@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

sfwrtr

@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe

RS, pronounced /är' əs/. Professional #SF #fiction writer coming back from burn-out. Writes character-driven #SFF (science fiction #fantasy) and some #fanfiction (#MLP). #ClarionWest 98 graduate. #SFWA life member. Studied non-western culture, #folklore, and #mythology. #Feminist #Writer and #Author in the #WritingCommunity amongst the #WritersOfMastodon.

Goals: Return to paid publication. Provide interesting content for followers. Make friends; attract colleagues. See intro post for more...

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

sfwrtr, to 13thFloor
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

308 — What is one place your characters want to visit?

I'm going to take this as a euphemism.

The MC is employed by her main antagonist, who is an absolute ruler. Theoretically, the MC is second in command, but reality begs to differ. One of the reasons the MC accepted the troubleshooter job is that the MA informed her that her supposedly dead father is actually a political prisoner in a nearby country. In the back of her mind, the MC wonders whether she can use some of the MA's power to pay certain miscreant warlords a nasty visit...

This is a possible sequel I've set up in the current story by having the MC befriend a very talented up and coming military officer.

[Author retains copyright (c)2024 R.S.]

and



sfwrtr, to 13thFloor
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

#PennedPossibilities 307 — Does your MC have next-door neighbors? Who are they?

The main antagonist. This is the person she once considered as the person who ruined her life. She once worked for someone whose stated goal was assassinating her, and didn't care if they succeeded. For the last few months, the MC lived in a roommate situation that made them neighbors. Her roommate was being trained by the main antagonist, but also had a bad relationship with her. Their proximity was always a background tension in the story. In the current story, the MC is now working for the main antagonist and understands the MA's "evil" reasons better, but still dislikes her. The MC could ask for her own suite, free of charge, in the same building but is planning on taking her new salary to live elsewhere.

[Author retains copyright (c)2024 R.S.]

#BoostingIsSharing and #CommentingIsCool

#fiction #fantasy #sf #sff #sciencefiction #writing #writer #writers #author #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSInklingsStory #RSReluctanceStory
#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic #smallstory

sfwrtr, to 13thFloor
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

#PennedPossibilities 306 — Are there any characters that you WISH you killed off in a series or standalone story?

Let's say, not exactly. I've had to write sequels and prequels and side stories because of feisty characters, but in the end I don't regret these.

[Author retains copyright (c)2024 R.S.]

#BoostingIsSharing and #CommentingIsCool

#fiction #fantasy #sf #sff #sciencefiction #writing #writer #writers #author #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon
#RSdiscussion

sfwrtr, (edited ) to 13thFloor
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

Yep, I make a template file each month that includes all the monthly questions for the and prompts. Cut/paste/delete: It's how I answer reliably and quickly; I minimize the repetitive parts.

I copy the questions to the template from the text source posted with the questions (thank you folks for doing that!), or in the case of , I OCR the text. I add my introductory lines with double-clickable replacement text and my hashtags so I don't have to bother with each post. See the example below.

To answer a prompt, I duplicate the template file and start writing! For prompts like , I have a template file that I never have to change. I copy past the canonical question directly from @floofpaldi's post.

Below an example of my headers and hashtags. Note I haven't revised the hashtags specifically for this post. Normally I delete the non-applicable ones. I'm being illustrative. Sorry!

EXAMPLE: (For those that don't see it, there is a right facing angle bracket before the first hashtag for my signature formatting flourish.)

Ch 9 Nbr nn — Question

text

[Author retains copyright (c)2024 R.S.]

and




sfwrtr, to 13thFloor
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

#WritersCoffeeClub Ch 9 Nbr 08 — When writing technical or scientific detail, how much is plausible versus imagined?

