#ScribesAndMakers 10 Our next featured creator is an acronym. Do you use acronyms in your work?
It's not really an acronym, yet it is in effect one. In the WIP (a fantasty trilogy) most of the people worship a triple goddess called Bec. Her three aspects are: Bran, Esiren and Ceinwen.
Bran is the bird spirit, Esiren the mother, and Ceinwen the maiden.
10- What's something you believe about writing which can't really be proven?
I believe anyone can do it. I don't believe in "Talent". I could believe you have an "Aptitude" that makes it easier for you to start, but the rest of that? All Hard work (enjoyable hard work, but hard work). Imo this is good because it does mean if you lack a supposed aptitude you can improve anyway. It just may be harder for you. And ALL human beings yearn / need to create.
1/X
#WordWeavers 10 September: Share a description from your WIP that establishes atmosphere without explicitly naming the emotion.
On the stiff cloth there was indeed a reflection, a reflection of a young child, a beautiful child. Ordinary painted figures seemed at peace on walls or cloth, those flat surfaces their right and proper home, but Nuika’s reflections, so rounded, so almost-touchable, seemed trapped. Meiama wished this child could be free.
#WritersCoffeeClub September 10: "What's something you believe about writing which can't really be proven?"
Almost all of it? Writing is not exactly a hard science.
To pick one: Storytelling is the most powerful thing humans can do. Our brains absorb stories better than information. It permeates everything. We want to tell stories, even to ourselves. The reason we find cave painting from 50,000 years ago so fascinating is the story they tell.
#writersCoffeeClub 10. What's something you believe about writing which can't really be proven?
Writing is a kind of magic. The writer imagines characters, settings, problems to be solved and obstacles to be overcome. Then, simply by writing words, which are just symbols on paper (or pixels on a screen), those scenes can be brought to life in the reader's mind, just as vividly as the writer first saw them.
How is that not magic?
#WordWeavers 10. Share a description from your WIP that establishes atmosphere without explicitly naming the emotion.
Here's a paragraph from earlier in the WIP. The Light Cavalry have just entered the city:
The city was silent. There was no rumble of carriage and cart wheels, no clatter of hooves or buzz of conversation. There were no shouts from street vendors. Only the twittering of sparrows on the rooftops and the steady clopping of their own horses hooves broke the unnatural quiet.
#ScribesAndMakers 9 Share something you've been working on this month.
From Book 1 of the fantasy trilogy.
Kynedyr was looking at Mark as he spoke, but it had been agreed that Turstan would be the spokesman for the Light Cavalry. Mark's Welsh was now fluent and he rarely stumbled or groped for a word, but that was when speaking colloquial Welsh.
Addressing the king required something more formal. The last thing they wanted was to offend Kynedyr by what he might perceive as over-familiarity.
#writersCoffeeClub 9. What's your standard operating font, size, format? Or do you not have a standard?
I've enlarged the font in yWriter to make it easier to read. I don't think you can change the font style. It's a sans serif font, which is fine for first draft and editing.
When the novel is exported to LibreOffice for final spell check and polishing, I'll use a serif font like Times New Roman. The text will be formatted single spaced with the first lines of each paragraph indented.
#WordWeavers 9. What secret would cause the most damage if it were revealed in your story right now?
At this point in the story, and in fact at any point between the middle of Book 1 and the end of Book 2, revealing the location of the prince (true heir to the throne) would prove fatal for him.
Several people want the prince dead. He narrowly escaped death when his party was attacked on the road but he managed to find a hiding place where no one would ever think to look for him.
On the positive, when I have rounded up the cash there will be about £7000 going to CHAS. https://www.chas.org.uk/
#WritersCoffeeClub Sept. 8: International Literacy Day! Share a moment when a reading of your work surprised you.
A friend of mine, who is not a regular reader, was reading an early draft of my book.
He texted me one morning after reading one of the longer and more confusing stories.
