#WritersCoffeeClub #WCC 2503.13 — Are you mindful of your readers’ expectations? How so?

How flapping timely! Analyzing when I run into a hitch in my writing pace—like today, again—it is this. EXACTLY. So, listen carefully to what I'm going to say to myself...

I am not telepathic.

Repeat that: I am not telepathic.

Louder: I AM NOT TELEPATHIC!

I DON'T know what the reader is going to expect.

I DON'T know if the current scene is going to frighten, trigger, or be too explicit for my audience...

Because I DON'T have anyone looking over my shoulder, clicking their tongue, and saying, "Tch, tch, tch!"

I am going to take a deeeeeeep breath, now,
clear my mind,
and write the flapping scene—
full stop.

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13 Are you mindful of your readers’ expectations? How so?

Once I've published I hope not to worry too much about readers' expectations. Trying to write what I think people want, or to replicate what they liked about the previous book, seems like a recipe for bad writing on my part.

#WritersCoffeeClub March 14. What new themes are you currently exploring?

In the WIP I'm working on at the moment I’ve added a murder into my usual romance.

#WritersCoffeeClub #Writing 25-03-13 Are you mindful of your readers' expectations? How so?

I am acutely aware...
I write for myself first and always.

#WritersCoffeeClub #Writing 13 Are you mindful of your readers' expectations? How so?

Readers? Where can I buy some good, nice, and cheap? =)

I'm the target of my writing, and once I publish/set free the damn thing, I hope it meets the hypothetical readers' hypothetical expectations. It's OK if it doesn't. My self esteem is so low that it won't affect me…=)

#WritersCoffeeClub Mar 13. Are you mindful of your readers’ expectations? How so?

I've found beta readers very helpful in pointing out where readers' expectations aren't being met. Their input to the editing process is where I get mindful.

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March 13: Are you mindful of your readers’ expectations? How so?

Not at all. I am not here to pander to anyone. The way I respect any reader I manage to get is by writing my story to the max. Take it or leave it.

#WritersCoffeeClub Mar 13
Are you mindful of your readers’ expectations? How so?

I sometimes wonder about them.

In general, a story isn't just a list of things that happened—that's real life—so there's a reason for everything you include. Setup, payoff, question, answer, puzzle, solution, foreshadowing, echoing, theme, aesthetics. All of that only works for some readers some of the time. You have to think about the effect of each line, but it's partly guesswork.

#WritersCoffeeClub #WCC 2503.12 — Happy Plant a Flower Day! What rôle does nature take in your stories?

How would you describe a ruined world from the 1st person POV of people who have always lived in said world and find it normal? In the Reluctance series, nature is a very important background character whose words don't always match up with the reader's understanding of how their world works.

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#WritersCoffeeClub 13. Are you mindful of your readers’ expectations? How so?

In general. Don't kill characters people are attached to. Show the kiss (a must in my genre). Things like that. But I don't get enough feedback to be more granular. #NMWCC

#WritersCoffeeClub 13. Are you mindful of your readers’ expectations? How so?

Readers? I've had one reader since the mid-90s, and a few more added this year.

I'm not sure any of them have expectations, as such, and if they do, I don't know what they are.

#WritersCoffeeClub 13. Are you mindful of your readers’ expectations? How so?

I do sometimes feel I have an expected volume of sex scenes to live up to, but those happen naturally; I never shoehorn them in. I'd say my own expectations carry a lot more weight.

#WritersCoffeeClub March 13. Are you mindful of your readers’ expectations? How so?

I guess somewhere in the back of my mind I know what my readers expect from my books, but I actually write what I enjoy writing. It just so happens my readers like it too.

#WritersCoffeeClub #WCC 2503.11 2/2— Do writing challenges spur on your progress?

Wandered over to my other alias and found a like for an earlier work: A MxM romance fantasy story. That caused me to check out the comments and read how some readers really loved the story, and liked how my humor and penchant for detail enhanced it. The frustrated MC even cried, "Tu m'emmerdes!" in it when interrupted at a critical moment. Not sure if the French Canadians use the phrase, but the French do.

I wrote that story for a Male on Male Romance story contest. I didn't win that one, but I couldn't resist the challenge as the novel I was writing contained two male characters who were definitely more than buddies.

So, yes, writing challenges do spur on my progress as an author.

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"If I live to be a hundred, I still won't run out of stories to write." — @GrayWolf57

12 Happy Plant a Flower Day! What rôle does nature take in your stories?

Nature includes all manner of beasts and monsters, and of course those present challenges to protagonists. But there is also weather.

Sometimes characters get wet.

Ah, technology...Do I care that the AI overview of my ridiculously spicy, erotic romance Flicka's LOVERS pictures Mary O'Hara's sweet, G-rated book My Friend Flicka? NAH! #AI #noAI #Books #Bookstodon #google #writer #Writers #WritersCoffeeClub #Publishing #Authors #author

#WritersCoffeeClub #Writing 12 Happy Plant a Flower Day! What role does nature take in your stories?

Nature is mentioned but most of the story happens in urban areas. That said, there's a "enchanted forest" at the Old Hag's house. It looks like paradise, but you can easily get lost there for years (or forever), and said house is only a small block (on the outside) in a megalopolis of 35 million people…=)

#WritersCoffeeClub #Writing 11 Do writing challenges spur on your progress?

Nope. Beyond writing prompts like those in #VisualWritingPrompt challenges don't challenge me. And even then, Life, The Universe, and Everything don't give me enough time to answer to such calls to adventure as I'd like to do…=-|

#WritersCoffeeClub 12: Happy Plant A Flower Day! What role does nature take in your stories?

It's a pre-industrial world, and viewing the divine as transcendent rather than immanent is generally a minority view. So is counting humanity and their works as unnatural.

There's a complicated balance between 'peasants and laborers do things outdoors' and 'gardens are pleasant and natural light makes detail work easier'. Really good indoor lighting and window glass may shift that, but not yet.

#WritersCoffeeClub March 12: Happy Plant A Flower Day! What role does nature take in your stories?

Not much: I'm a city boy born and bred!