#boostingissharing — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #boostingissharing, aggregated by home.social.
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#PennedPossibilities 1129: If you had to choose a genre of music that best matches your current WIP, what would it be?
That "modern" jazzy noir sound of old timey PI movies.
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory -
#PennedPossibilities 1128: Does your MC have a name that’s unique?
My MC has at least five names, and in a world where everybody names themself, this count is likely typical. Family names don't exist since property and status are not heritable.
Everybody starts with the same name, however. It's "Child" (nominal) or "Child of" (familial). Despite being an interstellar society (without electricity or A/C), child mortality rates are high. Each day is a heat index warning day, and some days are deadly for adults, let alone infants. Thus you get called "Child" until you understand the concept of naming yourself, assuming you survive. Considering how children are, they probably have a series of names into their teens.
My MC is 30 now, so she had named herself at least once, but she never shares that name because she got blackmailed into working for the mob and worries that name could be traced.
When she got blackmailed into the mob, she on the spot named herself "Lightning Bolt" because she could believably prove she was a fast flier and not be questioned. She's now an air courier.
She has two other names. One is "Tandem." She taught some guy to fly tandem with her (too complex to explain here) and suggested that name so as not to use her mob name. They became long time friends. She took the name "Good Eye" when she inadvertently became a celebrity photographer, so as not to publicize her mob name where it might be recognized by the wrong people.
Hard to say whether in a world population of 240 million people that her names are unique, but they might be rare. Japan also has a descriptive naming system with half the population; by convention many personal names are reused and some are very common, like Yuki and Shiro (Snow and White respectively). I suspect some combinations in this world are more common than others. Other names in the story are phrases, like Night on Fire and Arrow Flies True and seem more unique.
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory -
#WordWeavers 2026.09.13 — Share a line of dialogue that sounds innocent without context but absolutely isn’t.
A third voice said brightly, "Tag, you're it!"
Out of context, it seems pretty innocent, right? Maybe a group of kids having fun? Nope! Signals the segue into a scene where the MC and the main series antagonist spar over a cute guy, an SC LI. The MC and SC are day angels. They have wings. Feathers. They're flying. The antagonist is also flying, but is… something else†.
Zooming out to a #snippet #excerpt. Might be rough as I revised the snippet heavily in the post as it needed it. I'll copy back to the manuscript! 😋
A third voice said brightly, "Tag, you're it!"
My first impulse is to flee—always. I'm a courier for the mob, not an enforcer. My lived truth is be not the messenger who got killed.
Blue was a praetorian; my friend was innocent of what I did for a living. He did not fright. Reflex had caused me to swoop at him. I pulled up my feet not to kick him, at least, as he dunk-dived at the last instant, furling his wings. His eddy sucked me down. In a heartbeat I overcame that. Wings out catching momentum-heavy air, I slowed scanning the twilit sky—purple and salmon clouds, a flood of deep indigo and sparkling first stars beyond.
Where?
My heart stuttered in my chest. Had we both not been intimately aware of each other's warping of up and down, chaotic attraction would have smashed us together bodily or ripped us apart—literally feather plucked by tangled swirling ups and downs a dozen times or more powerful than down felt standing on the ground.
My shock wore off. I understood I was the target, not Blue who returned to my side, breathless. Dropping as he had was the best way to create speed, to leave him safely behind, so I brought my wings close and let my head lead as I fell forward into increasing wind in my eyes.
A woman's voice came from behind me, rapidly getting louder, closing the distance. "Aw, aren't you going to play?"
=+=+=+=+=+
† This short tootfic describes the "something else" my antagonist is: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110993252771253246[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S. LLM training prohibited.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#Cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory
#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic #smallstory -
#WordWeavers 2026.09.13 — Share a line of dialogue that sounds innocent without context but absolutely isn’t.
A third voice said brightly, "Tag, you're it!"
Out of context, it seems pretty innocent, right? Maybe a group of kids having fun? Nope! Signals the segue into a scene where the MC and the main series antagonist spar over a cute guy, an SC LI. The MC and SC are day angels. They have wings. Feathers. They're flying. The antagonist is also flying, but is… something else†.
Zooming out to a #snippet #excerpt. Might be rough as I revised the snippet heavily in the post as it needed it. I'll copy back to the manuscript! 😋
A third voice said brightly, "Tag, you're it!"
My first impulse is to flee—always. I'm a courier for the mob, not an enforcer. My lived truth is be not the messenger who got killed.
Blue was a praetorian; my friend was innocent of what I did for a living. He did not fright. Reflex had caused me to swoop at him. I pulled up my feet not to kick him, at least, as he dunk-dived at the last instant, furling his wings. His eddy sucked me down. In a heartbeat I overcame that. Wings out catching momentum-heavy air, I slowed scanning the twilit sky—purple and salmon clouds, a flood of deep indigo and sparkling first stars beyond.
Where?
My heart stuttered in my chest. Had we both not been intimately aware of each other's warping of up and down, chaotic attraction would have smashed us together bodily or ripped us apart—literally feather plucked by tangled swirling ups and downs a dozen times or more powerful than down felt standing on the ground.
