writerscoffeeclub

#writersCoffeeClub June 18: Talk about a time fiction shocked you.

When Nazis began coming back into fashion—and not as the bad guys. (Do not. Legitimize. Evil.)

#WritersCoffeeClub 28 Apr: How magical is your work?

It varies, from the Laundry Files (where the Prime Minister is an elder god and our protagonists are government sorcerers) to none at all (current space opera WIP), by way of works in which people believe in magic/superstition but are substantially wrong, with consequences variously hilarious and catastrophic (current WIP's adversary is a religious grifter not unlike a televangelist with political ambitions ... and a battle fleet).

#WritersCoffeeClub 4/27. Share a possibly unpopular opinion. 👀 (Be kind!)

Every time I see an author striving for being trad published, I wince inside.

Trad publishing is a cruel mill, crushing dreams, crushing books. It is run by investment companies who couldn't care less about stories, and they certainly no longer build up authors.

I do understand the yearning for recognition and a slice of fame, but trad... trad is crushing people. So ask me anything about being indie.

#WritingCommunity

#writersCoffeeClub Apr. 4: Do you switch between past and present tense? How do you make it work?

Present tense: generates a sense of immediacy, useful for action sequences, but also for regular narrative with uncertainty about the future.

Past tense: conveys certainty about the past.

Now, writing fiction in *future* tenses is stunt writing!

(And yes, I've done all three.)

#writersCoffeeClub 5 Apr: How can the physical form of the writing become part of the storytelling?

Story does not have a physical form because it was originally entirely oral; we've added writing, and other media for narrative fiction (film, TV, games, plays, opera ...) but I think the entire framing of the question is misguided.

However, there are some stories that can only be told in certain media.

#WritersCoffeeClub 02 April: Have you ever written a character making one decision, only to later revise them choosing otherwise?

Obviously—but you wouldn't know it from the as-published final draft!

(I'm currently grappling with one of those situations right now: wrote myself into an unexpected situation last night, slept on it, trying to decide how to revise/reframe yesterday's work and continue the story today.)

#WritersCoffeeClub 24th May: What do you need in order to finish your current WIP?

Ideally a two-book deal with specified deliverables and a deadline—WIP is the sequel to book one of a new series, which my agent is handling. I should really stop writing book two before book one is definitely sold! (If this sounds odd: writing novels is my day job, not a hobby, and misspent effort is me failing at my job.)

#WritersCoffeeClub May 1st: Workers' Day: What can we do to support and protect other writers, not only now, but in the future as well?

Abolish capitalism; replace it with fully automated luxury gay space communism forever.

Optional but recommended: guillotine all the billionaires (and anyone who aspires to become a billionaire) forever.

#WritersCoffeeClub Apr 26 - Recommend a nonfiction book about writing.

It's not exactly non-fiction, but anyone planning or writing a high fantasy story (or even a D&D campaign) really should read Diana Wynne Jones' "The Tough Guide to Fantasyland" first. Structured like a Lonely Planet guide, but parodic by intent, it skewers all the clichés of the genre. A bit dated now (written in 1995-ish, so it misses out urban fantasy and romantasy tropes), but still valid!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tough_Guide_to_Fantasyland

#WritersCoffeeClub - 30 Apr. How was this month for you, in terms of writing?

Not great. Had eye surgery at the very end of March on my left eye—the one I can read with—and while it fixed the cataract and healed nicely, by mid-April I was so short-sighted that screen work is difficult. Can't see an opthalmologist and be measured for new lenses until mid-May (eye needs time to settle). So I barely managed 15,000 words all month. (Pathetic!)

#WritersCoffeeClub Apr 14
Do you consciously work with syllabic stress to create rhythm?

Nope. I don't do poetry.

#WritersCoffeeClub May 19. How would changing genre change your current WIP's plot?

It wouldn't work *at all* outside SF/F. As it's SF with very limited magitech, it could be made to work plausibly as a secondary world fantasy with magic: some elements of it are steampunk-adjacent in tone so a steampunk-with-magic setting might work too.

The SF elements are so fundamental that the plot cannot work without them.

#WritersCoffeeClub Sep 4: If you work digitally, what application do you use? If analog, what do you write on?

I'm using Google Docs. I'm too lazy too look for anything more.

#writing

#WritersCoffeeClub May 14: For characters, plots, ideas, settings, etc. how much is too much?

