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Heather O'Brien's avatar

I never get tired of these shows where different authors discuss their journeys. Successes, failures, process - best practices. We're all so different, and we can glean from one another the things that will ultimately let each other build the road map to success.

I loved Andy's actual writing process. I think I tend to write like he does. I know "what" I need to have happen. To streamline the actual creation of a finished book, I will go in and do a fairly detailed outline. But that doesn't mean I'm leaving my characters with no wiggle room. What it means is, I have to make sure "this" scene (I write in scenes, within chapters) includes "this" information. That may find the scene really detailed or less so. Either way, there's room for change or including new things the characters bring me. And either way, I know where that needs to end so I can go into the next scene. Doing it this way, I have a clear story to some extent. Then, it's just sitting down and writing it. I've developed this process for myself, and Andy's process resonated with me. And, to Jody's point, I still have the ability to be surprised by things the characters do or introduce.

I wrote a scene once where I discovered two characters from a previous were having an affair for years. I never knew that until I wrote it. And this is why we writers may sometimes be called crazy. LOL

Anyway, another really great podcast. My only complaint? Too short. I'm gluttonous for these on my Mondays and Wednesdays. And man oh man are they a welcome break. Part work still, due to the content, but also part validation or instruction.

LOVE TRBM.

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Jody J. Sperling's avatar

Ah, Heather, thank you as always! I look forward to getting back to longer episodes more regularly once 8 Ball is submitted, which will be any day now.

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Heather O'Brien's avatar

Priorities, priorities...and I can't wait!

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Rich Hosek's avatar

To be honest, a 200lb chicken would have me worried.

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Jody J. Sperling's avatar

I concur. They are savage animals.

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Rich Hosek's avatar

And don't forget, a truck has a steel frame (very heavy), while a chicken's bones are much lighter. So, that increases the scale. (this is starting to sound like a conversation I would have with my physics major son.)

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M.E. Proctor's avatar

Thank you for clarifying that 1-ton for me! I also thought it referred to the vehicle's weight, which I should have realized is rather silly. I mean, cars are heavier than that... if I'd given it a bit of thought...

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Jody J. Sperling's avatar

I know! It's funny how many assumptions get through my filter without a second thought!

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M.E. Proctor's avatar

I was reading a book from a Canadian author friend and he kept saying 1-ton over and over (a bit annoying to tell the truth!), and I just absorbed it... I should have asked him the question!

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Rich Hosek's avatar

If he was from Canadia, then he might have been talking about a metric ton, which I believe is 1000 kilos (or 2,200 lbs.)

Freakin' metric system...

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M.E. Proctor's avatar

He is Canadian indeed. Now don't badmouth the metric system, lol! I'm originally from Belgium and I can't make head or tail of the "imperial" system. I have a cheat-sheet on my fridge to remind me about cups, quarts, pints and gallons... Why the hell does it have to be that complicated?

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Rich Hosek's avatar

I actually agree. I was in elementary school when the US made a push to adopt it, and for the life of me I'll never understand why it didn't take.

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M.E. Proctor's avatar

You'll find a bunch of people that'll argue for the "organic" nature of the old measurements: a foot is the length of a human foot (depends whose, lol), that kind of thing... while metric is arbitrary (read autocratic) and detached from natural laws, blah blah. Just people adverse to change. If I can get used to Fahrenheit instead of Celsius, sacrebleu! Funny stuff, really. I'm going to give your substack a look.

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