My shock wore off. I understood I was the target, not Blue who returned to my side, breathless. Dropping as he had was the best way to create speed, to leave him safely behind, so I brought my wings close and let my head lead as I fell forward into increasing wind in my eyes.
A woman's voice came from behind me, rapidly getting louder, closing the distance. "Aw, aren't you going to play?"
=+=+=+=+=+
† This short tootfic describes the "something else" my antagonist is: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110993252771253246[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S. LLM training prohibited.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#Cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory
#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic #smallstory -
#WordWeavers 2026.09.13 — Share a line of dialogue that sounds innocent without context but absolutely isn’t.
A third voice said brightly, "Tag, you're it!"
Out of context, it seems pretty innocent, right? Maybe a group of kids having fun? Nope! Signals the segue into a scene where the MC and the main series antagonist spar over a cute guy, an SC LI. The MC and SC are day angels. They have wings. Feathers. They're flying. The antagonist is also flying, but is… something else†.
Zooming out to a #snippet #excerpt. Might be rough as I revised the snippet heavily in the post as it needed it. I'll copy back to the manuscript! 😋
A third voice said brightly, "Tag, you're it!"
My first impulse is to flee—always. I'm a courier for the mob, not an enforcer. My lived truth is be not the messenger who got killed.
Blue was a praetorian; my friend was innocent of what I did for a living. He did not fright. Reflex had caused me to swoop at him. I pulled up my feet not to kick him, at least, as he dunk-dived at the last instant, furling his wings. His eddy sucked me down. In a heartbeat I overcame that. Wings out catching momentum-heavy air, I slowed scanning the twilit sky—purple and salmon clouds, a flood of deep indigo and sparkling first stars beyond.
Where?
My heart stuttered in my chest. Had we both not been intimately aware of each other's warping of up and down, chaotic attraction would have smashed us together bodily or ripped us apart—literally feather plucked by tangled swirling ups and downs a dozen times or more powerful than down felt standing on the ground.
My shock wore off. I understood I was the target, not Blue who returned to my side, breathless. Dropping as he had was the best way to create speed, to leave him safely behind, so I brought my wings close and let my head lead as I fell forward into increasing wind in my eyes.
A woman's voice came from behind me, rapidly getting louder, closing the distance. "Aw, aren't you going to play?"
=+=+=+=+=+
† This short tootfic describes the "something else" my antagonist is: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110993252771253246[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S. LLM training prohibited.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#Cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory
#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic #smallstory -
#WordWeavers 2026.09.13 — Share a line of dialogue that sounds innocent without context but absolutely isn’t.
A third voice said brightly, "Tag, you're it!"
Out of context, it seems pretty innocent, right? Maybe a group of kids having fun? Nope! Signals the segue into a scene where the MC and the main series antagonist spar over a cute guy, an SC LI. The MC and SC are day angels. They have wings. Feathers. They're flying. The antagonist is also flying, but is… something else†.
Zooming out to a #snippet #excerpt. Might be rough as I revised the snippet heavily in the post as it needed it. I'll copy back to the manuscript! 😋
A third voice said brightly, "Tag, you're it!"
My first impulse is to flee—always. I'm a courier for the mob, not an enforcer. My lived truth is be not the messenger who got killed.
Blue was a praetorian; my friend was innocent of what I did for a living. He did not fright. Reflex had caused me to swoop at him. I pulled up my feet not to kick him, at least, as he dunk-dived at the last instant, furling his wings. His eddy sucked me down. In a heartbeat I overcame that. Wings out catching momentum-heavy air, I slowed scanning the twilit sky—purple and salmon clouds, a flood of deep indigo and sparkling first stars beyond.
Where?
My heart stuttered in my chest. Had we both not been intimately aware of each other's warping of up and down, chaotic attraction would have smashed us together bodily or ripped us apart—literally feather plucked by tangled swirling ups and downs a dozen times or more powerful than down felt standing on the ground.
My shock wore off. I understood I was the target, not Blue who returned to my side, breathless. Dropping as he had was the best way to create speed, to leave him safely behind, so I brought my wings close and let my head lead as I fell forward into increasing wind in my eyes.
A woman's voice came from behind me, rapidly getting louder, closing the distance. "Aw, aren't you going to play?"
=+=+=+=+=+
† This short tootfic describes the "something else" my antagonist is: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110993252771253246[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S. LLM training prohibited.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#Cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory
#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic #smallstory -
#WordWeavers 2026.09.13 — Share a line of dialogue that sounds innocent without context but absolutely isn’t.
A third voice said brightly, "Tag, you're it!"
Out of context, it seems pretty innocent, right? Maybe a group of kids having fun? Nope! Signals the segue into a scene where the MC and the main series antagonist spar over a cute guy, an SC LI. The MC and SC are day angels. They have wings. Feathers. They're flying. The antagonist is also flying, but is… something else†.
Zooming out to a #snippet #excerpt. Might be rough as I revised the snippet heavily in the post as it needed it. I'll copy back to the manuscript! 😋
A third voice said brightly, "Tag, you're it!"
My first impulse is to flee—always. I'm a courier for the mob, not an enforcer. My lived truth is be not the messenger who got killed.