We don't need to see the characters' bowel movements or smell their farts (unless it's plot-relevant). We don't need to know the colour of their underwear (unless it's a sex scene). We don't need to know how the magic-adjacent space drive works (unless it's a space strategy game write-up).

We probably DO need to know if our protagonists eat, wear clothing, and can fly.

Relevant deets only!

#WritersCoffeeClub #WritingCommunity

20th May 2026. If not your current genre, what genre would you write?

This is your daily scheduled reminder that genres are just marketing labels.

I write SF/F, and I had a breakout success in 2007 with a novel about crime inside MMOs. In the UK, it hit its fourth hardcover reprint within 2 weeks of publication and my subsequent book advances quadrupled!

Turns out it went gold because Waterstones systematically misfiled it under "crime", not SF/F …

#WritersCoffeeClub 21 May: What targets do you set for yourself? To what frequency?

In the past few years health problems have stopped me setting and hitting wordcount goals, but I used to aim for 1000 words/day minimum; 2000/day was more usual when working on a project, with lengthy "holdays" to refill the well of words.

But words/day is a crap output metric, like devs counting lines of code. A better one is books/year. And for 20+ years I managed to average 1.5 novels/year, inc. production.

Good morning, #writersCoffeeClub! It’s the last day of the month, so here are next month’s prompts, with the theme: “may-be”. Please note there are ✨special collaborative questions✨ on the 9th and 23rd!

As always, a text-based version of the prompt list is available on my site: ➡️ https://sulfur.ink/wcc-may-2026/ ⬅️

Consider this also your semi-regular reminder that WCC invites collaboration. If you’d like to help make next month’s list of prompts, reach out! 🙌✨

Happy writing! #writersCoffeeClubMeta

ALT

#WritersCoffeeClub May 20: If not your current genre, what genre would you write?

My final answer: if career success wasn't a requirement and I had a completely blank slate, I'd turn my hand to …

MOOMINTROLL/SNORK MAIDEN BUKKAKE!

(Or maybe Cimex lectularius traumatic insemination porn.)

#WritersCoffeeClub May 25: Share a late-stage change you made to a work.

Is 5 years post-publication "late"?

My Merchant Princes series were meant to be big, fat parallel universe technothrillers, but due to editorial fiat at Tor US, they were chopped in two and sold as thin high fantasy books in the US.

Fast forward five years and my Orbit UK editor moved to Tor UK and inherited the series: I sold her on a rewrite to undo the chop job and fix a bunch of errata!

Hence the "omnibus editions".

#WritersCoffeeClub 4 May: Is there a scene or a character or even a plot you regret adding to a finished work?

It's not finished until I'm happy with it, which means no regrettable scenes. (There may be stuff *missing* which I couldn't quite figure out how to cram in while under deadline pressure, but I don't leave stuff in that I don't like.)

EDIT: there are characters/scenes I regret, with 20/20 hindsight, *many years later*, because authorial minds change over time.

#WritersCoffeeClub 8/8 In your works, when the subaltern speaks, who listens?

(Grimly)

Usually it's the Secret Police.

#WritersCoffeeClub May 5: Have you ever taken inspiration from something which could have but didn't happen?

Plenty of times! I write SF, and much of it is counterfactual/alternate history. Hell, my most recent published novel is about the assassination of Queen Elizabeth II back in 2015. Do you remember where you were the day it happened?

#WritersCoffeeClub May 10: What wisdom do you wish you could share with your younger self?

Do not, for the love of Cthulhu, pick Pharmacy as your university degree. Your school careers advisors are idiots. If necessary take a gap year then study computer science (my school didn't offer it in time for me).

Footnote: you're shit at languages, but try to pick up at least one? Maybe try German—you don't want to be living in the UK after 2010.

#WritersCoffeeClub Jun 19
What's your opinion on writing which seeks to imitate a cinematic style?

As I can't watch TV/movies (bad retinas combined with AuDHD) I have no real idea what cinematic style *means* in this context.

#WritersCoffeeClub May 29: What (in terms of writing) do you fear?

Not getting paid.

(Writing novels is a hella precarious way to earn a living, you get the money years after you did the work—if at all: if you have to make a forced change of direction you may be working full-time with the income stream of someone unemployed for months or years, and after a few years you're unemployable for anything else.)