He basically said that ordinarily he would have watched TV that night but he absolutely had to finish “Home Assistant.”
So, me: 1. TV: 0.
At least that night.
#ScribesAndMakers 8 Gauge?
Standard gauge (4ft 8.5in) for relaxing long distance travel on mainline trains.
Narrow gauge for the fun and excitement of real steam trains running through beautiful scenery. Examples: the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland railway (1ft 11.5in), Talyllyn Railway and Corris railways (an idiosyncratic 2ft 3in) and the Vale of Rheidol Railway (1ft 11.75in).
Finally, there's the miniature Fairbourne railway for a jolly jaunt beside the sea whose gauge is a mere 12.25in.
#writersCoffeeClub 8. International Literacy Day! Share a moment when a reading of your work surprised you.
As part of a creative writing degree, I had written a short story for one of the assignments and the response of one of the other students surprised me.
The story was about a young man who saw fairies in a garden. I'd left it vague as to whether they were real because the course really wanted literary fiction not SF. The student found the story scary, which was not my intention at all.
#WordWeavers 8. Worst person to get trapped in an elevator with?
My first thought was the main bad guy, a sorcerer who uses his power to attack and plunder a peaceful world. However, he could use magic to get us out, assuming he deigned to take me with him.
So the actual worst would be the nobleman who has appointed himself chief advisor to the king. He is pompous and would talk endlessly about himself, his noble lineage, his wealth, his race horses, the last house party he attended etc etc.
#ScribesAndMakers 9/7. What 'character' (letter, number, symbol, punctuation, space) would make a great main character?
The Em Dash.
A hero, performing small but mighty acts of goodwill. Beloved by all who know them. Willing to change the world in their quiet way. They receive few accolades, but they are adored all the same.
Until, one day, a villain enters the scene. They wear the face of the Em Dash, but their actions are a poor copy, and they drag the good name of the Em Dash through the mud, causing their place in society to suffer.
Can the Em Dash reclaim their good name? More importantly, can they rely on their true friends - the few who still believe in their mission and will stick their necks out to reclaim the power stolen by the evil copycat?
Or will the Shadow Dash conquer and take their coveted place of power?
Only time will tell.
#WordWeavers 7. Describe a moment when a character realizes they've made a terrible mistake.
At the beginning of the WIP, Mark is on the beach. He sees a grey horse running loose. He is a good rider, so decides to ride it back the way it came, in the hope of finding its owner.
The horse seems biddable at first, but unexpectedly begins to gallop, turning towards the sea and plunging into the waves. This is when Mark realises he's made a bad mistake and it's also how he ends up somewhere else.
#writersCoffeeClub 7. What's something you thought would help your workflow, but didn't work out?
Many years ago I tried outlining a novel. It didn't work because it triggered an "already written" response. Once I'd told the story, albeit in a condensed form, the urge to write it properly died.
However, I do plan my novels. I've evolved various ways of plotting that don't involve writing an outline. For instance I often use a spreadsheet with brief chapter outlines in the cells in a row.
#ScribesAndMakers 7 What 'character' (letter, number, symbol, punctuation, space) would make a great main character?
I'm going with Ampersand (&).
Jill Ampersand is a private investigator with her own small agency, Ampersand & Co.
Ms Ampersand is known for her quirky interrogation technique where, after someone makes a statement, she merely says, "And?" She then leaves a pregnant pause in the hope it will prompt the suspect to blurt out more. Occasionally it even works.
For the benefit of my fellow authors committing time and energy to amending their Anthropic Settlement claims -
You do not have to get everything done in one session before you hit 'submit'. This does not commit you irrevocably, once and for all time
You can log in multiple times, to add further amendments, as per screenshot below.
Don't ask me why it didn't occur to anyone that stating this clearly earlier in the process would be a good idea.
With age comes wisdom, experience, an odd collection of mugs in your cupboard, and some weird noises & pains from parts of your body that you didn't even know existed.