Blue was a praetorian; my friend was innocent of what I did for a living. He did not fright. Reflex had caused me to swoop at him. I pulled up my feet not to kick him, at least, as he dunk-dived at the last instant, furling his wings. His eddy sucked me down. In a heartbeat I overcame that. Wings out catching momentum-heavy air, I slowed scanning the twilit sky—purple and salmon clouds, a flood of deep indigo and sparkling first stars beyond.
Where?
My heart stuttered in my chest. Had we both not been intimately aware of each other's warping of up and down, chaotic attraction would have smashed us together bodily or ripped us apart—literally feather plucked by tangled swirling ups and downs a dozen times or more powerful than down felt standing on the ground.
My shock wore off. I understood I was the target, not Blue who returned to my side, breathless. Dropping as he had was the best way to create speed, to leave him safely behind, so I brought my wings close and let my head lead as I fell forward into increasing wind in my eyes.
A woman's voice came from behind me, rapidly getting louder, closing the distance. "Aw, aren't you going to play?"
=+=+=+=+=+
† This short tootfic describes the "something else" my antagonist is: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110993252771253246[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S. LLM training prohibited.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#Cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory
#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic #smallstory -
#WordWeavers 2026.09.12 — If you removed one supporting character from your story, whose absence would change the plot the most?
Keeping in mind what I'm going to state isn't due to strategic plotting ahead of time, all my characters end up being chains of elucidation and emotional connection between other characters, places, and events. I describe the world through characters doing things and interacting. Extracting one will affect the atmosphere of place and the emotion in events. My characters aren't so much gems as keystones. That said, I must answer this in reverse if at all.
Night on Fire is the closest to gratuitous as any character, acting as a friendly sexy antagonist in black to spur the MC in her unasked-for career and to present a vaguely vampire-like leather-winged night angel for minor world-building to explain facts about then modern human genetics. She could be turned into a background character, leaving her roommate Shugh and Night on Fire's emotionally damaged sister Light Insight intact with little rewriting. All others are at this point essential to the denouement and epilogue, and would require major story changes.
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#Cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory -
#WordWeavers 2026.09.11 — What does your MC believe about themselves at the beginning of the story that turns out to be completely wrong?
In the first chapter, Bolt states it clearly. The concepts of belief and fate don't exist in her world, however she is convinced she's stupid. She'll learn that her prior prideful bad choices don't mean she can't make better choices going forward. She has free will and learns from her mistakes. It takes a dozen years, but still…
😅
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#Cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory -
#PennedPossibilities 1127: What quirks do some of your characters have?
- Lightning Bolt (MC): Her studio apartment walls and ceiling are plastered with photographs she took. Lots of men. Many are suggestive, and she can view them from the hammock she uses as a bed.
- Blue (SC, LI): Worries a lot about not being able to raise a family thanks to his new job as a praetorian working for Rainy Days, which to him is mind-blowing and fabulous. Still, he wants to raise kids.
- Shugh (SC): Donuts—how he maintains his soft, rounded, feminine look (he's trans-fem). He introduces Bolt to the food.
- Molt (SC, LI): University student. Easy for Bolt to tickle into nerd mode and, since he studies women (more is kinda spoilers), this delights Bolt as she likes how he studies and measures her.
- Devil-girl (SC): Way too many quirks to catalog, but mostly due to being a high functioning autist. She comes off as super-serious about everything, but nearly impossible to goad. Here's one: Love love loves praise, but only if she considers it earned—at which time she'll do a little jig.
- Boss Mead (A): Despite basically being a mafia don, he likes having business meetings at open air cafés. Makes his minions nervous, causing them to control traffic. Clients watch their tongue. Maybe it proves to him how talented he is at not incriminating himself.
- Rainy Days (A): Way too glib and sparkly, projecting an air of being an airhead whilst being touchy-feely, getting you to talk—this despite essentially ruling all of humanity. You don't want to see her serious.
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory -
#WritersCoffeeClub #WCC 2026.09.11 — What's a part of your process you'd give free advertising to?
Using #Apple devices. I write on #iPhone, #iPad, and the #Mac using Apple keyboards, which have a reasonable feel for a touch typist like me (no butterfly keyboards!). I can write anywhere! And do. Now with the release of the iPhone Duo, an iPhone / iPad mashup, I expect my writing life to be accelerated. iPad always on my hip, woot. Not being able to keep a notes app or web browser open alongside an editor was a real big issue on the iPhone, which the Duo should solve. I am sacrificing amazing new cameras on the 18 for my writing by making this transition. Hoping it will be worth it.
Edit adding: The Duo has a half folded orientation where something edited is one the vertical half and a touch keyboard becomes available on the horizontal. Little laptop, anyone?
#freeAdvertising #Duo #iPhoneDuo
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#BoostingIsSharing
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#RSdiscussion -
#WritersCoffeeClub #WCC 2026.09.11 — What's a part of your process you'd give free advertising to?
Using #Apple devices. I write on #iPhone, #iPad, and the #Mac using Apple keyboards, which have a reasonable feel for a touch typist like me (no butterfly keyboards!). I can write anywhere! And do. Now with the release of the iPhone Duo, an iPhone / iPad mashup, I expect my writing life to be accelerated. iPad always on my hip, woot. Not being able to keep a notes app or web browser open alongside an editor was a real big issue on the iPhone, which the Duo should solve. I am sacrificing amazing new cameras on the 18 for my writing by making this transition. Hoping it will be worth it.
