get righteously angry about his lack of a place in the universe and carve one out for himself with whatever tools he could get his hands on. If he couldn't know when he'd end up, whether some future when his form of English would be completely untranslatable or the Stone Age, he'd do it with rocks and sticks if he had to!

#WritersCoffeeClub Feb. 15: How big are your settings?

That depends. A lot of them have some familiar hub where most of the time is spent. My short stories don't have space to leave that hub often.

Some of my stories are about being on the run and could span a province or country.

My games tend to span at least a county, as does anything with a lot of travel on the party's own terms.

Whatever serves the story and runtime, really.

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

I feel by the time I was writing anything at all seriously that any life of ridiculous places was behind me. Writing is something I do on lunch breaks or after work, before work if I happen to wake up early enough for some unknowable reason. I hammered out a rare paragraph or two of not so much writing as "he says" style notes into Keep in the bathroom stall at $old_job, but even when I did that, it tended not to make it into things because as a pantser the conversations just went better when I let the characters speak as it flowed onto the page. Honestly, some of my worst ideas were hammered out in that stall, some of which I'm frankly ashamed of. If I'm being generous to myself, I can blame the fact I was hiding from that job in there, so probably in a bad headspace.

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

I find the whole idea hilarious, frankly, so I usually default to describing it as an anime background, if I have reason to write it at all. You know the ones: bloomed pastels and pink bubbles and stuff.

But chances are I'm not writing anything comedic enough for it to even come up. Nothing in my life has ever sent me to the moon and I find it hard to believe most people aren't in the same boat. Maybe if you're on drugs or something, or maybe that's just the AuDHD/ace experience and y'all have nothing but pity for me, but I feel like I've enjoyed life plenty without it.

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

I have no idea. I write what I'd like to read. Or to get ideas out of my head for short stories. But if anyone but me reads them, that's gravy.

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

Getting there. I have so many ideas dancing an Irish jig in my head that whatever gets my attention gets it. But I think writing an ending is actually fairly simple as a pantser, because it's a natural consequence of everything that led up to it.

#WritersCoffeeClub Feb. 20: How has a setting surprised you?

Mine or someone else's? There have been plenty of surprises writing a hard sci-fi space opera, from materials science to food science.

I suppose the one you'd least expect to be a surprise for a space opera is that red cabbage actually has many names across languages because it's sensitive to pH. I'd known for ages that it was an indicator, but I had no idea that anyone's soil could be so acidic or basic that it could be red, yellow, or blue in the ground. My whole life all I've ever seen was purple from neutral soil.

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

Sometimes I share my TootFic with others and once an old friend then proceeded to edit it to death, cutting out details until it was like half the size and very unsatisfying.

I don't share TootFic with him anymore; it did not need fixing. I only get 1024 characters on this server; that's half the challenge!

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

Anything too fantastical. My settings are very grounded. As cool as it is to write some non-Euclidean castle or whathaveyou, setting a whole story there would make it lose its luster quickly, and there's only so much mileage you can get out of someone being a new hire and having trouble navigating it.

No, you could build many places I write about with any focus, and sometimes I'll blueprint them for reference. I would much rather design the heck out of a place and give it interesting realistic features than try to dazzle with the unknown, because magic, forgive me, is rather boring. Wave a magic wand and you can do anything. But old buildings offer a wealth of ideas from secret passages to vacuums hidden in the walls that are just so much more intriguing. My secondary WIP has this grand courtroom and almost everything in it is symbolic, from the materials to the flowers inlaid in stone on the floor. Yet it dazzles.

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

I just keep writing until the story is over. 🤷‍♂️

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

Honestly, making the space stations feel interesting in their own right. In some ways this series as it's forming leaves a LOT to the imagination, doing very little to focus on Ethan's good times. There are months and even years of the full story that are skipped over because nothing I could write could make the good times as interesting as you can imagine with minimal detail. When it comes to fleshing those areas out, you can really best understand them as what other places aren't, and now that I'm actually breaking down and spending time there, it's a struggle to make it the shining golden Heaven Ethan seems to think it is earlier.

