#witchpunk — Public Fediverse posts

#WritersCoffeeClub: Handling sex/nudity

I had a mind to have an explicit sex scene in #witchpunk but it completely fucked the pacing (pun not intended). not surprisingly, the scene would have come at the resolution of considerable romantic tension, but in doing so the play by play of the deed would've completely smothered the catharsis - both in that it slowed it down and also in the way readers' imagination often conjures better than anything I could make with words.

I suppose that #EmpathAndAugur is basically one big "Sebastian misunderstands Erika" plot. But it doesn't really fit the picture of what people think of as "misunderstanding plot", maybe because "who Erika is and why" is a pretty big question, one that Erika doesn't necessarily know the answer to herself.

#witchpunk might fit the bill a little better, as there is a lot of "Ash does not see Lucine's intentions", but Lucine is not always upfront with them, in addition to Ash having to work through her own shit in order to be in a position to understand.

perhaps, all this is to say, I often hinge plots on "understanding", mis- optional.

#WritersCoffeeClub

Been taking a break from WCC for no real reason in particular, but couldn't let this one go because of how tortured writing #witchpunk has been lol.

Came up with the idea in the startup idealism era as a near-future scifi, then the startup economy piddled out so it had to become period. Also it was notably anti-tech with some stuff that could've been seen as transgressive and/or prescient. Then tech started showing its true face so no more prescience. And then the AI hype era started so the startup-fever vibes felt less period so we're back to near-future. And now I was gonna write an epilogue with climate activism, but climate activism in 2025 looks a lot different than it did in 2024, for US residents....

It's not so much that it's aging poorly as I can't write fast enough to keep up. Can we slow the descent into dystopia a little please? I have a book to finish.

#WritersCoffeeClub

folks probably saw me complaining about this one ages ago. it was definitely challenging, and the outcome reflects that. even though it's not perfect, I think it also reflects the effort I put into it. ya win some ya lose some.

#gouache #fediart #mastoart #witchpunk

https://nebulos.space/ash_yarrow.html

I'm usually a "trees in the mist" sorta person. But #witchpunk was a real seat of the pants-er. Unruly protagonist insisted on doing everything off script...

I'll probably never be a full outline-r though. Part of the fun for writing is being excited to see what's next. Having some sort of direction and intent helps build said excitement but the unknowns I think are really where the real writers highs are---where it feels like the story has just been waiting for you there...

#WritersCoffeeClub #AmWriting

Winter is A Thing in #EmpathAndAugur. I think it's represented in its entirety -- beauty, stillness, danger, coziness, isolation, anticipation of spring. I really like winter.

Winter is a thing in #witchpunk, but San Francisco winters: rain, green hills, not so much the cold.

#WritersCoffeeClub #AmWriting

I'm very open that the first drafts of my books are hot garbage. plot holes, inconsistencies, threads that go nowhere, half developed themes and characters who are still figuring themselves out. I'm just pleased that there's nothing in #witchpunk that makes me outright cringe, unlike the first draft of #EmpathAndAugur. There truly is some anime cringe shit in there.

#WritersCoffeeClub #AmWriting

I'll be honest here, I don't think I could write a trans woman as a main character and do a good job. Too many joy/trauma inversions to navigate. #witchpunk was suppose to have two women as main characters and they both ended up non-binary as fuck (even though they use she/her pronouns). It seems one thing to have female-sex characters who have meh relationships with femaleness, but writing someone who is a trans *woman* specifically seems it would require a joy of womanhood---I'd have an easier time imagining what it would be like to be a jellyfish, stone, or a plant, than wrapping my head around that (and believe me, I've tried)

#EngenderedWriting #AmWriting

The current part, lol.

Though in seriousness, the "I've composed a draft but it has more holes than draft" phase, which I'm currently at for #witchpunk, is no fun. I've gotten through it before---a big ol checklist and manageably sized tasks and persistence and it eventually becomes something I'm not embarrassed to show other people.

#AmWriting #WritersCoffeeClub

Hm, what is my first book? On one hand, we could interpret this as "the first book I finished writing", in which case that's #EmpathAndAugur. Or maybe the first book-length thing I endeavored to write, which was some naruto-aesthetics ported over to generic medieval fantasy in the 4th grade... But it might be overstating it to consider the idea "developed". Honestly, most of the time the idea develops as I write the book. The only time I "developed an idea *for* a book" is probably my most recent one, #witchpunk, the initial impetus was the interesting intersection of witchcraft which often incorporates bodily components, and the tech industry's inquest into genetics and its attitude towards user data....

#WritersCoffeeClub #AmWriting

#witchpunk is unusual in which I think it will be the first story I've written where the characters *do* come out, and even then, only in the epilogue (so I haven't even written it yet, haha)

in #EmpathAndAugur, *I* think Erika has extremely agender vibes, and Sebastian definitely enjoys his femme side, but the story takes place in the nineties, so coming out isn't something they would do. Heck, Erika's sexuality isn't even a thing in the first book because she's got too many other problems in her life to think about her sexuality. There are lots of reasons people don't come out---it might not be hashtag OwnVoices-suitable but it doesn't make them less queer.

