#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 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 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 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 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 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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