First draft done!

Have you tried a pet xenoamoeba? They don't make a mess, they don't keep you up at night, and you can feed them just about whatever. You also technically don't NEED to wash your hands after handling one, but you'll probably want to anyway. #WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity

Updates! I have a website now! There's some free writing there, and other things! Rants! Raves! Reviews! Free stories! jaredgoring.com I have some stuff on itch now! (Only one for now but hey) jrade.itch.io

Me: I wonder if I have any leaves in my WIP. Me, two seconds later: oh right the whole scene I wrote that revolved around that very word. #WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity

Plenty, but I embrace all of my prose weaknesses, because I find writing the way I do fun. My pacing is ass though, and I do lose a lot of sleep over that.

No skill, oddly enough, but I've got a synonym! Some people are less Thadiun Okona, more Reginald Barclay. Personally, I find the Barclays of the world leagues more interesting. #WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity

No flurry, but there's a barrage. My partner looked me in the eye and said, "just have a character eat a McFlurry, easy" and I won't lie, I was tempted. In today's excerpt: the ship talks, too! Because of course it does. #WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity

Rook will NOT be having any of your self-deprecation today, thank you very much. They're the only one allowed to do that. Also, you know, trekking. Through the stars, one might say. #WIPSnips #WriteSky #WrittingCommunity

As I approach the end of my first draft, the grim realization dawns that I need to start thinking about editing. And a cover. And--oh, gods!--a title.

Scientists be like: it's okay, I thought it was scary but it's just a bunch of weird animal bones that some unknown entity made a charm out of and placed here in this derelict spaceship's hull. #WIPSnips #WritingCommunity #WriteSky

Maybe? I think that's for someone else to say, I'm way too biased to tell. They DO all come from the same brain... We LOVE cop out answers. #pretendpanel

Writing session interrupted by ice cream truck. You know what? Yes. I do deserve it.

Joke's on all of you! You get a place description today. They can't all be exciting. Deep Space Outpost Bayinnaung and others like it are so huge, they regularly challenge human senses of scale. They're also not designed as much as gradually developed. #WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity

Post a female character you love. "Some have named me crone, gray lady, Yaga sister, night hag -- but MYSELF is my name, Ravel, Ravel who puzzles well, providing conundrums to decipher and laying impossibilities low."

If you've read my submission from last Monday, you know how this one pans out. I am convinced that if I participate in enough of these, someone will be able to assemble the whole novella from snippets alone, and I think that's kind of hilarious. #WIPSnips #WritingCommunity #WriteSky

Short snippet today, absolutely surrounded by moments that wouldn't make any sense in a vacuum. Hurt people hurt people. Or robots, in this case. #WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity

Two strange people meet in a waiting room. They are forced to interact--not a phone in sight, etc. #WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity

top of the morning to yew

I missed the last few days because I've been so absorbed by this new book I'm reading. Back to business! I keep saying that none of my characters are based on me, and every character scene I write keeps proving me either wrong or a liar. #WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity

Dear follower who's reading this: I thought this paragraph I wrote today was kinda neat, and I am making it your problem. "It was a strange feeling. A new feeling. A new warmth to fill a hollow soul."

#PretendPanel Not really, to be honest! I'm not super precious with characters, and I don't enjoy 'counter monkeying' at all. If someone asks, sure, but feeling a need to tell people about them? Nah. Besides, if it didn't make it to the text, then was it really that important/interesting?

#PretendPanel Usually I come in with a loose framework and put some meat on those bones as I go. However, sometimes I offhandedly mention a character concept to my partner, and the next day receive a full bio complete with background, relationships, and full character arc. Can't argue with that!

This is one of the first bits I wrote for this WIP, what feels like an eternity ago. I'm still pretty happy with it. Main character makes the mistake of looking in the mirror before she's had her space coffee. And her character development. #WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingPrompts

Space age public transportation. #WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity

This is the only use of the word in my manuscript, which is unfortunate, because out of the whole paragraph, it's the one word I'm least sure about. #WIPSnips #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

I remember someone saying that's how you know AI can never truly be a writer. If you tell AI to stop using em dashes, it'll stop. If you tell a writer to stop using em dashes they'll tell you to fuck yourself and that you can pry them from their cold, dead fingers.