Edit adding: The Duo has a half folded orientation where something edited is one the vertical half and a touch keyboard becomes available on the horizontal. Little laptop, anyone?
#freeAdvertising #Duo #iPhoneDuo
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#BoostingIsSharing
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#RSdiscussion -
#WritersCoffeeClub #WCC 2026.09.11 — What's a part of your process you'd give free advertising to?
Using #Apple devices. I write on #iPhone, #iPad, and the #Mac using Apple keyboards, which have a reasonable feel for a touch typist like me (no butterfly keyboards!). I can write anywhere! And do. Now with the release of the iPhone Duo, an iPhone / iPad mashup, I expect my writing life to be accelerated. iPad always on my hip, woot. Not being able to keep a notes app or web browser open alongside an editor was a real big issue on the iPhone, which the Duo should solve. I am sacrificing amazing new cameras on the 18 for my writing by making this transition. Hoping it will be worth it.
Edit adding: The Duo has a half folded orientation where something edited is one the vertical half and a touch keyboard becomes available on the horizontal. Little laptop, anyone?
#freeAdvertising #Duo #iPhoneDuo
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#BoostingIsSharing
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#RSdiscussion -
#WritersCoffeeClub #WCC 2026.09.11 — What's a part of your process you'd give free advertising to?
Using #Apple devices. I write on #iPhone, #iPad, and the #Mac using Apple keyboards, which have a reasonable feel for a touch typist like me (no butterfly keyboards!). I can write anywhere! And do. Now with the release of the iPhone Duo, an iPhone / iPad mashup, I expect my writing life to be accelerated. iPad always on my hip, woot. Not being able to keep a notes app or web browser open alongside an editor was a real big issue on the iPhone, which the Duo should solve. I am sacrificing amazing new cameras on the 18 for my writing by making this transition. Hoping it will be worth it.
Edit adding: The Duo has a half folded orientation where something edited is one the vertical half and a touch keyboard becomes available on the horizontal. Little laptop, anyone?
#freeAdvertising #Duo #iPhoneDuo
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#BoostingIsSharing
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#RSdiscussion -
#WritersCoffeeClub #WCC 2026.09.11 — What's a part of your process you'd give free advertising to?
Using #Apple devices. I write on #iPhone, #iPad, and the #Mac using Apple keyboards, which have a reasonable feel for a touch typist like me (no butterfly keyboards!). I can write anywhere! And do. Now with the release of the iPhone Duo, an iPhone / iPad mashup, I expect my writing life to be accelerated. iPad always on my hip, woot. Not being able to keep a notes app or web browser open alongside an editor was a real big issue on the iPhone, which the Duo should solve. I am sacrificing amazing new cameras on the 18 for my writing by making this transition. Hoping it will be worth it.
Edit adding: The Duo has a half folded orientation where something edited is one the vertical half and a touch keyboard becomes available on the horizontal. Little laptop, anyone?
#freeAdvertising #Duo #iPhoneDuo
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#BoostingIsSharing
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#RSdiscussion -
#WritersCoffeeClub #WCC 2026.09.12 — Who do you share snippets of your WIP with?
To quote @JulieLiddellWhitehead:
Y'all
For reals! With a copyright reminder for AIs to notice. 😘
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#BoostingIsSharing
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion -
#PennedPossibilities 1126: Tell us what your narrator sounds like in your mind.
I write in 1st person POV, thus the narrator is the MC. While I can remember a tune as if an audio recording in my head, and the distinct voice, tonality, and vocal range of the singer, all my narrators have my head voice, which isn't even my own true voice as I might hear hearing myself recorded. When I wrote fan fiction, with I think one exception, none were other than my head voice even though I can remember lines from the show in the voice actor's voice. Whilst I have no problem imagining objects in 3D and rotating them around to look at all sides†, I can not imagine the sound of my characters speaking in their own voices. I've no clue to their tonality or vocal range, or what they sound like, even after assign these things for story purposes, as well as after assigning dialect and accents. Yet, I can hear the sounds of a wooden boat creaking as the water laps against the hull, the flutter of wings as birds take flight, and the wind rustling in waves through the canopy of a tree. Maybe that's like a recording, the way I do with music. Dunno.
Guess I'm a visual person from an imagination standpoint. Anyone else like that?
=+=+=+=+=
† To be clear, I imagine what it looks like and the details I'd see in changed orientations, but I don't see it visually in my mind's eye.[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory -
#PennedPossibilities 1126: Tell us what your narrator sounds like in your mind.
I write in 1st person POV, thus the narrator is the MC. While I can remember a tune as if an audio recording in my head, and the distinct voice, tonality, and vocal range of the singer, all my narrators have my head voice, which isn't even my own true voice as I might hear hearing myself recorded. When I wrote fan fiction, with I think one exception, none were other than my head voice even though I can remember lines from the show in the voice actor's voice. Whilst I have no problem imagining objects in 3D and rotating them around to look at all sides†, I can not imagine the sound of my characters speaking in their own voices. I've no clue to their tonality or vocal range, or what they sound like, even after assign these things for story purposes, as well as after assigning dialect and accents. Yet, I can hear the sounds of a wooden boat creaking as the water laps against the hull, the flutter of wings as birds take flight, and the wind rustling in waves through the canopy of a tree. Maybe that's like a recording, the way I do with music. Dunno.