(though also that said, the author's interpretation is not definitive, so if you read my books and don't agree, that's also legit!)

#EngenderedWriting #AmWriting

Well, now that it's probably a good third of my total words written, it's hard to say it's unusual but #witchpunk is definitely pretty far out of my style. I like sci-fi and action, and generally don't get along well with magic, but now I've done a written a thing with no physical fights and a lot of spells. Yes, it was definitely hard, but it's written now. Not to say that the hard part's over, re: the five million to-do notes I've left myself.

#AmWriting #WritersCoffeeClub

All the time. #EmpathAndAugur has several scene's from side character's POV, and then we introduce another POV in a fairly dramatic way. Sebastian's POV is still around though so maybe it doesn't quite count in the spirit of the question?

Similarly, #witchpunk we introduce a few new POVs, and often there are scenes that make more sense to tell from someone other than the main-er characters' POV as well, but Ash's POV gets quite scarce in the last third of the story, even though she's still around.

#AmWriting #WritersCoffeeClub

Someone's gonna think that #witchpunk is women's fiction, what with the two (apparently) female protagonists, the school+career backdrop, the witches. And someone's going to be veeeery upset when neither of them are women in the epilogue. Perhaps enough to be accused of being "anti-women" fiction. But fuck em.

#EngenderedWriting #AmWriting

I suspect what Austin is getting to with the performative/illocutionary (hopefully) is that as a society we construct (with great effort) situations where the performative can exist. in which case, #witchpunk magic gives another recipe for that, not based on generations of consensus, but on a ritual and genetic material, and an offer, the acceptance of which is the new performative.

I was going to say #witchpunk's body count was unusually low, but, uh, nah. maybe only slightly low and a little more distant. and if you broaden your definition of death slightly... it's pretty comparable. I like me some action, what can I say? It's honestly been a little hard to constrain myself to non violent society.

#AmWriting #WritersCoffeeClub

Late on this, as I was ruminating on it.

#EmpathAndAugur seems to be somewhat unique, if my inability to find comps for it says anything (it might not). The genre seems a little sparser in books than in television and comics. What is there seems to either be from the cops' POV or urban fantasy, which has more elements of fantasy and also pulls more from established mythos. I like to think I'm also finding an unusual balance between practical and literary in terms of the writing. But I may be high on my own supply lol.

#WitchPunk is easier. I've got a lot of domain knowledge and also I think an approach to both magic and code/science that I think only comes from a sort of genuine love of both sides...

#WritersCoffeeClub #AmWriting

#witchpunk has several! seemed only appropriate, given both the seasonality of magic and college partying. One of the first few scenes is a halloween party: https://nebulos.space/witchpunk_halloween.html, and then one of the climactic ones at Imbolg, which features milk themed cocktails lmao.

#EmpathAndAugur is much more somber, but this counts, I think.

"They fried the best cuts of deer on a pan over an open fire, then washed them down with the cheap beer Sebastian had bought at the town’s general store. Halfway through the evening, the power died, but their bellies were too full with warm food to venture out into the cold to fix it."

#AmWriting #WritersCoffeeClub

Been trying to remember exactly how much of #EmpathAndAugur happened in the edit while I write #witchpunk. Almost all the best parts. Need to stop stressing out about whether witchpunk is good and just get the bones out. The magic can come later.

#WritersCoffeeClub #AmWriting

Bold of you to assume I'm not already writing outside my specialty!

Honestly not really sure what my specialty is. I read almost exclusively sci fi, but I've been informed that #EmpathAndAugur is not actually science fiction (though it smells like it), and #witchpunk is only half sci-fi. I suspect the genre in my heart is actually horror, though it's rare that the main intent of a story is to scare, which you know, is kind of the genre definition of horror. I also write a lot of "supernatural" stuff, but it feels extremely wrong to call it fantasy, since other than the metaphysics I don't engage with any of the other fantasy genre fixtures.

So I guess if we're gonna give up and say my main thing is "speculative", then I guess I'd next most likely be writing contemporary. Though in fact I have already and it leans hard into the horror/supernatural, but in an extremely ambiguous way. After that, I'll be honest, I'd probably go for non-fiction lmao. Sorry, historical (and romance feels like cheating, since there are romantic elements in all of the above)..

#WritersCoffeeClub #AmWriting

For some reason I'm really struggling with this. A lot of anime, but none of it really in specific? When I was younger I'd write shitty clones of whatever I was watching at the time (naruto, FMA, trinity blood), but these days I have no idea. #EmpathAndAugur is from a dream (and also SCP), #witchpunk was kind of a de-novo high concept thing, my short stories kind of the same. I don't understand my imagination lol.

#AmWriting #WriterMagic