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@cstross I am not an author, although I'm a fan of you work. I have absolutely nothing to offer you other than my thanks for drawing our attention to this issue.
Due to your prompt, I've found a few fascinating articles describing various, and somewhat adamant, positions on this issue.
@scottjenson It's not my prompt, it's a daily prompt from the hashtag #WritersCoffeeClub (which you should follow).
#WritersCoffeeClub 10/21. What is your take on the adverb debate?
The debate is nonsensical, in my chosen paddling-pool of fiction, SF/F, where every novelist redefines the meaning of the entire English language in the course of writing each story (per editor Teresa Neilsen Hayden).
(Things are very different in other areas of writing. I wouldn't have dreamed of over-using adverbs in a software manual or magazine article, back when I was writing them for a living.)
#WritersCoffeeClub Oct 20 - What role does death (or undeath!) play in your work?
I write genre fiction and it is *surprisingly hard* to write a novel in which nobody dies; death tends to be trivialized or used to advance the plot and seldom traumatizes the survivors.
To which I say, to hell with that!
(Current WIP massacres with gleeful abandon, but it's SF set in a future with lossy mind uploading and replay, so they've effectively got mechanised reincarnation. Societal whackiness ensues.)
#WritersCoffeeClub 19 Oct
How do you keep track of dates and events in a WIP?
I'm a pantser rather than a plotter, and I work in @scrivenerapp, so I generally don't bother: I just shuffle the order of scrivenings around in the binder until they line up right. If a scrivening refers to events in two plot threads that don't line up, then it needs rewriting to fix that, but as I write multi-threaded plots linearly from start-of-book to end-of-book, that doesn't happen as a rule.
#WritersCoffeeClub 18/10: Do you tend to incorporate supernatural elements in your work?
