@orionkidder@writing.exchange
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orionkidder

@orionkidder@writing.exchange

Writer of SFF. Currently working on a novel about magic teenage assassins in space. Shopping a novella about a drunken mess of a witch in Ancient Greece who's cursed to fight monsters to the death. You're welcome.

This is my fiction writing account. If you want to follow my general interest account, find me in mas.to.

#Writing #Writers #WritingCommunity #WritersOfMastodon #AmWriting #AmWritingSF #AmWritingFantasy #AmWritingSFF #Scriberspace

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kate, to random
@kate@fosstodon.org avatar

In the same way most of us say “goodbye” without realising it derives from “god be with ye”, maybe one day people will end conversations with “likensubscribe”

orionkidder,
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@kate I've read that we can't confirm its "god be with ye." Not that that affects your point!

ChrisJagged, to random
@ChrisJagged@mastodon.social avatar

In my new fantasy book, I'm going to forego describing my MC. The reader will get a picture of his age and status within society, and an impression of his clothing, nothing else. This will allow the reader to picture him more or less however they want. Support characters will be thoroughly described.

So the question is: how much would readers find an undescribed MC off-putting? Not that the answers will change my plans, I'm just curious.

#AmWriting #Bookstodon #WritersofMastodon

orionkidder,
@orionkidder@writing.exchange avatar

@ChrisJagged That's a fabulous conceit. I love it. There's a book I read decades ago that doesn't reveal the main character is Black until 150 pages in, and it's because they live in a future era where it's not an issue. It's a bit of an easy answer--white author--but it affected me!

There's also a Margaret Killjoy novella where the first-person narrator is never gendered. It's marvellous.

orionkidder,
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@ChrisJagged Personally, I probably wouldn't notice your thing until halfway through. It would affect me exactly as you say: I'd draw conclusions from how the world treats him.

futurebird, to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

The decisions and policy that have the most profound impacts on the greatest number of human lives often aren't the ones talked about most often in political discourse.

What is the biggest difference between life in this era and say... European feudalism?

I would argue it's near universal literacy. And along with simply having access to the written word, the highest percentage of a population armed with some scraps of what you might call a "liberal arts education"

The ability to self-teach.

orionkidder,
@orionkidder@writing.exchange avatar

@futurebird "The Book" in 1984, has a chilling passage about how to control education so that there is just enough science and engineering to produce weapons of war and extractive industry, but never enough, or never the right kind, to produce the ability to question the state.

RickiTarr, to random
@RickiTarr@beige.party avatar

Saw this in the bathroom of the Queer Friendly Coffee House:

orionkidder,
@orionkidder@writing.exchange avatar

@RickiTarr That poster's been around for twenty years, and it's still brilliant.

orionkidder, to writing
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301: What are some of your MC's other (lesser) fears?

Getting lost in the bus system. Her brother getting mad at her. Her dad making a kind of chilli she doesn't like.

Am I doing this right?

orionkidder,
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I. Just. Realized!

Kala is done in pairs, so my characters need to train that way, too! Cannot believe I missed that. It's so good! What a brilliant excuse to create two-hander scenes.

orionkidder,
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318 What do you need in your writing space to help you stay focused?

Absence of other stuff I could be doing that's less effort. Absence of food and drink that'll direct me. No music.

orionkidder,
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319 - MC POV: Where did you grow up? What was your childhood like there?

"I'm Cascadian, so I grew up in an arcology. They are the best! All my cousins were around all the time, and we are together and went to school together, and everyone was from everywhere. They were floor cousins. I miss them all so much."

orionkidder,
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320 Worst event of your MC's childhood?

Abducted into a paramilitary murder cult. Same old same old.

orionkidder,
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321 — Did your SC once admire their parents? Who else did they admire growing up? What about today?

She loves her parents. She loved growing up on a farm, and she's still a kid really, so she's not done growing up on a farm. But yeah, she gets all her values and sense of safety from her parents. They're good people.

orionkidder,
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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.

"Read writing manuals." I haven't. I can't bring myself to do it. Maybe I should! But I know that I'd get obsessed with following the "rules," and I just don't need the joy sucked out of my writing process.

orionkidder,
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323 - What's a piece of advice for writers that you listened to and are glad for?

It's interesting to watch characters make decisions. Passive lead characters can be really frustrating.

orionkidder,
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324 — SC POV: If you could relive one day of your life without changing anything that happened, which day would you choose?

"One day, I remember we got together with our friends from Sto:lo and had a big party. There was food and music. They showed us some of their dances, the ones outsiders are allowed to do. It was so much fun. I miss them."

orionkidder,
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325 SC POV: If you could relive one day of your life and change its course of events, which day would you choose?

"I'd tell Luis to go fuck himself."

orionkidder,
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#PennedPossibilities 326 A favourite place the characters ever visited?

Where she was a little kid, their names came up on the wait list for an orbital trip. She got to experience actual micro-gravity!

#Writing #Writers #WritingCommunity #WritersOfMastodon #AmWriting #AmWritingSF #AmWritingFantasy #AmWritingSFF #Scriberspace

orionkidder,
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327:How much does your MC value other ppl?Do they wish to have many friends, lovers, and/or associates?Are they an easy person to love?

She's very social;when her community is taken away,she immediately forms a new one.She can do it bc she's not a leader but is a sass-mouth with a moral compass.When she talks,it's to chew out someone for being an asshole.

orionkidder,
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328 — If you could meet your characters, what would you say to them?

"Holy shit, get inside! Did anyone see you? Are they coming? Get in! Get in!"

orionkidder, to writing
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May 1: OMG! What happened to your MC's parents?

They're at home, wondering how they could possibly have let their little girl die like that, even though she's very much alive, trapped, a long long way away...

orionkidder,
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May 18: Have you written sections where action occurs against the clock? How did you do it?

I have a short story about a man and his toddler son that spans the length of a day. I 100% cheated and put "2pm" and such in as scene headings. It got the job done.

My novel had a vague countdown to a tournament that I have tried to hint at through dialogue and narration, but also cranking up tension before the big day. I have not got that working the way I want it to.

orionkidder, to writing
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May 1: Introduce your setting as if it’s a character in your story.

The Greater Cascadian Megalopolis was born from the need to house the population of the Pacific North West but leave the bulk of the continent free of humanity,"re-wilding." The fetal megapolopolis started as superblocks and then arcologies,multiplying until they formed an urban organism that now stretches from the middle of British Columbia all the way to the California border.

orionkidder,
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May 18 What kind of dragon (behaviour or looks) would your MC be?

She'd be herself in dragon form interacting with other dragons in their forms? (I do not understand this question.)

orionkidder,
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May 19 How did you settle on your MC's appearance?

Saw her in my head. Wrote it down.

orionkidder,
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May 20 How did you settle on your antagonist's appearance?

I knew her gender, race, and age, so then I put the kinds of clothes on her she'd wear. Simple as that.

orionkidder,
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May 21: Do you consider how your MC's appearance may contribute to stereotypes?

Yeah, of course. To do less would be unethical. Especially for me, a white man. I deliberately steer away from stereotype, and the result is a story that's lively and unexpected. I don't rehearse the same old thing, at least not when I can help it.

orionkidder,
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May 22: Is your antagonist more a dragon or a dragon rider?

I don't get this question. I guess she's a dragon because she has her own power rather than using someone else's...?

orionkidder,
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May 23 - Are your MC's picky about where they sleep?

It hasn't come up, so by virtue of deductive reasoning, no they are not.

orionkidder,
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May 24: While drafting, do you avoid or binge watch similar material?

Avoid! I am way too impressionable.

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