we have ALWAYS had the ability to NOT make something and pretend that we did. the difference now is theres an algorithm built for convincing people whove never stepped outside the theater door for a smoke break on opening night that they actually have. they have not. there is no ai for that.

in other words IT IS NOT THE PRODUCT. yes, it is cool to see your name on a marquee or your book in a store or your face on a poster, but the REASON this is cool is because it tethers you to the BETWEEN TIMES. the between times are everything. the PROCESS of creation is a gift to yourself

Instead of solving all of Miriam’s problems, fulfilling the prophecy has saddled her with guilt, a town swimming in debt, and an elf she can neither keep nor free.

Well since nobody seems to know about any upcoming pitch events, everyone go ahead and give me the logline to the thing you're working on right now and I will judge them like a diving competition. #authorsky #writersky #writingcommunity #amwriting

Hey yo, does anyone know when somebody's doing another pitch event? I always tend to miss them. #writingcommunity #writing #authorsky #booksky #writersky

My antagonist (one of them) is basically, what if Ryan Gosling was secretly a huge asshole.

no, babe. you’re not “defending western civilization.” you are a dip shit

I just solidified my subplot and I am zooominnng it works so nice and fits into the main message so welll

I have the irresistible urge to give all my protagonists animal companions. I don't know if it's from being raised on Disney princess movies or what, but I've found the MCs reactions to animals reveals a lot about their character.

I decided to use the meekest character as the only POV in my new novel. It's making it so tantalizingly interesting (and necessary) to find ways for her to use her voice and gain her confidence. #authorsky #writersky #booksky

#writersky #authorsky A small tip for combating the existential threat of writer's block: things don't have to lead to the key moment you've come up with. Maybe it's the key moments that need to change. Maybe it's the journey that's right, not the destination.

When ur soft but done with everyone's shit

Kenn is so *thrilled* that people are ordering his book. Trust me, you're not going to read anything else like this. And it's fascinating. Either way, you support an Indigenous Elder. Give it a look? (And there's an awesome blurb by the talented and gorgeous @christianek.bsky.social!)

Happy Monday! Today we launch a fundraiser to help defray the costs of our forthcoming anthology SIDE HUSTLE: HORROR STORIES FOR LATE CAPITALISM. Oodles of great rewards including signed books by our invited authors Lauren Bolger, Poppy Z. Brite, and Mae Murray. Open call for subs coming in 10 days.

Insomnia Orange Sounds more like a lipstick color (Can never beat Low Libido Beef Burrito though)

All I want is to make predictions about the far future and have them all be 100% correct so the generation that finds my writing will think I'm Nostradamus

I'm going to my first writers conference in June and I'm super nervous! Have a manuscript to pitch to literally the perfect agent. May lead nowhere but the experience will be worth it!

I'm somewhere between making the antagonist become irredeemable or having him have a twist at the end so you feel a little sympathy for him. I think I just have to write it and see where the character takes me.

Repost with your first crush

I am very against using generative AI, at least I am now that I understand how it affects creativity and artists. I realized though that I still had AI images on some of my older stories. I replaced them with stock photos. Here's one of my favorites: nicolewinchester.substack.com/p/s-white-pa...

Guess people don’t like not knowing whether the stuff they’re looking at is made by humans or churned out by a machine, who could have predicted this very predictable thing

Anyone know of any writers on Bluesky that don't write genre fiction? Not that I don't love the genre fiction writers on my feed already, just wondering if there are any around. If I'm already friends with you and you fit then let me know.

Everyone seems to like listening to music when they write, or having some white noise going, while I have to have PERFECT SILENCE or I'll go crazy. Good thing I don't have any kids or noisy pets.

A couple days ago, I was upset that a celebrity I liked turned out to be an asshole. Today, I'm using that in my new book. Art imitates life imitates art.

Trying to figure out why we keep creating while the world is burning down around us. When everything is crumbling, does our art still matter?

Averaged about 1k words per day since I started my new project 5 days ago. Small potatoes for some people, but more than double my target goal. Don't think I can keep it up forever but I can try 👍

What books are selling right now? Doesn't matter as you won't be able to write it fast enough to keep up with the trends. Unless you're a freak who can pump out a book every two months. Total news to me that contemporary romance is apparently dead. I thought it was romantasy that was oversaturated.

He wants kids and a puppy. She wants privacy and a goldfish.

Wrote down the first few real pages of my new distraction--I mean, novel :)--after having not written for months. Feels good, man.

Now that my beloved pet rabbit Pheobe has been gone for a few months, this older piece really has a new sting to it 😢 open.substack.com/pub/nicolewi...

When I eat too much chocolate and I'm like, "hell yeah, HELL YEAH, I'm staying awake forever baby, no middle aged midday nap for me!" and then this happens

9/10ths of what I write on the internet becomes lost to the aether, only to be seen by like a dozen people, if that. The other 1/10th causes So Much Discourse that it gives me anxiety and I have to delete it.

My boyfriend says I go "meep"

Depluralize a movie Goodfella

I wrote my first page of a screenplay that is a neat hybrid project distracting me from my other creative blockages :)

I dreamt last night of a reverse Swan Lake situation. I was dating a guy but only saw him at night. Found out his true day form was as a swan at the park. I was only upset about it because he had a mate and cygnets.

I promise there are no politics in my book about an angel who realizes its immoral for him to fulfill God's will to start the Apocalypse and instead falls in love with an ex Christian who performs witchcraft.

Ok so at this rate I'll be able to check out Dungeon Crawler Carl in... *does math*... about 5 years?? 🙃😭

My PMS symptoms have changed over the years. I used to cry at the drop of a hat, now I get incredibly mad at stuff that hasn't even happened. Caught myself imagining talking to an ex friend and started getting mad about it til I realized I haven't spoken to them in 15 years.

I've been worried that I was posting too many silly things in the midst of all the bad shit happening right now, but silly things are what survive brutality. When the human spirit feels crushed beyond repair, silly things bring it back to life.

buddy there is an entire supreme court decision about how not illegal it is.

Is it a millennial thing to apologize to the cashier for using too many paper coupons?

Agnostic = God may or may not be real Gnostic = God is real and he's an irredeemable, monstrous asshole

i’m so tired of aging 2,947,286 years every time i check the news

Yourself, but as a cartoon.

Shameless Self-Promotions! Show off your links to #WriteStuff & find a new Bluesky account to follow.

They kill us for their sport.

Read my review of Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice on Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Made some big edits today on The Messenger. Deleted 14 pages and heavily rewrote 6 of them to a better ending. Still had some darlings to kill. Might seem like small potatoes but I haven't touched either WIP for almost a month. #writingcommunity #writersky

Face reveal!! Wrong answers only.