DTWoodworth - Network

I may or may not be back...we'll see.New job, new city, new baby - there hasn't been much time to write (or for social media) around...

I may or may not be back...we'll see.

New job, new city, new baby - there hasn't been much time to write (or for social media) around here, but we're getting there!

If these aren't your feelings, don't worry: I don't despise you, or hold you in contempt, or harbor resentment against because...

If these aren't your feelings, don't worry: I don't despise you, or hold you in contempt, or harbor resentment against because we differ. People I respect are on, by my count, at least five different sides in this one.

I've been absent here because my other hobby is writing about politics, and I try not to let that cross over and subsume everything...

I've been absent here because my other hobby is writing about politics, and I try not to let that cross over and subsume everything else.

There, however, a song that sums up my feelings for the last nine years, and I wanted to share it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GT-LfLpzzo

#WritersCoffeeClub - Day 31. What's your tip for getting into a writing groove?Do you know how grooves end up in old wagon tracks? They...

#WritersCoffeeClub - Day 31. What's your tip for getting into a writing groove?

Do you know how grooves end up in old wagon tracks?

They just kept going, day after day, year after year, over and over, until they made their own groove.

Let the reader understand.

Very full few weeks! I haven't had much time to write fiction, although I've been plugging away at non-fiction (for work, largely,...

Very full few weeks! I haven't had much time to write fiction, although I've been plugging away at non-fiction (for work, largely, but also my other hobby - politics). I'll be in and out here for a bit...I probably won't be posting terribly regularly, but I'll be around.

Took a bit of a break for family reunion and a wee bit of waterborne illness, but I'm back!I did also send off the short story I wrote...

Took a bit of a break for family reunion and a wee bit of waterborne illness, but I'm back!

I did also send off the short story I wrote up, but I started at the top, so I wasn't too terribly disappointed by a rejection.

Yesterday I finished up 9,300 words of a 6,000-word story.So today it's nose-to-the-grindstone to find those 3,300 unneeded words!With...

Yesterday I finished up 9,300 words of a 6,000-word story.

So today it's nose-to-the-grindstone to find those 3,300 unneeded words!

With how I write (very, very wordy), it's not as hard as you'd think. I'm already 2,200 down, 1,100ish to go.

#AmWriting #AmActuallyEditing

#WritersCoffeeClub Oct. 7: Tell me about something new you tried to do with a story. Did it stretch you?Finishing it?Too soon.Nearly...

#WritersCoffeeClub Oct. 7: Tell me about something new you tried to do with a story. Did it stretch you?

Finishing it?

Too soon.

Nearly everything is new for me when it comes to writing, because I'm an unpublished hobbyist. I have felt particularly stretched, though, by incorporating realistic emotional responses. It...doesn't come naturally to me.

Spent most of my free time helping the little man watch squirrels and rabbits, but still wrote a couple thousand words on my short story...

Spent most of my free time helping the little man watch squirrels and rabbits, but still wrote a couple thousand words on my short story idea. I should have it knocked out in a day or two, hopefully.

Isn't he the cutest little guy, though?

#AmWriting

#WritersCoffeeClub Oct. 6: Have you mixed genres in your work? Would you?Yes and yes. I write primarily fantasy in feel - that's what I...

#WritersCoffeeClub Oct. 6: Have you mixed genres in your work? Would you?

Yes and yes. I write primarily fantasy in feel - that's what I grew up with - but with sci-fi worldbuilding. This is not so much the case for my WIP, but other stories set in the same universe lean heavily on Arthur C. Clarke's "law" about sufficiently advanced technology.

An odd day of writing today - only a couple sentences on the WIP, but I deliberately backburnered that to plot and write about a thousand...

An odd day of writing today - only a couple sentences on the WIP, but I deliberately backburnered that to plot and write about a thousand words of a short story.

I think I need to let the storyline of the WIP stew just a little longer. This short story should be a fun way to do that.

#AmWriting

Very little writing yesterday due to personal reasons, but I kept the streak going - barely; I hung on by 30 words.#AmWriting (barely)

Very little writing yesterday due to personal reasons, but I kept the streak going - barely; I hung on by 30 words.

#AmWriting (barely)

#WritersCoffeeClub Oct. 5: You're the Ruler of the Writing Universe for the day. What petty rule do you decree? All fiction shall be...

#WritersCoffeeClub Oct. 5: You're the Ruler of the Writing Universe for the day. What petty rule do you decree?

All fiction shall be written in third-person past tense, unless with an exception for selected genres (and your romantasy isn't getting one).

I'm sorry, folks, but it was your own fault - you shouldn't have made me dictator.

#WritersCoffeeClub Oct. 3: Do you agree with Isaac Bashevis: "A good writer is basically a storyteller, not a scholar or a redeemer of...

#WritersCoffeeClub Oct. 3: Do you agree with Isaac Bashevis: "A good writer is basically a storyteller, not a scholar or a redeemer of mankind."

Yes, although I suspect with caveats he would have shared. A good writer needs to be a storyteller first. There may be more to the story than just a story, but there has to be a good story for anyone to want to read it and experience anything more.

#WritersCoffeeClub Oct. 2: Trauma? Can you write a traumatic, disturbing scene?Maybe? I hope so, because I need to. I'm not sure...

#WritersCoffeeClub Oct. 2: Trauma? Can you write a traumatic, disturbing scene?

Maybe? I hope so, because I need to. I'm not sure it's that hard to, either - if you can write a character your readers love and you can do horrible things to them, you can write a traumatic scene.

Ultimately, though, it's not something I want to do a lot of. It's salt, not bread and butter.

Long day; short time for writing today - only a couple hundred words, but I kept the streak going.#AmWriting #aSftN

Long day; short time for writing today - only a couple hundred words, but I kept the streak going.

#AmWriting #aSftN

I suppose I should add that this is something I've struggled with. I write for fun, primarily, and it takes some introspection to...

I suppose I should add that this is something I've struggled with. I write for fun, primarily, and it takes some introspection to describe why I enjoy the story I'm writing, just as it takes skill to critique a meal.

#WritersCoffeeClub Oct. 1 (cont.): What makes your WIP (or most recent work) stand out from the crowd? Don't be shy.And the aspirational...

#WritersCoffeeClub Oct. 1 (cont.): What makes your WIP (or most recent work) stand out from the crowd? Don't be shy.

And the aspirational reason? My background has given me a great deal of insight into how kind, loving people can act horribly and how caring, welcoming people can exclude others. I started writing this draft to grapple with that, and I think, when I have labored at the text long enough, that insight is what will set it apart.

#WritersCoffeeClub Oct. 1: What makes your WIP (or most recent work) stand out from the crowd? Don't be shy.There are two answers, one a...

#WritersCoffeeClub Oct. 1: What makes your WIP (or most recent work) stand out from the crowd? Don't be shy.

There are two answers, one a bit silly but very true; one more serious but a bit aspirational.

The silly reason: there does not - and will not - exist a piece of medieval fantasy more firmly grounded in geological reality. As we all know, that's what everyone looks for.

1/2

I think, by the way, that writing is a lot like singing: you need to hit a certain volume before you can even think about sounding good...

I think, by the way, that writing is a lot like singing: you need to hit a certain volume before you can even think about sounding good (expert singers can circumvent that; I am not an expert). Writing more, for me, right now, means writing better, too.