Just because you know several languages (I’m fluent in Ukrainian, English, and russian) doesn’t mean you’ll want to talk to other native speakers of those languages

My wife is currently on a business trip far away in #Bayern and had a conversation there with a local cat (pictured), and the #cat responded to a Ukrainian greeting.

In what situations did the locals understand you when you spoke your own local language?

#catsOfMastodon #caturday #CatLovers #CatsOfFediverse #FediCats #Mastocats

I sleep with the strangest creatures in the world.

Our #cat, Lamp (she got that name because she came to us from a shelter wearing a plastic collar), has a habit of sleeping like a caterpillar - stretched out.

Even in winter, when #Russia bombed the boiler room and steam was coming out of our mouths, Lamp slept that way, so we had to tuck her under the blanket on top of us.

Who do you sleep with?

#catsOfMastodon #caturday #CatLovers #CatsOfFediverse #CaturdayEveryday #FediCats #Mastocats

Social #media is a freaking time trap unless you take control - all of them.

I’ve completely abandoned the #HomeFeed.
No more mix of noise. Instead, I’ve set up #MastoDeck as a monitoring station, focused entirely on curated lists that actually fuel me & my projects. Total autonomy and focus.

How do you filter out the noise?
What tools or workflows do you use to ensure your feed provides real value rather than just clutter?
Come on, feel the noise!

#mastodon #art

My wife and I don’t buy canned #food because, in our family, this “canning #soccer championship” is a one-sided competition.

We can our own food (see diagram).

No random teams. No blatantly corrupt operations in the style of #FIFA and its bald con artist at the helm.

#Mastodon is just as honest a #DIY preservation method, isn't it?

How to edit your own text?

Be ruthless, but don’t cut corners.

If you have a sentence that contains all of the following at once:
- a description of an action,
- a metaphor,
- another clarifying detail,
- another parenthetical phrase introduced by a dash,
then you should break it down into four sentences, depending on the flow of the action.

I was even editing yesterday without paying any attention to the #UFO events (Achtung Baby, #Spielberg) in #Moscow.

#Writing #WritingCommunity #blog

My correspondence with potential (their behavior doesn’t make them future) publishers (and literary agents) scares me.

First, they ask for the full manuscript.
Six months of silence pass.
Then they ask if I’d agree to participate in promoting the #book.
Another six months go by.

I feel like a hunting #dog on a #movie set: What are we even doing here? And who are you, anyway, to give me orders?

And what kind of things have publishers (or agents) done to you?

#Writing #WritingCommunity #blog

How can you get a literary agent to choose your book?

Edit your #book

The feeling the book evokes should be... I’ll describe it metaphorically.

I just had a tooth filled the day before yesterday, so for the third day in a row my brain is saying:
"Dude. Calm down, but it's not your mouth. Check there again."

And how do you handle the agent search part of this?

Is anyone actually working on it here, or is everyone just lost in their own grandeur?

#Writing #WritingCommunity #blog

I use applied Satanism in my work.

Specifically, I make myself tea with black pepper, turmeric, butter, cloves, and marigolds.
Then I add milk, milk thistle, and protein powder.

You shouldn’t pour the result down the toilet while reciting Homer (how do you think Nolan wrote his latest screenplay?), but drink it instead of breakfast.

Do you do anything with your food to help you work?

#Writing #WritingCommunity #blog #photography #photo

What kinds of books usually top the bestseller lists?

I’ve done some in-depth research, so I know the answer again.

It doesn’t depend on the genre.
It doesn’t depend on the length.
It doesn’t depend on the audience.

It depends on the length of the sentences.

So for now, I’m rewriting the beginning of my book. It’s not just a matter of replacing commas with periods. It’s like retelling a joke to someone who hasn’t quite woken up yet.

#Writing #WritingCommunity #blog

To my own #surprise I wrote a little #poem

A bald and gloomy, ancient guy runs through the wood,
With no clue why he’s rushing, or for what good.
His shiny pate is flashing bright amidst the trees,
While he leaps like a moose, ignoring all his knees.
This constant movement is the most he’ll ever hold,
In that, he’s just like all of us, or so I’m told.
The lesson drilled in us since we were small and spry:
Even if you’re a bald old man - just keep on fly.

#Writing #WritingCommunity #blog