Guess I'm a visual person from an imagination standpoint. Anyone else like that?
=+=+=+=+=
† To be clear, I imagine what it looks like and the details I'd see in changed orientations, but I don't see it visually in my mind's eye.[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory -
#PennedPossibilities 1126: Tell us what your narrator sounds like in your mind.
I write in 1st person POV, thus the narrator is the MC. While I can remember a tune as if an audio recording in my head, and the distinct voice, tonality, and vocal range of the singer, all my narrators have my head voice, which isn't even my own true voice as I might hear hearing myself recorded. When I wrote fan fiction, with I think one exception, none were other than my head voice even though I can remember lines from the show in the voice actor's voice. Whilst I have no problem imagining objects in 3D and rotating them around to look at all sides†, I can not imagine the sound of my characters speaking in their own voices. I've no clue to their tonality or vocal range, or what they sound like, even after assign these things for story purposes, as well as after assigning dialect and accents. Yet, I can hear the sounds of a wooden boat creaking as the water laps against the hull, the flutter of wings as birds take flight, and the wind rustling in waves through the canopy of a tree. Maybe that's like a recording, the way I do with music. Dunno.
Guess I'm a visual person from an imagination standpoint. Anyone else like that?
=+=+=+=+=
† To be clear, I imagine what it looks like and the details I'd see in changed orientations, but I don't see it visually in my mind's eye.[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory -
#PennedPossibilities 1126: Tell us what your narrator sounds like in your mind.
I write in 1st person POV, thus the narrator is the MC. While I can remember a tune as if an audio recording in my head, and the distinct voice, tonality, and vocal range of the singer, all my narrators have my head voice, which isn't even my own true voice as I might hear hearing myself recorded. When I wrote fan fiction, with I think one exception, none were other than my head voice even though I can remember lines from the show in the voice actor's voice. Whilst I have no problem imagining objects in 3D and rotating them around to look at all sides†, I can not imagine the sound of my characters speaking in their own voices. I've no clue to their tonality or vocal range, or what they sound like, even after assign these things for story purposes, as well as after assigning dialect and accents. Yet, I can hear the sounds of a wooden boat creaking as the water laps against the hull, the flutter of wings as birds take flight, and the wind rustling in waves through the canopy of a tree. Maybe that's like a recording, the way I do with music. Dunno.
Guess I'm a visual person from an imagination standpoint. Anyone else like that?
=+=+=+=+=
† To be clear, I imagine what it looks like and the details I'd see in changed orientations, but I don't see it visually in my mind's eye.[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory -
#PennedPossibilities 1126: Tell us what your narrator sounds like in your mind.
I write in 1st person POV, thus the narrator is the MC. While I can remember a tune as if an audio recording in my head, and the distinct voice, tonality, and vocal range of the singer, all my narrators have my head voice, which isn't even my own true voice as I might hear hearing myself recorded. When I wrote fan fiction, with I think one exception, none were other than my head voice even though I can remember lines from the show in the voice actor's voice. Whilst I have no problem imagining objects in 3D and rotating them around to look at all sides†, I can not imagine the sound of my characters speaking in their own voices. I've no clue to their tonality or vocal range, or what they sound like, even after assign these things for story purposes, as well as after assigning dialect and accents. Yet, I can hear the sounds of a wooden boat creaking as the water laps against the hull, the flutter of wings as birds take flight, and the wind rustling in waves through the canopy of a tree. Maybe that's like a recording, the way I do with music. Dunno.
Guess I'm a visual person from an imagination standpoint. Anyone else like that?
=+=+=+=+=
† To be clear, I imagine what it looks like and the details I'd see in changed orientations, but I don't see it visually in my mind's eye.[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory -
#PennedPossibilities 1125: SC POV: Give your city (or town or region) a new name that reflects what type of place it is and explain why you chose that name.
Pigeon the Pilferer would say:
Home City? I'd choose Misery. Not a place where dreams come to be crushed underfoot so much as where they can't spout because if some people, or many people, don't like how you look, sound… you smell, they'll steal even your dirt, they'll beat you, for the fun of it, and they'll leave you bleeding on bare stone, stone where your seeds of hope will shrivel from the heat of hate only to be ground to meager powder, to be blown away in the slightest breeze.
Well, that's way more eloquent than usual for him! The day angel got bullied and picked on growing up. Don't know why. I imagine the metallic blue, green, and purple sheen to his otherwise grey feathers had something to do with it. He grew up to be a punk gangster with a bad attitude and a miserable disposition, ready to fight at the merest slight. He's Bolt's lesser antagonist.
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory
#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic #smallstory -
#ScribesAndMakers 2026.09.09 — ~Share something you've been working on this month.
"Share" to me means #excerpt. Really, all I've done is revision. Apropos to Gloria Stienem passing, I worked on this decidedly feminist passage, a small part of which showed up in #pennedPossibilities 1120 last Sunday. The WIP takes place in a female-centric society where people chose their own names. Morning Glory is an upstart male who's become a diva actor and Steamed Milk and Sugar [nickname Shugh (short for Sugar)] is their society's version of trans-fem. Lightning Bolt (dba Good Eye), the MC POV narrator is… Well, she's… sexist? I'll let this unfold. CW: Casting couch reference. Your comments are welcome.