Everything in a story must come across as plausible, full stop. It doesn't matter whether it is imagined or factual. This is as true for writing technical or scientific detail as it is for writing about social interactions. Here's my secret sauce recipe:

  1. If I don't or can't understand the details necessary for the story, I don't write it. I won't write a story about a convenience store clerk because I don't know what that is like, nor am I willing to commit the brain cells to learn. This is one of the reasons I write fantasy and not mainstream or historical stories.
  2. If I understand in layman's terms, I rely on subject matter expert characters to relate what's necessary. For example, I wouldn't explain in a story how the combustion engine works any more than I would explain how the star drive works. I rely on my mechanic, who at the most technical says I replaced a part and here's the bill.
  3. If I am making up the details—which can be how the magic works or the social details for a society that exists only in my head—I rely on consistency and limits to build plausibility.
  4. If something minor occurs that I can't explain, I lampshade it—I hide the bare electric bulb with pretty fabric enough so that the characters in the story believe what happened is plausible. Generally, readers will accept this. See item 6.
  5. If I end up researching something for the story, as I did to write a story about prizefighter, I present only the technical details I know and use items 2 and 4 otherwise. Yes, I learned how to punch a speed bag and train as a fighter, but I'm not one. Since the story involved "mixed magical martial arts," I made s**t up, also, which is item 3.
  6. Most importantly, I work to not stretch the reader's credulity and base everything I can in the common reality the reader shares with me. This promotes plausibility.

[Author retains copyright (c)2024 R.S.]

#BoostingIsSharing and #CommentingIsCool

#fiction #fantasy #sf #sff #sciencefiction #writing #writer #writers #author #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon
#RSdiscussion

sfwrtr, to writing
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

So, on the Mac is telling me that the project I'm working on the iPad and iPhone isn't a valid project. This is not how I wanted to spend my day...

Not or being an at the moment.😢

sfwrtr,
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

So I duplicated the project on my iPhone. Once it synced to my Mac, I opened it. Everything is perfect. I can't tell you how many times this has been the fix for weirdnesses in the software's behavior... because I haven't counted. Half a dozen times, at least? Anyway, I'll just rename the projects and delete the problematic one. Just to be real, I could have restored the damaged project from backup, but I didn't want to risk loosing current work.

Shanmonster, to random
@Shanmonster@c.im avatar

While training at the gym, I accidentally looked at the sun reflecting off a windshield and that triggered my scintillating scotoma. I spent the final third of my gym time minus about a third of my vision. A bright circle of electric blue-white light, like sparks from an arc welder, strobed across my field of vision. I was afraid I wouldn’t be ok to ride my bike home, but thankfully it went away after about fifteen minutes. I guess I’m going to have to wear my sunglasses at the gym.

Whenever this strikes, I’m always scared it will not go away. At its worst, I’ve had it 24/7 for four months across about 75% of my vision. Because it’s such an unusual disorder, most folks have no idea how incapacitating it is. I usually get a sort of hangover afterwards which leaves me with increased brain fog.

I suspect it might have been caused by the Irvings spraying DDT over my home a bunch of times when I was a little kid.

sfwrtr,
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

@Shanmonster
Tomorrow will be better. That's my credo. Also, a good excuse to take it easy is never a bad thing, right?

sfwrtr, (edited ) to writing
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

Ch 9 Nbr 07 — Do you add a copyright statement to your work? How comprehensive is it?

When I submit to a publisher in the US, I do not include a copyright notice. Publishers understand that copyright law automatically protects authors whether or not they include the notice. Typing one on your manuscript shows you don't understand the basics. It's simply not professional.

When I publish online, for example on Mastodon, and I own the copyright AND care to have others understand that, I include the copyright notice below. The copyright is still automatic by law.

What I use is the word "copyright" followed by "(c)" or the symbol, no space, the year, and my name or pen name. This is what I understand as all that's necessary, but I am unqualified to give legal advice.

I include the copyright online to ensure:

  1. non-US entities understand my ownership
  2. if the content is scraped (e.g. by someone training an AI), the text will include an unambiguous copyright notice that this text is NOT public domain.

