#WritersCoffeeClub 22 Oct: What's your favorite writing convention to eschew?

I do not and never will care if the characters are "relatable".

#WritersCoffeeClub 23. How do you capture a character's unique voice in dialogue?

That's one of the factors that's emergent for me, rather than targeted. But I tend to start writing from the narrative end, not the dialogue end, so by the time I'm expanding dialogue, the characters are there to do the speaking.

Always bearing in mind that I don't do visualization, or the auditory equivalent either... I'm not sure where the speech patterns come from, but they do come. I think it's all patterns.

#WritersCoffeeClub 10.20 Do you agree with Terry Pratchett, who said, "There's no such thing as writer's block."

I don't know about writer's block but let me tell you about muse mutiny.

#WritersCoffeeClub 20. Do you agree with Terry Pratchett, who said, "There's no such thing as writer's block. That was invented by people in California who couldn't write."

Meh, depends on your definition.

I know one thing. There is such a thing as a writer's cockblocker.

💜 Cheer to all who create despite the undermining dickweeds on their path! 💜

#writing

As spring newly dawns
Daintily dancing downwards
Olive flowers fall

🫒

#WritingCommunity #AmWriting #poetry #haiku

#WritersCoffeeClub 20. Do you agree with Terry Pratchett, who said, "There's no such thing as writer's block. That was invented by people in California who couldn't write."

In 1991, when I was a second year university student, I was studying psychology. In one of my classes, the prof handed me back a research essay. It had the mark of A scratched out and a D beside it along with the note to go see the prof.

So I went to see him after class and he told me the reason I didn't get the A was because I'd plagiarized but he couldn't prove it.

I swore to him the writing was all my own, and that I'd fully documented all my work.

He said that no second year student could write that well, so I had to have plagiarized.

I didn't know what to do, so I took my paper back and went home.

I had a hard time going to his classes after that. Sometimes I'd end up sitting on the floor outside the classroom rather than go inside.

The next time I had to write a paper for him, I did all the research. I had all the notes, but when it came time to actually write, I found I couldn't do it.

I ended up flunking the course.

So writer's block is real. And sometimes it's a trauma response. #WritersBlock #trauma #WritingCommunity

#writerscoffeeclub 19 Oct - Do you agree with Terry Pratchet, who said “there’s no such thing as writer's block. That was invented by people in California who couldn’t write.”

This is a bigger topic, but: I think "writer's block" is sometimes used as an excuse when it gets hard to write, as if it's always meant to be easy. It's not. #Writing is hard. And when someone identifies as a writer, and hits a laborious threshold, I think the term can be a handy excuse to maintain that identity.