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

I do all my writing by leveraging astrakinesis to manually alter the flux on the disk, saving my work straight from my brain.

In some other universe, it's true!

Unfortunately, this one is very boring other than the fact that I've been doing the Gen Z custom speedy hunt and peck since long before it was cool. XD

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

My primary one? No, not really. More like a general sense of insecurity and a broad looming threat. Kelvin just becomes a part of that looming threat, but he never actually wants to tear out Ethan's gizzard.

My secondary book, yes, a god, in the sense that the gods are playing 4D chess while humans are sticking the pieces up their nose. Brand happens to just be a casualty of his machinations in such a way that he doesn't like the end result when he realizes the implications.

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

*cracks knuckles*

I've made it no secret that I do.

Pros:

• fantastic first drafts
• less work to do later
• pantser friendly
  • you can rush back and change something you wrote earlier to fit a new detail while it's fresh
• a perfect Chapter 1
• instantly smoother having spelling sorted when handing it over
  • spell check is not perfect; it will not save you if it's plain the wrong word
  • you can hand it to a friend and not get a look back that says "oh, my God, I'm so sorry; I never knew!"
    • or have them pinch it like a dirty sock
    • or say, "Well, we know an LLM didn't write this!"
• it's nicer for YOU to test read
• probably saves money on editors

Cons:

• "this will not beat me" syndrome
• you will need to occasionally read through what you have without editing to make sure you're still on the right track
  • Printing to PDF where you can't edit helps greatly

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

I honestly feel like what I feared came true: the more I talk about my stuff, the less I actually work on it. And maybe I put some of that into a Rant of the Moment about A.I. slop and a Blues Reviews that's almost done, but honestly? Managing 4 tags got to a point where it felt like a chore and I'm probably going to cut out the ones that have me talking more about my story and less about the craft. Not that some of them weren't good exercises, but February is always a rough month for me and I can already feel the "March itch" where spring brings a bit of agitation that's not really good for anything. We'll see how I feel about the other tags once I'm through that.

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

Honestly, I don't have loftier goals than telling a good story. Whatever social issues that might come with that, it's in service of the story. And I would rather elevate than talk over voices who experience the many, many issues I don't as a pasty white guy who's mostly incognito about being ace or on the spectrum offline.

#WritersCoffeeClub Mar. 2: Does your overall goal differ from project to project?

Not really. People have stories to tell and I tell them.

#WritersCoffeeClub Mar. 3: On what are you unwilling to compromise?

Anyone in a story is who they are. If they're gay, they're gay. If they're non-binary, they're non-binary. I am not going to rip the soul out of their chest to force them to be something they're not. If that makes you uncomfortable, you are not going to enjoy my work. Like not every story has a gay character in it, and not every story needs one. But if you have a problem with them being there in one, you'll have problems with other things. Politics, religion, and sports are all on the table.

#WritersCoffeeClub Mar. 4: Share a recent experience where something just "clicked."

I feel like this is either "everything" or "nothing." The way things flow onto the page, "clicking" is a natural consequence of writing. The last time anything "clicked" was a while ago and that came from a conversation with my mom giving a good cast a goal to work towards.

I guess in just writing that it did click that maybe the cast trusts the player for more specific reasons than being from the future since said goal has to do with earlier events in the series the player might know. Maybe it's a small click, but it's a click.

#WritersCoffeeClub Mar. 5: How do you make sure you don’t leave plot holes?

I guess the answer is just knowing my own story and reading through it, I would notice. I highly recommend reading your own WIP from the start at various points. Maybe you want to be the next King and crank out 5 books a week, but I'd call it a red flag if anyone was actually resistant to the idea. Like you are writing something you'd personally want to read, right? It's not navel-gazing; it's a reality check.