Nodding, the actor stood and asked, "[Shugh]. That name you chose, you chose it because you had problems as a journalist? Your [clothes]? That ribbon in your hair—?"
Red. Satin. Decidedly not masculine.
"I chose Steamed Milk and Sugar because I wanted to blend in amongst the other women. Journalists are women, at least in the capital, but my name turned out suggestive of the assignments I got—tea runner, typing pool—and it was the jobs I did until a few days ago, when I asked a favor of Good Eye."
I grinned. "Me."
"Because of asking then, today I landed this [magazine] interview."
[Morning Glory] nodded. "You're like I was: A kid, barely old enough to be adult, who every woman wanted to ride whether I was in a local actors' group or later in a traveling theatre troupe. It earned me parts when others got none, bit parts definitely, sharp looking window dressing. I am an expert ride; I paid attention in Men's Studies in school, especially the practicums."
Shugh chuckled, looking askance. "Paid attention, yes, but preferred blending in, being supportive. Minimized riding."
Morning Glory nodded. "It took years to change from being cast as the conniving man who uses the woman and comes to a tragic end, to writing plays where I helped the woman succeed against her competition because of my conniving ways—" He sighed. "—and together we'd fight—"
"For equality?" I asked.
"Yeah, yeah," he said, dismissively. Dismissively, I decided, because I'd stolen his point and was a woman. Undoubtedly annoying, but he fleshed out the idea, pacing again.
I sighed and faded into the background with my camera. Far safer, anyway.
I can't say I liked recognizing that except for my dream-crushing incident at the Haulers guild where my gender proved poisonous, I definitely benefited from being a woman and I liked that more and more when I had to listen to what Shugh and Morning Glory dealt with. Couldn't change that I was female—I wasn't Shugh, who seemed to be trying to be accepted as… not male—and no, I couldn't feel guilty about it.
This interview Shugh's big chance. I had no chance to better my life and I didn't want to impinge on his chance. Neither guy's for that matter…
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#BoostingIsSharing
#gender #fiction #writer #author
photographer chef cooking
#cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory
#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic #smallstory -
#PennedPossibilities 1123: What figure do people most commonly tell stories about? How are these stories told (books, plays, television, spoken word, broadcast, etc.)?
There are books, newspapers, and theatre as well cinema akin to the silent film era. Theirs is a civilization powered by human labor and something else that isn't electricity. I don't know a heck of a lot about the stories they favor or tell, but I do know a character who's deeply into romance and gothic novels, who frighteningly takes some guidance from them in real life. Stories are serialized in newspapers like Dickens were. As for the types of stories in theatre, one actor playwright in this #excerpt talks about a trope popular in this strongly woman-centric society. CW: Casting couch reference.
[Morning Glory said, "You're] like I was: A kid barely old enough to be adult, who every woman wanted to ride whether I was in a local actors' group or later in a traveling theatre troupe. I got parts when others didn't, bit parts definitely, sharp looking window dressing, likely at first because I was an expert ride; I paid attention in Men's Studies in school, especially the practicums. It took years to change from being cast as the conniving man who uses the woman and comes to a tragic end, to writing plays where I helped the woman succeed against her competition because of my conniving ways—" He sighed. "—and together we'd fight—"
"For equality?" I asked.
"Yeah, yeah," …
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory -
#WordWeavers 2026.09.08 — Which character would be the worst person to get trapped in an elevator with?
There are elevator scenes in the WIP. In a world where everyone sweats and inescapably has their own unique scent, Pigeon the Pilferer, an SC, really stinks. He is correctly diagnosed by a brainy SC as having Bromhidrosis, which sails about a meter over his featherbrain (but he's a day angel, so it's both a slur and descriptive). He has a sour scent with a never pleasant personality. You not only don't want him in an elevator with you and the elevator operator, you don't want to breathe the same air as the punk gangster, even outside!
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#Cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory
#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic #smallstory -
#WordWeavers 2026.09.07 — Describe a moment when one of your characters realizes they’ve made a terrible mistake.
The character thinks someone had keeled over in their living room, but when she kneels beside him, her knees end up in something sticky. She had already picked up and is holding a knife she thought errantly dropped.
That's not the moment.
Someone shows up to escort her away, saying she works for something called "the syndicate" like this character does (news to her), with constable whistles *scree-screeing * in the distance.
That's not the moment.
As they calmly "stroll" blocks from the incident at a determined pace, the character notices as second escort with a camera. Looking at the first, she sees blood spattered on her face and chest.
That is the moment of realization.
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#Cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory
#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic #smallstory -
#ScribesAndMakers 2026.09.07 — ~What 'character' (letter, number, symbol, punctuation, space) would make a great main character?
† (Dagger) would make a great MC name (or nickname) in an Executioner or Mack Bollan style macho vigilante novel. It's arguably unisex, so maybe a macha character in one of those?
Actually, an MC with that name may show up in the current WIP, Reluctant Courier (for the Mob), because in that world, people name themselves!
