#WritersCoffeeClub 15 March. Talk about an experience you've had sharing your writing with a group.

At this point in my career I have roughly 2 million books in print (not counting translations and pirate copies): publishing lore says the average print book has 4 readers over its lifetime while ebooks have fewer *but* there's piracy … spitballing, call it maybe 6-8 million book/reads?

Discussing workshops or readings would be anticlimactic at this point.

(Nobody's punched me, so I'm good.)

#WritersCoffeeClub March 14: Do you think readers want new experiences in structure or narrative, or do they prefer what's familiar?

What an editor ever says to an author after a successful novel: "that was great! Write me another just like it, only different."

Some readers want the thrill of the new, other readers want the comfort that comes from the familiar. But the Marketing Department tilts towards the latter because they know how to sell it—and they're the gatekeepers.

#WritersCoffeeClub Footnote: fighter v. helicopter duels aren't as clear-cut as an outsider might expect. At altitude and speed, the fighter has the upper hand: but down in the ground clutter, the helicopter gunship can be approximated to an angry flak battery than can suddenly fly sideways at 200mph and duck under bridges: fighter pilots treat them with extreme caution because it's like poking a rattlesnake—you want to use the longest stick you can find.

#WritersCoffeeClub 3/13: Talk about an experience when you consulted an expert for a piece of writing.

Happens regularly!

Back in 2014 I was writing "The Nightmare Stacks" and wanted a Eurofighter Typhoon v. Dragon Rider dogfight over the Yorkshire dales (NB: not-exactly dragons ridden by elven sorcerers with basilisk weapons for visual-range engagement). Consulted a friend who had just retired from the RAF as a squadron leader. The dynamics of fast jet vs. helicopter gunship combat fit well …

#WritersCoffeeClub March ~ How do you "stress test" your work?

I change the font to a curly font set at 6pt and let my inner critic Orlando read it.

🪷

#WritersCoffeeClub March ~ How do you "stress test" your work?

I change the font to a curly font set at 6pt and let my inner critic Orlando read it.

🪷

#WritersCoffeeClub Mar. 12: How do you "stress test" your work?

I have a gang of test readers. Then it goes to my editor of first resort—my agent (who used to be a Big Six editor before changing career)—for edits. Then it goes to my acquiring editors at the publishers (US and UK) who edit it. And so on. By the time it finally trickles into print I've been over it so many times I can't bear to see it again.

#WritersCoffeeClub March 11. Does your work reflect your morals? How so?

Only insofar as my moral sensibilities inform my authorial attitude to the events and character actions in my stories. (And my moral sensibilities are those of a raised-reform-Jewish-atheist in his sixties, so they're almost certainly not what you'd expect them to be.)

What I *don't* do is write approvingly about protagonists doing things I consider to be despicable.

#WritersCoffeeClub March 10th—How informal is your prose? Is there a limit to informality?

It's entirely contextual. Describing a formal dinner among posh aristocrats? Go formal. Describing a drunken argument in a pub? Go informal. Prose style is like mood music in a film—it should reflect the emotional background tone but not overpower the foreground (the prose itself). Think of it as metadata for the narrative.

#WritersCoffeeClub March 9th: "Do you prefer to write complex, intricate plots, or more straightforward ones?"

Complex, obviously, but only where it serves the purpose of the story. Complexity for its own sake is pointless.

#writerscoffeeclub Day 7: What have you given up in order to write?

Time for other hobbies.

#writing #writingcommunity

#writerscoffeeclub Day 7: What have you given up in order to write?

Time for other hobbies.

#writing #writingcommunity