No, there are absolutely no supernatural elements in the Laundry Files whatsoever, just science we haven't fully explored yet but h̶̜̎ä̵̜̙̳̗̱̗͙͉̹́̈̎̑̾r̷̡̧͙̭̫͇̠̀k̵͍̺̳̜̠͑̍̂̏̋̀̆̉̈́͜ͅ ̴̧̗̩̫͖̹͍͕̎̓̐̆͝͝ͅḑ̶̞̻̣̝͐̿͐̋͗̐͒ô̶̖̦̙ ̴͇͍̟͉͉̰͖̂̀͐̉̀̽͠ẏ̴̪̾͑ö̷̩̮͚̣̮̪̦u̴̢̥̹͙̅͑̏̀̎͂̓̚ͅ ̵͇̮͆̉̿͂̋̑̇͛͆h̴̺͎̲̤̜͐̿͐́ḙ̸̢̪̰̼͒͒͑̓͝a̵̧̠̖̓͂̅̾͋̒̊̌ͅr̶̡̩̘̗̰̝̺͍̎͋̍͛ ̴̨̳̀͗͗̇̔̈͋̅͆ẗ̶̨̛͖̫̤̹́͐͝h̸̗͇̱̒̉͌̈̏͂͌͐e̴̮̹̋̇ ̶̣̄͒̅̀͘̕t̶͇̦͆͂̅̉̀̎̈ͅẹ̷͖̩̞͎̝̥̱̓̊̕r̵̢̝̻͕͕̰̺͉̽̅r̸͎̥̭̞̯̗̜̳̣͂̄̕̕͝i̸̺̺̗̫̿̿͊́b̷͙̲̗̜̩͚̉ļ̵͓͇̹̚̚͜e̴͔͊͒̀ ̸͉̙̩̫̇͑̈̄̈́̚͜͝p̵̥͎̹̣̱͇̘̻̪̓̊͗̊i̵̖̙͔̙͍̽p̴̨̮͍̥̻͈͚͉̌̔͆͌̋͠i̷̧̠̤̹̜͕̋̃́̂̓̾̔̚͝ñ̸̢̙͕̘̹̬͎͈͉͊̏̋͑̈́͝g̵͖̹͕̪̳̺͌ ̷̹͇̳̥̣̺̫̝͛̉̆͌͋̉̅ą̶̺͔̭͑̓͝ͅņ̵̛̯̖̙͆͌̄̍̌ͅd̵̺̗̯͕̗̖̣̊̒ͅ ̷̜̲̣̱̂̿͒̃͝ť̸͎̱̥͓̪̞̣͍̌̊̌̌͐̍ͅh̸̰̪̻̙̣̦̓̌̔̾̈̊́̕̚ȇ̷̡͙̖̜̳̋͠ ̷̙̦̻̱͗͗̀̋͂͗͛͘b̶͈̖̺͛̊̊̒̀͐̃̆͝ͅl̴̻͍̤͖̜̐̌̄͗̈̀͘͝ͅë̷̢͙̪̬̗͎́ä̵̢̧̼̺͈̖͓̞̹́͠t̵͇̗̙̉͘͝ ̵̧̢̢͓͍̺̮̖̃͒ơ̴̮̦̯̟̐͋͐̂̉́͂̾f̴̨̮̺͒̀͘ ̵̜͕͑̌̄a̸͕̜͙̪̋̔̏̃̉͠͝ç̴̲̥͕̟͛̀c̷̣̪̈́̽̃̂́̊̀͊ư̴̼̝̊̈͛̐̐̌͊r̷̞͐̾͐̓̍̄̓̍s̶͖͕̦̞̑̄̈́͛̈́́ͅę̵̛̞͉͋̓̒̆͂́̏̌ͅd̵͛̑̅̀̄ͅ ̶̤̜̗̭̺̦̥͔̥̾̄͘d̶͕̟̗̜̻͍̗͆͒̓̓r̴̞̯͒̆̐ữ̷͍͕̰̖̬͙͋̿͆́̕͠m̵̡͚̦͚̠͓̱̞̗̅̓͌͘s̷̢̛̪̗̱̟̥͒̔̆ ̴̨̰͎͌̅͋h̵͚́͝e̸͕͌͆̇̔̒̀̈́͂͝ ̶̧̛̔̓̽ī̸̡̺̹͕̪͙̼̹̑̃̓̍͛̄̋̊s̷͔̩̞͇̎̿ ̸̢͓̳̹̼̫̾̆̆̓͆ͅͅc̵͇͍̰͋̇ȍ̴̢̒̿̃̊̌̏m̶͍͋̅̾̈͋̈́̎ȉ̸̲̥̣͕͇̞͎̺̳̆͐͋n̸̖̤̝̝̤̲̦̣̬̎̓̋̆̽̓̑͝͝ǵ̷͔̟͇̫̣̦͓̊̃̊͜͜ ̶̭͕͓̣̲̹̮͎̐͋̔̇̿̏͘͝͠ḩ̵̘̭̪͚̣̠̩͔̆́̓͗̑͝ẽ̸͖́̏̑̇̄̕ ̴͍̝̼͙̮͛̑̊͑̋͌̀ī̵̼̥̬̦̃́̚ş̶̛̠͌̐̉ ̶̢͖̳̦̖̹͈̲̗̋͌c̶̺̣͖̳͔̖̆́͗̓̒͜ͅo̷͉̲̰͇̝͉͎̫͎̽̈̈͘ṃ̸͙̬̝̩͓͑͌i̶͖̳͈̚̚ͅn̶̗̒̉͊̂̔̿̔͒͠g̶͙̃̉̌̂̈́̐
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#WritersCoffeeClub October 17: What is the significance of a work's dedication?
That's a question for the author of the work under consideration, every time.
#WritersCoffeeClub Oct 17: What is the significance of a work's dedication?
It's a space for the author to identify someone important to them. I feel like I'm missing something in this question?
#writerscoffeeclub Oct 16. How much does your working vocabulary change between works?
One of my editors once observed, "every SF or fantasy author redefines the English language from scratch in every novel". It's about more than just calling a rabbit a smeerp: we assign new meanings to existing vocabulary.
(The working language may be standardized within a series, but between stand-alones and series works I have to purge my autocorrect and spelling checker dictionaries!)
#WritersCoffeeClub Oct 15 - How strictly do your characters follow their traditions?
The Permanence considers itself eternal and unchanging: which is why the aristocracy send their newly-reincarnated children to boarding schools for a decade to re-indoctrinate themselves with whatever has changed over the centuries they were absent—fashion and etiquette, mostly.
But you don't earn a reincarnation if you don't conform to the basic aristocratic requirement of brutally defending your privilege.