[Author retains copyright (c)2024 R.S.]

and


sfwrtr, to story
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

fuel: Think about these two paragraphs, read the article, then write a story. Or read Jean M Auel's The Mammoth Hunters.

Neanderthals disappeared roughly 40,000 years ago. But before they died out, some of them mated with early humans—which is why modern humans of non-African ancestry have between 1 and 4 percent Neanderthal DNA. The reconstruction of Shanidar Z makes it “perhaps easier to see how interbreeding occurred between our species,” says Emma Pomeroy, a palaeoanthropologist at the University of Cambridge who helped discover Shanidar Z, in a statement.

“The skulls of Neanderthals and humans look very different,” she says. “Neanderthal skulls have huge brow ridges and lack chins, with a projecting midface that results in more prominent noses. But the recreated face suggests those differences were not so stark in life.”

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/meet-shanidar-z-a-75000-year-old-neanderthal-woman-180984284/

sfwrtr, (edited ) to 13thFloor
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

2405.04 — How does your SC deal with failure?

Try different ways to get what she wants until frustration sets in, followed by anger, followed by doing something stupid.

When all the hauling companies in her home prefecture blacklisted her not simply for being female, but for being female while being persistent, she may or may not have thrown a brick through some windows and turned over some vehicles. She ran from the constables. She got tricked in another city into thinking she could earn quick money hauling questionable things to start her own company. She got blackmailed into the mob. She's still saving, for that day she might escape.

[Author retains copyright (c)2024 R..S.]

and



sfwrtr, to 13thFloor
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

Ch 9 Nbr 06 — Have you ever copied a piece from another book or a movie as a homage to that work?

Homage? Special honor or respect to? No. Pop references? Easter egg references? Yes.

and


sfwrtr, to photography
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

End of Cinco de Mayo. Having Caesar salad, a Baja Mexico creation. Handmade. Fresh grated Romano. Just toasted croutons.

Caesar salad, a Baja Mexico creation. Handmade. Fresh grated Romano. Just toasted croutons.
Caesar salad, a Baja Mexico creation. Handmade. Fresh grated Romano. Just toasted croutons.
Caesar salad, a Baja Mexico creation. Handmade. Fresh grated Romano. Just toasted croutons.

sfwrtr, (edited ) to Funny
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

So something happened last night. I mean, I'm one to think that dreams are symbolic of event and memories of the last day or so being rehashed as you sleep. I need the help of a dream interpreter on this one!

The spouse had a dream about Boris Karloff's... tentacles...

Pickled...

Received in a jar from Amazon.

What does it mean??

Edit: That was supposed to be /testicles./ Still funny and weird, tho.

sfwrtr, to writing
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

So… I serialized another chapter
but left off the editor's last edits. Dagnabit!

I noticed my mistake and fixed it in a record 16 minutes.

Six readers had already viewed the chapter.

This is good news? Right? Right!?

#Writing #Fiction #Fantasy #Author #WritersOfMastodon #WritingCommunity

sfwrtr, to 13thFloor
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

305 — Are there any characters of yours that you wound up HATING once you were finished with a story or WIP?

Taking a cue from @floofpaldi on how to answer this one, I have characters that are HATEFUL but none that I hate. I'm not to a Conan Doyle level that I can hate a character so much that I want to kill off my Sherlock Holmes.

Occasional hateful characters are great fun to write and pit against my MC. She ticks off one misogynist prizefighter during a press interview where her trainer presents her as a contender. An off-handed remark. He becomes her boogeyman, but he's stupidly angry, obviously uses steroids, blurts racist epithets, and gets used by others as muscle. The time he attacks her on a crowded public street, she manages to get him to trip into traffic where he breaks his legs. She walks off with her "Starbucks" she'd put down on a newspaper rack to deal with him.

Another time he ambushes her in a quiet neighborhood midday when nobody is around. His first punch to the head renders her unable to use magic part of her martial art and leaves her stumbling. He fights only with brawn. He wants to kill her. How could you hate a character on character setup like that?