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
#BoostingIsSharing
#gender #fiction #writer #author
photographer chef cooking
#cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory -
This take on AI speaks of probalistic knowledge when AI is only pattern matching trends with no guarantee of veracity. Claptrap. Psychology Today has jumped the shark publishing this infomercial without even calling it an opinion piece. Awful. Misleading. Their editorial staff should be fired.
#ai #genAI #llm #llms #psychology #psychologytoday #knowledge #author #writer #writersOfMastodon #writingCommunity https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-digital-self/202505/knowledge-is-dead?utm_source=flipboard&utm_content=other
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This take on AI speaks of probalistic knowledge when AI is only pattern matching trends with no guarantee of veracity. Claptrap. Psychology Today has jumped the shark publishing this infomercial without even calling it an opinion piece. Awful. Misleading. Their editorial staff should be fired.
#ai #genAI #llm #llms #psychology #psychologytoday #knowledge #author #writer #writersOfMastodon #writingCommunity https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-digital-self/202505/knowledge-is-dead?utm_source=flipboard&utm_content=other
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This take on AI speaks of probalistic knowledge when AI is only pattern matching trends with no guarantee of veracity. Claptrap. Psychology Today has jumped the shark publishing this infomercial without even calling it an opinion piece. Awful. Misleading. Their editorial staff should be fired.
#ai #genAI #llm #llms #psychology #psychologytoday #knowledge #author #writer #writersOfMastodon #writingCommunity https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-digital-self/202505/knowledge-is-dead?utm_source=flipboard&utm_content=other
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This take on AI speaks of probalistic knowledge when AI is only pattern matching trends with no guarantee of veracity. Claptrap. Psychology Today has jumped the shark publishing this infomercial without even calling it an opinion piece. Awful. Misleading. Their editorial staff should be fired.
#ai #genAI #llm #llms #psychology #psychologytoday #knowledge #author #writer #writersOfMastodon #writingCommunity https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-digital-self/202505/knowledge-is-dead?utm_source=flipboard&utm_content=other
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#PennedPossibilities 649 2/2 — What research did you conduct for your WIP, and did you uncover anything surprising or fascinating?
This answer, however, should interest any authors wanting to learn something from another authors' search behavior. I finally got completely feed up with the substandard results from DuckDuckGo and the on again off again AI search creeping into Google results, even with &udm=14.
A few days ago I decided to research paid search. All FREE search, it goes without saying, monetizes your behavior, time, or attention, so I understand it isn't free. How much do you make per hour? When I search for anything that could be construed as a product or service someone could SELL, it's impossible to find answers. Look for words for describing how to rock a baby, for example. I'm sure you've a slew of searches you've given up on.
I am trialing kagi.com. I am NOT advertising it; I'm not endorsing it. I've only tried two searches of the 100 allocated me so far. However, those two have been so full of useful results that I'm still mining them the next day.
I'll report back after I use it more.
[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#seach #kagi #google #duckDuckGo #ai #aisearch -
#PennedPossibilities 649 2/2 — What research did you conduct for your WIP, and did you uncover anything surprising or fascinating?
This answer, however, should interest any authors wanting to learn something from another authors' search behavior. I finally got completely feed up with the substandard results from DuckDuckGo and the on again off again AI search creeping into Google results, even with &udm=14.
A few days ago I decided to research paid search. All FREE search, it goes without saying, monetizes your behavior, time, or attention, so I understand it isn't free. How much do you make per hour? When I search for anything that could be construed as a product or service someone could SELL, it's impossible to find answers. Look for words for describing how to rock a baby, for example. I'm sure you've a slew of searches you've given up on.
I am trialing kagi.com. I am NOT advertising it; I'm not endorsing it. I've only tried two searches of the 100 allocated me so far. However, those two have been so full of useful results that I'm still mining them the next day.
I'll report back after I use it more.
[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#seach #kagi #google #duckDuckGo #ai #aisearch -
#PennedPossibilities 649 2/2 — What research did you conduct for your WIP, and did you uncover anything surprising or fascinating?
This answer, however, should interest any authors wanting to learn something from another authors' search behavior. I finally got completely feed up with the substandard results from DuckDuckGo and the on again off again AI search creeping into Google results, even with &udm=14.
A few days ago I decided to research paid search. All FREE search, it goes without saying, monetizes your behavior, time, or attention, so I understand it isn't free. How much do you make per hour? When I search for anything that could be construed as a product or service someone could SELL, it's impossible to find answers. Look for words for describing how to rock a baby, for example. I'm sure you've a slew of searches you've given up on.
I am trialing kagi.com. I am NOT advertising it; I'm not endorsing it. I've only tried two searches of the 100 allocated me so far. However, those two have been so full of useful results that I'm still mining them the next day.
I'll report back after I use it more.
[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#seach #kagi #google #duckDuckGo #ai #aisearch -
#PennedPossibilities 649 2/2 — What research did you conduct for your WIP, and did you uncover anything surprising or fascinating?
This answer, however, should interest any authors wanting to learn something from another authors' search behavior. I finally got completely feed up with the substandard results from DuckDuckGo and the on again off again AI search creeping into Google results, even with &udm=14.