A couple edits here because I realized my initial take on this was a ridiculous accidental humblebrag, but it's worth saying because it's true: my brain processes things as systems and my bad habit of ending up developing a whole series at a time as ideas fail to fit in one entry is great for consistency, but, like, I have no way of recommending that to anyone in good faith. Quite the opposite; in all practical terms, it's a patently bad idea. But that's just my flavor of neurospicy as enabled by a day job.

#WritersCoffeeClub Mar. 6: Is there a local writing community near you? Do you participate in it?

Frankly just engaging with the one here on Fedi gives me super imposter syndrome, because this is all a hobby for me, where so many others are published authors. And while it's not like I haven't been writing for a really long time, sometimes I need to remind myself that the craft is the craft and experience is experience or I'm left wondering why anyone would find any value in what I have to say.

#WritersCoffeeClub Mar. 7: What have you given up in order to write?

I want to say "nothing," because it's not my day job, but a better question is what it's filled the void for, and that is a much more painful question. And I'm going to do everyone a favor and not trauma dump into this tag, but I will say writing has kept me sane.

#WritersCoffeeClub Mar. 8: Do the seasons influence your writing? (content? topic? volume?)

IRL? No. In my writing? I tend to write about summer for the most part. It has to have some pretty serious continuity for me to deviate from that. I mean I do deviate from that often enough it's not uncomfortable, but I think like so much media, it's always summer unless it's not. Maybe that's lazy, but it's also day unless it's not and script writing rarely concerns itself with anything beyond day and night unless you really need it to be morning or evening. Summer is warm and easy to move around in.

#WritersCoffeeClub Mar. 9: Do you prefer to write complex, intricate plots, or more straightforward ones?

To some extent, both. Games are massive, complex beasts and even if you have a main plot thread, the amount of variation within that from player choice can be staggering. Frankly my "main" WIP could stand to be more complex. I am not currently happy with the amount of player choice on offer. In contrast, my main book is pretty straightforward. Ethan can only handle so many balls in the air and the people around him really don't have that much going on now that they're his crew. A lot of the story is frankly devoted to figuring out things that already happened as it all shows up to haunt Ethan by proxy.

#WritersCoffeeClub Mar. 10: How informal is your prose? Is there a limit to informality?

I would say mine is a bit shy of conversational. Language is dynamic; people have been saying "snuck" for long enough it's absolutely a word. It's been a bit since I did third person omniscient, but I find the farther I am from the characters, the more objective and, well, dry the bits between dialogue are. But to some extent I think you need that contrast. I could make it work; I just haven't had any omniscient ideas in a while.

Whatever voice you want, go for it. Prose is wasted on formal writing, IMO. Formal writing is for papers about stories, not stories, and you will not convince me otherwise. BUT! If that is the voice you want, that's your choice.

#WritersCoffeeClub Mar. 11: Does your work reflect your morals? How so?

A writer's work will always reflect their morals. It will always have a tinge of their worldview. Like look at how problematic Rowling has become publicly and how much of that was already reflected in her work.

Nothing happens in a bubble. All art is political. Asking to separate the art from the artist is asking to ignore problems that are absolutely also in their work because you didn't internalize them.

Your work is always going to be flavored by what you promote, what you explore, what you defy, and what you condemn. If it wasn't in your head, it wouldn't end up flowing out. The act of creating is making a statement. People might well misinterpret that statement, but, for example, The Prince when understood in context is, in fact, a brutal takedown that says a lot about Machiavelli's view of those in power. A "this is how to fail, actually."

Anyway, in my work? You'll probably find a lot about redemption.

#WritersCoffeeClub Mar. 12: How do you "stress test" your work?

I print it to PDF or ePub where I can't dink with it and start reading from the beginning. If I run into small items (typos, punctuation) I will maybe allow myself to quick fix them and keep going, but if I find anything big enough that I need to step away from reading to fix it, that officially ends the session.

Since I edit as I go, I tend to get really far before I run into anything like that. My "finished" novels (anything to be in a proper editing phase) tend to be the type of work that grabs me until unfortunate hours of the morning before I realize I'm only halfway through and need to come back later.

