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#WritersCoffeeClub 2: Write in a typical week?

A *typical* week? I don't write at all. I'm a parent first, a teacher second, then there's the whole clean/shop/sleep nonsense. Plus publicity. Not much can be done about it.

"Epsilon" forces 2000 words out of me biweekly, tends to be 4-5 hours Fri/Sat night. NaNo forces me to make time for "Time Untied" in Nov and July. End of those months, the kitchen's a horror show, laundry's backed up, I'm sleep deprived, pantry's empty, but words exist.

#WritersCoffeeClub 3: Face shot?

Meh. If it's there I take note, but I never go searching. It's also a snapshot in time, given how we age, which in a way makes a book less timeless.

Plus, as others have pointed out, it can be a way to deliberately overlook women or minorities, so the drawbacks may outweigh the benefits.

Though, as you can tell by my icon, I prefer to be more anonymous anyway. So, here's an experiment... is this indeed how you pictured me? Has your opinion of me changed?

#WritersCoffeeClub 4: Time?

A year is written like 1955. A time is written like 3pm (unless it's "noon"). I tend to be more numbers oriented, maybe that comes from being a math teacher and having literal personified math characters.

That said, I tend to avoid nailing down specific times anyway (even in a time travel story), and this is all while I draft... so if betas or editors think I should go text, sure, not a battle I'm going to fight.

#WritersCoffeeClub 5: Writing Project Goals?

For the last 6+ years it's been to get through "Time Untied", the sequel to my original serial story that kind of flopped. At 260,000 words, it's getting there.

After that there's a bunch of other writing projects on the shelf (including Last Magical Girl). Plus there's my annual ChristMaths parody.

A more general goal is to maintain my serial site with regular updates, which I've succeeded at for over 10 years. Why stop now.

#WritersCoffeeClub 6: Self/Trad published?

I'm #WebSerial published. For over 10 years, on my wordpress (and several other host) sites. I'm real good at sticking to a schedule, abysmal at promotion.

I also have a short story published in an anthology. Others did the heavy lifting there, I don't have the time or confidence to navigate traditional publishing. Made about $30 Cdn from that, more than I ever thought I ever would writing, so yay.

#WritersCoffeeClub 7: Seen movie/TV close to an idea?

No... is that common? Kind of surprised by the question. (This could be why I have audience trouble, I'm off the beaten path.)

I will say that the anime #Hetalia (personified countries) is what inspired me to do personified math. Hence my handle, math-tans. Also, I once devised an opening title sequence for Time Untied, as if it were a TV show. But none of that is plot.

#WritersCoffeeClub 8: Plan writing?

It starts with a vague plot outline (often not written down to keep it organic). Then I try to nail down key characters, main traits, connections, that sort of thing.

Then I write, documenting key items as they come up. With a sense of the end, but not how we'll get there or how the characters will behave themselves. So, not nothing, but I'm not sure you'd really call it roughed out either?

#WritersCoffeeClub 9: Recurring theme?

I suppose the biggest theme would be discovery. About oneself, though also about the world. Tangential to that is the yuri/lesbian angle, as I walk the line between the female and male sides of myself. (Not sure if anyone wants me to expand on that.)

The other possibility would be redemption, as I usually try to have the intentions of the villain be noble, even if their actions are not, so that there can be some overall healing for everyone in the end.

#WritersCoffeeClub 10: Learn cursive in school?

Yes. I also learned how to use an electronic typewriter (two spaces after every period) and took a latin elective (Grumio est coquus). The fact that I'm lumping these together gives you a sense of how I feel that the Minister of #OntEd has brought cursive writing back into our schools after a couple decades of it not being a thing any more.

I only use it for my signature now. By all means, study it as a part of a history elective.

#WritersCoffeeClub 11: Sounds?

No definitive answer, as it's real hard to predict when/where I'll get a chance to write, and the time/place affects the sounds present.

If it's in my office or bedroom (~80% of the time it is), there isn't much sound (maybe my daughter playing with my wife in the next room, or a bathroom fan). In fact, I may flip on some music (random pop/anime) for background noise (not something I do if writing outside the house).

#WritersCoffeeClub 12: Real-World location research?

Generally if it's somewhere I've visited, then I might write about it (hence why I'm okay to write about France).

I won't plan a trip just for research (exception being OttawaU campus since it's literally same city) and hesitate to write about somewhere I haven't been (exception being really needed Miami airport once, so looked up stuff... did end up there years later).

If I get details wrong, blame it on "not quite our Earth" fantasy.

#WritersCoffeeClub 13: Beta readers? Working?

With the ongoing serial, there's zero time between finishing the entry and hitting 'post'. With some works though, me and a friend beta each other, though that's more grammatical, less so character or story flow.

For a short story anthology, one writer kindly offered to beta early submissions, which I found invaluable. I've also entered I&I, a feedback contest, which was useful beta of a different sort. Wish I had a regular source.

#WritersCoffeeClub 14: Pet ownership.

What a strange question. YMMV.

I kill plants because I forget to water them. I do not want the responsibility of a pet. Besides, I already have a tiny human to take care of, which is priority one. So pets, absolutely not essential.

I'll mention I usually had a cat growing up with my parents, but now when I visit, my sinuses tend to clog. So might have become allergic. Still prefer cats to dogs though.