A few days ago I decided to research paid search. All FREE search, it goes without saying, monetizes your behavior, time, or attention, so I understand it isn't free. How much do you make per hour? When I search for anything that could be construed as a product or service someone could SELL, it's impossible to find answers. Look for words for describing how to rock a baby, for example. I'm sure you've a slew of searches you've given up on.
I am trialing kagi.com. I am NOT advertising it; I'm not endorsing it. I've only tried two searches of the 100 allocated me so far. However, those two have been so full of useful results that I'm still mining them the next day.
I'll report back after I use it more.
[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#seach #kagi #google #duckDuckGo #ai #aisearch -
#PennedPossibilities 649 2/2 — What research did you conduct for your WIP, and did you uncover anything surprising or fascinating?
This answer, however, should interest any authors wanting to learn something from another authors' search behavior. I finally got completely feed up with the substandard results from DuckDuckGo and the on again off again AI search creeping into Google results, even with &udm=14.
A few days ago I decided to research paid search. All FREE search, it goes without saying, monetizes your behavior, time, or attention, so I understand it isn't free. How much do you make per hour? When I search for anything that could be construed as a product or service someone could SELL, it's impossible to find answers. Look for words for describing how to rock a baby, for example. I'm sure you've a slew of searches you've given up on.
I am trialing kagi.com. I am NOT advertising it; I'm not endorsing it. I've only tried two searches of the 100 allocated me so far. However, those two have been so full of useful results that I'm still mining them the next day.
I'll report back after I use it more.
[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]
#gender #fiction #writer #author
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#seach #kagi #google #duckDuckGo #ai #aisearch -
AI [probably referring to a LLM] is not trained by professionals or a single end user, because it requires such huge amounts of input training data...
You are correct and you are incorrect.
From scratch finding data for pattern matching is tough and requires high performance engines, trade-offs, and money. But we stand on the backs of giants.
There are trained ethical LLMs, certified to be so and deep pockets to back the assertion and the necessary curation. They are not necessarily free. From those seeds AIs can be built to do the things of which I speak.
If IBM can do it (and they do; having gone to the training and hard sell, I know), Apple Intelligence could be built and use Apple engines as infrastructure. Big Blue's giant Z mainframes, which are blades in pretty artwork boxed server racks, are performant due to their custom chips, virtual system management, tuned I/O structure, and multitasking software. Apple chips are performant, custom, and cheaper for the end user. Apple Intelligence is likely Apple's WatsonX App-Killer that'll make the difference, and most certainly runs on Apple hardware increasingly running on renewables.
My point isn't so much building LLMs from scratch, but applications built on a platform and then trained from private user data and via user curation. If I implied otherwise, I wasn't clear. Sorry.
I assume Apple's LLMs are ethical. I also assume that Apple is exposing AI APIs for use by developers.
#LLM #Ibmz #AI #genAI #ethics #watsonx #ibm #Apple #intelligence #Writer #Author #Fiction #WritingCommunity #WritersOfMastodon #Programmer #Program #Application #Code #Coding
Cc: @vextaur
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#RomanceWonders: Day 16 — Feb 16: Sex
Gosh! So hard to answer these and make it entertaining, too. I'll try...How important is sex to your couple?
These characters are as incredibly complex as they are broken. She has two love interests, and I won't go on about the alternative ones who'd be ready instantly given the signal, one who has a crush on her, one her former soulmate. She never takes half-measures, is willing to be physically and inappropriately close, and has a certain snarky eloquence that transcends innuendo. No one doesn't understand what she wants. That said, when you know the exact number of days to the end of the world, many things are unimportant. She's said:
#excerpt
"Attraction isn't love. It's like needing to eat. Everyone needs to. You do it, satisfy the hunger— you get hungry again.#excerpt
"The woman, too? Very sneaky. The two of you?"
"Consensual."
"Legal definitions and prosecutors might disagree. The woman. Huh?"
"Skin and nerves. They all function the same." I shrugged. "It's meaningless. Occasionally, I have an urge to pee, too."Also, what's your WIP's heat level?
Sex unmistakably happens. Mostly it's innuendo and double entendres, and the fact she likes to use kissing as a dominance maneuver. Well, there was that time he grabbed her from the candle-lit tub where he carried her all wet to the bed, dripping suds. She likes sweat. Of course, waking up in his bed with his arms and legs hugging her tightly was warm and cozy, but less so when her limbs had fallen asleep.
"You and Kurv," I asked my roommate, almost in a whisper. I'd pushed him her way, despite her vulnerability and his having a crush on me. I hadn't expected them to spend a day in bed.
She chuckled. "I like the guy."
I took a deep breath—but she interrupted whatever my emotions might blurt without thinking, to say, "Yet, when your guy always has some other woman on his tongue, you realize he's probably not fully into you."
She suddenly blushed beet red, backing away, realizing she'd innocently pronounced two double-entendres in a row. "Oh, no. Oh, no!"What was this?
Both had been there for me. Both had opened up in dramatic ways to me. Me?
Eyes closed, it came to me. I remembered both nights. One freely gave me what I wanted and the other gave me what I didn't know I needed. Equal but different.
I had no desire to choose between them.#fantasy #fiction #allusion #innuendo
Writing #sexscenes