In the business, we call this "cheating". #WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity

Whoever in Nairn is doing this: we owe you the world. Keep it up.

Never! I'm such a boring person, who would ever care to read about someone like that?

From the noggin! I write characters first and then create a narrative around them. I start light, just vibes, then figure out the unique viewpoint they bring to the table. At some point I'm forced to think about what they look like, and so, under protest, I give them a few physical traits of note.

#SummerOfStory I struggle with this one in execution. I have prose mode and talk mode, and find it hard to jump between the two. I also love dialogue that stands on its own! A good example is from The Circus of Dr Lao--it becomes a screenplay for a chapter to let the interaction speak for itself.

This kind of stuff is my bread and butter. I see it as a fun little puzzle to assemble, combining character work and description in the most seamless way possible. Definitely the most enjoyable part of writing for me.

#WIPSnips Bow might be straight up one of my favorite words of all time. I love how it fills up your mouth when you say it, then releases it. It must be how shouting in Skyrim feels like. Anyway, if a friendly sales robot politely asks you to do something, do it. It's in your best interests.

Just a PSA It feels like common sense but please don’t send your manuscript to anyone without properly vetting them. It is exciting when someone seems interested in reading, but there are a lot of bad actors on the internet, & I’ve seen a few sus around interactions lately. #WIPSnips #WriteSky

#SummerOfStory 13 I think this one's widespread because it's one of the early "eureka" moments most fledgling writers go through, and the one that brings about the most visible jump in quality at that point.

I didn't see anyone post this in #SummerOfStory, which makes it my duty now

#WIPSnips Split, like my attention, constantly! On today's excerpt: protagonist goes to place most people avoid, and out-of-his-depth writer gets a chance to do a little bit of worldbuilding and a lot of describing.

#SummerofStory In Media Res was one of those things that, early on, I got into my head was *vital* to stop the reader from just dropping your book altogether. That kind of thinking held me back, I think. Nowadays it feels to me like one of those tools imported from a different medium. 1/4

#PretendPanel I don't (consciously) think in tropes, unless it's to avoid them, and even then it's usually just the harmful and problematic ones--you know, the kind of thing you really don't want to proliferate, even by accident.

Have another comic! 😁 Nothing better than doodling on company time. This one's for my friends in the #writingcommunity. #comic

As a reader, I love to learn about authorial intent and the ways in which the author bleeds into their work. Valuable as interpretations are, they don't do much for me. As an author, I don't feel strongly about it either way. People can take whatever they want from my work; I'm just the writer.

I was nearly killed by a dog when I was 6. One of my tear ducts was destroyed--to this day, I semi-constantly "weep" from my left eye. It can make some social situations very awkward. Also, the Changeling House chapter in Luminous Tapestry is based on a trippy dream my co-author had. #ComJunity

Just came home from watching Ocean with David Attenborough, the spiral of emotions was real. It's so rare that a nature documentary manages to convey human interference in such an apocalyptic manner. Disaster movie cinematography is much less fun when it's in our backyard.

Alright, #booksky, I've been told this works. I want to tackle something new, and I could really use a writing prompt or three. Give me one and I'll try to make it justice.

Did you know? Submissions are open for our Community-Made DLC! It's only been a week, and we already have so many great submissions! There's so much knowledge, passion and creativity in our fans and it's a joy to see. Submissions open until 11:59pm EST Wednesday, April 30!

Cursed Files: "Scar" "You stand before me a canvas, a book of flesh and sinew. Upon your skin, once so bare, multitudes has history etched." www.danielfbispo.com/cursed-foota...

Another entry for @valdevia.art's Cursed Files: "Catacombs" "I leave these notes for whoever may find them. I would ask you to turn back, but if you're reading this, I know you won't." www.danielfbispo.com/cursed-foota...

Based on a prompt from @valdevia.art's Cursed Files challenge: "Sleepless" "As he heard the lights in the hallway flicker, Francisco had no way of knowing he would never sleep again."