Basically, if I find it riveting, it's worth cleaning up the rest of the way.

#WritersCoffeeClub Mar. 13: Talk about an experience when you consulted an expert for a piece of writing.

I've tapped my ex-housemate for what military life is like and certain nuances of how it works for The Adventures of Renard. I honestly have learned a lot from her about various topics. I guess the biggest thing I could say about any of it is it's great to have someone I can trust whose experience is so different from mine.

#WritersCoffeeClub Mar. 14: Do you think readers want new experiences in structure or narrative, or do they prefer what's familiar?

They want to be surprised. There's comfort in the familiar, but they want to feel like they experienced something new. But TOO new and they'll feel uncomfortable. Things that swing out from left field and straight into space will certainly find an audience, but it's going to be a niche audience. But something that offers a bit of comfort and then a surprise will find a broader appeal.

I think Frieren is an excellent case study in this. I understand it does a lot of things both visually and in the story to establish it understands the rules and then goes about with breaking them. People seem to like it quite a lot. I (unfortunately) have not gotten around to watching it myself, but you can find some excellent breakdowns.

#WritersCoffeeClub Mar. 15: Talk about an experience you had sharing your writing with a group.

I have not done this since high school creative writing class and that went about how you'd expect.

I have nothing to add to that.

#WritersCoffeeClub Mar. 16: What's the largest cast you've written? What made it challenging?

A stage play with maybe a dozen named characters without counting. It's still WIP, but outlined.

I haven't actually found a big problem writing it. In part because characters are all involved in interwoven subplots that keep them grouped a bit and each has a signature color for the most part. And as a comedy they're allowed to have some pretty distinctive personalities.

It's ultimately a pretty long play to make sure everyone gets the attention they deserve, but it covers a number of topics worth talking about. Not all characters get or need the same attention.

There are games with far more than even that, but games are a very different beast to linear storytelling.

Either way, it helps greatly to make it a visual medium and to do some form of grouping. Like, many of us can remember phone numbers thanks to grouping.

#WritersCoffeeClub Mar. 17: What's a sensation you've struggled to convey to a reader?

Shock. Like physical shock. The kind you get after a car crash. Will Smith is the best actor ever for that crash scene in I, Robot and you never realize that until you've been through it. There's something surreal about the whole experience where you have this clarity, knowing what to do, get away from the vehicle, but then your body catches up to you because your whole dashboard is flashing in an error state and you fall over until it can do a self-check and figure out what lights can go out.

#WritersCoffeeClub Mar. 18: What's a writerly gift you've received?

A wide variety of characters dancing an Irish jig in my head. Some of them live there rent-free.

Like, the most significant character from The Adventures of Renard? Not Renard himself by a long shot, as interesting as he is and fun to write. Not even Cass, who's easily the most powerful with plenty of untapped potential to go.

No, it's Lucas. He is the meter stick by which all other Geomancers are measured. He's not even my first. But he is just so in tune with the land around him that he can do frankly shocking things, and he's young enough to always make it look cool. He is the Geomancer that every other Geomancer wants to be.

...

...Maybe you were expecting a physical gift, but the answer is that I have never really gotten one and anything one could give would pale to that. Having somewhere like 100 living, breathing characters in my head? Priceless.

#WritersCoffeeClub Mar. 19: Do you need to finish a work before starting another? Why (or why not)?

I am really good at starting things. XD

There is ultimately not headspace for everything. I think, honestly, being able to be consistent with my blog and the couple books I have going is encouraging, though, because games are massive beasts and doing everything is a Herculean effort. Being able to focus on just one aspect of that (writing) really brings things down to "achievable." But a lot of things can get a trickle of attention while I work on a current obsession and/or main project.

#WritersCoffeeClub Mar. 20: Who is your ideal reader?

Me. Anything beyond that is "finding its audience." It would be different if writing was my day job, but honestly just having a site with first page rankings is an excellent start at whatever point I feel something is ready for prime time.