#WritersCoffeeClub Jan 12. How do you get to know your characters before you start writing?

I get to know my characters *by* writing them. That's just how it works for me.

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My latest newsletter:

The rage cycle sucks.
Here's how to break free.

https://buttondown.com/impureleftist/archive/the-rage-cycle-sucks/

1/9

#writing #writersofmastodon #newsletter #activism #PoliticalActivism #politics #uspolitics #ice

#WritersCoffeeClub Jan 12. How do you get to know your characters before you start writing?

I get to know my characters *by* writing them. That's just how it works for me.

#Writing #Writers #WritingCommunity #WritersOfMastodon #AmWriting #Scriberspace

My latest newsletter:

The rage cycle sucks.
Here's how to break free.

https://buttondown.com/impureleftist/archive/the-rage-cycle-sucks/

1/9

#writing #writersofmastodon #newsletter #activism #PoliticalActivism #politics #uspolitics #ice

#WritersCoffeeClub Jan 11 Name a poem (or poet) which has influenced you.

There are so many. I mean, Shakespeare's Sonnet Cycle is huge. So is Ginsberg's "Howl." Coleridge's "Kubla Khan" and Caroll's "Jabberwocky" live in my brain. They're all in me all the time.

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#WritersCoffeeClub Jan 10: How do you steer a reader’s emotional journey?

I show them the story, and then they react as they'll react. I don't think I can "steer" them.

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#WritersCoffeeClub Jan 9: What's your top tip for writing authentic dialogue?

Consciously decide how different characters talk, how they use language differently than each other, and then imagine their voice, audible in your head. Put them in conversations. Listen to them. Write down what you hear. (It's still you. You're playing a character.)

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#WritersCoffeeClub Jan 8: While editing, what most clearly signals a pacing issue?

Stuff just sorta happens. I keep thinking to myself, "Oh, we're doing this now?" I've learned to recognize that as an alarm bell.

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#WritersCoffeeClub Jan 7: Continuing from yesterday’s question, what’s gone downhill?

My ability to keep a text in my head and followup on tropes I laid down. Granted, this is my first novel, and it's proven the obvious to me: I *can't* keep a whole book in my head, so I'll need a better system for tracking and mapping it all.

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#WritersCoffeeClub Jan 1: What's the greatest benefit you've taken from the writing community online?

Breadth of techniques. It's the inverse of reading one book by one person who tells you "the correct way" to write a novel (or whatever). Having a collective that all does things differently means your approach is validated by others who do the same, and you're exposed to and can learn from those who don't.

#Writing #Writers #WritingCommunity #WritersOfMastodon #AmWriting #Scriberspace

#WritersCoffeeClub Jan 1: What's the greatest benefit you've taken from the writing community online?

Breadth of techniques. It's the inverse of reading one book by one person who tells you "the correct way" to write a novel (or whatever). Having a collective that all does things differently means your approach is validated by others who do the same, and you're exposed to and can learn from those who don't.

#Writing #Writers #WritingCommunity #WritersOfMastodon #AmWriting #Scriberspace

#WritersCoffeeClub Dec 31: Happy New Year! Take pride in what you’ve written and share the progress you've made!

I finished a whole first draft of a novel. It is just under 72,000 words. It's a short novel, but it's mine.

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#WritersCoffeeClub Dec 31: Happy New Year! Take pride in what you’ve written and share the progress you've made!

I finished a whole first draft of a novel. It is just under 72,000 words. It's a short novel, but it's mine.

#Writing #Writers #WritingCommunity #WritersOfMastodon #AmWriting #Scriberspace

#WritersCoffeeClub Dec 29: What would I like to see future writer generations discard?

There's no device or conceit or tool that's inherently bad. I don't want anything "thrown away." What I want is for those tools to be used selectively, to fit the task at hand, rather than habitually: over and over again, always the same way.

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#WritersCoffeeClub Dec 30: How much would writing by another means (by hand, digitally, audio transcription) change your prose?

It would be very very different. Transcription will feel dead bc it doesn't have all my inflection. Writing by hand would be more circuitous because I can't rearrange text nearly as easily. I do write digitally, so that's my default.

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#WritersCoffeeClub Dec 28: How does your prose create and maintain tension?

I honestly have no idea how or even whether I'm doing that, so I'll be reading this prompt for tips.

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#writerscoffeeclub Dec 30. How much would writing by another means (by hand, digitally, audio transcription) change your prose?

All my full length novel manuscripts have been written using MS Word. I probably wouldn't be able to write without the ability to move text around and delete/insert text as required.

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#WritersCoffeeClub Dec 27: How can we as writers support one another?

Form #labour #unions. #Solidarity is the only way to make industries treat workers better. They'll never respect us, but (say it with me): #WhenWeFightWeWin

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