#PennedPossibilities 323 — What's a piece of advice for writers that you listened to and are glad for?
An Australian author, Lucy Sussex, told us at Clarion West 1998 to be shameless in promoting ourselves. Being a shy person, networking and promotion has been a heavy lift, but I working on it and I know it's going to help. Mastodon: ☑️
After trying for months to plot out a story, I abandoned it in frustration and just started writing. I've written over a thousand words today, and it feels right.
But I have no idea where it's going. Am I a Pantser? Pantsers, please advise. I'm scared. #writingcommunity
#wordweavers 22/5: Is your antagonist more a dragon or a dragon rider?
Once you’ve explained what a dragon is…
Ask Perriad and she’ll probably see herself as a dragon rider (or else as a slayer of dragons!).
Ask Jerya, or anyone else who‘s butted heads with Perriad, and they’ll see her as a dragon—and they won’t mean it as a compliment. #writingCommunity#ThreeKindsofNorth#TheSunderingWall#VowsAndWatersheds#writing#books
#WritersCoffeeClub 21/5: Format as you write or at the end?
I format my WIP solely to suit myself—preferred font, spacing, etc. It looks nothing like Standard Manuscript Format, or like my finished books, but that’s cool. The one trick is to make consistent use of Paragraph Styles so that when needed I can change all the parameters in a few clicks.
My other essential for happy writing is never to use Word. #writingCommunity#ThreeKindsofNorth#TheSunderingWall#VowsAndWatersheds#writing#books
#PennedPossibilities 322 — What piece of advice, as an author, did you once receive but hadn’t followed? Looking back on it now, you might wish that you had.
Advice: Don't only write novels. Write lots of shorter pieces.
When I started I saw that you could only make a living if you sold novels, so I wrote novels. That completely discounted the fabulous practice you get completing lots of smaller stories. Completing a novel takes lots of time and there's a mounting anxiety that in the end the plot will fail or no publisher will be interested. Yeah, true with short fiction, but the investment is far lower (or should be if you're doing it right). There used to be lots of magazines you could sell short fiction to... for pennies a word, but it was something, and it offered a chance to build a brand name and a following. Such notoriety could help you sell novels, too.
SLOW RENGA Respond with #haiku using the suggested first lines & start each haiku with the same first lines below: DISSONANCE… or LISTENING TO RAIN… Post haiku in comments, enjoy mulling over the first line and considering your options at different points during your day. Look forward to reading your haiku and seeing where these lines take you. #Writing#poetry#creativity#wellbeing#write#writingcommunity#amwriting#poem#writer
When people tell me they read one of my books and found it “quite good”, I like to assume they’re from the US where “quite” apparently means “very” 😊
As opposed to the UK/Aus, where “quite good” is just damning with faint praise.
Unless you say it was “really quite good”. That’s when you mean “very good”.
If you say “quite good, really”, that means you’re surprised it was any good.
And if you say “Oh, I say, that is quite, quite remarkable”, you’re an 18th-century Earl confronted by a tempestuous highland beauty who is tossing her raven-black locks and flashing her sapphire-blue eyes at you because you’re enclosing her commons 😉
#WordWeavers 5/21. Do you consider how your MC’s appearance may contribute to stereotypes?
I worry about that, yes.
However, I believe it cannot be helped, really. People will have their impressions and will stereotype. Still, I try to stay away from them.
For example, Sun won't have red hair, even though he is a fire mage. In fact, I'm not even sure what Laisal looks like, to be honest. I'm bad at imagining faces.
#Wordweavers Day 21: Do you consider how your MC's appearance may contribute to stereotypes?
Sometimes. There are many stereotypes of female characters (the femme fatale, the 'evil' witch, etc). I like to subvert stereotypes and turn them on their head. Each character is unique with their own personality. I show that through their dialogue and actions.
#WritersCoffeeClub 5/20 -- When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?
I can almost give you an exact date: Jan 30th, 2000.
That's when I started writing down the first intense scene of a story that wasn't fan fiction. It grew and grew in my mind, into three years of hyperfocus and three completed novels with four more started.
Those prompted me to sign up with an agent. (Contract long dissolved.) I've been self-publishing since 2013.
My #SanFrancisco story “Volcanid” was accepted today by Persimmon Lit for its “menagerie” edition. It encounters a coyote in McLaren Park and a dog in the back of Muni’s 14-Mission bus - thus its claim to “menagerie - and has brunch in the Mission District and contemplates Quito, Ecuador and the Volcán Pichincha, which I trod decades ago. I’ll post a link here when it comes out online. Meanwhile my thanks to Editor-in-Chief Amanda Sun. #Writing#WritingCommunity
Went to #Continuum16#c16Reboot and spent so much time around writers and ideas that I wrote an entire 6,000 word short story over the course of the weekend.
Worth it just for that.
Also, many lovely people and interesting presentations.
Someone is either selling pirated copies of my book, or they're trying to scam people using my name and book. They even uploaded it under the name "River Hopkins" instead of "River J. Hopkins."
Can y'all please report the seller? This is the link. They're selling it for $14.99, and there's absolutely no way they have new copies for that price.
Yes, I'm just as addicted as before. Mostly, I've been constructing a new base for the main game, and since we played together yesterday (yay!), I could tackle the construction of a new kitchen/bedroom hall/tower today. Even survived two Events (draugr / trolls).
It's not an architectural marvel, but I am rather proud of it.
And now I'll give Sun some much deserved attention.