#WritersCoffeeClub 15: Politics, honest or keep quiet?

I feel like the politics is going to come out eventually, so you might as well make it clear where you stand on things (assuming you have a position). To avoid confusion years or decades later, possibly after the political landscape (or your own view) has shifted anyway.

Of course, I'm speaking from a position of privilege where I'm unlikely to be doxxed or attacked for my opinions, so as usual YMMV (your mileage may vary).

#WritersCoffeeClub 16: Flashbacks?

I overused them in "Marmalade Mercury", partly owing to the source material. In general I don't use them, unless I don't want the reader to know something until closer to the time when it's relevant.

Nothing against them. Unless it's one of those "surprise, we're in peril, so let's flash back for this entire next chapter to bleed out any tension as we explain how we got here" moments. Ugh.

#WritersCoffeeClub 17: Biggest inspiration?

The chance to be female without giving up my biologically male parts. Dunno if there's a word for that. It's not dysphoria per se, I'm not unhappy. But I absolutely prefer writing female POV.

Or should this be a shout-out to my English middle school teachers and the story I wrote then? And the writing ever since? We can go with that too.

#WritersCoffeeClub 19: Three act structure?

Oh, lords no. With serial writing it's stream of consciousness, with a little cliffhanger every 2000 words or so (much like at the end of a chapter). Though if it looks like things should wrap up, I'll wrap them up, so maybe on a subconscious level?

FWIW, "Time Untied" is now 260,000 words (and counting) before chunking it into episodes, so I don't necessarily recommend my methods.

#WritersCoffeeClub 20: Bail after 1/4 of a book?

The most likely scenario is me not getting that far if I'm not keen, but if I did either:
-It goes onto the shelf with the other books at under 25% that I'll get to if I ever have leisure time again.
-I do push through because I know the author or had them recommended. (Discworld falls under that heading. Strangely enough, I couldn't get into it... though it's been a decade, maybe I would now.)

#WritersCoffeeClub 21: Telepathy/Internal monologue?

My files are text only, so I tend to use stars *to indicate I'm in your head now*. Possibly single quotes.

Granted, if I were to tidy things up for publication, I would likely use italics, which seems to be what the majority have been saying today.

#WritersCoffeeClub 22: Stephen King portrays writers in his stories. Which actor plays you?

What. I must be missing something here, because this feels like the weirdest non-sequitur. I know King includes writer characters in books, but this implies he plays them in the movies? And how did we get from there to my life story, am I living out a horror movie?

Anyway, the only personality who comes to mind for me is John Oliver. With less accent and more beard. idk.

#WritersCoffeeClub 23: Use short forms in a novel?

Yeah, er, why wouldn't it be? Totes depends on your POV, as well as your intended audience.

#WritersCoffeeClub 24: Book hoarder or sell/give?

Hoard. My bedroom growing up had one wall as a bookshelf floor to ceiling, so it just made sense to keep everything. A lot of those are now in boxes downstairs, I'm hoping my daughter might like some of them as she gets older.

I've never migrated to ebooks, though also don't have time to read more than ~2 books per year now, so I don't accumulate these days (except yuri manga, it has it's own bookcase).

#WritersCoffeeClub 25: Oxford comma?

Hey, look everyone, it's the Chapter Title! *checks off the box*

I use it, I approve of it. I even question why others wouldn't, it's not doing any harm. But I'm not about to engage in an Oxford battle over it.

#WritersCoffeeClub 26: Drafts before Final?

As many as I can.

With serials/shorts I'll generally write, return to it after a couple days and make modifications, then that's it. Basically first draft. If there's time for a beta, I may alter more things based on feedback, meaning two or three.

With the "Time Untied" epic, I chunk it into 20k word files. Enough file updates and I use a new number. Start of the tale's on Draft 5 (most of the rest is on 3 or 4). Really depends.

#WritersCoffeeClub 27: Hollywood options a movie, disown if changes?

Hilarious that it would be a movie, as a serial is so drawn out that it lends itself more to a TV series. Otherwise details would surely get dropped.

Beyond that point, it's as others have said, changes for a new medium are natural, and it depends on what gets changed. If they see a chance for more inclusivity, that strikes me as a good thing.

#WritersCoffeeClub 28: Table of Contents?

I prefer it. And for an online serial, it's kind of a necessity, because it can include a direct link... you can jump to the more recent part without having to page through the prior chapters from two weeks ago.

There's also the fact that the chapters tend to need names if you do it, which I also tend to prefer (versus just numbers). As always, YMMV.

#WritersCoffeeClub 29: Left an autographed copy in a hotel, etc?

...

#WritersCoffeeClub 30: Education system?

I suppose it inspired me, in as much as I still remember the middle school time travel story I wrote and illustrated. It didn't have me say "I want to write!", in fact I tended to prefer maths, but it led to writing fanfic and being Chief Scriptwriter for a musical in my post secondary. And now here I am, still doing serials (while teaching maths).

#WritersCoffeeClub 31: Horror elements?

Not really. I suppose some could be considered psychological horror (abusive relationships or the like) but it's not my strength. Most frightening thing was a short story attempt based on a prompt several years back, which was more about suspense than anything. https://mathiex.blogspot.com/2016/08/261-in-dark.html

Thanks for reading along this month! I'll likely be back again.