She defeats him with a child's wooden pull toy. Anymore would be spoilers.

[Author retains copyright (c)2024 R.S.]

and



sfwrtr,
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

@taur10 @floofpaldi
Damn! I didn't realize it wasn't by the original author. Looking it up, I even have the original cover version. I remember it being good, but I don't remember the story...

sfwrtr, to random
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

Yes. I do use my pen name in real life. With my writer friends. You.

KarenKasparArt, to art
@KarenKasparArt@socel.net avatar

What do you see?

I see the blue sky behind the maple leaves, but when I showed the finished painting to my hubby, he said he sees the leaves floating on aqua blue water in a pond or pool.
What do you see?

See the acrylic painting here
--> https://fineartamerica.com/featured/red-japanese-maple-leaves-on-blue-karen-kaspar.html


sfwrtr,
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

@KarenKasparArt I see a very nice semi-abstract that's reminiscent of a scrapbook page or the result of a playful child paint with leaves, with a color tension that draws my eyes in. Nice work!

NaraMoore, to writing
@NaraMoore@sakurajima.moe avatar

5/4—What's the worst thing about being a writer?

You want to share these things that are inside you, but no one seems to care.

sfwrtr,
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

@NaraMoore 😢

sfwrtr, to writing
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

"Well, it can't be the end of the story when [the chapter] ends on a cliffhanger..." —A reader

The MC has just stated she's experiencing death. Hers. It's written in first person, however, so...

#WritingCommunity #WritersOfMastodon #Writing #Fiction #Author #Writer #Fantasy

sfwrtr,
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

@Gravewyck
Cool. Go for it!

BTW, the only thing I redacted was the reader's name. I plan to serialize the next chapter today...

😋

SergKoren, to random
@SergKoren@writing.exchange avatar

It’s time to thank you all for putting up with me. Thank you.

sfwrtr,
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

@SergKoren
Pfff. We want more of you.

Maiko, to animals
@Maiko@pixelfed.social avatar

She woke up like this

sfwrtr,
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

@Maiko
This is beyond fabulous. The color, the composition, pretty much everything (though I'd try cropping it a bit.) Please be proud of this one.

Credit @Maiko
https://pxscdn.com/public/m/_v2/648203510071240496/c6a394f69-21cf85/uFuFEJ4Ja88K/6KXaMgj1ehraS4dRy1H8mHptn62OvbL2KgBiS4xU.jpg

kagan, to SanFrancisco
@kagan@wandering.shop avatar

(Sep) 1: Intro: Shameless Self Promotion. Tell us about yourself, your published work or WIP.

I'm Kagan, a web developer from San Francisco living in Brooklyn, working on my first novel. Totally unpublished author, but going for it anyway.

My WIP is an set in , about people who can hear the voice of the City, and do magic based on that.

sfwrtr,
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

@kagan @writerobscura
Sorry I'm late to respond to "@sfwrtr's answer mention[ed] it's unprofessional to put on submissions to publishers." Hehehe... Hope I caused nobody distress when I let too much realism creep into my posts.

"...baby writer..."

I like that term! It implies you have to work to walk, and that you understand it won't be easy. But, with time we will run.

Being new to something, aspiring, we always want to look experienced because those who will judge us and our works are reassured by competency. Competency implies experience. Experience in turn implies that we won't waste your valuable time if you look closer at us or our work. Learning to appear professional is essential, especially when you don't have a brand name. Any little thing that gets you past the gatekeepers is worth working upon. You at least want someone to read the first few paragraphs of your story (the best you can hope for).

f my response seemed like a quick backpedal, it's partly because I'd also seen @sfwrtr's answer...

I specifically want to praise you. Admitting that you are learning has impressed me a lot. Humility is a skill, and it will serve you as well as persistence will. It certainly makes me want to write further posts because I feel I'm actually helping folks. Writing is always about communicating.

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